Chapter 37: The Legend of Mermaids and Shipwrecks
Aurora frowned. At this point, she realized how difficult the problem was and looked worried.
Is the first important hurdle of this journey so tricky?
Different from the girl's sad face, the boy looked relaxed, as if what the princess said was not a problem.
Rhine knew very well that the record that "mermen are quite scary and will cause disasters and attack ships passing through this sea area" only came from the documents of the Kingdom of Rose.
The Kingdom of Rose is not near the sea. These records about the mermaid kingdom are actually third- and fourth-hand information that has been spread by word of mouth, most of which come from exaggerated descriptions by sailors who fell into the water in other countries, and various unrealistic fantasies!
After carefully studying the documents recording the mermaid kingdom, Rhine discovered that the evidence for the so-called "mermans creating disasters and attacking passing ships" was actually this: when certain ships passed through this sea area, sailors would occasionally see several mermaids floating on the water at dusk, holding hands and singing melodious songs.
——The song was more beautiful than any human singer could sing. But the content of the song was extremely horrifying, as if it was praising the depth and beauty of the seabed.
The song seemed to be sung for the sailors, and the words were telling the sailors not to be afraid of sinking into the sea and to embrace the beautiful seabed.
However, for the sailors on the ship, there is nothing more terrifying than the bottom of the sea.
It would be fine if it were just some scary songs, but the scarier thing is that all ships that hear the mermaids' songs are like being cursed, and almost without exception, they will encounter accidents immediately.
Even if the sea was as calm as a lake, it would become furious the next second. The sky suddenly turned cloudy, dark clouds covered the sky, and a violent storm roared, raising huge waves more than ten meters high, swallowing up the ship. Almost all the sailors sank to the bottom of the sea - just as the mermaid's ballad sang.
Very few crew members survived the shipwreck and told the horror story, calling it the "Curse of the Mermaid."
However, in Rhine's opinion, the so-called "mermaid curse" is most likely a misunderstanding! According to the description in "The Daughter of the Sea", whenever a storm is about to come, the sisters in the Sea King's Palace like to float to the surface of the sea hand in hand, and sing beautiful songs in front of passing ships, saying how lovely it is under the water, praising the beauty of the seabed and the Sea King's Palace. Obviously, other mermaids should have similar habits.
Obviously, the mermaids don't know how terrifying the ocean they live in is to humans.
You sang the beauty of the seabed in front of sailors who were most afraid of shipwrecks, and then the disaster really came. It's no wonder that humans are terrified of you and regard you as monsters that bring disaster... Rhine silently complained.
The next second, Aurora's question pulled the boy out of his thoughts: "So, should we find a guide who is familiar with the underwater world? The world is so big, maybe there is a magician who knows about or has even been to the mermaid kingdom?"
"Indeed, there is a guide who knows the mermaid kingdom well," Rhine said.
"Who?" Aurora pricked up her ears curiously.
"A sage from outside the world, a prophet who knows the future, a wizard of miracles and wishes. The kingdom's former court magician and mentor of the kingdom's future queen." Rhine answered with a smile.
Are you talking about yourself? Aurora rolled her eyes, already used to her teacher's strange sense of humor.
"Well, dear guide. First of all, how do we get down to the sea?" Aurora asked.
Rhine flipped her little hand.
The tinderbox that was originally on Aurora's body miraculously appeared in his palm.
Wipe, wipe, wipe.
He struck the tinderbox three times.
With a whoosh, a dog with eyes as big as the tops of round towers - the largest dog - appeared on the beach.
Rhine gently stroked the dog's fur and chanted a few spells. The dog's body shape changed rapidly and turned into a strange big fish.
The appearance of the big fish was similar to the lantern fish that the boy had seen in his previous life.
The big fish opened its mouth, and Rhine took Aurora into its belly; the big fish leaped and took them into the sea.
The fish's belly is transparent, so they can see things in the water; there is a chandelier-like thing on the fish's head that glows in the water, thus illuminating the dark seabed.
Aurora raised a second difficulty:
"But, my guide, this ocean is so vast and boundless. How can we find the kingdom of mermaids?"
Rhine smiled again and ordered the big fish:
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"Let's go and swim to the kingdom of mermaids."
Rhine didn't know where exactly the mermaid's kingdom was in the sea, but that didn't affect anything.
The big fish is essentially a transformation of the tinderbox dog, which is magical in its own way!
As early as after obtaining the tinderbox, Rhine conducted dozens of experiments, letting the three dogs find various different objects.
No matter how strange the object they are looking for, as long as they are within a certain distance, dogs will always find it. From antiques buried in the ground to a specific person, a dog's nose can always smell the direction of the target.
No wonder they could find money for the soldiers—I wonder whose treasury they stole from; no wonder they could find out that the “kingdom’s princess” was not in the palace! Rhine thought.
In fairy tales, epics and folk tales, many magical supernatural powers are absolute. Rhine estimated that the dog summoned by the tinderbox has the characteristic of "definitely finding the target within a certain distance".
The big fish that the dog turned into received the command, sensed something, and headed in a certain direction.
After a while, the big fish dived to the seabed covered with white sand.
(End of this chapter)