Chapter 5, Contract

After showing the physician out the front door, Shen Zhifei went back to the guest room to talk with Zhao Xiaokui.

“You should rest for a bit, I’ll watch over the drip for you. Also, is there anything you wish to eat for when you wake up?”

Feeling a bittersweet taste lingering in her mouth that was unique to chocolate, Zhao Xiaokui blurted out, “Chocolate?”

Raising her eyebrow, Shen Zhifei quietly chuckled.

“I mean actual food.”

Just hearing the word food, Zhao Xiaokui’s mouth began to salivate uncontrollably. The past five years for her were torture, and one of the worst parts, was the food. The mermaids may have been an intelligent species, but even they couldn’t start a fire underwater to cook stuff. So they could only eat everything raw. She didn’t know how the adult mermaids who owned territory on land with human servants ate, but for her and the other mermaids who were born and stayed in the deep sea, it was sashimi. All she ate was raw fish, and strange looking creatures she wasn’t sure she could classify as fish. Maybe if she had crossed over as a terrestrial humanoid, she could have learned to till the land, or hunt and cook what she caught. But that was not an option deep under the sea. Zhao Xiaokui felt that one of the reasons she had lost her will to survive was partly due to the poor food and cuisine in the other world.

As she was thinking about what she wanted to eat, the names of countless dishes would fly through her head, calling out her name. However, despite craving so many dishes, Zhao Xiaokui could only push the words back down and act more reservedly instead.

“I’m not a picky eater, please feel free to make what you want.”

Despite her desires, Zhao Xiaokui needed to upkeep her public persona, making sure it didn’t collapse. She had to be the actress Zhao Zijin who she saw in the messages with the manager, she couldn’t be Zhao Xiaokui, at least not yet. Zhao Zijin was the stage name of the persona her body had made. A persona that would starve herself for three days straight, surviving only on medicine and water to get by, just so she could wear a certain dress. Such a person probably wouldn’t suddenly crave crayfish or dry rabbit hotpot because of a small bout of low blood pressure. She was already beating herself up over asking for chocolate earlier.

Although Zhao Xiaokui didn’t plan on keeping up the actress persona of Zhao Zijin, she also couldn’t break it instantly and start acting like a completely different person. She wanted to decrease the chances of her abilities being discovered as much as possible. After all, even though in her original 18 years of life in this world, she hadn’t encountered anything supernatural, that didn’t mean that the supernatural didn’t exist here, it was just rare or not easily recognized. The Shuiguai from today was proof of that. So while it was unlikely anyone would discover her abnormality, there still existed slim small chance.

Despite being back home, and fulfilling her deepest wish, Zhao Xiaokui’s nerves were still as tight as they had been in the other world. The difference was that in the other world, she was worried about being attacked and killed. In this world, she was most worried about being discovered, and thrown on a dissection table to be studied for the sake of “human progress”. As someone who has technically died twice already, she didn’t want to die a third time. Her goal now was to quietly live an ordinary, normal, everyday  life.

After resting her chin in her palm for a moment, Shen Zhifei looked back at Zhao Xiaokui.

“I remember hearing from your fans that you have a serious stomach problem. How about drinking some chicken soup?” She asked.

“I’m sorry to bother you.” Apologized to Zhao Xiaokui.

“It’s just a small matter, no need to be overly concerned about it. Anyone who had encountered you would have been more than willing to lend a hand.”

“You're a good person,” Zhao Xiaokui’s eyes grew complicated as she replied, feeling guilty; Although it wasn’t actually her, she had been acting like a green tea bitch, one that had stolen Shen Zhifei’s fiancé and played with his heart. Despite that, Shen Zhifei had been nothing but kind to her. That made Zhao Xiaokui feel ashamed of herself. While she didn’t respond, Shen Zhifei did appear to have understood what Zhao Xiaokui was implying. However, she didn’t explain anything about why she was so willing to help. She just told Zhao Xiaokui to have a good rest, looked at the height of the remaining liquid in the infusion bottle, turned around, and left the room.

Shen Zhifei didn’t view herself as a good person. She knew that if it had been a stranger standing where Zhao Xiaokui was, about to faint or having already fainted, she wouldn’t have done anything personally herself. At most she would call over an assistant to sort the situation out for her while she continued on her way. The reason she was treating Zhao Xiaokui so well wasn’t only because she was an acquaintance, but also because she had been captivated by her beauty.

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Zhao Xiaokui watched on as the door to the guest room was slowly closed shut with a soft click, before immediately curling up in a ball on the bed, clenching her teeth in order to keep down a scream of pain. Her previous innocent and dainty expression could no longer be found, replaced by a hideous expression that resembled a demon from hell. Pain didn’t discriminate against who it affected  because of somebody’s looks, no matter how pretty the person was.

