The Fallen Merman

Clownfish reacted quickly and dragged Firefly behind the reef to hide. The reef on the shore was large enough to obscure the silhouette of two people.

Unfortunately, the cone remained glued to Firefly’s feet. Clownfish quietly poked his head out and looked at the two kissing in the wet sand and water. He clearly saw a translucent blue fishtail on the omega’s lower body who was passionately kissing the Instructor. He also noticed the fresh wound on the merman’s arm. 

The merman’s voice was the same voice they heard back then. At that time, they were guessing which domineering alpha president he was, but it turned out the person who called the Instructor “kitty” was him. The one they saw on the bus was also him.

Clownfish’s mind went blank for a moment and forgot to retract his head in time. Without Bai Chunian noticing, the merman abruptly turned around and stared at him—those blank blue eyes resembled a bottomless sea. The merman’s lips rose into a cold smile that made Clownfish’s knees weak and when he came back to his senses, he was already kneeling on the ground, knees buried in the sand.

Firefly crawled over quietly, pressed down on Clownfish’s head, and poked his head out to see what was going on. He only saw the Instructor stand up, one-handedly picked up that beautiful omega, stood still amidst the wind, and tossed him into the sea.

The omega swam about 20 meters away from the shore and leaped. The incredibly long fishtail drew a mystical blue arc in the air, like a whale’s extensive cry from its throat. After that, the merman dove into the water and disappeared from the shore.

The two young omegas shrank back and sat together. Firefly whispered excitedly, “I’ve only seen mermen in documentaries! It was too dark to see anything last time. He is strikingly beautiful.”

When the merman spoke, his tone was gentle but there was still a kind of indifference and eccentricity in his actions. He gazed at the Instructor with passionate eyes but when he looked at them, his eyes were only full of the coldness and indifference of a person from the top, which incurred fear and shame within everyone else.

Clownfish moved to the trash can with Firefly, attempting to escape while the Instructor was still peering at the sea, pretending that nothing happened.

As they were planning to do so, Bai Chunian made his way over. 

The two young omegas crouched behind the waste bin, praying in silence that he couldn’t detect them.

When they opened their eyes, the Instructor was looming in front of them. Golden sand coated his abs and there was a thin black rope bearing a pearl pendant on his neck. His half-dry short hair was drawn back, exposing his forehead.

Firefly, who spotted the merman’s mark on Bai Chunian’s shoulder, turned beet-red. He promptly sprang up and shouted, “Reporting to the Instructor, we didn’t peep at the Instructor and his lover kissing!”

Clownfish discreetly squashed Firefly’s foot. “Shut up, you idiot.” 

The two adolescent omegas gaped upwards at the alpha instructor who was a head taller than them and shivered.

“The class will be held as usual this afternoon.” Bai Chunian hung his things on his shoulder and walked past them. He then turned back and instructed, “Clean up, not a single piece of trash can be left behind.”

The two young omegas stood up tensely as they waited for him to leave. They breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down by the trash can when the instructor left.

Clownfish hit Firefly on the head. “Stupid, the instructor must have thought we’re stupid. I thought for a long time last night before I dared to send a friend request to the instructor. Alas, now I’m sure it won’t be accepted at all.” 

Bai Chunian went back to the dormitory to take a bath. He wore the instructor’s uniform and went to the cafeteria to eat. While eating, he checked his phone and saw a friend request from Clownfish. He thought that after graduation, Clownfish and others would become his colleagues in the investigation department and accepted the friend request.

After that, he found that the ever-silent instructor’s group chat had 99+ messages. Out of boredom, he clicked it open.

Technology Instructor – K: [Click to view original picture.]

Jbwyja Pcragemabg – Gjl Rlcu: “Prc’a atlr abb jkfrbwf? Yt vfjg, rff tbk atfs xlrr.” 

Profiling Instructor – Zheng Yue: “This merman is so hot, his tail is curled around Chu-ge’s thigh. My nose is bleeding and my brain is blank.”

Vclqlcu Pcragemabg – Obgfcah: “P’ii ifa atf agjlcffr raevs bc atflg bkc. Qtfgf’r atf qlmaegf, ktfgf’r atf qlmaegf? Ofa wf rffff, ifa wf rfffff.”

Kjmalmr Pcragemabg – Lbcu Wlf: “Vaeqlv, la klii yf bnfg bcmf tf rffr la.”

Sniping Instructor – Lorentz: “Chu-ge never looks at the group chat. Besides, he’s hugging and having a good time with his partner. Aiya, how could he be bothered with this?” 

Command Instructor – Bai Chunian: “What are you talking about? I’ll take a look too.”

