Feasibility of Mermaids Infiltrating Qilin

【Why are you here? 】

Hearing Zhang Shenglin's seemingly unwelcoming question, Su Xingze gave him a resentful look.

[Is Little Qilin unhappy to see me? Is it because you have other friends and think I'm in your way, disturbing your loving relationship with them?]

As he said this, Su Xingze looked at Zhang Haike beside him with a deep gaze.

Zhang Haike felt a chill run through his body and couldn't help but shiver. He looked around but didn't see any danger, so he could only attribute it to the extreme cold and desolation of the mountains.

This accusation was a bit serious, so Zhang Shenglin quickly explained.

There's no unhappiness, no other friends, only Aze.

Zhang Haike was not a friend, but merely a fellow clansman who could be considered a companion.

After explaining, Zhang Shenglin continued, "How did Aze get here? You said yesterday you were still in Anhui."

Although Anhui and Hangzhou are close, the distance between them cannot be crossed in a day.

It's just a short distance from Anhui to Hangzhou, no problem for me, it's over in a flash.

Su Xingze proudly raised his little head, flicked his tail, flew around the little Qilin once, and then floated down to sit on the little Qilin's shoulder.

Zhang Shenglin had experienced being teleported by him a few times before, so he immediately understood. However, he was surprised that the little merman's teleportation could reach such a far distance.

During their conversation, Zhang Haike had rested enough. He opened his water bag and took a sip of water. He looked around and said, "This place should be very close to the place that Master Lin mentioned. I'll go over there and check the directions."

After saying that, he nimbly climbed up a nearby hillside.

After Zhang Haike left, Zhang Shenglin raised his hand and gently pinched the little mermaid's tail, his calm eyes revealing worry.

"Aze, is this long distance a problem for you?"

He knew that the little mermaids were not favored by the world's consciousness because they were not beings of this world.

He didn't know about this at first; he only bumped into the little mermaid once by accident. The mermaid was swishing its tail, fiercely slapping the air around it, and cursing and accusing the world's consciousness of being harsh on it.

A small mermaid flew in the air, ferociously slapping the air with its tail.

If it weren't for the slapping sound when the fish tail struck, and the constant appearance and disappearance of golden cracks at the points of impact, Zhang Shenglin, witnessing this scene, might have already begun to worry about how he would appease the little mermaid if it truly went mad.

Su Xingze's green eyes flickered with guilt. He pressed his cheek against the little Qilin's neck and said in a relaxed tone, "How could that be? It's only this short distance, how could I not do it!"

Zhang Shenglin paused in his act of fiddling with his tail; the little mermaid's actions and tone immediately suggested something was amiss.

Just as I was about to ask for clarification, Zhang Haike returned from a distance.

“I see that place. It’s not far from here. Follow me this way.”

He led the way, complaining as he went, "If I had known this job would be this troublesome, I wouldn't have taken it. We have to climb mountains and deal with snakes. And these mountains are different from those in Northeast China; they're wet and slippery. It's too difficult to climb."

God knows that he slipped and fell several times in this mountain because of the wet mud, moss, and slippery stones. If he hadn't been so agile, he would probably be covered in mud by now.

As he was rambling on, Zhang Haike stepped into a puddle, and icy muddy water gushed out instantly, soaking his shoes completely.

Zhang Haike: “…”

It's okay, he's used to it.

This wasn't the first time he'd stepped into these seemingly flat puddles covered with dead leaves along the way.

Pulling his foot out and shaking off the dirty water from his shoe, Zhang Haike continued walking forward without a care.

Behind him, Su Xingze saw this unfortunate scene. He glanced at Zhang Haike's clothes, which were damp like dried salted vegetables, covered with blue and brown mud stains, and there were sticky bloodstains on the collar and sleeves.

Then look at the little Qilin. Although his clothes were also very damp from the moisture, he didn't look disheveled at all.

Even though his shoes were inevitably covered in wet mud, they didn't look as weathered as Zhang Haike's shoes.

Su Xingze understood; the little Qilin's new friend was a little unlucky fellow.

Zhang Haike was unaware that his actions—considering himself the elder of the two and always taking the lead to protect the younger members of the clan—had left an impression of him as an unlucky fellow in the eyes of Su Xingze, whom he could not see.

Su Xingze gleaned the reason for their presence from Zhang Haike's words, and asked with some confusion:

What kind of request?

Zhang Shenglin briefly explained how the two of them received the commission.

A wealthy merchant in a small town in Hangzhou had a wife who was seriously ill and needed a rare medicine. This rare medicine was hidden deep in the mountains of Hangzhou. In order to obtain the rare medicine that could save his wife, the merchant invited a master to go into the mountains to find the medicine for him.

Zhang Shenglin and his companion came to this mountain because they were commissioned by him.

Skipping over the love story between the wealthy businessman Lin and his wife, Su Xingze focused on the main point, gently tugged at the little Qilin's hair, and asked in surprise:

"You're short of money? Impossible, I gave you so much gold before I left."

The system's shop has a wide variety of goods. As long as you have enough points, you can buy anything. Xiao Qilin is also a self-disciplined person. He never slacks off on the courses he needs. Over the years, neither of them has ever missed a point.

One tael of gold is worth only 500 points in the shop. Even if the little Qilin runs out of gold, he can always exchange it for more in the shop. He will never be short of money.

Zhang Shenglin pursed his lips.

It's useless.

His gaze fell on Zhang Haike, who was walking ahead. He wasn't alone, and he couldn't explain why Zhang had so much gold.

As members of the same clan, even though Zhang Haike was from the maternal side, the travel expenses for the Zhang family's youths when they went out to roam were all provided by the clan. Everyone received the same amount of money, with the family members providing some subsidies, but these subsidies were very limited.

Zhang Haike could deduce roughly how much money he had left from his spending. If his money didn't seem to be decreasing, even a fool would realize something was wrong.

He didn't want to expose his abnormality and let people discover the little mermaid's peculiarity.

So along the way, when Zhang Haike was worried about the two of them running out of money, no matter what arrangements he made, even if he took him to squat in someone else's vegetable garden, Zhang Shenglin just silently followed his instructions.

[Tsk, what a hassle.]

After thinking for a moment, Su Xingze understood why the little Qilin didn't use the gold.

Find a chance to dump him.

Zhang Haike may have meant well; his kindness towards the little Qilin is quite rare among the Zhang family, perhaps because he is from the maternal side of the family.

Based on this alone, Su Xingze had a fairly good impression of Zhang Haike.

However, with Zhang Haike by his side, he and Xiao Qilin did have many things to hide. They could have made their lives better, but they couldn't do it because of various concerns. Su Xingze couldn't bear this injustice, so he could only ask Zhang Haike to suffer.

Unaware that Su Xingze was urging Zhang Shenglin to ditch him, Zhang Haike diligently searched for a way, and finally, after passing through another thicket of bushes, his eyes lit up.

"arrive!"