Chà Chà Novel

The pounding rain lasted two full days before a ray of sunlight finally appeared. A rainbow formed a beautiful bridge between the sea and the clouds.

When Wen Sheng got out of bed, his legs trembled beyond his control. The red marks around his ankles were plainly visible, and above them were mottled marks all over his body, as though he had endured a brutal ordeal.

Two days. Two whole days. This was the first time he had gotten out of bed. His lovely eyes were still misty, their corners bright red. He made his way to the bathtub with difficulty, and only when he sank into the water did the ache throughout his body ease a little.

Too frightening. It had been far too frightening…

Lan Tang’s possessiveness was terrifyingly strong. During those two days, there had been many moments when Wen Sheng truly thought he would die on that enormous, soft bed.

No matter how many times he pleaded or tried to escape, Lan Tang caught him by the ankle and pulled him back into his hold.

The salt water enveloped Wen Sheng, giving him a brief escape from his fear.

Balala had been forced offline for two days. When it finally came back, Wen Sheng’s entire body was obscured by a mosaic blur. Feeling guilty, it hardly dared to speak…

But it could not stay silent, either. In a trembling voice, it said, “Lord Shiqing, Lan Zhai is kneeling at the palace gates, begging the king’s forgiveness.”

The rain had fallen for two days. Lan Zhai’s little boat could not have brought him safely to shore in that weather. Without the storm to stop him, he would have gone to kneel there that very night.

Wen Sheng did not want to hear about anything right now. He was exhausted and only wanted a proper rest. He answered lazily, without much reaction.

He had slept poorly these past two days, and Lan Tang had hardly let him sleep at all. He could not understand how one person could have so much energy. He felt as though half his life had been drained away, while Lan Tang had only grown more vigorous.

It was as if Lan Tang had drawn all the strength out of him. A jealous man was truly frightening.

Sleep gradually overtook him. Wrapped in seawater, Wen Sheng sank into a deep sleep. Balala sighed. It wanted to say something, but in the end said nothing. Forget it. The Lord God had chosen to cause trouble for himself; Balala had better keep quiet…

Besides, it still needed plenty of points to get one of the new weapons in the Space for its online boyfriend.

Balala quietly went offline.

Meanwhile, Lan Tang came out of the king’s study. He dismissed the attendants and walked alone toward the palace gates.

Lan Zhai had been kneeling for several hours. He had not seen anyone in all that time. By now, he must have become a laughingstock throughout the royal family. Nobles usually passed through the palace gates often. At first he had seen one or two people, but soon there had been no one at all. His father must have given an order.

Lan Zhai was not sure this would win him a place in the royal family again. He only wanted to take the chance. If he could return, he would have an opportunity to make amends for everything he had done, for all the foolish mistakes he had made because he had mistaken one person for another.

Wen Sheng was the one who had saved him. So Wen Sheng had been the person he loved all along. His sight had returned, but his heart had remained blind.

It did not matter. He would set everything right. Wen Sheng had endured the agony of having his tail eaten away to come ashore and find him. He would never fail Wen Sheng again.

The numb ache in his knees was nothing compared with even a tenth of the pain in his heart.

He had been the one to tell Wen Sheng to come find him, and yet he had failed to recognize him…

Lan Zhai kept his head lowered, the light in his eyes faint. He remained firmly on his knees, as though prepared to kneel there until he died if the king refused to see him.

Unhurried footsteps approached. A pair of white boots entered Lan Zhai’s lowered field of vision. He knew the luxurious quality of their material all too well.

Lan Zhai looked up. Lan Tang’s usually gentle face now held a coldness that seemed fathomless.

“Brother.”

Looking at Lan Tang’s handsome, refined face and then at his own rough clothes, Lan Zhai was struck by an unfamiliar sense of inferiority.

He had once believed there was little distance between himself and Lan Tang. Now one of them stood while the other knelt.

One wore a luxurious robe, while the other was dressed in rough cloth with loose threads showing. Faced with the stark contrast between them, Lan Zhai looked away. He could not meet Lan Tang’s eyes.

Lan Tang looked down at Lan Zhai, who had fallen so low he resembled a stray dog.

And this was the man for whom Wen Sheng had willingly come ashore, even at the risk of dissolving into sea foam.

What made him worthy?

How could a foolish, irresponsible man deserve Wen Sheng’s love?