The group chat suddenly went silent.

[Command Instructor – Bai Chunian has been removed from the group chat]

Bai Chunian was confused. 

But at this moment, Han Xingqian sent a message, “Come out and get it.”

Bai Chunian put down his bowl and chopsticks and went to the ferry port.

At 2:00 pm, the sunniest time of the day. While waiting at the dock, Bai Chunian, who was wearing aviator sunglasses, placed his hands in his pants pocket.

The ferry docked. The cabin door opened and Han Xingqian came out of the cabin. He wasn’t wearing a white coat this time but an instructor’s uniform the same as that of Bai Chunian’s. The difference was only that he was wearing a short-sleeved camouflage jacket over his black undershirt, with the buttons locked to the top. 

As a doctor, his stature wasn’t thin. It was obvious that he received strict physical training and wasn’t the least bit inferior to Bai Chunian.

Bai Chunian raised his jaw and asked him, “Where’s the person I want?”

An omega slowly walked out of the cabin.

Xiao Xun was uncomfortable wearing this special training uniform. The light green short sleeves were embroidered with dandelions and the IOA logo was on the back, while he was wearing dark camouflage pants on the bottom. He covered the part of his arms that couldn’t be covered by the short sleeves uneasily. He walked over with downcasted eyes as he carried a luggage bag and Han Xingqian’s medical suitcase. 

Bai Chunian easily took the heavy luggage on Xiao Xun’s back and weighed it. There should be a lot of mini medical equipment inside. He looked back at Han Xingqian. “This is all your stuff ah.”

Han Xingqian swept the dust off his shoulders. “That’s right.”

“Awesome.” Bai Chunian laughed. He raised his hand and lifted Xiao Xun’s chin, pressed his thumb against the latter’s jaw, and forced him to open his mouth, revealing a neat row of puppy’s canine teeth.

Xiao Xun glared at him menacingly. 

“I advise you not to simply bite. How come you can’t distinguish between a good person and a bad person?” Bai Chunian leaned down to look at him and grabbed his jaw so he could only look at him. “If the dogs of the influential Greyhound family act like snobs, they will regret it one day.”

“Let’s go.” Bai Chunian weighed the luggage bag in his hand and easily hung it on his shoulders as he led the way. “One is for experiments, the other is for sniping. Both of your hands are precious. I’ll do the rough work, fuck it.”

On the way, Bai Chunian grabbed Firefly and Clownfish who had just finished cleaning the shore, threw the luggage to them, and asked them to bring Han Xingqian’s things to the instructor’s dormitory and show him the way while they were at. Meanwhile, Bai Chunian himself took Xiao Xun towards the sniper field.

Xiao Xun pursed his lips and followed him silently. 

He was now homeless and had no other place to go but here. It was also impossible for Dr. Han to let him stay at his house for a long time.

He had long been accustomed to being submissive and thus wouldn’t oppose Bai Chunian’s arrangement. He was silent throughout.

The canyon forest area of the island had natural advantages and had been transformed into a sniper training ground. The trainees who were good at sniping would train their basic skills and simulate real combat here every day.

Under the parasol in the recliner lay a crested serpent eagle alpha and his two buff arms looked slightly frightening. The sides of his hair were shaved and a totem was tattooed on his scalp while his black hair was combed back. He was wearing the same instructor uniform; the black undershirt was half-tucked into his pants and the other half was hanging outside. 

He was playing with his phone with his legs crossed. He pressed the voice message button and said cheekily, “I’ll bet late-night snacks that Chu-ge would do it seven times tonight and wouldn’t be able to go to class tomorrow due to kidney deficiency.”

Before Lorentz could send out the voice message, he saw a head sticking out of the head of the recliner.

Bai Chunian leaned on top of the edge of the recliner, lowered his head, and said, “Come to the toilet cubicle and allow me to show you whether Laozi has deficiency.”

Lorentz’s hand shook and the voice message was sent into the instructor’s group chat which made the group burst into laughter. 

Combat Instructor – Dai Ning: “I hope he’s not okay.”

“Get up, I’m sending a student to you.” Bai Chunian pulled out Xiao Xun, who was hiding behind him and pushed him towards Lorentz. “A 19-year-old greyhound omega. Sniping is his forte and he has created a great disorder. Also, he’s just a little shy.”

Lorentz stood up, pulled Xiao Xun towards him, and squeezed his shoulders a few times. “How many years have you been training?”

Lorentz believed in Bai Chunian’s judgment. To be able to receive Bai Chunian’s undisguised praise, he must have trained at a professional sniping school for at least 15 years before. 

