The Man by the Sea (Part 4)
886 Words
Shen Hua swore she really intended to take him away out of goodwill, but he refused.
"The police should be here soon." Shen Hua didn't want to be charged with assault.
However, the man seemed completely unfazed, showing no signs of tension. The occasional murderous look in his eyes didn’t match his otherwise unchanged expression.
Emotional deficiency?
Shen Hua looked at the strange man with a headache, and he looked back at her. He was curious about her emotions, which were unlike any fear, despair, greed, or joy he was familiar with. It was an unfamiliar feeling—he always struggled to understand human thoughts.
But he understood from her actions that she wanted to take him away.
Being washed ashore by the waves was uncomfortable enough for him. He was desperate to return to the sea, and taking him further away from it was like seeking death.
The sound of police sirens came from the coastline. Shen Hua frowned immediately, turning to the calm man, "The police are coming, we must..." Before she could say "go," she was interrupted by a scream caught in her throat because the man grabbed her hand again.
Shen Hua had developed a psychological shadow regarding his nails, and it took all her strength not to scream.
Fear, anger, sadness—negative emotions were a mermaid's favorite. The man looked at her with slight annoyance. He was hungry, and the delicious food was right beside him. Mermaids lacked strong self-control.
Fortunately, this time he didn't use much force, and Shen Hua quickly suppressed her fear, inadvertently saving herself.
The man placed her hand on his left rib area, where she felt two crossed bones under the cold, dry skin. In her memory of human anatomy, bones couldn't cross like this unless injured.
Was he unable to move because of the displaced bones? Shen Hua was surprised but more worried. Two crossed ribs? What if they punctured his lung?
"No, you need to see a doctor. Your injuries are too severe." Shen Hua realized his injuries were worse than they appeared, and with dislocated bones, he needed medical attention.
"Wait here. I'll be back soon." Shen Hua made gestures to indicate her words, then carefully removed the ill-fitting pink sun-protective jacket from him, blushing as she threw it to cover his private area. "Don't take it off."
The man didn’t stop her, just watched her leave with indifference. But she had only walked a few meters when her keen eyesight spotted police officers in uniform two hundred meters away, following a man with white gauze on his head towards her.
"Damn it!" Shen Hua cursed, turning back to the man.
The man wasn’t surprised by her return. Mermaids didn't show emotions so easily.
Shen Hua quickly reached him, squatted down, and said, "The police are coming. We need to leave now. Can you stand up?" She cautiously tried to help him.
When she touched his arm, Shen Hua noticed it wasn’t smooth—there seemed to be something at the elbow. But now wasn't the time for research.
Her intention was clear: if she were helping a normal human with broken ribs, they could stand and walk, reducing much trouble. But the man wasn’t human—he was a merman with a tail turned into legs. He knew how to use his tail, but not his legs.
Two hundred meters wasn’t a long distance. Shen Hua could hear the angry shouts of the perverted man, feeling incredibly unlucky.
The man saw the perverted man too, and his eyesight was better than Shen Hua’s. He could see the human’s expression—an emotion he didn’t like. Why was he happy after being injured and bleeding?
Mermaids were baffled by such things.
Shen Hua's somewhat rough actions caught the man’s attention. Was she avoiding the injured human? Why?
"Be careful not to touch the ribs..." Shen Hua impulsively placed the man's arm over her shoulder, ignoring the proximity of his sharp nails. Compared to other troubles, she temporarily dismissed this concern, but she didn’t dare to exert force, afraid of worsening his injury. Moreover, he wasn't cooperating.
"They almost killed me!" Ten meters away, the perverted man shouted, his voice grating on Shen Hua’s nerves.
"Sea." Amid her frustration, Shen Hua heard a deep voice—not the perverted man’s, but a close one.
Only one person was this close.
"You can speak?" Shen Hua asked in English.
Mermaids lived in the ocean, moving through vast areas rather than staying in one spot. They often encountered human emotions, as negative feelings were their favorite food. Usually, they appeared on the sea surface during bad weather, learning limited human words unless a special mermaid, seeking their lifelong partner, decided to learn the human language.
At this moment, Shen Hua felt deeply deceived.
Before she could express her displeasure, the arm over her shoulder suddenly exerted force, pulling her into the sea as a wave crashed in.
Shen Hua was a non-swimmer, and within three seconds of falling into the water, she choked twice on the salty water.
The man quickly moved her away from the shore, the resistance of the water making her face hurt. Her lungs had less and less air, and it seemed he wanted to take her to deeper waters.
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