Chapter 333 - 331

Ying Chengye snapped out of his daze and frowned at the killer whale.

Even though it was just a calf, its size and weight were still considerable. There was no way they could get it onto the boat.

That meant he would have to go down into the water to examine it.

But...

Ying Chengye couldn’t swim!

He forced a wry smile. "I can’t swim."

Yun Jiao: "..."

That was the last thing she had expected.

"Third Senior Brother, how about you come down and ride a killer whale?"

She called over an adult killer whale, a close relative of the calf.

Ying Chengye took one look. Since he had come all this way, he didn’t want to turn back now.

So he squeezed his eyes shut, held his breath, and jumped into the sea.

For someone who can’t swim, the moment they hit the water is terrifying. Your feet can’t touch anything solid, and your body flails helplessly.

Fortunately, Ying Chengye didn’t have to wait long. A killer whale shot up from beneath and nudged him to the surface.

The moment he broke the surface, Ying Chengye gasped for air.

He’d nearly suffocated.

’It’s strange,’ he thought. ’I can hold my breath for so long on land, but I can barely last a moment in the water.’

"Third Senior Brother, are you okay?"

Ying Chengye waved his hand. "Let’s examine this killer whale first."

Elder Xu was also eager to get into the sea for a look.

He’d lived this long and had never done anything like it.

"Master, you should stay up there."

Ying Chengye’s tone was resigned. "What if you catch a cold? You’re not as robust as you used to be."

Elder Xu snorted. "This old man’s health regimen is perfectly fine. I don’t need you worrying about me."

Yun Jiao simply called another killer whale over to the side of the boat to keep her master company.

"Be a good boy, Master. Play with this one and don’t come down."

"Hey, you little brat!"

’The world’s turned upside down. Now she’s treating me like a child,’ he grumbled to himself.

But he had to admit, he’d never been this close to a full-grown killer whale before.

Ying Chengye circled the sick little killer whale several times, feeling it all over.

An animal’s anatomy was different from a human’s, so taking its pulse was out of the question.

But Ying Chengye had treated countless animals and was very experienced.

He quickly got a general idea of the problem.

"It ate something it shouldn’t have, something it can’t digest."

He patted the killer whale’s head. "I have a rough idea of where it is. It’s going to need surgery, but I’ve never operated on a killer whale before, so I’m not entirely confident."

"Master, I’ll need some of that waterproof medicine you make."

Elder Xu winced. "Every last one of you is just here to collect debts from me!"

The ingredients for that medicine were precious and numerous, so he couldn’t make much at a time. Last time, that girl Yun Jiao had already taken a whole bottle!

"Oh, Master~~~"

Yun Jiao started wheedling him again.

Elder Xu closed his eyes, grumbling under his breath, "I must really owe you all in a past life. A pack of debt collectors!"

But he didn’t say no.

Yun Jiao and her Third Senior Brother exchanged a look. Hehe...

"I need to go back and prepare," Ying Chengye said. "The surgery will have to be done on shore. We’ll need to find a place where it can stay in the seawater without being able to swim away."

Ying Chengye was already mentally calculating what he would need.

Yun Jiao nodded. After explaining the situation to the killer whales, she headed back.

After Ying Chengye and Elder Xu left, Yun Jiao remembered her original goal for the day and smacked her forehead.

’Oh well,’ she thought. ’I’ll deal with it after the little killer whale’s surgery.’

After the whole family returned, everyone heard from Yun Chenbei about Yun Jiao’s third senior brother and the plan to operate on the little killer whale.

"So there are doctors who specialize in treating animals."

That was something Yun Xiaowu and the others had never known.

Wang Mei knew a little about it. "Of course there are. My family raises so many pigs, and they get sick occasionally. They need medicine and injections then."

"But vets are rare. Around here, there are only one or two in the whole county, and they can only prescribe basic medicine or give injections to pigs and cows. A lot of the time, if an animal gets seriously ill, you can only watch it die."

Yun Jiao propped her chin on her hands as an idea suddenly sparked in her mind.

The Merfolk had a mission to maintain the ocean’s balance; it was engraved in their very being.

The ocean here was relatively peaceful, free from the Demons that became bloodthirsty killers after being corrupted.

But this part of the ocean had its own set of problems.

She often went into the sea and had noticed more and more trash in the water.

Many marine animals got sick from accidentally eating that trash, leaving them unable to eat at all.

There were also discarded fishing nets and lines that easily entangled marine life.

And... if this continued, she could almost see a future where the ocean was completely filled with garbage.

The mere thought of the beautiful ocean—her home—turning into that made Yun Jiao’s fists clench.

’No, absolutely not!’

But she still needed to figure out what to do.

First of all, she had to solve the problem of people littering.

’Third Brother is smart. I have to go discuss it with him.’

Yun Jiao was a person of action. Once she made up her mind, she went to knock on her third brother’s door.

She currently had two things she wanted to do.

One, she had decided what she wanted to study in the future.

Veterinary medicine. As for dancing, singing, and playing instruments, those were just hobbies.

Two, she wanted to build a powerful organization centered around ocean conservation.

After listening to his sister, Yun Chen Nan patted her on the head.

"You need to think this through carefully. If you really want to accomplish those things, you’ll need a lot of funding, and you might even operate at a loss indefinitely."

After all, her focus would be on marine animals and the ocean’s ecosystem. It all sounded like a thankless job; it certainly wouldn’t be profitable.

Yun Jiao’s tone was firm. "Third Brother, I’ve made up my mind."

"I’ll work hard to earn money!"

Yun Chen Nan sighed. "Then go for it."

He said, "I support you."

He thought about the major he had chosen; perhaps he could help Jiaojiao with it.

If nothing else, in the future, he would develop medical equipment for Jiaojiao that could be used to examine marine animals.

After the two siblings finished their discussion, Yun Jiao returned to her room. Looking at the items on her curio shelf, she stroked them reluctantly.

’If I really run out of money, I might have to sell you all one day.’

Hugging a pearl and a Jadeite bracelet, she snuggled them against her face as she lay down on her bed.

"But I will work hard to make money," she murmured.

She fell asleep not long after.

Ying Chengye arrived early the next morning.

This time, Song Chengyou had come with him.

"Little Junior Sister, surprise!"

Song Chengyou swept Yun Jiao into his arms for an enthusiastic hug, nuzzling her soft little cheek. ’Ah, this is the life,’ he thought.

Yun Jiao wrinkled her nose and pushed his big face away.

"My face is covered in soot."

She had just been munching on a roasted sweet potato, and the area around her mouth was smudged with black ash from the skin, making her look like a little kitten.

Song Chengyou said, "It’s fine. Your Senior Brother doesn’t mind."

Yun Jiao: "..."

’But I mind a little!’

Ying Chengye, carrying an old medical bag, said, "Alright, it’s time for us to go."