Xiao Xun held his arm and looked away. “I’ve never been trained nor studied it.”

Lorentz was stunned and glanced at Bai Chunian suspiciously. “Our special training military base has even started receiving bribes now?”

Bai Chunian lifted an M25 sniper rifle from the armory wall and installed a high magnification lens before handing it to Xiao Xun.

Xiao Xun hesitated for a moment before silently taking the gun. He stood and aimed and then the balloon target 600 meters away popped. 

Lorentz was stunned by the speed of the young man when sniping. He took the remote control, controlled the wind speed, moved the position of the light source in the sniping field, and then changed the target from an immobile balloon to a mobile balloon target.

“Try it again.”

Xiao Xun silently pulled the bolt to change the bullet. He stood still and fired and as soon as the target appeared in his view, the balloon popped and the shell casing fell under his feet.

Xiao Xun shot six moving targets 600 meters away in a row without any deviation or mistakes. It seemed he didn’t need to calculate data at all and as long as he could find the prey, he could kill it in one shot. 

Lorentz looked contempt at first but he became serious. He turned around and walked towards the elevator.

Xiao Xun became slightly anxious and his palms became wet from sweating.

Bai Chunian pulled Xiao Xun into another elevator. The elevator was built in a dense forest valley. There were straight stairs built on both sides of the valley which could send students to different positions for target searching and sniping.

Before they got out of the elevator, Bai Chunian tapped Xiao Xun on the shoulder. “There are empty bullets inside, shoot him in the head. Go on.” 

When the elevator opened, the scene before his eyes was totally different—there were entwined vines around this damp and dense forest valley. He couldn’t find the target at all and could only search for the other party’s possible location bit by bit.

At that moment, he keenly saw a moving dot and immediately crouched down and aimed to snipe.

Just as the tip of Lorentz’s finger appeared in his scope, an empty bullet hit Xiao Xun in the heart.

Xiao Xun felt pain in his heart for a moment and was thrown back by the impact. Bai Chunian supported him from behind and took out the walkie-talkie. “You’re a fucking dog. He said he hasn’t been trained before. You don’t know how to aim at his shoulder?” 

Lorentz said, “He hit me in the finger.”

“Tsk.” Bai Chunian didn’t speak up again.

Xiao Xun bit his lips and said weakly, “I…wasn’t really able to do it.”

Upon returning to the parasol recliner in the sniper range, Lorentz’s face was flushed from excitement and surprise. 

“I can’t believe that you haven’t been properly trained.”

Xiao Xun looked down and replied, “My family won’t allow me.”

“You’re amazing.”

Lorentz pulled Xiao Xun behind his back. As if he was afraid that Bai Chunian would regret it and take back his words, he eagerly said, “I’ll accept him.” 

Bai Chunian spread his hands and looked at Xiao Xun with his head tilted. “Now that someone has taught you, what do you think?”

Xiao Xun was in disbelief. The words ‘you’re amazing’ filled up his mind. He felt that he was childish, but he never heard anyone say that to him, not even once since he was born. Except for Dr. Han who told him ‘you’re doing great.’

“I’ll go first.” Bai Chunian turned around and walked out of the sniper training ground with his hands on the back of his head.

His phone suddenly rang—a new reply from his Moments. 

Bai Chunian casually clicked it to take a look. A person called “Invincible Big Anemone” commented on a picture he posted a few months ago.”

That was the first text Rimbaud sent him.

The original text in his Moments was as followed: I encountered an advanced passcode and can’t solve it. Asking for help from a decoding boss to crack it: →→[email protected]%-％honglanbokadinlion~。@％jiji mua→←

The comments below were all arguments of the technical gurus. 

Invincible Big Anemone’s comment: He means “Wait for Rimbaud to finish eating first. The @ stands for merman with a long tail. Hong is an intimate pronoun, while lion means the end of the endgame.”

Bai Chunian clicked on the chat box. “Where did the phone come from? It’s not the time of the month yet to contact the parents.”

Clownfish: “…” Oops, I forgot about this matter. Is it already too late to unfriend now? But I can’t bear to unfriend ai.

Bai Chunian asked, “Do you know the merfolk language?” 

Clownfish answered, “Mhm mhm. I can understand but can’t speak.”

Bai Chunian spelled out a syllable: “How to translate jideio (brood pouch).”

Clownfish replied, “This is a colloquial word ah. There’s no particularly direct corresponding translation in Chinese. The closest meaning should be ‘kid’s father’ in our colloquial language.”

Five minutes later. 

Clownfish said, “…Instructor…Did I make you angry?…”