Swimming alongside the sirens, Xiang Wan quickly adapted to the feeling of her tail paddling in the water, and then began to compete with the sirens.
The two mermaids shot off like arrows, and before they had gone far, they saw Ge Gen's enormous body churning in the sea. With each tumble, a strong smell of blood filled the air.
"You little insects on land, today I, the dragon, will show you what it means to be courting death!"
With a roar, Ge Gen exerted his strength and leaped swiftly towards the sea.
The surging waves carried a group of strong and healthy orcs ashore. They carried weapons and, even after falling into the sea, they did not panic. Instead, they scrambled to move closer to their companions, using their figures to conceal the figure of a fellow orc who was secretly diving to the bottom of the sea.
Xiang Wan and Siren weren't too far apart, but they weren't seen by those people either. By observing their movements, they would know exactly what those people wanted to do.
As dusk fell, she leaned closer to the siren and whispered in his ear.
"Siren, keep an eye on Kudzu. If anything seems amiss, help it. I'll follow that person and find out what their true purpose is."
His lips moved slightly, and a stream of warm seawater splashed against the siren's ear, making him move his gills uncomfortably, but he did not dodge away.
After speaking, Xiang Wan turned around and followed the direction the person was swimming.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the tip of the siren's tail lightly brushed against her waist as she turned around, causing Xiang Wan to instinctively shudder and quickly swim an inch to the side before continuing her tracking plan.
After a moment of doubt, Xiang Wan put it aside.
It seems her body has become more sensitive since becoming a mermaid. She should be careful in the future to avoid similar situations from happening again, lest it embarrass both her and the siren.
Having made up her mind, Xiangwan swam faster, her tail wagging rapidly, and she quickly caught up with the orc and hid behind a rock.
This orc carried only a very sharp wooden stick, held his breath, yet moved with methodical precision. His nose, ears, and eyes resembled those of an otter; once in the water, he used a membrane to protect his eyes from seawater erosion while still being able to see. Folds on either side of his nose tightly blocked his breathing holes.
He seemed to know exactly where he should go. As his direction became more and more towards the old clam's hiding place, Xiang Wan took the lead and had the octopus and the old turtle pretend to fight on the orc's inevitable path, stirring up the silt on the seabed everywhere.
Taking advantage of the situation, Xiang Wan caught several sharks that were trying to ambush them and threw them into their fighting circle. Soon, the smell of blood filled the air, and more sharks came to try and take advantage of the situation, but they were all injured or maimed by the old turtle and the octopus.
The orc observed from a distance for a while, then turned around and swam back the way he came.
To ensure he would bring the information he saw back to the surface with certainty, Xiang Wan even dealt with the sea creatures that were eyeing him.
She wasn't sure if the people on land knew about the Sirens, but she was certain that Water Tiger and the others were unaware that she had transformed into a mermaid during this dramatic change in the ocean. This might be one of her trump cards, and she absolutely couldn't let them know so easily.
After the orc easily made it ashore from the other side, Xiang Wan swam back to the Sirens.
By this time, the sea dragon had already swallowed all the orcs who had gone into the water, and was still roaring at the land from the sea, mocking their overestimation of their abilities.
The sea dragon's roar was heard not only by Long Yue and the others, but also by the water tiger, which was more than ten miles away from the sea.
Before the battle even began, a giant sea monster started to provoke them. Water Tiger's expression was not good. He immediately called someone in and told them to inform the priest that they must kill the sea monster to clear the obstacles for their expedition and prevent it from shaking everyone's resolve.
The priest, who was recovering his strength on the cliff, received the order and had everyone begin to move.
Udon gathered his strength and let out a loud roar towards the sky. Soon, countless seabirds swarmed over, circling above the sea dragon. Before long, they all flew into the sky, then headfirst, and with lightning speed, folded their wings and plunged into the sea.
If there are only a few hundred, the sea dragon will eat as many as it can get its hands on, without any hesitation. But thousands upon thousands of seabirds dive into the water, crashing into the sea dragon's body like a dense swarm of embroidery needles.
Although the sea dragon's scales are numerous and hard, it was still overwhelmed by the attacks of so many seabirds and their sharp beaks. Blood flowed from the seabirds' stabs and pecks near the scales, making it look quite bloody.
The sea dragon was enraged. In its life, even when fighting sea monsters of similar size, it could still put up a fight. But now, under attack, it could barely bite a few birds with its mouth, and its hundred or so legs, apart from paddling, had barely managed to scratch any birds. Its angry roar echoed across the sea, so loud it felt like it would shatter one's eardrums.
After the seabirds' attack, countless bird carcasses were left on the sea surface, which the sea dragon swallowed along with the seawater.
Before it could recover, a swarm of black sharks swarmed over, tearing at the sea dragon's wounds. A dense, overwhelming mass of them sent chills down Xiang Wan's spine.
The sea dragon, in pain, rolled rapidly in the water, managing to shake off many black sharks and kill quite a few in the process. However, the dead black sharks were but a drop in the ocean compared to the ones that had rushed over.
"Siren, Kudzu is probably going to suffer a loss. We have to help it."
Faced with such a large number of black sharks, Xiang Wan was still quite frightened.
These black sharks were clearly manipulated to come here, and now that they've seen blood, they're determined not to leave. Even after Xiang Wan became a mermaid and gained the ability to control such low-level creatures, she couldn't change the instincts of so many black sharks. Those who controlled these black sharks probably took advantage of this, which is why they only lured them here and didn't control them anymore.
"You like it?"
The siren suddenly turned around and asked a strange question, which almost made Xiang Wan choke on her saliva.
"It's a shame that the only sea dragon is dead."
This is Xiang Wan's true thought. Doesn't everyone say we should protect rare animals? Sea dragons are one of them.
“I do have a way, but it’s too bloody, and I’m afraid you wouldn’t want to see it.”
"As long as there's a way, I won't look into it."
The kind of bloodshed that the Sirens spoke of must have been something Xiang Wan had never anticipated. Otherwise, she had witnessed countless scenes of food-losing chaos during their usual hunts, yet the Sirens had never uttered the word "bloodshed."
"Okay, hide well, I'll be right back."
Xiang Wan did as instructed and hid in a cave next to the reef.
If she had known how the Sirens saved the sea dragon, she would never have so easily let him risk his life, even at the risk of exposing her identity.
It was because the Sirens spoke so casually, and she had too much faith in the Sirens' abilities, that the things she didn't want to see happened.
Even knowing that the Sirens had schemed against her, Xiang Wan couldn't bring herself to hate him; this was probably the fate she had once desperately wanted to deny. And she didn't want to accept her fate.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
