Chapter 131
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 131: Even in the Night
Lin Lin now understood what the huge water tank in Vivian’s living room was for.
There was a water path from the riverbank to the sanctuary’s high wall; this area was usually quiet and empty, with only a few bird calls in the winter.
Moonlight shone on the sparkling surface of the water as Vivian jumped into the river.
Once he entered the water, his long gray-purple hair, which was loosely braided, began to spread out; scales started to grow and spread from his neck. Lin Lin could only see the water reaching below his collarbone, and a small part of his gray-purple fish tail, shimmering with a silver sheen, appeared on the surface.
Lin Lin calculated the distance between Vivian’s body and tail and estimated that this merman was at least three meters long.
The beautiful merman reached out his bare arm to the girl on the shore. His nails were different from when he was human; there was a layer of hard scale-like film at the tips of his fingers.
"Come down, I’ll catch you," Vivian said.
The young man’s voice was sweet and melodious, with a strange melody. Water droplets fell from his pearly white, smooth arms, and under the moonlight, he seemed to be the only glowing creature, shining brightly.
Lin Lin subtly sensed how the ancestors of the mermaids captured and then ate humans.
It was very bad because the Demon King Castle, where Lin Lin was, was full of dangerous beings, so she had to be careful around Vivian.
"You won’t hurt us, will you?"
Vivian slowly lifted his head, breathing in the air of fear.
It was truly wonderful, especially in such an open space, similar to the refreshing nature of their ancestors, with the gentle moisture of the river; Vivian’s throat itched, and words naturally flowed from his throat.
"Of course," Vivian promised.
He noticed that the little girl regarded the brave boy as part of the same team, as they stood together as humans against the mermaids.
This was a clear and realistic approach; Vivian couldn’t help but sincerely praise her caution.
After all, outside of school, even though he was still in San Marco City, the restrictions here were much less than in school, which was also why Vivian enjoyed going out.
But the school was not happy about him going out often.
Unlike Lin Lin’s hesitation, Sandy jumped into the water very decisively.
He was a good swimmer; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been hiding at the bottom of the water for so long during the day. Soon, a flash of red hair appeared above the water. Sandy pushed a handful of his short hair back from his forehead and looked at Lin Lin, wondering why she was so slow.
Lin Lin thought to herself, Norman and Vivian were very close, and Norman had personally introduced her to Vivian, so this mermaid would not cause him too much trouble.
Lin Lin reached out and took hold of the mermaid’s outstretched snow-white arm.
In a very brief moment, she was pulled into the river by the arm, and the cold river water swallowed her body, quickly draining away her warmth.
Lin Lin suddenly remembered the elderly men who swam in the winter, those grandfathers were really in good shape.
Although she knew that the river shouldn’t be too deep, the feeling of not being able to touch the bottom with her feet was truly scary. Lin Lin held tightly to Vivian’s chest, trying hard to lift her head above the water.
Vivian let out a deep laugh, his chest rising and falling with the sound. The scales on the upper part of the mermaid’s body were not evenly spaced; he looked like a man with no shirt on, and then a small patch of light scales grew randomly.
Like the markings of a calico cat, Lin Lin randomly thought that maybe each mermaid’s scales are different. Lin Lin’s fingers, wrapped around Vivian’s cold back, touched a delicate, slippery scale. Her nails easily flicked the scales, lifting them just a little.
Compared to dragons, mermaids’ scales are much finer and softer.
"Lin…" The mermaid’s arm, wrapped around Lin Lin’s waist, tightened. After taking a breath, the mermaid spoke, "That’s not a good habit."
Lin Lin quickly pulled back her knuckles, forming a half fist.
"Can you hold your breath?" Vivian asked.
"Ten seconds!" Lin Lin answered quickly, afraid that the mermaid would drag her into the water, making her say goodbye to this world.
Suddenly, Lin Lin felt that her waist and abdomen were tightly wrapped, as if by a giant python. The large mermaid tail was coiling around her legs to hold her in place.
Lin Lin had never been forced to keep her legs so tightly closed before, and the discomfort from controlling her body all this time made her anxious.
With her legs held so tightly, it felt like she briefly experienced the position of being a mermaid.
Lin Lin felt a cold breath on her neck from the mermaid.
Vivian had never noticed her scent before, but today it seemed a bit much.
"Ten seconds is enough," Vivian whispered in Lin Lin’s ear.
The mermaid reached out and held Lin Lin’s neck carefully, to protect her fragile throat.
Lin Lin was forced close to the mermaid’s collarbone, and she smelled Vivian’s cool fragrance.
Thank goodness, he didn’t smell like fish after turning into a fish. Lin Lin felt truly grateful and thought about how bad the sharp sulfur smell was when the Red Dragon turned back into its true form, like the breath of a volcanic eruption.
Then, Lin Lin’s head was pushed underwater.
"One," Lin Lin silently counted in her mind, knowing how much she weighed, fearing she wouldn’t breathe in time.
With her face buried against Vivian’s body, she couldn’t see anything, but her sense of touch was sharp.
The wet clothes felt tight as they followed the flow of the water, the water pressing against her body.
Very quickly, the water pressed against her. As Lin Lin silently counted to three in her mind, she started to lose track of time, only remembering the water rushing past her ears, creating a feeling of pressure.
It could have been five seconds, or maybe eight; anyway, after Vivian lifted Lin Lin’s chin above the water, her body reacted before her mind, and Lin Lin began to take deep breaths of fresh air.
