Night fell.
The stars dotted the vast sea.
The moon hung in the sky like a hook.
The air was filled with the salty and humid smell of the sea waves.
Zhao Shuning, Ye Xingchen, and Xie An came to the seaside.
Ye Xingchen looked back at the lush bamboo forest behind them, as well as the bamboo house in the forest, a courtyard, and a cherry - tree. They carried too many happy memories for him.
"No matter how beautiful the dream is, it's not reality. Get ready. I'm going to summon the mermaid women," Zhao Shuning said.
Xie An and Ye Xingchen nodded to her.
Zhao Shuning clasped her hands together and changed the hand seals with her fingers. When she pointed towards the center of the sea,
Huge waves suddenly rose from the sea.
Then, hundreds of mermaid women emerged from the water.
Qing Ge was in the front.
Seeing the girl in front of her, she couldn't help frowning. Her butt still felt burning.
"Beauty Qing Ge, long time no see," Zhao Shuning greeted.
Although the mermaid women were reluctant, they still swam over.
"Miss, what do you want from me?" Qing Ge asked.
"I want to leave the Secret Sea and return to Haiyou City. Can you part the sea water for a while?"
"Sure."
Even if the mermaid women disagreed, the girl in front of them would find a way to make them do so.
Zhao Shuning gave a charming smile.
She took Qing Ge's hand and said familiarly, "Beauty Qing Ge, don't look so glum. I won't let you help for nothing."
"It's okay. I'm willing to help."
Qing Ge nodded to the mermaid women behind her. Then, the hundreds of mermaid women dived into the sea and swam forward. As they moved, a path slowly appeared in the middle of the sea.
Zhao Shuning, Ye Xingchen, and Xie An quickly walked onto it.
Since the journey was long and they had to consider that Xie An and Ye Xingchen couldn't use their spiritual power here, they walked a bit slower.
It wasn't until the next day that they reached the bottom of the dry well.
By this time, only Qing Ge had followed them out.
"Xingchen, you and Xiao An wait for me in front of the dry well," Zhao Shuning said.
"Okay."
The two of them knew that Zhao Shuning must have something to say to Qing Ge, and those words were not meant for them to hear.
After they left, Zhao Shuning looked at Qing Ge.
"I know you have something unfinished. You can tell me," she said.
"How do you know?"
"I'm also an alchemist. Although the upper bodies of the mermaid women are similar to humans, they are still part of the beast race. We alchemists can still glimpse what's on your minds."
Qing Ge lowered her eyes.
Zhao Shuning added, "You followed me here because you wanted to tell me something, right?"
"Yes."
Qing Ge looked at Zhao Shuning and began to tell her about her past.
It turned out that a long time ago, Qing Ge wasn't the only mermaid woman in the clan who could turn her tail into human feet.
At that time, most of her clan members had this ability.
They would transform into human form every day, go outside, work for people, get paid, and then exchange it for useful food.
Day after day, they lived a hard but fulfilling life.
Until one day.
One of the mermaid women fell in love with a human from the outside world.
Because of this, she revealed all their secrets.
That woman was called Qing Ya. She was the smallest mermaid in their clan.
The man was nice to Qing Ya at first, but this kindness only lasted for a while. The man's family suffered a great change, and they fell into poverty. Forced by life, he wanted to break up with Qing Ya.
Qing Ya was blinded by love. She told him that the scales on her body had miraculous effects. If someone who had lost their loved one ground them into powder and drank it, they could see the person they missed, and it wasn't an illusion. They could even touch the person's body.
To save the man's family, Qing Ya painfully removed five scales from her body and let him sell them in the market.
Mermaid scales were extremely rare.
Once they were put up for sale, they were snatched up at a high price.
At first, the man was very grateful to Qing Ya for the small fortune. But later, his greed grew, and he wanted more and more.
Qing Ya loved him. To satisfy him, she plucked the scales from her body one by one. The man bought a new mansion and lived a prosperous life.
But at this time, a woman started to pester the man.
That woman was really beautiful. The mermaids in the clan all had good looks, but when Qing Ya saw this woman, she was still amazed.
The woman said her name was Qiu Qiu.
Since Qiu Qiu appeared, the man never looked at Qing Ya again.
Qing Ya was heart - broken. She felt that the mansion was no longer a place for her. She made an appointment with her clan members to pick her up and return to the Secret Sea at the full - moon time.
But the man was really heartless. He heard a rumor from somewhere that the mermaid women were full of treasures. Besides the scales, their flesh and blood were even more precious. If a human ate the mermaid's flesh, they could live forever and stay young.
The man believed it.
Qing Ge still remembered that night when she and her clan members went to pick up Qing Ya. What they saw was her in a pool of blood.
At that time, all the scales on Qing Ya's body and tail had been peeled off, revealing the bloody and mutilated flesh.
The man that Qing Ya loved had his eyes wide open in anger. He was holding a knife and cutting pieces of flesh from Qing Ya's body.
Qing Ya was covered in wounds.
Qing Ge originally thought they could save Qing Ya because they were mermaid women. They had the ability to create the Secret Sea and illusions.
But they underestimated the beautiful woman beside the man - Qiu Qiu.
The woman was an alchemist. With a wave of her hand, a huge net fell from the sky.
There were restrictions on the fishing net, and their abilities were bound. They couldn't move.
The man was still crazy.
He cut off Qing Ya's flesh and crawled to the woman's feet like a dog, drooling from his mouth.
"Qiu Qiu, here. Let's live forever together. Let's be together forever," he said.
But the woman kicked him away.
There was still a knife stuck in Qing Ya's body, and green fish eggs were constantly flowing out from the tip of the knife.
Fish eggs?
Mermaid fish eggs?
Was Qing Ya pregnant?
But this child didn't even have the right to be born.
Watching the green fish eggs constantly flowing out, Qing Ya's pale face became even more bloodless.
She didn't know where she got the strength. She pulled out the knife from her body with all her might and then stabbed it hard into the man's neck who had been kicked over by the woman.
The man was caught off guard. He covered his neck and looked at Qing Ya in disbelief.
"What are you looking at? The green stuff you think is disgusting is your child, an unformed child," Qing Ya said.
The woman named Qiu Qiu laughed.
The man looked at the woman beside him in despair. He opened his mouth, but only a continuous stream of blood gushed out.
Qiu Qiu clearly said that Qing Ya was a monster, a being that came to suck his energy. She would never give birth to his children, let alone love him.