Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off-Chapter 371: Meeting the Young Mermens

As the adrenaline from the reunion began to fade, Su Qinglan finally noticed something moving beneath the surface of the clear water.

She looked down through the waves, and her eyes widened in shock.

Beneath Lan Yue’s waist, there was no longer a pair of legs. Instead, a long, beautiful, shimmering blue tail was gracefully sweeping back and forth, cutting through the water with ease.

"Lan Yue! Your legs!" Su Qinglan gasped, splashing slightly in her surprise. "You have a tail!"

Lan Yue’s face immediately turned a bright shade of pink. She looked down at her fins and then back at Su Qinglan, feeling very shy.

"Oh... Qinglan-jie, I forgot you hadn’t seen this before," she whispered, her voice embarrassed.

"We mermaid females can turn our legs into tails when we touch the sea. It is only a partial transformation, though. We cannot turn fully into a marine form like the male beastmen can. We always keep our upper bodies like this."

Su Qinglan was fascinated. She forgot her exhaustion for a moment and paddled in a circle around her little sister, looking at the glowing blue scales from every angle.

"It’s beautiful, Lan Yue. Truly beautiful."

Lan Yue ducked her head, her face getting even redder. "Qinglan-jie, please stop staring and circling me. I feel like my whole world is spinning!" she teased, though her eyes remained shy.

She looked at the crying, drenched cubs and then at the endless horizon where the sun was beginning to beat down on them.

"Sister, we have to be serious. It is not good for us to stay in the open water for so long. I am a mermaid, so I am fine, but you and the cubs are land dwellers. You will tire out, and the cubs might get sick from the salt and the cold."

Lan Yue bit her lip, looking at the vast, empty sea.

"I do not know where we are, but should I let out a mermaid call? It is a special sound that travels far underwater. Any mermaid tribe that is close by would definitely hear it and come to our rescue."

Su Qinglan opened her mouth to agree, but before she could say a single word, the water around them began to vibrate.

"Wait," Lan Yue whispered, her expression suddenly turning sharp. She looked down into the deep, dark blue beneath them.

Her eyes tracked several fast moving shadows that were circling them like sharks. "It seems I do not even need to call them..."

Suddenly, the water erupted.

Then, from beneath the surface, the water rippled, and several figures rose up around them.

Their scales were softer in color, pale blues, silvers, and light greens, and their expressions were far less harsh. They looked younger, more curious than threatening. When their eyes fell on Su Qinglan and Lan Yue, every single one of them froze.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

One of the young mermaid men blinked slowly, his mouth hanging open. "F-females...?"

Another one rubbed his eyes as if he thought he was imagining things. "Two of them... in the same place?"

"And both so beautiful..." a third whispered, completely stunned.

Their eyes sparkled as they swam closer, forgetting all about their formation.

They had thought at first someone had intruded into their home, so they had all come prepared, ready to teach anyone who dared to cross them.

But it left them so surprised to find two beautiful females instead of any intruders.

Now, instead of looking like fierce marine warriors, they looked like a group of excited young men who had just discovered a treasure.

"Where did you come from, females?" one of them asked eagerly. "Are you from the southern reefs? Or the pearl coves?"

Another circled around them, his eyes shining. "I have never seen such smooth skin before. Land dwellers are really different!"

But the moment his gaze dropped lower, his eyes widened dramatically.

"Wait... look!" he gasped, pointing.

All the young men immediately leaned closer. When they saw the long, shimmering blue tail beneath Lan Yue’s waist, their expressions exploded into pure delight.

"A mermaid female!"

"She is so beautiful!"

"Look at her scales... they shine like moonlight!"

"She must be from a noble tribe!"

They began to swim around her in excited circles, chattering like a flock of noisy birds.

One especially bold young man swam a little too close. His eyes were practically glowing as he reached out a hand. "Your tail is so smooth. Can I just..."

Smack!

Lan Yue’s hand shot out and slapped his fingers away.

Her face turned cold, and she glared at him. "Do not touch a female’s tail without permission!"

She was so embarrassed and angry she literally wanted to cry. After all, a mermaid tail was so precious, and she could only show it to her mates.

But now here she was, forced to use this, because this was the only option to swim faster. With her feet, she could only paddle helplessly.

The young man instantly pulled back, his face turning bright red. "I-I am sorry, female! You are just so beautiful, I forgot myself."

Lan Yue turned her head away with a small huff, clearly ignoring him.

The other young men laughed softly, some of them elbowing the embarrassed one.

"Serves you right."

"You scared her."

"Idiot, you cannot touch a female like that, and certainly not her tail."

Lan Yue listened to them, and even more, she was embarrassed. Now she could only pray that they would not think she was actually seducing them. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

So she immediately turned back into her two pairs of legs. Thankfully, her skirt was still wrapped around her waist, so she was not worried about that.

Meanwhile, the first warrior with the scar across his chest watched the whole scene with a tired expression. He let out a slow sigh, as if this was a common occurrence.

Lan Yue took a breath, her expression turning pitiful. She gently held onto Su Qinglan’s arm, looking at the men with watery eyes.

"We are from the Silver Wave Sea," she said softly. "My sister and I were attacked by mad beasts in the water. In the chaos, we got separated from our husbands. We were carried away by the currents and ended up here."

Her voice trembled slightly at the end.

The moment the young mermaid men heard the word husbands, their faces stiffened.

Several of them clutched their chests as if something had stabbed their hearts.

"Husbands...?"

"She is already taken..."

"What a tragedy..."

One even sank a little lower in the water, looking completely heartbroken.