The woman smiled.
In her bright smile, Xie An's heart suddenly trembled.
It was Zhao Shuning.
"Sister, we're back," the woman said with a smile as she welcomed the two into the house. Then Ye Xingchen started cooking.
The wisp of cooking smoke that had risen earlier was from Zhao Shuning starting the fire.
Senior? Why is the senior here too?
Could it be that she had arrived at Nanguan before him? It seemed unlikely.
Xie An was in a daze.
He watched Ye Xingchen showing such a happy smile in this space. Xie An remembered Ye Xingchen once saying that he didn't deserve happiness. But at this moment, Ye Xingchen must be happy.
One's eyes never lie.
The happiness in Ye Xingchen's eyes was almost overflowing.
What did he long for?
Family?
Friends?
Ye Xingchen had so little in his life. He had no desire for money or women. What he yearned for was the initial beauty and simplicity.
Xie An noticed that his hands and feet had become even more transparent.
He slowly walked back to the seaside.
In his mind, Ye Xingchen's eyes and Zhao Shuning's smile kept lingering.
Perhaps, such a simple life was what Ye Xingchen was after.
At night, the tide came in.
Du She's shoes and socks got wet. Then he found that his body was no longer transparent.
Before he could react, there were faint glimmers of light emerging from the deep sea.
Then, a woman swam towards Du She.
For some reason, Du She didn't feel the slightest bit of surprise at this moment.
The woman swam up to Du She and sat down beside him.
"Why did you come here? Are you looking for him?"
Xie An replied, "He likes this place very much."
The woman swayed her tail. It turned out that she was a mermaid.
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
"Why should I be afraid of you?"
The mermaid said, "I'm a mermaid."
Xie An said, "So what if you're a mermaid?"
"Haven't they told you? Mermaids are best at bewitching people's hearts. They're monsters that eat people's hearts."
"I don't believe such things."
The mermaid laughed.
Her tail slapped the waves, splashing water everywhere.
"I can send you out. Do you want to leave?"
Xie An asked, "What about the corpses in Zhouguan?"
The mermaid said, "If I said that those people died because of their greed and it has nothing to do with our mermaid clan, would you believe me?"
"I'd like to hear the details."
The mermaid waved her hand gently.
Immediately, the sea water began to recede slowly, revealing the ground. Then, countless gold, silver, jewels, and magic pills emerged from the ground. On top of the jewels, there were many women wearing revealing clothes, with unparalleled beauty and enchanting figures.
In the very center, Zhao Shuning, dressed in a moon - white gorgeous dress, stood there, looking at him with a smiling face.
Du She's heart skipped a beat.
The senior had been in his heart for many years.
This woman was the senior in his heart.
The mermaid casually picked up some jewels and held them in front of Du She.
"Do you want them?"
"Yes, I do."
The mermaid pointed at the jewels and then looked at the woman as she said to Du She,
"Then go in and get them yourself. Remember, don't take too much, or you won't be able to get out of this sea area."
Du She shook his head.
"No, thanks."
The mermaid said, "Didn't you say you wanted them?"
"I do want them, but they don't belong to me. The senior once said that one shouldn't covet things that don't belong to them. Anything obtained for free will eventually have to be returned, or one has to pay an equal price to get what they want."
The mermaid's smile became even brighter.
She waved her hand.
The gold, silver, and jewels disappeared in an instant.
In their place was the surging sea again.
"If possible, I really want to meet the senior you've been talking about."
"You should have met her already."
The mermaid asked in confusion, "Is it the white - clothed woman who just appeared?"
"Yes."
"She's really beautiful."
Du She said, "This sea is the Sea of Groundless Calamity, right?"
The mermaid asked, "How do you know?"
"I once read the books in the Xie family's collection and heard a bit from others."
The Sea of Groundless Calamity cannot tolerate greed and desire.
The mermaid said, "I lied to you."
"What?"
"You can't get out. You can only leave if you die. I can't tempt you, so you'll have to live here forever, just like the young man in the bamboo forest."
"We'll get out."
"Are you so sure?"
"Although Ye Xingchen yearns for such a life, he won't be content with ease. This is your place, and we shouldn't have come to disturb you. After we leave, we'll find a way to seal the ancient tomb in the desert."
"Even if what you said is what our mermaid clan wants, I still can't let you out."
Du She stood up.
"I'll find my own way out."
The mermaid called out to Du She and plucked a scale from her body.
"Grind it into powder and drink it. Then, you'll become corporeal in front of the young man. This is all I can do for you."
"Thank you."
Du She took the scale and put it in his bosom.
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
The mermaid was stunned. "But I just lied to you. How do you know the thing I gave you isn't poisonous?"
"The senior once said that if someone wants to harm you, their eyes will give them away. I just looked into your eyes, and there's not a trace of greedy impurity in them. I believe you won't harm me."
"Go."
The mermaid said softly.
In an instant, she dived into the sea and disappeared. The feeling of being trusted by humans was quite nice.
One couldn't use spiritual power here.
Du She went into the bamboo forest, found a smooth blue stone, and slowly ground the scale into powder with it. Then he swallowed it directly.
"Ye Xingchen, what you're thinking about now is all very beautiful."
"However, this isn't reality. I have to take you out."
"Although this is also what I've always dreamed of."
When Du She took the powdered scale, he looked at the small houses in the bamboo forest and slowly walked towards them.
By this time, about ten days had passed outside.
The Chu siblings still hadn't seen Xie An come out.
Just then, a caravan passing by Haiyou City brought some news.
Another corpse had been found in Zhouguan.
Hearing this, the siblings immediately got up. Chu Nuan stayed at the scene, while Chu Wen rushed to Zhouguan.
They prayed that the corpse in Zhouguan mustn't be Ye Xingchen or Xie An.
In Zhouguan, there were again many people crowded together.
Another corpse had appeared there. Inside Zhouguan was the spiritual memorial hall that Song Zhiyi had set up for Ye Ling.
"Could it be that the female emperor Ye Ling had too much resentment when she died, so she's dragging these innocent people down with her?"
"I don't think so."
"Otherwise, how do you explain this strange thing? These people disappeared in the ancient tomb. The ancient tomb is at least several hundred miles away from here. How did they end up near Zhouguan?"
"Could it really be a ghost seeking revenge?"
"Your mother's bullshit!"
A young girl roared and pushed aside several onlookers in front of her.