My birthday is over, and the end of the year is just around the corner.
The royal satisfaction survey on the StarNet has become even more intense, with members of the royal family of different statuses vying to be the top performer.
Helian Tu's ranking dropped significantly due to the two previous incidents, and he is now ranked thirteenth.
Helian Jue has settled into third place, which Eleanor is very satisfied with, as it perfectly meets her initial expectations.
"Xiaxia." Qiao You and Su Xia each occupied a lounge chair, resting by the pool.
Su Xia has been in good spirits these past few days, with a smile often on her face. Qiao You was very curious, "Did something good happen to you?"
"Hmm! No, I don't." Su Xia smiled shyly and denied it.
Qiao You didn't press further. Everyone has their own secrets; that's called a sense of boundaries!
He had been feeling a slight soreness in his tail lately, but the pain wasn't very intense, so he hadn't told his brother.
"Xiaxia, does your tail hurt?" Qiao You described his condition. Xiaxia was much older than him, so perhaps she would know?
Su Xia sat up and looked at Qiao You's tail. "Where exactly is it that's uncomfortable?"
Qiao You drew a circle with his finger, "All of them."
"I've never had this before, should we go to the Spirit Pet Pavilion?"
"I'll have Su Yinchen take us there together."
Qiao You snapped his fingers. He knew that his origins were different from Xia Xia's and the others, and that strictly speaking, they were not the same species.
Xiaxia didn't feel uncomfortable, which means that this reaction is not something that is shared by merfolk and mermaids. She was afraid that if she went to the spirit pet pavilion, someone would discover something was wrong.
"No need, wait...when my brother comes back, I'll have him take me." Qiao You refused. Her brother had gone to White Tower Star on business and didn't know when he would return.
Seeing that Qiao You was determined, Su Xia did not try to persuade him further. "Alright, let's wait for His Highness to return before we go."
The two sat on the shore for a while, and Su Xia wagged her tail and said, "Youyou, want to go swimming?"
Qiao You was listless, shook his head, and didn't want to move.
Su Xia had to go into the pool by herself, while Qiao You drifted off to sleep on the lounge chair.
Su Xia swam several laps in the pool, then got out and found Youyou asleep. She took a towel from the side and covered her with it.
As Qiao You drifted off to sleep, it was as if he had returned to the sea area where he had lived since childhood; every seaweed, coral, and cave was so familiar...
Qiao You gradually calmed down from her initial panic and swam towards the Mermaid Palace, wagging her tail.
That was his home, the home where he lived with his father and mother.
The further you walk, the clearer the view becomes.
Many clansmen came and went, greeting him with smiles.
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
"Where did the young prince go to play again?"
"Your Highness, I have found a very large pearl, and I would like to present it to you!"
"Your Highness, we're going on a deep-sea expedition tomorrow, are you coming?"
...
Everyone was warm and respectful; this was something Qiao You had personally experienced, as he had lived that kind of life before.
Qiao You couldn't understand where he was. Had he returned to ancient Earth?
Not daring to think too deeply, Qiao You smiled and replied a couple of times, then quickened his pace and swam toward the Mermaid Palace.
Father, Mother, Youyou is back!
Qiao You returned to the palace he knew so well. When he was little, his father would let him sit on his shoulders and take him around the palace; his mother would chase after him with food to feed him.
The once bustling palace is now completely silent, without a sound.
"Father!"
"Mother!"
Qiao You began searching the vast palace, but it was empty; there was no one there…
But he saw many of his people. They had just returned from hunting, so how could they have suddenly disappeared?
Qiao You hurriedly swam back, but the place where he had just seen his people was completely silent, like a mermaid palace.
It's all empty! It's all empty!
There was no father, no mother, no clansmen, and... no brother.
Where am I right now?
Qiao You is desperate. What should he do?
He can't find his clansmen, his father, his mother, or his brother. What should he do?
Qiao You forced himself to remain calm, looked up at the sea, where faint sunlight shone through, and swam towards the surface, wagging his tail.
He's going to check what's happening outside. Is it covered in ice?
Qiao You swam very fast and soon reached the surface of the sea.
The sea used to be blue, but now it's whitish, and so is the sky—it's all white.
Qiao swam a long distance towards land, and the closer he got to land, the colder it became.
Why is it so cold?
The land looked exactly the same as I remembered, except that very few people went out. When I did see someone, they were always dressed very warmly, not revealing an inch of skin. It was no longer the bustling and prosperous place it used to be.
so……
Is this what happened after he inexplicably left ancient Earth?
His father and mother had a premonition that the mermaid clan was about to suffer a great calamity, so they hurriedly sent him away. Could it be that his clan met with misfortune as soon as he left the mermaid palace?
But what kind of calamity?
The land temperature on ancient Earth plummeted, and people were powerless to stop it, so they could only stay indoors and not go out.
Thinking of the ice balls from Earth's interstellar era, Qiao You had a bold idea: as the temperature dropped lower and lower, everything on the entire planet would be frozen.
Qiao You stopped on the sea, gazing into the distance. So what about him?
Were his experiences in interstellar space a dream? Or is he currently living in a dream?
Qiao You cannot be confirmed.
Xiaxia, Sister Nuonuo, Lin Zhong... and his beloved brother.
Brother, was meeting you just a dream?
Suddenly, Qiao You felt his fishtail go numb, and his entire body plummeted downwards, falling into the deepest part of the body.
Mermaids can breathe freely in the sea and never feel this way, but Qiao You felt suffocated.
It hurts so much!
elder brother……
Qiao You gradually saw the sunlight on the sea moving further and further away from him, until he could no longer see that only light, and finally he fell into the abyss.
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