Dark Sun Lake was a vast body of water, beside which lay several smaller lakes. In the largest of these smaller lakes, lived some merfolk affiliated with the Delusional Domain.
Today, not a single mermaid emerged from the water, giving the lake a particularly bleak appearance.
When Jin Li, the little golden-haired mermaid with a gold-and-crimson tail, returned to the lake, she saw scales scattered across the water’s surface.
These were the marks of a battle, the signs that her freshwater merfolk clan had been beaten!
Instantly, Jin Li became furious. With a great leap, her slender legs, which had been side by side for walking, transformed back into a fishtail. She dove into the water, becoming a beautiful mermaid with a human torso and a fishtail.
She swam with grace and speed. Upon reaching the lakebed, she saw the merfolk huddled together, speaking in hushed, hesitant tones.
They were covered in cuts and bruises, with many scales shattered. They indeed looked quite pitiful.
Jin Li immediately demanded angrily, "Who hurt you?!"
The other merfolk, looking pitiable, didn’t dare make a sound.
Jin Li was livid. She flicked her golden tail, and her golden koi aura flared.
"What, you’re even hiding it from me?!"
Shivering, the other merfolk replied, "Little Princess, it’s not that we don’t want to tell you, but the one who beat us... you can’t do anything about him..."
"I can’t do anything? Tell me, who is it that I can’t handle?!"
Jin Li suddenly paused, then guessed, "Are you talking about... could it be the Lord?"
Seeing she had guessed correctly, the merfolk nodded helplessly. "Yes, it’s the Lord."
Jin Li’s beautiful brows knitted together. "Why would the Lord want to beat you?"
Merfolk, both male and female, could only shapeshift upon reaching adulthood.
Little mermaid Jin Li was the princess of the freshwater merfolk, blessed with powerful koi luck and exceptional talent—a treasure among her people.
She had only just come of age. During her first venture out of the water, she encountered the recently awakened She Wang in the Radiant Forest.
At that time, She Wang was extremely ferocious, slaughtering wild beasts along his path and eating their raw meat to fill his belly.
However, Little Jin Li was a supreme appearance enthusiast.
Despite the cold-blooded snake Beastman’s savage and sinister demeanor, his looks were truly captivating.
Jin Li couldn’t take her eyes off him, which eventually led her to bring some of her own merfolk to Dark Sun Lake to follow him.
But this cold-blooded snake Beastman, as if uncivilized, never saw her as a female. He simply treated her as a fish.
A small, green male mermaid swam over, saying somewhat shyly, "Princess Jin Li, the Lord came to the lake’s edge earlier, asking us for salt. But we are freshwater fish, and the little salt we have was brought from the sea by Aunt Sanwen. We don’t have much salt left, and we hoped to trade it for some food for Aunt Sanwen... You know Aunt Sanwen contracted parasites, and her illness is critical; she doesn’t have many days left to live... I just wanted to get some good food for Aunt Sanwen, but the Lord..."
Another mermaid added, "The Lord thought we wouldn’t give him salt, so he electrified us..."
They were freshwater fish, not sea fish; salt was naturally scarce for them. They kept what little they had to trade for valuable things.
And now, it had been forcefully taken?!
Jin Li’s face turned green with rage. "How preposterous!!! Just because he’s good-looking doesn’t mean he can bully people! He’s even bullying me! I’m going to settle accounts with him right now!!"
The other merfolk hurriedly tried to hold her back. "Little Princess, you can’t beat him. And he doesn’t see... doesn’t see you as a female, you know!"
Jin Li became even angrier upon hearing this.
"I am your princess; I cannot allow you to be bullied!"
With a leap, Jin Li reached the shore. Her gold-and-crimson tail shimmered as it split into two legs.
She retrieved a length of Fish Gauze and lightly wrapped herself in it.
Seeing Little Jin Li head for shore, the other merfolk, fearing for their princess, also quickly went ashore and took on human form.
They took small, faltering steps, struggling to keep up as they followed closely behind Little Jin Li.
Wang was still outside washing clothes.
Si Yan had deftly fashioned a set of beastskin skirts for the four cubs—a matching set, the kind that instantly identified them as four brothers.
She looked very pleased. Just as she was about to cut more hide to make clothes for Wang, Si Yan suddenly heard a commotion outside.
"Wang, you damned snake, you dare bully me!! Get your sorry self out here!!!"
Si Yan looked up, perplexed. "Are they looking for your dad?"
The two cubs nodded. "Seems like it." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs noveⅼfire.net
Si Yan put down the leather in her hand and ran out of the cave, drawing the curtain aside.
What met her eyes was an incredibly stunning mermaid princess!
Si Yan was stunned. Although she had seen a whale mermaid before—Lan Hai, the mer-cub she had rescued and named—this was truly her first time seeing an adult mermaid.
Merfolk... their beauty is truly on another level!
As someone with a weakness for good looks, Si Yan secretly mused, Wang bullied such a beautiful fish? How could he bring himself to do it?!
"Are you looking for... the Lord?" Si Yan asked uncertainly.
As soon as Si Yan came out, Jin Li froze.
Because at that moment, Si Yan, fresh from a bath, hadn’t yet put anything on her face.
Holy crap!!! How can there be a female in this world even more beautiful than me?!!!
In the merfolk race, the more beautiful one is, the more powerful they are. Consequently, almost all merfolk are obsessed with appearances!
Thus, when Jin Li, an aficionado of beauty, saw Si Yan, who was equally stunning, she was completely dumbstruck. Even her imposing aura diminished somewhat.
Jin Li’s hand trembled as she pointed at her. "You... who are you?!"
Si Yan considered for a moment. She was in Wang’s cave, a fact she couldn’t hide. Besides, this was Wang’s territory; others likely wouldn’t dare cause trouble. So, she addressed the group of beautiful merfolk in a soft, gentle voice, "I am Wang’s female."
So beautiful! Heavens, she’s breathtaking!
Jin Li’s fixation on beauty instantly hit its peak, her expression shifting rapidly. The scene remained quiet for a good while. It was only when the merfolk behind her managed to snap her back to her senses that she finally erupted in fury.
"Where’s Wang? Where’s that damned snake? He actually stole our salt!! What gives him the right to steal our salt just because he’s handsome?! We’re not sea fish! Where would we get that much salt? And he dared to steal it from us!!! Does he have any morals at all?!"