Is there water in my mouth? Suck it there.

The mermaid woman on the bed had eyelids that fluttered lightly.
Her cherry-colored, moist lips let out a soft whimper.

The sound was faint and unclear.
Xiao Yu leaned closer, only then hearing what she was saying.

“Water… water…”

Mermaids were different from humans.
Though their unique physiology allowed them to live on land as amphibians, their time on land was limited.
If the moisture in their bodies continued to evaporate without timely replenishment, they could dry out and die.
At their core, mermaids were a race of the deep sea.
Even with the ability to step onto land, they were not suited for terrestrial life.

The mermaid woman’s skin was now pale, her face no longer bearing the tender, dewy glow it once had.
It seemed she had already been severely dehydrated before arriving at Jumo Island.
It was worth noting that the seawater of the Chaotic Forbidden Sea was like poison to mermaids, offering no nourishment.

“Water… water…”

Perhaps due to extreme dehydration, the mermaid woman began to murmur unconsciously.
Her vibrant fishtail weakly slapped against the bed’s edge, the scales on her body appearing dull.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu finally reacted.
He turned to look at Gong Wuyao, who seemed to realize something and took a few guilty steps back.

“By the way, when you found her, shouldn’t you have put her in a pool of water? Why is she on a bed?”

“If we put her in a pool, wouldn’t she drown?”

Xiao Yu: “…”

“Mermaids live in the sea. Have you ever seen a fish drown?”

“Well… we were so focused on healing her injuries that we forgot she was a mermaid. We treated her like a human. No wonder she hasn’t woken up yet. Heh, heh…”
Gong Wuyao’s eyes darted nervously, and she let out a dry laugh.
This was indeed her oversight.

“…”

Wasn’t it common knowledge that mermaids needed water?

Xiao Yu fell silent.
Well, he now understood why Gong Wuyao had remained a deputy sect master all these years.
If not for her God Transformation Realm cultivation, he might have slapped her on the spot.

But he couldn’t entirely blame her.
There were no mermaids on Jumo Island, so it was understandable that she didn’t know how to handle one right away.

“Feed her some water first, or she’ll end up a dried-out corpse!”

With that, Xiao Yu poured some water from a nearby teapot into a cup.
Fortunately, the room was stocked with tea, or they’d be scrambling to find water.

Xiao Yu had lived with mermaids for a long time and knew how to care for them.
He stepped forward slowly, gently pinching the mermaid woman’s mouth open.
Her soft, pink lips parted, revealing a few translucent strands of saliva that glimmered under the room’s lamplight.

The mermaid’s mouth was slightly different from a human’s—pink and moist, but overall quite similar.
He tilted the cup to her lips, letting clear water trickle into her throat.

Gulp~

As if sensing what was at her lips, the mermaid woman’s body instinctively began to swallow.
Her pink mouth moved, eagerly drinking.
Her slightly pointed, moist tongue pressed against her pearly white teeth, swallowing the water Xiao Yu poured.

Her pale face, nourished by the water, began to show a faint flush.
Gulp… gulp…
The sound of swallowing echoed in the room.

Xiao Yu, standing nearby, had a complicated expression.
The mermaid woman’s desperate drinking, the movement of her snowy white neck, paired with her delicate face—it looked somewhat suggestive.

The cup of water wasn’t much and was quickly consumed by the parched mermaid woman.
But it was only a temporary fix.
It would be best to get her into water soon.
Her scales, exposed to the air for too long, were already clinging tightly to her body, shrinking inward.

After downing the cup of water, the mermaid woman’s condition improved noticeably.
Her fingers twitched a few times.

She seemed close to waking.
Xiao Yu grabbed the cup, preparing to pour her another.

But then, something unexpected happened.

With strength from who-knows-where, the mermaid woman grabbed Xiao Yu’s collar and yanked him down hard.

!!!

Their lips met.

A soft sensation spread from his lips, carrying a briny sweetness like the sea.
Xiao Yu’s eyes widened.

“Mmph…”

Her slightly pointed tongue moved like an eel slipping into a cave, recklessly probing his mouth, like a tentacle desperately seeking the scant moisture within.

Wait… was someone taking advantage of him?!
You’re dehydrated, but this isn’t the way to fix it!
Isn’t there more water in the cup than in my mouth?