Lin Lin heard Vivian’s quiet laugh close to her ear again.
The water route was indeed easier to enter the sanctuary; Vivian guided Lin Lin to the edge where the river flowed into the sanctuary. Vivian couldn’t actually go into the sanctuary; he helped Lin Lin step on his shoulders to climb up onto the white stone railing of the sanctuary, then she jumped down to the ground.
The water on Lin Lin dripped wetly onto the ground. The collar’s limits made the drying spell ineffective for her, but thankfully it worked on her clothes. Lin Lin felt the water soak into her cotton shirt.
Vivian tossed the perfume to her, and Lin Lin caught it with both hands, "Can I use this perfume’s enchanting effect?"
"Of course," Vivian replied, "the perfume works on others, not on you."
The mermaid in the water looked at Lin Lin with misty eyes, as if recalling an interesting moment, "People often doubt each other but not themselves, even those who can see through others’ disguises sometimes overlook many details because they are too confident."
Lin Lin raised an eyebrow and suddenly heard the splash of water from the other side.
Sandy was in much better shape than Lin Lin; he swam over, then flipped and landed on the ground. He was in a hurry to find Sharon and had no plans to work with Lin Lin.
"Uh…" Lin Lin reached out towards Sandy’s back but was forced to pull her hand back.
Lin Lin hesitated for a moment and chose a direction opposite to Sandy’s. For some reason, she felt that Sandy would not choose the right option, whether by intelligence or luck.
Lin Lin said goodbye to Vivian, "So, I’m going now?"
The mermaid in the water smiled, "I look forward to your performance. If you can knock down two statues of the God of Light, that would be exciting."
"That’s not exciting," Lin Lin warned seriously.
Vivian and the folks at Demon King Castle got along way too well, and Lin Lin thought that if the mermaid hadn’t come to San Marco City’s school to escape after being scolded by angels, he would probably become her colleague.
As Vivian said, the night at the temple was very quiet.
The river leads to the back garden of the temple, which is not open to the public. Streetlights stand on both sides of the path, shaped like suns. Their uneven circular centers, with twisted lines representing light, have a beauty of abstract art.
Lin Lin had seen the dark red door of the great Bishop before; it was decorated with various patterns. The temple seemed to love such designs.
Even though it was winter, countless flowers bloomed in the temple’s back garden, filling the air with fragrance. The subtle scent of Lin Lin’s perfume faded into the background.
Unlike the wild plants of the Demon King Castle, the flowers here were carefully tended and precisely trimmed. Each flower stood in its best form, ready to greet those who came to admire them.
There was nowhere to hide here. Lin Lin walked along the path, and even when she stepped lightly, she could still clearly hear her own voice in the silence.
Compared to herself, the brave hero seemed good at hiding. Lin Lin could no longer see Sandy anywhere.
Lin Lin met a night guard in the garden, a female cleric.
The woman had her hair neatly tied up, and her gaze was sharp and determined, looking like someone who was very efficient and capable.
Lin Lin had tried to slow her pace and avoid meeting her, but the woman clearly noticed another person nearby and turned her head to look in Lin Lin’s direction.
The two people looked at each other.
Lin Lin held the cuff of her coat.
"Oh, it’s you," the woman mistook her for someone else because of the perfume, "Aren’t you supposed to be inside? Why are you still in the back garden?"
"I just paused for a moment," Lin Lin answered carefully.
"Then you need to hurry up," the woman said with a light laugh, "If you don’t finish the inspection on time, the Paladin guards will think you’re slacking off."
"Alright."
The perfume was more effective than Lin Lin had expected. If she had known that Vivian’s perfume had complicated side effects and was banned in San Marco City, she might have found it hard to feel as grateful to Vivian as she did now.
Lin Lin quickened her pace, trying to show that she was working hard, and hurried away.
The moonlight was beautiful, the flowers were lovely, and the fragrant air was abundant; all this beauty in the night gave a quiet sense of danger.
Lin Lin finally reached the edge of the garden.
Climbing plants with rose-like flowers twisted up the walls, their pure white blossoms blooming in layers, green leaves blending with the moonlight white. Lin Lin realized these flowers had been intentionally designed this way.
The fragrance grew stronger.
Lin Lin lowered her head as she walked along the stone path in the garden.
She bumped into someone.
The cold armor made Lin Lin’s forehead ache; even though the armor wasn’t very thick, its presence was still powerful.
The other person stood still while Lin Lin was pushed back half a step.
Lin Lin held her forehead and looked up, seeing the golden-haired knight looking down at her.
Even in the darkness, the Holy Knight Commander shone like sunlight, "I’m sorry."
He felt sorry for hurting the lady.
Lin Lin felt very nervous; she didn’t want to speak, afraid her voice would give her away.
She could only nod to show she didn’t mind and hurried to leave the scene.
Unfortunately, the Knight Commander did not know what she was thinking; his tall figure still blocked Lin Lin’s way.
The young man looked like a big golden retriever or some other popular dog breed; he did not notice that others were staying away from him.
Norman’s bright blue eyes lowered, his gaze fixed on Lin Lin’s forehead, which he had made red, and then on her eyes.
The Knight Commander frowned slightly; it was not because he was unhappy, but rather because he was confused.
He had a hazy feeling, but the reflection in his eyes was very clear.
The Knight Commander tilted his head slightly, the short golden hair brushing across his forehead, "What is your name?"
Lin Lin: !!!
