“Beyond the South Sea, there are merfolk, dwelling in water like fish, never ceasing their weaving. When their eyes weep, they can produce pearls.”

Yinli was a merfolk.

He was different from other merfolk – very timid, spoke softly, and was often bullied by other merfolk. Whenever bullied, his tears would flow endlessly.

His twin brother Yinying would always scold him: “Stop crying, stop crying. You cry so much that if those humans catch you, they’ll make you cry every day.”

Yinli would then hide behind the reef in fright, secretly wiping his eyes.

Although people feared demons and monsters, merfolk had gentle natures and rarely harmed others. Often, people made a living hunting merfolk at sea. When caught, they would either sell them at high prices to wealthy people as playthings or keep them at home to make the merfolk cry daily to produce pearls. The merfolk in the depths of the West Sea were becoming fewer and fewer. Yinying and Yinli planned to find another place and leave the West Sea.

But before they could leave, one day, Yinli was captured.

He was caught by a nest of pirates. The pirates tied him to the mast at the ship’s bow, using knives to cut the scales from his fish tail. Yinli trembled in fear, tears flowing continuously.

Seeing that he could cry pearls, they became even more excited. Someone said, “When we reach shore, we’ll sell these merfolk to those wealthy people and make a fortune!”

“Looking carefully, he’s quite beautiful,” another person crouched in front of him, somewhat regretfully: “Just has scales on his face.” He made a motion to use his knife to cut Yinli’s face: “Should we pluck them off?”

Yinli’s face turned deathly pale.

The pirate leader cursed: “Pluck what? Do you know how much money we’d lose if even one fish scale is missing at delivery? No sense!” He called to his subordinates: “Lock him up for me, don’t let this merfolk die!”

So Yinli was confined in the second-level cabin.

This was a cargo ship. The pirates had robbed someone’s cargo ship, killed all the men and children on board, and kept the women for their pleasure. Every night, Yinli could hear the sounds of women crying and struggling from above. Occasionally, there would be the “splash” sound of heavy objects falling into the sea. Having lived in water for years, he could hear clearly – that was the echo of dead people falling into the water.

The merfolk hunters used specially made demon-binding ropes. He couldn’t break free and could only stay on the ship. His heart was also filled with fear. The merfolk bought by wealthy people met various fates. The better ones could still keep their lives, spending their entire lives trapped in small water tanks in courtyards as playthings. The worst ones… Yinli had once seen people auctioning merfolk skin oil by the seaside. Using merfolk fat as lamp oil, its flame would never extinguish for ten thousand years.

Yinli thought he would probably die soon, too.

Yet someone saved him.

One night, Yinli was leaning in the corner of the cabin, half-asleep, when he heard the sound of clashing swords and killing from above. He was stunned for a moment, opened his eyes, and someone came in from outside, bringing with them the sea breeze of the West Sea. This swept away all the stifling, suffocating, turbid air. He saw a woman in red clothes holding a bow and arrow, who spotted Yinli at first glance.

To avoid being seen and causing trouble when they reached shore, the pirates had covered Yinli with a large cloth robe, hiding his silver fish tail. The areas covered by scales on his face were also smeared with black mud, making him look like just a dirty, ordinary young man.

The red-clothed woman didn’t notice Yinli’s peculiarity either, thinking he was someone from the cargo ship bound by the pirates. She walked to Yinli’s side, half-crouched beside him, and while untying the demon-binding rope on his body, asked: “Are you from this ship?”

Yinli was extremely nervous. He didn’t dare speak, and was also afraid this woman would discover his merfolk identity. As soon as the ropes on his body were removed, he quickly jumped out.

“Hey?” The red-clothed woman was startled, “You…”

Yinli leaped into the sea.

All humans were the same – when they saw merfolk, they would think of capturing and selling them. He couldn’t fall into human hands again.

Yinli saw the woman hurriedly run to the bow, ordering people to search for his traces. She leaned against the ship’s railing and looked down. Only then did Yinli see clearly that what she wore seemed to be a shortened wedding dress, with sleeves rolled up too. It was a bit strange, but not ugly – quite special.

The guards didn’t find any trace of Yinli and returned to the ship. Yinli followed from a distance. He saw the red-clothed woman release those women from the cargo ship. He heard those people call the red-clothed woman Princess Lizhu.

So that was her name, Yinli thought.

Princess Lizhu was a princess of Linshi Kingdom and the future empress of Li’er Kingdom. This trip to Li’er Kingdom was for a marriage alliance. She just hadn’t expected to encounter pirates robbing ships midway. This princess, skilled in riding and archery, personally led her guards and caught the pirates completely off guard.

The little merfolk lay behind the reef, watching that ship from afar, marveling in their hearts – she was truly brave. Those pirates were fierce, terrifying, yet she remained calm and fearless, not taking those people seriously at all. Her horn bow was also very impressive, matching her perfectly.

“How long are you going to keep following her?” Yinying swam over from behind, grabbing his tail with both hands, trying to drag his elder brother away, but Yinli seemed to have grown onto the reef, not moving at all.

Yinying was frustrated: “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love with her?”

Love? Yinli was stunned for a moment.

He was now nearly a hundred years old, which in human lifespan would be equivalent to a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth. He had heard clan members tell those stirring love stories, but he didn’t know what love meant.

He hugged the reef and looked up into the distance.

Princess Lizhu was leaning against the ship’s railing, wiping the long bow in her hands.

The ship sailed on the sea under moonlight illuminating thousands of miles. The woman in red looked down at the long bow in her hands, wiping it very carefully. She was beautiful and spirited, her long black hair tied in a simple bun, her red robe gently fluttering in the wind. Even the sea breeze seemed brighter because of her.

However, her expression seemed somewhat lonely.

A sour, bitter feeling arose in Yinli’s heart. He didn’t know what it was, so he said softly: “I want to stay with her.”

“How?”

The little merfolk thought for a moment, happily flipped over, his tail splashing a beautiful wave at the seaside. He spoke longingly: “Don’t people in the human world often say that a life-saving debt should be repaid with one’s body? She saved me, so I must repay this kindness.”

Yinying threw cold water on him: “Still talking about repaying kindness. Think clearly – we are demons, she is human. Forget about falling in love, if you appear before her, you’ll immediately be caught as a monster.”

Yinli knew he was right.

But he still wanted to stay with Princess Lizhu.

So he found a witch of the Serpent Witch Clan and asked the witch to make a deal with him.

The torches on the wall burned quietly, yet Zanxing felt somewhat cold. She paused and asked: “The deal you mentioned – it wasn’t asking the witch to turn your fish tail into legs, was it?”