Chapter 14: Lord of the Sea Abyss × Researcher (14)

Shen Rongyu was lazily flipping through the research report that Ji Qingzuo had given him while leaning on the sofa. When he heard Ji Qingzuo's question, his dragon tail underneath him swung lazily.

The cabin he was in was half-filled with a pool of water, and his dragon tail was immersed in the water, swaying gently.

Shen Rongyu had always found Ji Qingzuo's touches to be quite subtle. On one hand, he didn't resist her touch, but on the other hand, Ji Qingzuo's movements were clumsy to the point that they often made him itch.

He considered himself someone who was good at controlling his emotions, but Ji Qingzuo's hands were... If she didn't sincerely apologize every time, he would think she was doing it on purpose.

After a while, he turned the page of the research report in his hand and said, "I don't mind."

Ji Qingzuo retracted her hand in disappointment. Before collecting samples, she always sought Shen Rongyu's opinion. If he didn't want her to, she would go back and make a model herself to continue optimizing and researching.

Shen Rongyu watched her retract her hand and put it into his large lab coat pocket. He raised his chin in the direction of her pocket and said, "Miss Ji, I remember giving you a piece of my scale. You can use that sample for your research."

Ji Qingzuo touched the dragon scale in her pocket with her fingertips and shook her head. "Mr. Shen, I can't use this."

Shen Rongyu was perplexed. "Why not?"

"This is a gift from you." Ji Qingzuo explained. She found that this dragon scale was really useful, even more suitable for repelling dangerous predators in the sea than the pheromone bracelet she made herself.

A gift... When Shen Rongyu heard the answer to this question, he felt that she was really naive. He never considered that dragon tail as his own at the time.

But... he liked this explanation very much.

So, when Ji Qingzuo heard the sound of chains rattling in the water, Shen Rongyu said, "Go down."

Ji Qingzuo knew he had agreed, so she put her diving equipment back on and jumped into the pool in the cabin. 

As she descended into the water, Shen Rongyu's body moved and slid into the water as well.

Ji Qingzuo turned on her flashlight, which illuminated her cheeks with a radiant light. She said to Shen Rongyu, "Mr. Shen, you can continue resting on the surface."

"No, I can't." Shen Rongyu firmly refused, "Miss Ji, I need to watch over you so that you don't touch something you shouldn't."

Ji Qingzuo's hand holding the flashlight trembled, almost dropping it. She thought to herself, she couldn't possibly be that kind of person, right...

So she wore the flashlight on her head and dived down.

She needed to collect some tissue samples from Shen Rongyu's dragon tail. To avoid harming him, she tried to choose the decaying parts of the tail to collect from.

But... which part of his tail was unconscious for Shen Rongyu?

Ji Qingzuo looked at the neatly arranged dragon scales and reached out, lightly touching them with her fingertips.

In that instant, the chains rattled and Shen Rongyu's tail muscles tensed. Ji Qingzuo could clearly feel the once flexible muscles under her fingertips become rigid.

"I'm... I'm sorry." Ji Qingzuo followed the scale's pattern and gently stroked downwards. She wanted to observe the changes in Shen Rongyu's muscles to find the part of his tail that was unconscious.

Shen Rongyu watched the ocean before him shimmering with waves. His gaze was deep, and he didn't say anything or tell Ji Qingzuo to stop.

"Is this part okay?" Ji Qingzuo felt his muscles relax and thought he temporarily couldn't feel her touch, so she poked the part of the scales that connected to the bone and asked Shen Rongyu.

"What part?" Shen Rongyu answered her. His voice was slightly hoarse, and the chain hidden beneath his tail had long been tightly coiled.

"Can I take a sample here?" Ji Qingzuo took out a test tube and forceps as she asked him.

Shen Rongyu: "?" You've been touching for so long, were you trying to find a spot to take a sample?

