Chapter 150

In the snow and wind, Bai Liming couldn't help shivering. The scale on his palm was so cold that it seemed to freeze his entire body starting from his palm.

The shop owner chuckled, but there was no hint of friendliness in his laughter.

He placed the broken remains of the golden talisman on the scales in Bai Liming's palm. The golden talisman squirmed like a living thing, wrapped and devoured the blue-purple scales, and turned into a golden talisman again, but this time there was a deep crack on the golden talisman, and some blue-purple light seeped out of the crack.

Although he had seen many strange events, Bai Liming was still frightened by the scene before him - at least the chill emanating from those scales was definitely not a good thing.

The shop owner said that this was the heart scale of a mermaid. Thinking about the candle he had just lit, Bai Liming could only think of stories adapted from movies and TV dramas, such as using love to seduce a mermaid, getting its heart scale and then killing the mermaid to make medicine to ensure the family's wealth and prosperity, and the mermaid's unwilling soul was full of resentment after his death, and now he comes back for revenge.

Occasionally when he saw the commentaries of movies and TV series, all he could think of was disdain for the melodrama. But when such a thing really happened to him, it was like a thunderbolt hitting his head and the sky and the earth collapsing.

Bai Liming's voice was trembling: "Shopkeeper...what is my situation now?"

Is he the unlucky descendant implicated in the revenge? Or is he the reincarnation of that ungrateful man?

Perhaps the fear in his eyes was too obvious. The shop owner's eyes fell on the golden talisman in his palm: "I say, why not go home and ask your elders."

The shop owner repeated the same words twice. He seemed to know everything but was unwilling to say it.

Bai Liming wanted to beg him, or exchange some benefits for him, but the extremely cold wind blew inwards from the open car door, and he could only hear the sound of his own teeth chattering.

It was too cold, several times colder than when he knocked on the door in the snow before. Even though the air conditioner was on in the car, he still couldn't feel a trace of warmth.

"Bang---"

It was the sound of the shopkeeper closing the car door for him.

The car door seemed to block the strange and omnipresent cold air. Bai Liming's mind, which was almost frozen to rust, finally started to work. His eyes fell on the golden talisman in his hand. There was a faint blue-purple light in the crack.

No matter how dumb he was, he knew that this golden talisman was definitely a seal, sealing the hearts of the mermaids... Could it be that his title of successor was just a trick? Was he actually chosen as a scapegoat? A scapegoat to bear the mermaids' resentment?

When a person's life is threatened, he tends to overthink and become suspicious. All kinds of possibilities popped up in Bai Liming's mind, but he overturned them one by one.

His mind was in a mess for a long time, so long that his stiff limbs began to gradually warm up. Bai Liming suddenly bent down and opened the secret compartment in the car. There were always two long-burning candles in his car. The one with a stronger effect had been lit by him before, and the one with a weaker effect was still in the car.

He picked up the candle. The more powerful candle was pure white with a slight yellow tint, while the less powerful candle was also pure white with a hint of bluish purple. In terms of appearance alone, the less powerful candle looked better.

Bai Liming told the shop owner that this was a rare treasure passed down in their family and it was true - there were only a few candles with strong effects left, and even he only had three. There were a lot more candles with weaker effects, but they were also extremely rare.

When he was very young, he saw many people who looked very powerful coming to his grandfather to pray for an ever-burning candle, and they all gave good things, so their family rose to prominence within a hundred years and created such a great reputation.

Bai Liming looked down at the blue-purple candle in his hand, and felt extremely confused. According to historical legends, the mermaid candle would not go out for a thousand years. In fact, after investigation, it was found that the legendary mermaid candle was most likely made of whale fat. He never believed that this legendary creature really existed.

But now, the mysterious shop owner said that inside the golden talisman that they regarded as a family heirloom, there was actually a mermaid's heart scale!

The more Bai Liming thought about it, the more dizzy he felt. He opened the window a little, and the cold air rushed in, making him much more sober.

