Mermaid

Mermaids are the trump cards among gods and demons.

They can not only manipulate the weather, but also bewitch enemies who accidentally see their eyes.

Legend has it that mermaids originally belonged to the human realm. However, because their tears turned into pearls and they were skilled at weaving, their mermaid silk was worth a fortune. Humans forced them to weave waterless dragon silk day and night, forcing them to weep for the sake of precious pearls. Even after their tears had almost dried up, humans continued to whip the mermaids, squeezing out their last bit of value.

The merfolk harbored resentment towards humans. Later, they discovered their own abilities, triggered a tsunami, escaped back into the sea, joined the demon race, and became irreconcilably opposed to humans.

But the rumors were just rumors, and few people believed them.

While Qi Yuan and the others were fighting fiercely, this mermaid stood still without moving an inch.

Qi Yuan slowly circled around to the merman's back, her eyes fixed on the soles of her feet, attacking solely by instinct and trying her best not to look at him.

The scales on the mermaid's tail were as hard as armor. With a crisp sound, the severed tail was completely unharmed.

She raised her hand higher, aiming it at what she thought was the other person's neck, and swung it forcefully. The merman hid in the water, and when she emerged, she pushed Qi Yuan's "Frost" against it. The sword became unstable, and she almost fell in.

Qi Yuan tried her best to stay steady, but the merman controlled the water to continue impacting the sword beneath her feet.

She lost her balance and fell, and just as she was about to fall into the water, she unexpectedly saw the mermaid's eyes.

The merman had long, thick, jet-black hair that was wet and cascading over his shoulders. His skin was as white as a cloud. His ears were fish fins, and his scales shimmered with a pale blue light. His face had a smooth, even contour, and his lips were rosy and smiling.

His pupils were crystal clear, a beautiful blue like a gemstone. Qi Yuan saw the allure, the brokenness, and the pain shimmering in his eyes.

She was captivated by those eyes just before she fell into the water.

*

The setting sun casts its golden rays upon the sea, creating shimmering waves that crash against the rocks, while colorful seashells are scattered across the beach.

There was some movement on the water. Two mermaids swam to the shore, one tall and one short, both looking very excited.

Where is this? An illusion? Qi Yuan is in a sealed space and can clearly see the scene before her.

The taller merman had flowing white hair like silk, delicate skin, sparkling blue eyes, and a bright smile on her face. Upon closer inspection, this merman's features were similar to those of the one from Yansha Kingdom, only slightly more youthful.

So it seems she exists in the mermaid's memory.

The little mermaid wasn't used to the sunlight, so it dived back into the water and stayed there for a while. The other mermaid, deeply curious about where humans lived, cried out when it saw buildings in the distance.

"Brother, we can't stay away from the water for too long, how are we going to get there?" the little mermaid asked, blinking her eyes.

The merman gently stroked her head, his voice excited: "Shu'er, be good, someone will definitely come to pick us up! So many of our people went to the human world and never came back. They must have been living too comfortably and didn't want to go back. Do you see that enormous, sky-colored thing? It's so beautiful. I heard that humans live inside it."

Shu'er smiled innocently and said, "Okay! If it's really that good, then let's go back home too, brother!"

"That won't do! Our parents are still underwater!" he scolded. "Hey, there are some humans coming over there! They must be here to get us!"

Three people in the distance saw two heads emerge from the shore and ran over excitedly, scrambling to grab them: "Two merfolk! We've struck it rich!"

"Get lost, Dog Egg! I spotted it first!"

"..."

The merman looked at the three people who almost fell while trying to catch them, and was touched by their enthusiasm. He cleared his throat and said gently, "Hello, my name is Quanlai, and this is my sister Quanshu! We are both from the merman race. Could you please take us ashore?"

"...Of course! We're all from the human realm, and this is the Kingdom of Bolan, so it's perfectly fine." Liu Gou Dan's tone betrayed his barely suppressed glee.

"You two, why aren't you carrying our two distinguished guests ashore?" He glanced at the two men sideways.

Quanlai and Quanshu were lifted ashore, completely out of the water for the first time, their fish tails aching from the intense sunlight.

"Um, we'll die if we stay away from water for too long. Is there any water along the way?" Quanlai asked.

The three hurriedly brought over a box of water bags. Two of them were responsible for carrying one mermaid at a time, while Liu Gou Dan was responsible for splashing water from the water bags onto their fish tails every now and then.

Quanshu asked curiously, "Do you live in these squares? Where are my brother and I going? Can we meet our people?"

“This is called a house. Of course, it’s a nice place to take you two distinguished guests. As for the clansmen… you will meet them.” Liu Er answered patiently, revealing a meaningful smile when he said the last sentence.

The other two laughed when they heard this, but Quanlai continued to talk non-stop: "Where we're from, we also have a Fish Tail Festival. To celebrate this festival, every merman touches their tail!"

"Hmm... Oh, okay." The three of them eventually lost their patience and gave a perfunctory reply.