Ji Qingzuo couldn't help but poke again. She really liked this dragon tail, the arrangement of each scale on his tail followed a mathematical sequence, it was beautiful and had a unique aesthetic. And the eerie and dangerous feeling of this non-human creature stimulated her nerves. Being close to and touching this unknown creature's tail gave her an exhilarating feeling of touching something forbidden.

Not everything could make Ji Qingzuo feel excited, but clearly, this tail could.

Of course, she admitted that it was out of selfishness that she touched a few more times.

"It's okay," even though there was still some sensitivity here, Shen Rongyu agreed.

Otherwise, she would continue to touch!

This cunning researcher, she deliberately poked a little more just now.

Ji Qingzuo sensed his helplessness in his words. She felt a bit guilty for her small "misdeed" earlier, so she softly said, "Mr. Shen, I know you might be uncomfortable with collecting samples, but... please bear with it."

Shen Rongyu said, "Okay."

Ji Qingzuo lightly placed the forceps on the scales near the bone on his tail. The cold tip of the forceps only had a gentle touch, and his dragon tail trembled slightly.

She felt his discomfort, panicked, her hand trembled, and the forceps dropped directly below his tail.

Shen Rongyu: "..."

"I'll go get it." Ji Qingzuo swam down, her hand reaching into the center of the chains, searching for her only pair of forceps.

Her arm passed along his cold and smooth scales, almost subconsciously. His tail began to contract.

Dragons were mythical creatures, their body shapes were similar to snakes, so the way they captured prey was probably similar to some snakes as well.

Coil and suffocate, tightly entangle the prey.

His tail began to tighten, and Ji Qingzuo still hadn't sensed the impending "danger." She was rambling and talking to Shen Rongyu.

She tried to use this approach to alleviate Shen Rongyu's sense of tension. She thought he might feel uncomfortable with the unknown touch, but in reality, it was just arousing his excitement.

"Mr. Shen, I previously conducted research on the Nightfall Sea, did you read it?" she asked.

"I did." Shen Rongyu replied, his answer brief. He saw Ji Qingzuo's long hair entwining around his tail, her ink-black hair matte against the slightly silver scales, with strands falling into the gaps between the scales.

"During the oil spill, almost all the oceans on this planet were contaminated, except for the Nightfall Sea. Mr. Shen, is that related to you?" Ji Qingzuo wanted to gather enough evidence from him to support and prove her research findings.

"If that's the case... at that time..." Shen Rongyu's voice was very low. His head was a distance away from Ji Qingzuo, but his words sounded like a tender whisper, distorted and rippled through the thin layer of water, making his voice even more ethereal.

"At that time, I was asleep, but I felt something dirty approaching me, so I casually brushed it away, like driving away annoying insects." Shen Rongyu answered truthfully. At that time, he was asleep, but he was always clean and wouldn't allow anything dirty near him.

"Your 'casual brush' protected the safety of all the creatures in the ocean." Ji Qingzuo whispered.

She had reached her forceps in the center of his tightly coiled tail.

Ji Qingzuo's fingertips followed the cold and beautiful scales little by little and finally touched the metal forceps. She used her index finger to hook it out.

When she turned her head, her floating hair lightly scratched against his tail, and in her panic, the soft strands became entangled in his scales.

Ji Qingzuo panicked, she wanted to apologize anxiously, but Shen Rongyu spoke first, "No need."

"You're so kind," Ji Qingzuo exclaimed sincerely. 

She didn't realize that she had already been entwined in the center of the dragon's tail. She could only hear the faint sound of chains clinking around her. She grabbed the end of her hair and gave it a tug.

Although she was a researcher, Ji Qingzuo took good care of her hair and it was not so fragile that it would break easily. So when she tugged at it, her hair didn't break.

"I... I... I'll pick it out," Ji Qingzuo's lips trembled slightly, her face blushing because she felt so guilty towards Shen Rongyu.

She gently pulled her hair, and the soft strands scraped against Shen Rongyu's sensitive and fragile skin under the scales. It was his own fault for getting tangled up in her hair, so this time, it was his own doing.