He had to go back and get things straight. He absolutely couldn't let his life be wasted in such an unclear way!

*

When Bai Liming got home, it was almost noon on the second day of the Chinese New Year. He walked to the front door of his house and found it was very lively. Looking around at the people who came to pay New Year's greetings, many of them were familiar faces. Even if he was not very familiar with them, he had seen them in some promotional materials.

He understood and came to give New Year's gift to his grandfather.

Bai Liming was too lazy to go in through the main gate and greet these people, so he chose to drive in through the inconspicuous back door. When he drove to the front of his own house, he saw someone sitting in the waiting room at the door.

Bai Liming stopped the car, turned off the engine, got out and greeted him: "Uncle Li."

"Young Master." The man called Uncle Li put down his teacup and stood up, bowing to him with a smile, "The master of the family told me to wait for you here and to go find him when you come back."

Bai Li knew that returning home in such a state would arouse suspicion, so he went to a shop he often visited to take a shower, change clothes, and asked someone he hired at a high price to modify his dashcam:

"What? Grandpa is unhappy because I ran away from the party last night?"

"You are the future heir of the family. You can do whatever you want. The head of the family will not be unhappy." Uncle Li said, "It's just that we have a distinguished guest tonight."

Those who could be called "distinguished guests" by his grandfather were all talented people or people of high status and power. Once such a person came, his grandfather would take him along as long as it was convenient. This was also the reason why his suspicion that he was a scapegoat was untenable - which family would spend so much effort to cultivate a scapegoat?

"I see." Bai Liming nodded, "Uncle Li, what is the identity of that distinguished guest?"

Uncle Li showed some embarrassment on his face: "The master only told you that you are a distinguished guest and asked you to prepare well and not neglect it."

Normally, when a distinguished guest comes to visit, Grandpa will reveal some information to him in advance so that he can prepare. But this time, he didn't even reveal his identity?

Bai Liming thought about it and said, "Okay, I'll go to see Grandpa at four o'clock today."

Uncle Li left when the news reached him. Bai Liming grabbed the car key and decided to look for his grandmother first. Although his grandmother also lived in this area, she did not live in the same house with her grandfather. There were always lobbyists coming and going, so she wanted to be quiet and moved to the most remote house.

Although it is called a remote house, it is actually a relatively quiet five-story Chinese-style villa with all the necessary facilities, but there are not so many guests coming and going.

As soon as Bai Liming walked into the Chinese-style villa where his grandmother lived, a servant came up to him, put slippers on him and helped him take off his thick coat.

The housekeeper who had been with his grandmother for most of her life came forward and said, "Master, the mistress is in the greenhouse on the top floor."

"Thank you, Aunt Zhao." Bai Liming nodded at her and turned to take the elevator.

While waiting for the elevator, Bai Liming couldn't help but complain in his heart about his grandfather's feudal and old-fashioned nature. What era was it, and he still had to call the servants in the house like that, just like in a TV drama. Fortunately, he had heard it since he was a child and had gotten used to it. Their family paid high wages, and many people were vying to get in, so his grandfather's hobby had continued smoothly to this day.

The elevator reached the first floor, Bai Liming walked in, grabbed a cup from the table in the elevator, poured himself a cup of scented tea from the thermos and drank it all in one gulp. Because the elevator had a spacious space, his grandmother had someone decorate it to make it like a small tea room.

In order to take care of the elderly, the elevators were modified and the running speed was set to be very slow, so slow that people could hardly feel the rise. Bai Liming sat on the chair for at least three minutes before the elevator door slowly opened in front of him.

Bai Liming took a step forward, skillfully ignoring some plants that were not planted properly and should not survive in this season, and strode into the depths of the greenhouse.

The fifth floor has a glass ceiling with good lighting. In the very center of the greenhouse, pebbles are laid out to form a beautiful pattern. His grandmother is standing in front of a table, trimming a pot of flowers with a pair of scissors.

Bai Liming's voice came before he even arrived: "Grandma!"

