Part 3
Luo Shizhen was a little happy to be praised, but he still felt something wasn’t quite right:
“Just smelling is fine, why do you have to lick me?”
“Because it’s very fragrant, so I want to lick.”
Rong Nian closed the distance to Luo Shizhen again.
“I noticed it last time. You really don’t have that human stench on you. It’s especially pure and peaceful. Let me lick you. You don’t know how miserable I am, trapped in a group of human stenches every day, smelling their various desires. It feels like living in a pile of durians.”
Rong Nian hated everyone equally because, as a Siren, he could smell the various desires and negative energies on these people.
Whether ordinary people or Awakeners, all had dark and painful sides.
They might not show it, but Rong Nian could smell it.
The most hateful thing was that he was currently only a First-Order Awakener and couldn’t control his ability at all. He had to smell it whether he wanted to or not.
“You are different. You don’t stink at all, and you can isolate other human stenches. I want to try and see if licking you once can make the isolation last longer.”
Rong Nian was a master at playing the victim. Seeing Luo Shizhen hesitate, his beautiful eyes immediately filled with watery tears, looking pitiful.
“Please, Shizhen. Just let me lick, just one lick. I promise just one lick, absolutely no more.”
Luo Shizhen was a soft-hearted person.
If it was just one lick…
He hesitated. “Alright, but you can’t lick my neck.”
He had been attacked by a Zombie and had trauma.
Luo Shizhen thought for a moment. “Try my hand. I just washed my hands, they are very clean. Or if you think it’s not clean, I can go wash them again now.”
Rong Nian was excited. “No need, no need. Just this is fine.”
Luo Shizhen still felt a bit embarrassed. He found a tissue to wipe the back of his hand before extending it:
“Go ahead, lick.”
Rong Nianās excited pupils contracted slightly. Small, beautiful fish scales appeared uncontrollably behind his ears. He couldn’t wait to grab Luo Shizhen’s hand and bury his head.
Suddenly, the scruff of his neck was grabbed from behind, and he was forced to stand up.
Rong Nian’s eyes instantly turned fierce. He turned around to deliver a lethal strike, but naturally, it was blocked.
Only when he realized that another version of himself was standing behind him did he reluctantly retract his claws.
“Not earlier, not later, but right at the moment of my success. You did it on purpose, didn’t you?!”
Chen He’an stood smiling beside the other Rong Nian:
“Awakener Rule Number Seven: You cannot place a Mark on others without permission.”
“Student Rong Nian, that’s a violation.”
Rong Nian struggled a few times under the grip of his other self but failed to break free. He could only say angrily:
“I got permission! Luo Shizhen agreed!”
Chen He’an: “But Student Shizhen doesn’t know what placing a Mark means. You are deceiving him.”
Rong Nian huffed coldly. “I am a Siren. If a Siren doesn’t deceive people, what kind of Siren is it?”
“Whether you are a Siren or a Merperson, this is a school, and you are a student. If a student violates the rules, they must be punished.”
Chen He’an produced a small yellow piece of paper from somewhere and stuck it on Rong Nian:
“Rong Nian, for violating school rulesāconsidering you didn’t succeed, the penalty is only three days of confinement.”
Luo Shizhen watched the plot take a sharp turn and was a bit confused. “What is a Mark?”
“A Mark is a way for Atavism-type Awakeners to track prey.”
Chen He’anās tone when speaking to Luo Shizhen was much gentler:
“If you are Marked, Rong Nian will unilaterally form a subtle connection with you. For at least the next three months, he will be able to sense your location. No matter where you are, Rong Nian can find you.”
Luo Shizhen understood. “And then?”
Chen He’an: “Oh, and.”
“The reason he gave for marking didn’t actually lie to you. After placing a Mark, you have a connection with him. Using this connection, Rong Nian can choose to smell only your scent.”
Luo Shizhen let out an “Ah.”
He looked at Rong Nian. “Then just tell me directly. Why did you lie to me? Lying is bad.”
Even though he guessed Luo Shizhen might say this, actually hearing it made Chen He’an feel deeply that this child simply had too good a temper.
Being Marked meant being treated like prey; one’s whereabouts were like being bound to a tracker, and it was done without knowledge or consent.
