“I came looking for you yesterday, but I couldn’t find you. I heard that a black merman escaped from your area. I was wondering if you had any news about Wenxi.” Belle explained her background directly.

"No, we ran away the night we caught him, and we didn't even have time to ask him anything," Lin Hu said truthfully. He didn't even know how he got back or how he had fallen into the other party's trap.

Lin Hu sensed that Belle was a little nervous, so he asked, "What happened?"

"..."

Belle hesitated for a few seconds before speaking, "There are rumors in our tribe that they saw Winsy turn into a black merman and kill a lot of white mermen."

It's clear that Belle didn't believe the rumor at all when she said that.

Lin Hu suddenly remembered what happened when he caught the black mermaids, so he decided to ask Belle about the number of black mermaids.

“The first one we caught was another black merman, the one you encountered before. Then another black merman came and let her escape,” Lin Hu said, then thought about the characteristics of that black merman.

"She's a short-haired mermaid with light-colored hair that's fluffy like cotton," Lin Hu said, pulling up a section of her hair to demonstrate.

Duan Linzhou looked at Lin Hu, walked over and sat down next to him, without saying a word, just watching quietly.

Lin Hu's gestures were too abstract; Belle couldn't understand what he was trying to describe at all.

Lin Hu also gave up gesturing under Belle's increasingly confused gaze, and suddenly thought of Belle's summer dress and legs that had turned into human legs...?

"Aren't you cold?" Lin Hu asked, puzzled.

Belle shook her head: "We mermaids live in the deep sea, where the water is much colder than up here."

"And what about your fishtail?" Lin Hu asked again. The story of the mermaid who went to the witch to exchange her legs for the prince flashed through his mind.

As if she could guess what Lin Hu was thinking, Belle immediately explained, "We mermaids can control our tails and legs at will if we want to."

"Then why did those two black merfolk still use their tails after they came ashore?" Lin Hu muttered casually, but Belle overheard him.

“That’s because we’re stronger in our mermaid form,” Belle immediately explained.

Come to think of it, once a fight breaks out, it's impossible for them to suddenly grow legs to fight.

"So, as far as you know, how many black merfolk are there in total?" Lin Hu asked again, reaching into the fruit bowl on the coffee table and taking out a persimmon, which he handed to Belle.