Zeyuan slowly leaned toward Lu Yao, his eyelids slightly lowered. His half-lidded red eyes shimmered with a mesmerizing glow, like dewdrops hanging from a delicate golden persimmon.
He wanted to kiss her. The urge was strong, as if it had surged up in his heart countless times, and now—finally—he had the chance to act on it.
Zeyuan carefully watched Lu Yao's expression. His heart was pounding, but his chest felt strangely hollow, as though there was a tiny hole letting air slowly escape.
He could vaguely sense something was off—something about this didn't feel quite right. He tried to resist, but it felt like something was pushing him forward, urging him to get closer.
The more he thought about it, the slower he moved.
Lu Yao had sensed what he was about to do the moment he leaned in. Her face was calm, but her rapid heartbeat betrayed her nerves.
But then… he stayed like that for a long while, not moving.
The Sea of Tears stirred with faint purple waves. The mermaid's song drifted softly through the air, distant and close all at once, full of sorrow and lingering emotion.
Lu Yao blinked and slowly looked up. In the depths of her light brown eyes, Zeyuan's face was clearly reflected.
A small frown tugged at his brow. His gaze carried faint frustration, as well as helplessness and inner conflict.
Lu Yao sighed softly, took a step forward, and placed her hands on his chest as she slowly rose on her tiptoes.
Zeyuan's eyes momentarily filled with confusion. But as he realized her intent, a sudden rush of joy overwhelmed him, leaving him dizzy and dazed.
Their eyes met for a few seconds. Then he gently and willingly closed his eyes.
Lu Yao froze slightly. "…"
The waves whispered softly outside. Time seemed to stretch endlessly.
The pressure on his chest disappeared. Zeyuan slowly opened his eyes, confused.
That… was it?
Something felt very wrong.
Mobai was sprawled across the table, covering its eyes with both hands—only to peek through its fingers a moment later, its face suddenly changing.
The Honored One was standing blankly at the window, but Lu Yao, who had been right there with him just moments ago, was gone.
There was no trace of her presence in the room. Zeyuan crouched down and found a faint water trail on the floor.
Mobai jumped off the table and transformed into the form of a young boy. "Where's Lu Yao?"
Zeyuan's red eyes dimmed. "She was probably taken by a mermaid."
Mobai covered his face. The Honored One was seriously hopeless.
Under normal circumstances, someone standing right in front of him shouldn't just vanish. Not unless the Honored One had been completely flustered, totally unaware of his surroundings, with zero vigilance.
Mobai looked at Zeyuan, and suddenly remembered the pitifully drunk and useless Ji Zhuang from not long ago. The child was so worried, his hair was practically turning white.
---
The mermaid's sorrowful, haunting song echoed right by her ear. Lu Yao's eyelids twitched—she wanted to open her eyes, but they felt unbearably heavy.
She heard the sound of rushing water. The air around her was filled with a damp, fishy scent that was both familiar and strange. She felt like she was falling into a cold, soft embrace, surrounded by seawater, sinking deeper and deeper.
"Miss… Miss, wake up."
Lu Yao opened her eyes. The scene before her felt both familiar and foreign.
She was underwater, her arms and legs tied up with seaweed, enclosed inside a small, transparent room that resembled a glass bottle.
Or rather… this was the Crystal Palace.
Thanks to her visit to a fuzzy little shop deep under the sea, Lu Yao had already gotten used to the ocean depths. So when she saw the massive fish swimming slowly outside the Crystal Palace, she didn't even react.
Lying on her back, she stared blankly at the fish gliding past the ceiling above. Just a moment ago, they had been so close—yet it had slipped away.
Across from her, an elderly woman with silvery-white hair lay on a clam-shell bed. She had been the one calling out to Lu Yao.
The old woman wasn't tied up with seaweed, but she seemed to have trouble moving due to her legs.
Seeing Lu Yao awake yet unmoving, the old woman grew anxious. "Miss, are you alright?"
Lu Yao struggled to move her limbs and sat up against a nearby pillar. She looked at the old woman and said, "Madam Xie?"
The woman's eyes lit up. "You know who I am?"
Lu Yao gave her a brief explanation about the recent rumors in Ni City: that only the young master of the Xie family and the old madam had been taken by mermaids. It wasn't hard to connect the dots.
Madam Xie saw that Lu Yao was tightly bound and dressed like a cultivator. She assumed Lu Yao must be a powerful person.
But after hearing Lu Yao's explanation, the old woman's wrinkled face seemed to soften, and the smile she'd been forcing faded.
So this young lady was just an ordinary person, who didn't even know why she'd been taken. There was no hope of relying on her for rescue.
Lu Yao misunderstood, thinking Madam Xie was referring to her. She quickly said, "I'll find a way out. Don't worry."
Madam Xie slowly lay back down on her bed. The way she moved didn't look like someone who had been forcibly kidnapped. Her tone also carried a strange air of resignation.
"Even if you break free and run, you're at the bottom of the sea. Outside the Crystal Palace, it's nothing but water—where would you even go?" She turned over, pulled a shark-silk blanket over herself, and said, "Don't anger the mermaid. She might feed you to the fish. Just wait until she comes. Ask her why she brought you here. If you give her what she wants, she might just let you go."
It was a strange scene—Lu Yao moved her fingers slightly, reaching into her storage. She touched a tool but pulled her hand back.
"This mermaid really that easy to talk to? From the way you're speaking… it sounds like you know her?" Lu Yao asked.
Madam Xie let out a long sigh. "A messy fate. Best not to talk about it."
The people of Ni City often said the Xie family was unlucky. Half a year ago, they were targeted by a mermaid—first losing a young son, then the old madam. Both were taken, their fates unknown.
But now, it seemed there was more to the story than the rumors told.
Lu Yao adjusted herself into a kneeling position against the pillar. Her hands moved slowly behind her back, reaching into her storage to pull out a crystal-core-powered spring knife. She was just about to cut through the seaweed binding her ankles—
Footsteps approached.
A female mermaid entered the room.
She had long, flowing hair like seaweed, striking and beautiful features, and a bare upper body. Her dark hair cascaded over her chest, and a huge, pale-pink fish tail trailed behind her. At her waist hung a string of pearls that jingled softly as she moved.
Lu Yao had seen mermaids before on the Alexander Continent. But mermaids and shark-folk weren't quite the same.
Shark-folk gave off a far more dangerous, wild aura. The moment Lu Yao saw her shimmering tail, a shiver ran down her spine. A strange, suffocating fear gripped her.
The shark-folk woman was holding a jade tray with what seemed to be food on it.
She casually set the tray down next to the old woman's bed, then turned to look at Lu Yao. "You woke up quickly.".