Xiao Yu tried to pull away, but the mermaid woman’s strength was astonishing, and he couldn’t break free.

“Xiao Yu?!”

Gong Wuyao, standing behind, noticed something was wrong and stepped forward to pull him away.

Suddenly, Xiao Yu felt something dormant within him stir under the mermaid woman’s kiss.

“Wait!”

Realizing something, he hurriedly sent a mental message to Gong Wuyao:
“Don’t touch me yet. Let me… enjoy—bah! Wait a moment.”

“Huh?”

****

Thirsty… so thirsty.

Xia Nianmo felt like she was dying.
She hadn’t expected that current to lead to the Chaotic Forbidden Sea.
If she hadn’t activated her natal artifact in time, she might have been corroded to death by the seawater laced with strange dao marks.

But she had survived and seemed to have landed somewhere.
Was she alive?

But why was her body so parched?
Water… she needed water…

Her consciousness grew hazy.

At some point, she heard people enter—by the sound of it, a man and a woman.
The man’s voice felt familiar, as if she’d heard it somewhere before.

No time to think about that.
Thirsty… so thirsty. She needed water.

Suddenly, someone pried open her closed mouth, and a cool sensation surged into her throat.
Water!

After a few gulps, her consciousness cleared slightly.
At the same time, she sensed that familiar object—right inside the person before her.

Why was it here?
That object had been given to a human cultivator she saved in the sea years ago, passed to him so he could breathe underwater.

Could it be that Young Master Ye was here too?

No… it didn’t matter. She was about to turn into a dried fish!

Sensing that familiar aura, Xia Nianmo, almost without thinking, made a bold move.

****

After a bout of intense sucking, the object in Xiao Yu’s body was successfully drawn out by the mermaid woman on the bed.

The moment it entered her, she got what she desired and released his lips.
Xiao Yu finally broke free.

“Huff… huff…”

Nearly suffocating, Xiao Yu gasped for air.
He touched his lips, finding them slightly swollen.
She’d sucked pretty hard.

But still.

Looking at the mermaid woman, whose complexion was gradually regaining its luster, Xiao Yu nodded inwardly.
As expected.

The Thousand-Year Water Pearl.
That was the object in Xiao Yu’s body, formed from the essence of the deep sea, brimming with abundant water energy.
It allowed its bearer to control water currents and even breathe underwater with ease.
For mermaids, swallowing it would let them walk on land without fear of dehydration, keeping their body perpetually moist.

Well… no need to dwell on it.
This was a fortuitous encounter Xiao Yu had gained while standing in for the protagonist.
Later, when his role as a stand-in ended, the dao reclaimed most of the protagonist’s fortunes, but the Thousand-Year Water Pearl had been overlooked.
Xiao Yu hadn’t thought about it until now.

This… could be considered returning it to its rightful owner, since it was hers to begin with.
Xiao Yu thought as he looked at the mermaid woman, whose body was gradually recovering.

Back then, according to the plot, he’d been chased by an enemy, gravely injured, and fell into the sea.
By chance, Xia Nianmo, who was out for a breather, found and saved him.
The Thousand-Year Water Pearl was given to him mouth-to-mouth by Xia Nianmo to prevent him from drowning.

At the time, he was only at the Qi Refining stage, while the enemy chasing him was a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.
To avoid being caught by the enemy waiting on shore, he had no choice but to take refuge in the mermaid clan’s palace, settling in until the demonic cultivator above left.

By coincidence, the mermaids were selecting their saintess at the time, and Xia Nianmo was merely one of the candidates.
Thus began a predictable yet delightful development.

Using the gratitude of saving his life, Xiao Yu assisted Xia Nianmo, playing a significant role in helping her secure the saintess position.
During the trials, they developed feelings for each other.
By the time Xia Nianmo became the saintess, Xiao Yu’s cultivation was sufficient.
He ventured out to sea, seeking vengeance against the peak Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator.
After settling the score, he moved on to the next map.

As Xiao Yu was lost in thought, the mermaid woman’s trembling eyelids finally opened, revealing a pair of deep blue eyes, mysterious and profound like the ocean depths.

“Where… am I?”