Lan Tang truly wanted to kill Lan Zhai. But he could not, at least not yet.

The hundred-day period had not passed. If Lan Zhai died now, his Wen Sheng would disappear as well.

Lan Zhai was fortunate indeed. If not for that, he would already be a rotting corpse thrown into the sea as feed.

That was the trouble with a merperson coming ashore. Whoever they had come ashore for had to be the one to fall in love with them; that could not be changed. Even though Wen Sheng loved Lan Tang now, Lan Zhai’s life or death would still affect his Shengsheng until the hundred days were over.

Lan Tang silently regarded the worthless man before him, his narrow eyes filled with endless coldness. Lan Zhai kept his head lowered, too overwhelmed by his sense of inferiority to meet his brother’s gaze. As a result, he never saw how different Lan Tang looked from the brother he remembered.

After calling him “Brother,” Lan Zhai said nothing more. He knelt and waited for Lan Tang to speak, but a long time passed without a word.

Panic and frustration nearly swallowed him whole. Just as his thoughts grew most chaotic, Lan Tang’s deep voice sounded above him.

“Lan Zhai, my brother, welcome back to the palace.”

Lan Zhai looked up at once, delight flashing in his eyes. Did that mean he could return?

He had thought that even if he was allowed back, he would surely have to endure some hardship first. He had not expected it to be so easy. He had only been kneeling for a few hours…

“Thank you, Brother.”

Lan Zhai meant it from the bottom of his heart. He knew the king had most likely lost faith in him. Even if his father still felt some affection for him as a son, he would never have allowed him back so quickly.

Lan Tang must have spoken on his behalf.

“There’s no need to thank me. We’re brothers. I’d even give you the throne.”

A faint smile touched Lan Tang’s lips as he helped Lan Zhai up. The rough fabric brushed against his palm, an unpleasant sensation.

Lan Zhai rose, but the pain in his knees kept him from straightening his legs at once. They remained slightly bent. He froze at Lan Tang’s words and was about to respond when his brother’s languid voice sounded again.

“I can give you the throne. But Wen Sheng is mine.”

The throne was of no use to him. Once the hundred days had passed, he would take Wen Sheng back to the deep sea. That little bathtub was not where Wen Sheng belonged. The vast, boundless ocean was.

Lan Zhai stiffened and stared at Lan Tang.

The image of Lan Tang taking Wen Sheng’s hand and leading him away from the island rose in his mind. His thoughts had been in chaos then, filled with the urge to kill Yun Yin for deceiving him and with the memory of Wen Sheng’s cool, proud expression. He had overlooked the fact that Lan Tang had come to the island in person to fetch Wen Sheng.

That was right. Lan Tang had even embraced Wen Sheng from behind. Lan Zhai had thought nothing of it at the time, since embraces were perfectly ordinary in this kingdom. He had never imagined that what seemed ordinary to him was anything but.

Lan Tang had fallen for Wen Sheng…

An unfamiliar sense of danger seized him. Lan Tang liked Wen Sheng. Then again, it seemed only natural that everyone should like Wen Sheng.

Wen Sheng was so pure, so sincere, so radiant.

Lan Zhai had mistaken a worthless stone for a pearl.

The thought of Lan Tang liking Wen Sheng worried him deeply. But he soon shook off that sense of danger, and a hint of delight appeared on his face. “Brother, I actually heard everything Wen Sheng and Yun Yin said that day. I mistook one person for another and made a terrible mistake. I came back to the palace to set everything right. I don’t want the throne. I only want Wen Sheng.”

“Wen Sheng came ashore for me. I won’t let him turn into sea foam.”

What did it matter how good Lan Tang was? Wen Sheng loved Lan Zhai. He had come ashore for Lan Zhai.

The last trace of Lan Zhai’s earlier insecurity vanished. He met Lan Tang’s gaze with a smile in his eyes. “Brother, you must know what it means when a merperson comes ashore.”

Of course Lan Tang knew. Coming ashore meant placing one’s life in the hands of the person one loved.

Unfortunately…

“Do you love Wen Sheng now?”

“Yes. I’ll make up for the mistakes I’ve made. I’ll devote everything I have to caring for him and protecting him from now on. I won’t let him become sea foam.”

Lan Tang studied Lan Zhai’s hopeful, smiling face, then suddenly smiled himself. His voice carried a cruel note of mockery. “Your love is like the seashells along the beach.”