"Mingming is here." The person called grandma by Bai Liming turned around. Time seemed to be particularly kind to her. There was no white strand in the black hair of the sixty-year-old woman. Except for a few fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, her skin looked no different from that of a woman in her thirties or forties.

Bai Liming smiled and said, "Grandma, how did grandpa react after I ran away yesterday?"

"How dare you ask." His grandmother smiled and cut off a bunch of branches and leaves. "Those people's faces look ugly. It's New Year's Day, why don't you put on some makeup?"

Bai Liming said nonchalantly, "I get annoyed when I see them, but I don't want to pretend with them."

"You just take advantage of your grandfather's pampering and do whatever you want." Although his grandmother said these words of reproach, there was no blame in her tone. "They are too wild and don't even consider their own status."

"Tsk..." Bai Liming wanted to say something, but his eyes suddenly fell on the pebbles on the ground. He felt that the pattern made of pebbles looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

"What's wrong, Mingming?" His grandmother had just finished cutting off a small piece of branches and leaves. "Why did you suddenly stop talking?"

Bai Liming suddenly stood up and moved all the tables that were pressed on the pebbles to the road one by one, even the table where his grandmother was trimming the flower pot.

After completely clearing the central area of ​​the greenhouse, the pattern made up of pebbles was finally revealed in front of him. Cold sweat instantly covered Bai Liming's back. His men instinctively touched the pendant on his chest, but found nothing.

He finally understood why he felt that the pattern looked familiar. The pattern made up of pebbles was exactly the same as the pattern on the golden talisman around his neck.

He didn't think it was a coincidence.

"Grandma." Bai Liming tried hard to suppress the trembling in his voice, "Do you recognize this pattern?"

Confused by his behavior, his grandmother came over from behind him and asked, "What pattern?"

The unobstructed image came into her eyes.

She suddenly staggered, and Bai Liming quickly supported her. He felt as if his grandmother's well-maintained nails had pinched his flesh, and the pain made him grimace for a moment.

He heard his grandmother muttering in a low voice: "How could it be? Here..."

Although the voice was very low, Bai Liming immediately realized that her grandmother must know something.

Bai Liming: "You know him."

"I don't recognize it," his grandmother said. "Is there anything special about this pattern?"

Bai Liming wanted to speak out, but felt that he couldn't be too obvious, so he said implicitly:

"Don't you think this pattern looks a lot like the pattern on our heirloom?"

"It was your grandpa who decorated this greenhouse for me." His grandmother patted his arm with a smile, "Your grandpa liked that pattern, so what's wrong with decorating it in two more places?"

"I thought you were going through all this trouble for some reason." His grandmother poked his head unhappily. "You little bastard, hurry up and move all your stuff back."

"Did you know that we have a distinguished guest coming tonight?"

Bai Liming had one hand held by her, so he could only raise his other hand to block his grandmother's "attack":

"Uncle Li has already told me, grandma, please let me go!"

Bai Liming begged for forgiveness as if he was playing a joke: "I know I was wrong, ouch ouch, stop pulling my ears..."

He said this but his heart couldn't stop sinking. His grandmother was holding his other hand and was pressing his arm weakly and regularly.

When he was a child, he went out with his parents and the three of them encountered a car accident. Only he survived, but because of the tragic car accident, he lost the ability to speak.

It was his grandmother who took him in and stayed with him, taking care of him for five years before he regained the ability to speak. It was also from that year that he began to have the same dream frequently.

During these five years, his grandmother created a simple "code" to communicate with him. At that time, his grandmother would put her palm in front of him and let him poke her palm with his fingers: two pokes meant unhappy, three pokes meant fear, and four pokes meant anger...

Even after he recovered and grew up, over the years, the two of them would occasionally use this self-created code to communicate, and added some other words - this was a little secret between him and his grandmother.

But this time, Bai Liming felt the pauses and repetitions of the tapping on his arm and corresponded them to two words.

【Surveillance】【Danger】.