She could feel her bones deep inside break down and reassemble themselves inside of her, as her muscles squirmed beneath her skin, tearing apart before stitching themselves back together again. Her nerves and tendons were stretched to their limit feeling as if they would snap at any moment, with no sign of the tension being let go. Although she had been able to suppress the transformation so far through sheer force of will, she could no longer hold on. Her heart beat that she had forcibly calmed down for the doctor, began to race again, surpassing the rate of what a normal human could withstand. The excessive speed was caused by her body’s need for more oxygen to feed her transformation. As she struggled to breath, she began to feel some relief as she felt her pores on her skin open up, starting to absorb the extra oxygen and moisture in the air. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, as the room was depleted of air, and a whistling sound came from a crack in one of the windows, as air was pushed through the tiny gap.

Zhao Xiaokui was suffocating, feeling like a fish stuck on dry land. She heard a low earthly rumble in her ears, as her vision dimmed as the pain rushed into her eyes, as if glass shards had pierced them. These changes happened quickly and rapidly, making her feel like she wanted to die. The pain was driving her insane. As the pain shifted away from her ears to the other parts of her body, she could hear a sound. Hoping to distract herself from the pain, Zhao Xiaokui latched onto that sound, focusing on it as much as possible..

It was the sound of Shen Zhifei in the other room, walking from the living room to the kitchen. She could hear her washing the rice in the sink as well as chopping up the chicken and vegetables on the counter. The rhythmic sound of the knife against the cutting board, and the steady breathing of Shen Zhifei seeped into Zhao Xiaokui, easing the intense pain coursing through her.

However, the relief didn’t last long as the pain continued to grow in intensity. It was like even the tips of her hair could feel it. Jerking in pain, Zhao Xiaokui broke free of the infusion hose. The needle that had been lodged in her vein was torn out, and it felt like someone had shot her in the arm. Her body quickly repaired the small hole left in her arm by the needle, but it couldn’t prevent blood from splashing out, splattering the bed and in blood.

With a click, the door opened again. Having put the rice and chicken in the slow cooker to stew, Shen Zhifei decided to check on Zhao Xiaokui, and make sure nothing happened to the drip. Originally imagining the image of a sleeping beauty lying peacefully in bed, she was shocked to find Zhao Xiaokui hugging herself with her legs pulled towards her abdomen, curled up into a ball on the bed. Her body was shaking uncontrollably as a low, bestial like growl emanated from her.

This wasn’t just low blood sugar, this was something else. Rushing over, Shen Zhifei tried to check on Zhao Xiaokui, but before her outstretched hand could grab the shaking body, her wrist was caught by a slender hand. The hand looked soft and slender, but the force betrayed its true strength. If not for the fact that she could still move her fingers, she would have thought her wrist had been broken. Looking at Zhao Xiaokui on the bed, Shen Zhifei’s eyes grew worried as they saw the blood leaking from Zhao Xiaokui’s eyes stain the white sheets on the bed below.

“I’m sorry.” Shen Zhifei heard Zhao Xiaokui’s aching voice say. Shen Zhifei was puzzled, sorry for what? While confused, Shen Zhifei suddenly felt a pain in her forearm, as a pale finger quickly cut it open. Placing her own finger in her mouth, Zhao Xiaokui bit down with her sharp fangs, drawing blood, before rubbing the blood over the cut she made on Shen Zhifei’s arm. Shen Zhifei, had just stabilized herself with her free hand after being pulled forwards by Zhao Xiaokui, before feeling a deep pain spread throughout her body before converging on her chest and disappearing.

Pulling open her shirt without a care, Shen Zhifei saw a red symbol slowly appear overtop where her heart was. She touched the symbol, it was soft and smooth just like the skin around it. But she could feel that something fundamental had changed deep within her soul. Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked at the shivering girl who had just injured her.

“What’s this?” She asked, in a surprisingly calm and deep voice.

“A contract.” Said Zhao Xiaokui, struggling to speak as her voice shook in pain. “It’s…  a confi…delity contract, if you leak… passive…ly or actively… my secret… you will… die of a… heart attack. I’m sorry.” Zhao Xiaokui truly felt sorry for what she had done, as guilt continued to emanate from the depth of her heart.

“I can’t… let… anyone…” Before she could even finish her sentence, Zhao Xiaokui lost control and let out an inhuman animalistic roar, before quickly surpassing it again.

Contract…

Shen Zhifei felt like her world had just turned upside down. Not only had she been forced to sign a contract against her consent that had not been reviewed by both parties, it was also a supernatural contract that was death binding. Even though Zhao Xiaokui said this contract was only to keep her secret, a person who knew nothing about the supernatural had no right to judge the validity of that statement.

Having used significant strength to create the contract with Shen Zhifei, Zhao Xiaokui turned away from her and once again focused on herself and trying to control the changes and pain in her body. She knew what she did to Shen Zhifei was wrong, but she couldn’t see any other way in the moment, she couldn’t go to the hospital, she couldn’t risk being discovered. She wouldn’t blame Shen Zhifei if she became angry or not out of fear. Feeling Shen Zhifei’s presence came closer, she tense up even more in fear of what she would do, and was shocked by what happened. Shen Zhifei rested her hand on her forehead, feeling her temperature.

“I think you might need my help, what should I do?”

Her voice was calm and steady, as if nothing had happened.

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