Chapter 49: The Merman

The Emperor’s full name was Valen Rowett. He brutally killed his thirteen brothers in a bloody overthrowing the rule and became the most brutal and unpredictable monarch since the establishment of the entire empire. He was an ambitious power holder and a ruthless conqueror, but under his heavy handed and iron-fist rule, the empire’s power has developed to its peak in history.

Although he was willing expand his power, he never showed much interest in private enjoyment, until one day—

the Emperor suddenly dispatched manpower and hired the best designers and architects to design a private pool for him.

Rowett seemed to have acquired a new hobby.

Sunlight spilled from the skylight above the head, illuminating the entire transparent glass room clearly and brightly, making it seem like a shrine shrouded in golden light, warm and brilliant light shone onto the sparkling water surface, making the underwater scenery completely visible.

The merman came slowly out of the water, first head and then shoulders exposed, the pearly white tail fin swayed slowly and gracefully on the surface of the water, there were droplets on his slender eyelashes, and his wet cheeks sparkled in the sun. The blue and purple eyes looked towards the side of the pool without evading, his eyes were like a clear sky, without the slightest brutality and blood thirst in them.

The young emperor stared at the merman in front of him, as if he was admiring the most precious masterpiece, and it felt as if a satisfied owner was admiring and examining his possessions.

As he was being watched, Ge Xiu was also looking at the man in front of him.

The last time he saw him was in the dimly lit dungeon, he could only see the fuzzy outline of the other party, and I couldn’t distinguish his appearance at all.

The man in front of him was tall, with handsome features that were almost dangerously beautiful. The high brows were sharp and sharp, the eye sockets were deep, and the narrow and tall nose gave him a very aggressive sense of danger. The dark eyes caused him to emit strong sense of pressure, he looked thoughtful.

Suddenly, Rowett knelt down, putting them both on the same eye level.

He asked unhurriedly: “Are you satisfied?”

Ge Xiu was taken aback for a moment, and then he realized what the other party was asking—about the size of this place and his colour preferences.

Of course not satisfied. After all, no matter how beautiful was a fishtank it was still a fishtank. Could you put him back in the sea?

Ge Xiu’s interest suddenly dropped.

He withdrew his gaze indifferently, as if he hadn’t understood the other party’s question, his fan-shaped tail fin splashed hard, and his whole body sank under the water surface again.

Rowett raised his hand to block his eyes, but the dripping water still inevitably splashed on his face, and the attendant guarding the door gasped in fright, and as if petrified by a certain fear stood rooted on the spot.

Unexpectedly, the Emperor was not angry.

He took out the handkerchief from his pocket, wiped off the drops of water on his cheeks unhurriedly, and then lowered his eyes, looking thoughtfully at the mermaid’s figure that was blurred and obscured by the refraction of the pool water—the blue-purple merman curled up his tail quietly behind the rock, then closed his eyes drowsily, as if he was uninterested in everything that happened around his body.

The sound of the soles of the leather boots hitting the ground transmitted through the water, and the sound of the man’s footsteps drifted away. Soon, only the gurgling of the water continuously flowing could be heard in his ears.

Ge Xiu put his forehead against the hard and cold rock, and his thoughts came back to the previous train of thought again.

Ever since entering this world, his state has switched between two extremes — either violent and impatient, impulsive and irritable, or listless and chaotic.

This wasn’t like the lack of energy caused by the body breaking down and damage in the final stages of the previous few worlds, but something else…

As if there was a dark and enormous existence hidden deep in the mind, the outline of it was blurred and unclear, but it was whispering in Ge Xiu’s ears all the time, releasing negative energy that was hard to ignore.

Water waves, walls, the sound of changing water…

lights, glass…

Everything made him irritable for unknown reason. He couldn’t wait to destroy it all. This kind of irrational impulse dominated his thoughts and silently urged him to do something—

It seemed that the residual anaesthetic in his body played its role, and Ge Xiu gradually fell into a deep sleep.

The broken images were like shredded film, scattered in the dream world, but they couldn’t be put together. Only the resistance from the depths of the soul was clear and sharp, as if a knife blade cut through the skin.

When Ge Xiu opened his eyes again, the warm and brilliant sun that had previously warmed the water temperature had disappeared, replaced by large expanses of dense sunset clouds and gradually deepening haze.

There were small fish swimming around.

The small fish were silvery white, and the scales on their bodies were sparkling with light shimmer, and they clung to it ignorantly..

Ge Xiu reached out his hand, his fingers were slender, and the joints between the fingers were covered with webbed membranes.

He used his fingertips to circle around the little fish that was swimming up close, and the water flow that was brought with his fingers instantly confused its directions, and it bumped into Ge Xiu’s palm dizzily.

Ge Xiu stretched his tail, and more small silver fishes were washed away by the current of the water caused by his movements, and they swam away from him in panic.