Even a non-Awakener, just an ordinary person, probably couldn’t accept it.
And for Awakeners, who inherently had a sense of territory, it was absolutely unacceptable.
Rong Nian knew this, which was why he tricked Luo Shizhen, because he didn’t think Luo Shizhen would agree.
Rong Nian indeed thought so too.
Although being held, he still stubbornly turned his head away, avoiding eye contact with Luo Shizhen:
“If I didn’t lie to you, would you have let me Mark you?”
Luo Shizhen: “Yes.”
Rong Nian: “I knew you wouldn’t, that’s why I… What? You would?? How could you possibly?!”
Luo Shizhen looked quite strange too. “Being Marked by you doesn’t hurt or itch, and it doesn’t affect me. It’s a convenient thing, why wouldn’t I agree?”
Rong Nian stopped turning his head away. He turned back and stared at Luo Shizhen incredulously:
“You don’t mind that I can sense your location?”
Luo Shizhen: “We are classmates, attending classes at school every day. Our seats are so close, and we are in the same dorm. We see each other every day. If you want to find me, just call out to me. What use is sensing my location?”
Is it to sense if I am on the left side of the playground or the right side after school?
Rong Nian: …That seems true.
But, but… he felt things shouldn’t be calculated like this. Anyway, he knew other Awakeners definitely wouldn’t agree.
Rong Nian stared at Luo Shizhen suspiciously. “You aren’t lying to me, are you?”
Luo Shizhen answered honestly, “No, I am speaking the truth.”
Rong Nian: “Then can I Mark you now?”
Luo Shizhen: “No.”
Rong Nian widened his beautiful eyes. “You said you weren’t lying to me!”
Luo Shizhen spoke slowly, “You have to apologize to me first, because you lied to me just now, and that is wrong.”
Rong Nian was skeptical. “Do you just want to hear me apologize and then humiliate me?”
He lied to Luo Shizhen, and Luo Shizhen was willing to let him Mark him after just one apology?
Where in the world are there such people?
“No, why would I humiliate you? Wrong is wrong. People should apologize when they do something wrong. This is good for you and good for me.”
Luo Shizhen remembered the words Chen He’an taught him very well. In terms of listening to teachers, he had always been outstanding.
Rong Nian had quieted down a bit, but suddenly hearing Luo Shizhen call him “people” hit a nerve.
His softened attitude instantly changed:
“I am a Siren, a wild beast, not a person. I won’t follow human rules.”
Luo Shizhen: “Then I won’t give you the Mark.”
Rong Nian: “…”
Luo Shizhen had a temper too.
“You lied to me and won’t apologize. I won’t help you unless you apologize to me.”
Rong Nian wanted to say fine, no Mark then, but looking at Luo Shizhen pursing his lips in anger, he inexplicably couldn’t say it.
Because he could sense emotions, he could clearly feel that even now, Luo Shizhen held no ill will toward him.
He was just stating a fact.
Rong Nianās legs moved like a fishtail, and his lips twitched. “Sorry…”
Finally hearing the apology, Luo Shizhen was happy. He looked at Chen He’an as if seeking praise, and after receiving a gentle smile from Chen He’an, he stood a little straighter as if encouraged.
“It’s okay.”
Rong Nian lost his arrogant attitude from earlier, his voice quieter. “Then can I Mark you now?”
Luo Shizhen: “No.”
Rong Nian: “?”
He looked up at Luo Shizhen in disbelief. “Why?”
Luo Shizhen: “Last time you scolded me by the lake, you didn’t apologize either. You have to make up for it.”
Rong Nian remembered that really happened and instantly felt guilty:
“…Sorry.”
Luo Shizhen nodded seriously. “Also, you have to promise not to scold me or bully me in the future.”
Rong Nian: “…I promise, I won’t scold you or bully you.”
He waited for Luo Shizhen’s next requirement.
But in the next second, Luo Shizhen actively offered the back of his hand to his mouth.
Rong Nian’s pupils shrank. Looking up, he saw Luo Shizhen’s brilliant smile without any haze.
Luo Shizhen smiled and said, “Okay, I forgive you.”
“Lick.”
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