Although Ji Qingzuo thought her actions were gentle, her hand didn't quite obey her brain, causing Shen Rongyu's head to tilt back slightly and his throat to move subtly.

This annoying, meddlesome researcher, he thought.

For Shen Rongyu, it was a slow but sweet torture, but Ji Qingzuo felt embarrassed and flustered. She could clearly see the scales on Shen Rongyu's tail moving in a certain rhythm, and bubbles were escaping from the part submerged in the water, as if he was enjoying it and letting out satisfied sighs.

The soft strands of hair wrapped around her fingertips, one coil after another, tightly pulling them until her fingertips turned white. Finally, she pulled out the last strand of hair. At this moment, the chains around Shen Rongyu's body moved again, and his tail, now reduced to bones, still slightly arched and swam towards her.

Ji Qingzuo squinted as she observed. She realized that her hair quality had deteriorated quite a bit due to her worries about repaying the loan, and the hair tips were split ends. No wonder Shen Rongyu was so uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not good at this," Ji Qingzuo apologized countless times.

"Mmm..." Shen Rongyu responded, his voice elongating.

Ji Qingzuo had not yet noticed that something was amiss. She gathered her spirits and gently picked off the dry scales with tweezers.

Shen Rongyu couldn't feel much pain, but it was very itchy, extremely itchy, as if the part without scales needed to be filled with something.

He let out a gentle breath.

Ji Qingzuo hurriedly placed the scale into a test tube, taking a deep breath. Her cheeks were still red. She wanted to divert her attention by asking some other academic questions.

So she asked, "Are you the embodiment of this ocean?"

This was also a half-truth that Shen Rongyu wanted to present to Ji Qingzuo—the embodiment of the Nightlan Sea, obviously harmless.

He was indeed the embodiment of the Nightlan Sea now, but not entirely.

Shen Rongyu replied, "Yes."

Just as Ji Qingzuo was about to say something, Shen Rongyu spoke again, "You bought this ocean, didn't you?"

"Ah?" Ji Qingzuo didn't expect him to know about this. She hesitated for a moment before sheepishly nodding, "Yes..."

"But I'm not trying to possess you," Ji Qingzuo explained anxiously.

"I read the transfer agreement," Shen Rongyu referred to the document that An Kun wanted Ji Qingzuo to sign on the whaling ship.

"Um... I'm really sorry, Mr. Shen," Ji Qingzuo lowered her head, feeling a shadow closing in around her.

In the depths of the ocean, it seemed like something was approaching.

"So now... are you my master?" Shen Rongyu's throat rolled up and down, as he asked in a low voice, his words carrying a seductive tone.

Ji Qingzuo froze. She saw the skeletal dragon tail inching closer to her. Before she could respond, Shen Rongyu spoke again.

"Please fulfill your duties as my master," Shen Rongyu said.

"Huh?" Ji Qingzuo was genuinely confused this time.

She wondered, was this real? Did he accept this fact so quickly?

He even told her to fulfill her duties as his master?

Can she really do it?

"Can... can I?" She asked hesitantly, much to Shen Rongyu's surprise.

Shen Rongyu smiled, his tongue grazing his teeth as even his dragon tail trembled with excitement.

He lowered his voice and said, "Of course you can."

"Oh, that's great," Ji Qingzuo breathed a sigh of relief.

"I still have thirty reports to input into the electronic terminal."

"Fifty-seven data models are yet to be established."

"Nineteen projects need to be completed."

"A hundred and thirty-nine samples haven't been collected."

"Can you help me with all of these, as my master?" Ji Qingzuo chewed on the words "master's duties" and asked tentatively, with a hint of expectation in her tone.

Shen Rongyu: "..."

His dragon tail wrapped around Ji Qingzuo's waist without a word, and she felt herself being tightly bound by something strong and cold.

"You..." Ji Qingzuo called out softly, feeling a sense of panic as she finally sensed the danger around her.

"This is a normal physiological reaction, Miss Ji," Shen Rongyu repeated the words Ji Qingzuo had written in her notebook.