It could be found everywhere…

Without another glance at Lan Zhai’s face, which had gone ashen, Lan Tang turned and headed for Wen Sheng’s chambers.

As soon as Lan Tang left, an attendant invited Lan Zhai into the king’s study.

Still angry, Lan Tang entered Wen Sheng’s chambers and went straight to the bathtub. He undressed with practiced ease, sank into the enormous tub, and gathered Wen Sheng into his arms.

This body could not stay underwater for long. He could use his powers to breathe freely in seawater like Wen Sheng, but he had no intention of revealing his identity to him just yet.

Once the hundred days had passed and Wen Sheng became the Sea God’s spouse, he would learn the truth.

Wen Sheng slept deeply. When he woke, familiar arms held him firmly from behind. His body and hair were completely dry, but he felt a hard, burning pressure between his legs. He tried to endure it, but finally could not. With the foot he could still move, he kicked Lan Tang hard beneath the covers, his voice close to breaking. “Are you a dog? Do you have to be in heat everywhere, all the time?!”

The kick scarcely hurt Lan Tang. He used his leg to turn Wen Sheng around until they faced each other, then wrapped him up completely in his arms. Brushing his lips lightly against Wen Sheng’s forehead, he said in a low, husky voice, “Lan Zhai has returned to the palace.”

Wen Sheng was uncomfortable with Lan Tang clinging to him and wanted to push him away, but he had little strength left. He vaguely heard Lan Tang say something. After struggling twice, he gave up and simply closed his eyes to sleep. Out of sight, out of mind.

“Lan Zhai has returned to the palace.”

Lan Tang repeated himself, brushing his lips against Wen Sheng’s ear before giving it a gentle bite. The gesture felt like some strange signal, making Wen Sheng shiver despite himself. He drew away and said irritably, “So he’s back. What does that have to do with me? Do you keep repeating it because you want me to go greet him? Then let go of me. I’ll go right now.”

He had coaxed Lan Tang and hugged him. How much longer was he going to stay jealous?!

Lan Tang’s lips stilled for a moment. Then he suddenly smiled and slid a hand down Wen Sheng’s waist. The smoothness of Wen Sheng’s skin made him want to keep touching it.

A man’s waist was his most sensitive spot—no, that was not quite right. Wen Sheng’s waist was his most sensitive spot. Lan Tang knew just how to touch him: it did not tickle, but it left him soft and weak, as though he had no bones at all.

Soon Wen Sheng’s cheeks were flushed, and a faint sheen of moisture filled his lovely eyes.

Lan Tang adored seeing him like this. He scattered small kisses along Wen Sheng’s neck and murmured indistinctly, “Aren’t you afraid of turning into sea foam?”

Lan Tang’s teasing left Wen Sheng flustered and tingling. Exhausted as he was, he found that he truly could not resist him.

More precisely, it was not Wen Sheng who could not resist Lan Tang. It was Yan Shiqing who could not resist Lu Yan.

The truth was, he had never been firm about this. He could not turn down the chance to be close to the person he loved so deeply.

“I won’t turn into sea foam.”

Lan Tang’s wandering hand paused. Then a delighted laugh escaped him.

Wen Sheng’s words pleased him immensely.

Wen Sheng truly did not love Lan Zhai anymore. If even a trace of affection remained, he would never have said with such certainty that he would not turn into sea foam.

Once someone fell in love, they began to fear losing what they had and could no longer be certain of anything.

But Wen Sheng was completely certain. Because he did not love Lan Zhai, he could think clearly and recognize that Lan Zhai would fall in love with him once he learned who had truly saved him.

“That’s right. My Shengsheng won’t turn into sea foam.”

How could Wen Sheng possibly turn into sea foam? Lan Zhai had loved even Yun Yin with desperate intensity. Now that he had met someone as radiant as Wen Sheng and knew Wen Sheng had come ashore for him, guilt and love might make him willing to die if Wen Sheng asked it of him.

Wen Sheng had that kind of power over people. Lan Tang did not doubt it, because right now he felt as though he could die in Wen Sheng’s arms.

As their movements quickened, Lan Tang’s voice grew breathless and hoarse. “Shengsheng, do you love me?”

Overwhelmed, Wen Sheng grasped blindly at him, leaving bloody scratches down Lan Tang’s back. Barely aware of himself, he answered, “I love you, Lan Tang. Be gentler, please…”