"We've arrived." Li San finally stopped in front of a luxurious palace. "Distinguished guests, please stay inside and enjoy yourselves."

Upon seeing this extremely magnificent building, Quan Lai's eyes lit up with amazement. After entering, he discovered that the palace was even larger, with many portraits on the walls that he couldn't understand.

At the end of the path, there is a large fish tank made of gold and studded with diamonds and pearls.

"Please come in, both of you," Liu Er said.

Quanlai felt much more comfortable after entering the fish tank, but the space he could move around in was too small. It was only enough for him and his sister to stretch out their tails, and they couldn't swim at all.

He tried to speak, but found that the fish tank seemed to be affected by some force, and he could not make a sound, as did Quan Shu.

Li Gou Dan said with a sinister smile, "You will have to stay here for a while. We will take you two to meet our clansmen."

Quanlai was relieved and gave a grateful smile.

He soon discovered that there were many, many people in the "palace," and they were all watching the two of them.

"Both mermaids are more beautiful this time than last time!"

"I'm bringing my friends to see the merfolk tomorrow. It's been so long, but it's finally happening again."

"His pupils are so beautiful! Can we dig them out and display them?"

"..."

A group of people were chattering away. Quanlai stood in front of his sister to look through the glass. He only understood some of what they said. Although he was happy that humans praised them for being good-looking, he felt very uncomfortable with their blatant stares.

He had told three humans that the merfolk consumed energy quickly and needed to eat four meals a day, but the three humans didn't seem to listen and only sent food three times, each time giving only two small fish.

Quanlai comforted herself, thinking that she must have said too much and the humans had gotten confused. She would repeat it to her tribespeople when she went to see them.

Even though he was starving himself, he still gave his fish to his sister when he saw how hungry she looked.

After an unknown amount of time, Quanlai had grown accustomed to the crowd in front of her and the feeling of being hungry.

It wasn't until fewer and fewer people came to see them that he had a premonition that they were about to leave.

Finally, they saw the three of them again.

This time was different. The three men roughly dragged them up, threw them to the ground, and tied them up with rope.

Quanlai had been in such a small space for a long time without moving around, and could only pat the ground with her beautiful fishtail: "It hurts."

"Hmph. It's supposed to hurt, so why aren't you crying?" Li Gou Dan grabbed two dirty handkerchiefs and stuffed them into their mouths.

Tears welled up in Quan Shu's eyes immediately. Li Er laughed and pinched her bound arms hard again. Sure enough, tears streamed down her face, the crystal-clear tears falling to the ground like pearls.

"We've struck it rich!" Li San knelt on the ground picking up pearls. "If you push her any further, this woman might drop even more. And that effeminate man, he looks neither male nor female, if you hit him a few times he'll probably cry."

Quan Lai got angry, and his violent struggle was to no avail. He turned his face away, the red marks were still there, and his cheeks burned with pain.

He was the son of the Mermaid King's cousin, and had never been beaten. He was pampered for sixteen years and had a very simple view of the world.

He felt his eyes stinging, but he dared not cry, desperately holding back his tears.

Quanlai had a gut feeling that if he cried today, things would get really bad later. So, he absolutely couldn't cry.

However, he couldn't withstand the human's constant kicking, and tears still welled up uncontrollably.

"Money everywhere!" Li Er smiled with satisfaction.

Li Gou Dan slapped Quan Shu again, saying with a sour smile, "Take them over first, there's plenty of time ahead of us anyway."

Quan Lai looked up angrily, his scarlet eyes glaring at Li Gou Dan. His hostility was so obvious that Li Gou Dan beat him up severely, and he passed out.

When he opened his eyes again, he was locked in a special water prison. There was a shallow layer of dirty water on the ground. Staying in this environment could only ensure that he wouldn't die.

"Xiao Lai?" A familiar voice reached his ears, and Quan Lai turned around abruptly. Many mermaids looked at him with heartache.

"Uncle? Younger Uncle? Aunt?" He asked in a trembling voice, looking at each of the merfolk, all of whom he recognized.

It turns out that the reason they didn't return to the seabed was because they couldn't return.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that each merman had deep and shallow wounds on its body, and one of them had gone blind from crying; its once beautiful blue eyes were now empty and lifeless.

“You, you all…” Quan Lai said in disbelief.

"Brother!!" Quan Shu threw herself into his arms, crying uncontrollably.

Quanlai gently patted her back, bent down and picked up the pearls one by one from the ground, silently hiding them in the fish fins.

Humans seem to have a particular fondness for pearls.

"You've been here for so long, what... what have you been through..." Despair appeared on Quan Lai's face.

"The dragon silk we weave is very precious to them. Starting tomorrow... humans will make you and Xiao Shu weave dragon silk all day long. They will also take time each day to force us to cry. If we can't cry anymore, they will pluck our scales and make something called armor," the elderly merman said slowly.

A younger merman cried out indignantly, "Humans have eaten our people!"

“…What?!” Quan Lai’s pupils dilated in shock, and she was almost speechless.