Chapter 118

Chapter 118: Old Merman
Yu Zhao looked around.

Boss Wu and the others had twisted faces and sweat on their foreheads. It seemed they were all fighting their own Heart Devils.

Ji Han Zhou’s mind was completely drained, so his five senses had shut down. By accident, that turned into a blessing. He was not affected by the Merfolk’s song at all and was sleeping very soundly.

Yu Zhao finally relaxed. The corners of her lips lifted as she strode toward the back of the palace.

In just a few breaths, she had circled around to the rear hall.

Huff, huff –

Inside the rear hall, a huge shell was struggling and flapping about. On its time-worn outer surface sat a skinny old man with white hair. To be exact, he should be called an elderly old merman.

His fish tail, nearly three meters long, swayed back and forth with each opening and closing of the shell, wobbling as he moved, yet his face was full of anxiety.

Yu Zhao leaned against the door pillar, arms crossed, watching this weak-old-and-sick combo with great interest.

At last, after wasting half the day and still failing to swim out of the rear hall, the old merman gave up.

He patted the old “mount” under him, lifted his head, and spoke in a loud, stirring tone: “You despicable, shameless Human Race! You killed my clansmen and still want to steal our treasures. Sooner or later, you will get your retribution!”

Yu Zhao pretended to be surprised and said: “Sovereign Senior, weren’t you the one who used a map to lure us to this undersea palace? How can you blame us?”

The old merman’s gaze flickered unnaturally as he said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t understand.”

Yu Zhao clicked her tongue and said: “Sovereign Senior, next time you make a map, don’t use scales from your own body. It’s way too obvious.”

The old merman lowered his head. Sure enough, there was a clear gap at the tip of his tail, which stood out even more in the bright light of the palace.

At the time, he never thought his scheme would be exposed, so he did not bother with such details.

His old face flushed red, but he still forced himself to stay calm as he said: “It’s true I made the map, but it was you Humans who grabbed it from me by force!”

Yu Zhao had wanted to expose him, but felt it was not needed, so she changed the subject and said: “Fine, let’s say we did grab it. Since we were the ones who found the Sea Palace, then the things here should belong to us. Don’t you think so?”

When the old merman heard that, his anger surged.

He had thought they were turtles in an urn, yet it turned out he had brought a wolf into the house instead!

The sly Human in front of him was not affected by the Illusory Realm at all and had even found them this quickly.

Could it really be that the Heavenly Dao wanted to destroy their Merfolk Race?

The old merman’s eyes filled with tears, his face twisted with grief and anger.

Yu Zhao spoke lazily: “Are you about to cry? I heard Merfolk tears are holy healing medicine. I’ve never seen them before. Boss, please show mercy and let me have a look.”

The old merman’s body trembled, and he quickly forced the tears back.

Even if he died, he would never let this disgusting Human get any benefit!

Yu Zhao looked around curiously and asked: “Sovereign Senior, are you the only Merfolk left in this palace?”

She kept feeling there were other Merfolk in this palace.

She just could not see them.

“That’s right. My clansmen were all killed by you Humans several hundred years ago. Now there is only one Merfolk left in this world, and that is me!” The old merman glared at Yu Zhao with wide, furious eyes.

But he was too old. His loose skin drooped down, and his body was short and thin. He looked like a candle that was almost burned out, using up the last bit of its life.

Yu Zhao could not help feeling a stab of sadness. Her playful mood faded. She straightened her face and said very seriously: “Sovereign Senior, I hold no malice toward you or toward your entire Merfolk Race. I even met one of your clansmen before, and I learned some of your stories from him.”

The old merman turned his head away and snorted in disdain.

The clansmen of the Merfolk Race who had wandered outside had already returned to the embrace of the Nanming Sea long ago. It was impossible for any Merfolk to still be alive.

[Humans are so sly. They want to soften me up with this trick.]

[Dream on! This old man will never fall for it!]

“I can’t describe his looks to you,” Yu Zhao said, “but I can tell you this much: he is special. He is a Merfolk who cannot cry.”

At first, the old merman still sneered, but when he heard the second half, his body suddenly went rigid. His slowly swaying tail started moving faster.

Yu Zhao said: “His blood is blue. Like you, he can sing the Song of the Merfolk, but his singing is much worse than yours.”

“Where is he now?”

The old merman could no longer stay calm. His eyes burned as he stared at Yu Zhao, a trace of pleading and hope mixed in his gaze.

“I can only say he is still alive, but his situation is not very good,” Yu Zhao answered honestly.

Yu Zhao felt that if she told the old merman the whole truth directly, he might not be able to bear it, so she could only explain it in a more gentle way.

But because her words were half-hidden, the old merman’s mind filled up on its own with many bloody and tragic scenes. His heart felt as if it were being cut by knives.

“Don’t you want the Merfolk’s treasures? As long as you can bring him back, I will give you whatever you want, and you can take anything you like from this palace!”

The old merman suddenly raised his head, his gaze blazing.

Yu Zhao shook her head and said: “Sorry. I can’t do it.”

The old merman grew angry: “You haven’t even tried yet. How can you say you can’t?”

“The one who imprisoned him is a Nascent Soul Old Fiend.”

The moment these words fell, the rear hall went silent.

Of course the old merman knew how terrifying a Nascent Soul Old Fiend was.

Back then, their Merfolk Race had fallen so quickly, unable to fight back at all, because several of the Cultivators who besieged them were Nascent Soul Old Fiends.

The singing they were so proud of was nothing in front of a Nascent Soul Old Fiend.

Even now, the old merman could still remember the helplessness and fear he felt when facing a Nascent Soul Old Fiend.

After learning that his clansman could not be saved, he seemed to age another ten or so years in an instant. A faint aura of death crept over his face.

Yu Zhao’s heart sank.

The old merman did not have much Lifespan left.

The moment she saw him, she had already noticed that he was at the point where the oil in the lamp was almost gone.

It was probably because he knew he did not have much time left that the old merman planned to take revenge on Human Cultivators in the last moments of his life.

“Enough! Time, fate, it is all the same! This is the destiny of our Merfolk Race. It cannot be changed, it cannot be changed!”

The old merman raised his head and let out a long sigh. His voice was full of deep sorrow.

Yu Zhao thought for a moment and felt she should do something.

She took out a palm-sized turtle shell from her Storage Space. Its shell was dark and shiny, and there were burn marks on its belly.

She smiled and said: “Sovereign Senior, how about I cast a hexagram for the Merfolk Race? If it does not come true, you don’t have to pay.”

“Heaven Divining Shell!”

When the old merman saw the turtle shell in Yu Zhao’s hand, his eyes almost popped out.

Yu Zhao was also surprised and asked: “You know it?”

The old merman glared at her and said: “The shell used for this Heaven Divining Shell comes from the Ancestor of an old friend of mine. What do you think? Do I know it or not?”

Yu Zhao: …

Well, that was quite a coincidence.

“You really are willing to let me use the Heaven Divining Shell to do a Divination?”

Since the old merman could recognize the Heaven Divining Shell, he could also see that its remaining uses were very few.

He could not understand why this Human was willing to give him such a precious chance.