He lost interest and let go of the stupid fish.

The little whitebait floated between his fingers and its simple mind made it forget the danger just now, it continued to chase the swaying water weeds by the rock.

Ge Xiu lay down again, and the smooth and elegant fishtail went back to the original position. He rested on his tail fin, squinted to look at the changing clouds in the sky, the blue-purple eyes under blue rippling waves were like stars that sank underwater.

He spit out a bunch of bubbles with boredom.

…Really want to eat candy.

·

“…He didn’t eat.”

Rowett raised his eyebrows, and finally condescendingly turned his gaze on the mermaid expert not far away: “Why?”

The mermaid specialist trembled and lowered his head a little bit: “Your, Your Majesty, this…this…”

Etes whitebait was the favourite food of mermaids, this was definitely true! The breeding conditions of etes whitebait were very harsh. Even in the homes of wealthy aristocrats, it wasn’t used as a staple food for mermaids, but only occasionally as a reward to the mermaids with outstanding performance. The Emperor was really generous. This was the first time he was feeding and he already used the most expensive food—but what he didn’t expect was that this mermaid would not buy it!

He suddenly thought of something and stammered hurriedly:

“Or, maybe you can ask the merchant who sold you this mermaid to see what kind of food it likes?”

Rowett stared at him with a deep gaze, a smile with indistinct emotions appeared on his face: “Good advice.”

Before the expert could be happy, he heard the voice of the Emperor from above his head saying lightly: “But if my merman still doesn’t eat, you can go to jail and keep company that merchant.”

The expert suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and his figure shrank again, shivering a little bit — he knew that His Majesty the Emperor never joked.

After being imprisoned for nearly a week, the merchant was not as fat and bloated as before. He stumbled to the ground under the escort of the soldiers, then got up in a panic, and stood below the steps in an awkward posture, he was panicked like a rat that saw its natural enemy, looking as if the wind and grass could scare him to death.

He really didn’t expect that a merman he sold could cause him such a terrible disaster.

All mermaids were gentle and friendly in nature, so they could become pets sought after by wealthy noble merchants. He had been in this business for nearly 20 years, and he has handled countless mermaids. From fishing to selling, he mastered everything. He had never seen such a beautiful and vicious merman, who could actually kill his master the day after he was sold—and the one who was killed was the cousin of the current emperor!

Now he was actually taken to the supreme Emperor… The merchant felt that he was about to face a catastrophe.

A man’s low voice came over his head: “Did you sell this merman?”

“Yes…yes…” the merchant replied tremblingly, almost too scared to speak.

“What does he like to eat?”

“…?” The businessman was taken aback, and he didn’t react for a while. It was not until the soldier behind him pounded impatiently with the butt of his rifle that he suddenly recovered from the shock.

Rowett patiently asked again: “The merman you sold, does he have anything he likes to eat?”

“This…this…” The merchant hesitated: “Have you tried feeding him fish like other people?”

Rowett’s expression turned cold, and he casually tapped the armrest of the seat with his fingers: “So you don’t know?”

The merchant raised his head in a panic, and hurriedly replied: “No, no! Your Majesty! I didn’t mean that!”

He lowered his head evasively again, and murmured: “It’s just…it’s just…”

Rowett’s force of tapping on the armrest increased as he grew impatient, he asked in a cold voice that gave a vague feeling of pressure “What are you hiding?”

The businessman gritted his teeth, seemed to finally make up his mind, and said in a very low voice: “It’s just… I suspect… it may not be a mermaid.”

Rowett stopped the action of tapping, raised one eyebrow and sat up: “Oh?”

The merchant didn’t dare to look up:

“I, when I was in prison all this time, I have been thinking about this issue. As everyone knows, mermaids are all a gentle and very obedient species, but this one was so fierce and violent. I had been in the mermaid trade business for 23 years, and I have never seen a mermaid like him. Plus…you have also seen his beauty is truly unmatched even among mermaids, so…so I suspect…I suspect that the mermaid I caught is not a mermaid…I think it…”

He took a deep breath, and said his guess a bit unsure: “Maybe …It’s a siren.”

Siren.

Although in looks it was very similar to the mermaids, their essence was completely different.

They were a kind of sea monsters that derived from mythology. Legends said that they had a natural singing voice and miraculous beauty. They were cruel and violent by nature. They used their voices to lure sailors passing by on ships, causing them to hit the rocks and sink, and then they ate the people. Whenever they were the sea was full of bones of their victims.

All the merchants engaged in the mermaid hunting and selling industry have heard of the legend of the sirens. Many people were convinced that they were real. Some claimed to have heard them bewitching people from afar when going out to sea. Their singing voice was a hundred times more beautiful than a mermaid. There were even people telling stories about encounters with them vividly.

But no one had actually ever seen or caught one of them.

In their line of occupation, the existence of siren is like a legend.

A dream from myths.