CHAPTER 175: NOT AS SIMPLE

Shao Xia hurriedly walked over to where Yuan Ni was sitting and asked with concern, "Are you okay? You are looking rather pale, Yuan Ni." Her voice was filled with raw concern, as if she were truly worried about Yuan Ni, but in truth, she was hoping to see the mer dying as soon as possible, such that she wouldn’t have to act with him any longer.

Yuan Ni was unaware of her thoughts and felt relieved in his heart when he saw that Shao Xia cared about him. He raised his head and looked at the woman, who was still as beautiful as she was when he last saw her. He reached out and took her hand in his before saying to her, "Shao Xia, please keep me in your memories. Don’t forget me, or else my soul will never be able to rest in the afterlife."

Shao Xia frowned hard when she saw that Yuan Ni had touched her with the same hands with which he dealt with the poisonous mushrooms. She wanted to shake off his hands, but when she thought about how everyone was watching them, she couldn’t do it. She could only smile at the mer while mentally reminding herself to clean her hands. These people might not be aware of the importance of cleaning their hands, but she did!

"I hope that you will always remember me." Yuan Ni was still unaware of the disgust in Shao Xia’s eyes. Lost in the memories of the past, he hugged the woman’s arm and softly spoke to her, "I really love you. I have loved you since I was young. Please, please never forget me. I—I can never forget the day when you helped me out of the river and saved my life. If not for you, I would have died that very night. So thank you, thank you for saving my life."

Shao Xia didn’t say anything. She had no idea what Yuan Ni was saying and was simply listening to his nonsense. She didn’t know when she even saved him. However, she didn’t stop him, nor did she correct him. She knew that if she told the truth, then maybe Yuan Ni might end up telling everyone that she was the one who asked him to eat the poisonous mushrooms. Thus, she kept her mouth shut and didn’t say a word.

Yuan Ni didn’t know that the saviour for whom he put his life at risk was actually a fake; if he knew the truth, he would die out of anger first before the poison in his body. All his life, he cared for Shao Xia just because she was his saviour, and now the person who saved him turned out to be a stranger? How could he not be angry if he knew the truth?

Yuan Ni was still blabbering about how much he loved Shao Xia, while the woman was waiting for the toxins to kick into his body. She was annoyed just thinking about how Yuan Ni kept asking her to remember her. Why would she remember a mer who was about to die? Did she have no other job to do?

She just wanted this mer to die as soon as possible; only then would she be able to kick Ruan Chanchan out of Xie Daiyu’s life.

Ruan Chanchan had just stepped out of the cave; she was thinking about going to the chief and telling her that they could send the scouts up the mountains to collect the bamboo shoots, as they were edible. As for the rice grains, she was thinking about scouting the area and taking a look around the territory. If there were a fertile piece of land, then she would turn it into a paddy.

She looked at the people of the tribe who were slowly going back to their caves to rest after eating a filling meal, and showed a satisfied smile.

Seems like I can still save this tribe, thought Ruan Chanchan with a nod. She spun on her heels and headed down the cliff when, suddenly, she heard a sharp scream.

"Yuan Ni. What’s the matter with you?"

Startled, Ruan Chanchan turned and looked at Yuan Ni, who was lying on the ground; his body was slowly turning purple. Beside him, Shao Xia was kneeling. She was holding the mer’s body in her arms and shouting, "Yuan Ni, Yuan Ni, what happened? Someone call Priestess Yuan. Ruan Chanchan has killed someone. The mushrooms that she asked you all to eat are poisonous."

"What nonsense?" When Chief Xie heard the accusations that Shao Xia made, she walked over to where Yuan Ni was lying and glanced at the foolish mer whose face was turning blue, and he was foaming from his mouth. She said, "How can you say that this was caused by the mushrooms? Everyone in the tribe ate these mushrooms, and they are fine. You dare blame it on Ruan Chanchan? She is the one who helped our tribe by giving us a new source of food. Does your conscience not hurt when you say such a thing?"

Ruan Chanchan felt her heart warm up when she heard Chief Xie standing up for her. She thought that the entire tribe would stand up against her right away, but at least they were willing to support her without questioning her.

She looked at Yuan Ni and thought of the time when he came to see her. Earlier, he looked a bit weird, and his expressions were all weird as well. She didn’t think much of it earlier, but now she had a feeling that Yuan Ni probably knew that he was going to die or else he wouldn’t have reacted so strongly when he was with her. Ruan Chanchan looked at the mer who was on the verge of dying and then turned to look at Shao Xia, who was jumping around in front of her. She suddenly had a feeling that this matter was not as simple as getting poisoned by a mistake.