The sky was pitch black, without moon or stars, and a wind began to rise over the sea.
The three bodyguards who had rescued Adolf from the jaws of death glanced one last time at their brothers who had perished in the turmoil, then quickened their pace on the last remaining raft, and before the sharks could catch up with their scent, they left the sea, littered with floating corpses, carrying with them their hopes.
In a short while, the raft disappeared without a trace, and small bubbles rose to the surface of the sea, like boiling water. Soon, the small bubbles turned into large bubbles, and a huge clam shell slowly emerged.
When the clam shell opened, four wet heads emerged from it. One of the smaller heads belonged to a mermaid with a colorful mermaid tail and a head of uneven, multicolored short hair.
The Five-Star Mermaid's Tears card is indeed extraordinary, truly living up to its description: the mermaid race, beloved by the ocean.
The three boys touched Cheng Shuang's short hair, which was messy yet incredibly smooth, with great curiosity, and exclaimed in admiration. Perhaps due to the girl's age, the mermaid she had transformed into had no gender symbol. Her upper body was covered with a luxurious pearl lining, and her skin shone with a golden light. With her short hair, she looked more like a mermaid cub whose gender was indistinguishable.
The girl's transparent, fin-like ears twitched. She pushed aside three large hands and looked down at the man whose face was completely destroyed and whose white bones were exposed on one shoulder.
When Cheng Shuang found him and dragged him into the clam shell, he completely lost consciousness and never woke up again.
Du Jun reached out and checked Hu Zi's breath, then gently shook his head.
Even a rational, even cold-hearted, teenager would be shaken when recalling the events of that time.
If Tiger hadn't used his skills to resist for half a second at the moment the shells hit, thus delaying his escape by jumping into the sea, he probably wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state, with no chance of recovery.
But if he didn't do that, they would be the ones who died in the sea from their serious injuries before Cheng Shuang could rescue them.
Hei Zishan and Lie Fu fell silent. Hu Zi's injuries meant that even if all the white and red pills the four of them used, it would be of no use. The white pills could heal, but they couldn't fix the damage to his body, which was so bad that his organs were exposed. He was still alive only because of his own willpower.
The little girl fled in such a disheveled state that she had no idea of the sacrifice Tiger had made. Driven by the kindness in her heart, she took out the few white and red pills she had left after healing her wounds and tried to stuff them into Tiger's mouth.
Her movements were too hasty; she didn't manage to insert the medicine, but instead woke the person up.
Tiger's face was half covered in blood, his features contorted in a grotesque rage. He turned his head slightly away, stopping the little girl from feeding him the medicine. Seeing the child's worried gaze, his pain-blurred eyes cleared a little. Then, several things appeared in his blood-soaked palm, which rolled into the clam shell as soon as they appeared.
"Here...here you go!" Hu Zi's voice was hoarse and strained, as if he were leaking air. He looked at Cheng Shuang and then fell silent with his eyes open.
The little girl's eyes instantly reddened. Watching Du Jun close Hu Zi's eyelids, she turned away and secretly rubbed the corner of her eye with the back of her hand. She suddenly felt an indescribable emotion filling her body, pressing heavily on her heart.
Lie Fu and Hei Zi Shan picked up the remnants from the clam shell and handed them over. Cheng Shuang thanked them but had no interest in looking at them. She stuffed them into her spatial storage and looked up to ask Du Jun, "Are we leaving?"
Du Jun was taken aback, realizing once again just how intelligent the little girl was. A strange look flashed across his face, but he quickly regained his usual indifferent expression, nodded slightly, and took out a card to swipe.
A life-size model of a cruise ship soared into the air. Cheng Shuang only heard Hei Zishan shout "Goodbye" before she was back in the convenience store in a flash.
As she stood up, the one-time mermaid card completely disappeared, and five figures appeared one after another in the empty store.
Du Jun, Sun Han, Liu Juan, Du Lanshan, and Du Lushui—not one is missing.
The little girl breathed a sigh of relief; she didn't want to see anyone she knew leave again anytime soon.
Du Jun also breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, he didn't have any deep feelings for these unfamiliar companions; he was just afraid of affecting Cheng Shuang's emotions. She was still too young. Even if she acted like a little adult, she was still a fragile child. Perhaps she would become numb in the future, but definitely not now.
It must be said that their time together through this cycle of reincarnation has honed an extraordinary tacit understanding between Cheng Shuang and Du Jun, and at the same time, it has allowed them to understand each other better than anyone else.
Du Jun felt a little nervous. Avoiding Cheng Shuang's gaze, he called out to his other companions, "I'm going to take a shower." After saying that, he went into the bathroom first.
The Du brothers, Du Lanshan and Du Lushui, waved their hands in response and huddled together to whisper about their respective experiences.
Liu Juan took out a clean towel and dried the little girl's short hair, lamenting as she did so, "How did your perfectly good hair get like this!"
Everyone has some scars, but compared to these two smallest ones, it's like comparing a large house to a small house.
Even though Cheng Shuang had taken several red and white pills, the scars on her forehead, neck, and arms couldn't be concealed. Moreover, their clothes were tattered, making them look like they had just escaped from an explosion.
The little girl smiled gently and didn't say anything.
After another round of hardships, Liu Juan's habit of losing control of her emotions and crying when she was nervous has improved significantly. After her nerves relaxed, she developed a habit of nagging again, saying things like, "At such a young age, I'm afraid she's become autistic! It's okay, it's okay, it's good that she survived!"
She herself had escaped from a place fraught with danger, so she naturally understood how much pressure the scene inside the Gate of Reincarnation would put on a normal person, let alone a child who was not yet an adult.
The wiping motions were quite varied, but actually very gentle. Since she didn't know how to soothe the children, Liu Juan simply told them about the monsters she encountered in the puppet house to distract them and broaden their horizons.
Sun Han lifted the empty glasses frame, inexplicably adding the word "scheming" to the description of his female teammate's talkative nature.
It's only because Cheng Shuang is such an unusual child that if it were any other child, their own experiences would already be terrifying enough, and now they would have to listen to scary stories, they would probably go crazy.
The unusual little girl, Cheng Shuang, exclaimed in horror, "Sister Liu Juan, this is terrifying! You actually encountered a group of puppets!"
Yes, the little girl's biggest fear since childhood has been lifelike dolls. She always felt that lifelike dolls had souls, that they were real children trapped inside by an evil demon king...
She patted her chest with relief, "Luckily I didn't go to the puppet house, otherwise I would definitely be too scared to sleep."
Liu Juan smiled wryly, "I really haven't been able to sleep for several nights." The scene of being surrounded by puppets holding knives as soon as she opened her eyes was incredibly refreshing.
Du Jun came out drying his hair. He had changed into a black sporty outfit he had bought on the cruise ship. He nodded to Liu Juan, indicating that he could take Cheng Shuang to get a bath.
Liu Juan grabbed a bunch of bottles and jars and eagerly dragged the little girl into the bathroom.
There was nothing she could do. The puppet house had everything, it just depended on whether she dared to act alone. Unfortunately, she didn't dare. It was already a miracle that she could survive and return. She didn't dare to think about anything more.
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