Chapter 135: The Deep Sea
Nangong Wuyue swam in the sea like a fish. To the siren, the sea was her home. Although she had been obeying her mother’s advice of not gong into the deep sea, her swimming aptitude was inborn.
Hao Ren was captivated by Nangong Wuyue’s form in the water. He exclaimed, “What a big tail!” and then there was total silence.
“Whoa, it’s been a long time since I last swam. I’m excited.” Nangong Wuyue emerged from the water right in front of Hao Ren, splashing the water out of its surface. Her hands were on the edge of the floating ice. “Hi Landlord, isn’t my tail beautiful? It’s golden red, just like the sunset.”
The siren maiden kicked up more water as she said that. She looked exactly like the mermaid in the mermaid stories—a beautiful, golden red tail with two light purple stripes. Her upper body was transformed too; there was light green stuff, which looked like fish scales covering her forearms right to her wrists. The same scales also covered the areas under her cheeks which was not strange at all instead, they were very beautifully arranged like a tattoo. Her clothes were gone. Her body was now covered in scales, an almost skin-like cloth—beautiful and sexy.
Before the transformation, Nangong Wuyue was just another ordinary chick; after the transformation, her beauty was stunning. But, Hao Ren’s reaction was a little off; aside from the “big tail” exclamation, the only thing he said was, “Where are your clothes?” Perhaps he had been living with the werehusky and vampire for too long, he lost his attraction to beautiful chicks.
Nangong Wuyue swung her tail and formed an ice ball. The ice ball dropped onto the floating ice. Her clothes were tucked nicely inside the ice ball. “My big brother Y’zaks, please help pick my clothes up.”
Y’zaks was too happy not to help. He nodded frantically. Hao Ren stretched his hand into the water trying to feel the temperature. “How could I? Do you have magic?”
“Just jump in—” Nangong Wuyue jumped out of the water and her tail slapped Hao Ren’s back. Before Hao Ren knew what was happening, he lost his balance and fell. The siren was excited and she swam towards him.
Everything was blurry as he fell. He was prepared for the icy-cold water. He heard the sound of water splashing but there was no chilly sensation. As he opened his eyes, he realized he was slowly sinking but, he was covered in some sort of sparkling liquid membrane; the liquid membrane was not just water-proofed but it also allowed him to breath freely. Aside from the strange feeling of floating in water, it was no different than being on dry land.
A golden screen swept across his eyes. It was the beautiful, big tail Nangong Wuyue was so proud of. The siren was visibly more excited in water than on dry land. She swam swiftly in a circling motion around Hao Ren until he felt dizzy, before coming up to him and patting him on his shoulder with her tail. “Landlord, how is it? Are you stunned?”
“I can still talk?” As he opened his mouth, he was amazed. He could clearly hear his own voice. “I can still talk underwater?”
“Sirens belong to the water, and water belongs to the sirens.” Nangong Wuyue held his hand and led him into the dark, deep sea. “Now, the body of water within a one kilometer radius from me is an extension of my body. You can breath, you can talk, and you won’t be affected by the water pressure within the sphere. Beyond that it won’t work.”
Hao Ren nodded. He was excited for the new, thrilling experience. Because the siren held him as they swam along, he did not need much effort to do the swimming himself.
Nangong Wuyue grabbed him by his arm and dived all the way down. The mermaid’s speed of swimming was incredible. Judging from how fast their surroundings turned dark and the G-force he felt from the diving acceleration, Hao Ren knew the little mermaid was moving faster than any submarine. Her tail flexed back and forth lightly and elegantly. Hao Ren became curious. “I remember seeing it somewhere that sirens are different from mermaids… While a mermaid has a long tail like yours, there are two types of sirens; one’s a bird-like monster, which flies above the sea surface, another one’s a sea snake…”
“Sea snake? Like this?” She released Hao Ren’s hand and made two turns in the water. Her tail quickly diffused and became transparent. Then it turned into a three-meter long, golden red tail, which looked like a sea snake. The scales on her face faded and transformed into strange, blood-red patterns. It was not gorgeous but, kind of strange and lascivious.
She still looked pretty but, also exuded the impression that she was lethal and dangerous. Hao Ren did not think she looked dangerous though. He felt that she looked more like a siren than ever—her mermaid look was too lame in comparison.
“Whoa, double shapeshifting?” Hao Ren almost could not believe his eyes as he looked at Nangong Wuyue. He could not take his eyes away from her magnificent sea-snake tail. “This is entirely trans-species!”
“Sirens aren’t bounded by their forms. We’re capable of multiple-shapeshifting.” Nangong Wuyue curled her tail around Hao Ren and continued to dive deeper into the sea. “As water has no shape, so do we. We could turn into any shape we like. I was in mermaid form earlier because I thought you liked the look of a fish tail. Humans are more familiar with it after all. But hey, I didn’t know you knew more images of sirens than I thought. What do you say if I turn into a crab?”
“Please don’t! I’d like to keep my impression intact.” Hao Ren shook his head frantically as multiple weird images flashed through his mind.
“Oh, yeah? I was thinking of shapeshifting into a jellyfish or a cuttlefish. You know, one can never have too many hands.” Nangong Wuyue flexed her tail and brought Hao Ren closer. “Landlord, which one looks better—the fish tail or sea-snake tail?”
“…..”
He found it more and more stressful to live with these non-human creatures. There were too many odd questions, and these fellows never thought of their cultural and aesthetic differences—for example, the question about teething rusk and dog chew Lily had been asking a while ago…
Hao Ren pondered for a long time before he responded, “I think both are equally beautiful.” A lame answer for a weird question was all he got. He then put his hand out and touched the siren’s tail, which was curled around his waist. It was cold and slippery. “In that sense, the legends about mermaids, sirens, sea monsters and every other being came from the same source—you?”
“You’re asking about something way before my time. I wasn’t even an egg at that time. Maybe you’re right—some of the seniors may have travelled to the surface to take a breath and got spotted. That’s the way most legends on Earth were originated. The same could be said of the Mythological Era where fractions of ancient beings fought one another.”
“Can you turn into a mantis shrimp?”
“Of course.”
“…Forget it! I was just asking.”
The duo chattered as they continued to dive deeper. By then, they were at a depth impenetrable by sunlight. It was pitch dark. The only source of light was the bluish glow emanated by the MDT that was leading the way ahead of them. Even with his enhanced vision he barely saw anything but, he knew he was in an unknown territory.
Out there, strange, faint shadows lurked in the dark . These shadows could have been following them from behind and afar. Perhaps they were early life forms—life forms with intelligence. They had detected the presence of two unknown trespassers. Although the creatures did not come close or attack, their act of stalking indicated that they were not friendly.
“Please, don’t eat me…” Nangong Wuyue could be heard murmuring. “Even though it won’t be lethal, it does hurt…”
“C’mon, that’s all you got as a siren?” Hao Ren was amused. He found the maiden really funny. Her timidity did not live up to her ferocious tail, which was three meters in length. It was the tail of a queen of the ocean.
“Of course, I’m capable of combat. It’s just that I’ve never fought in a battle.” Nangong Wuyue sped up as she kept murmuring. “Besides, this isn’t Earth. God knows how dangerous these things are. And by the way, are we there yet?”
The MDT was leading the duo with its blue glow, pointing ahead. “Almost there. ETA in a few minutes.”
It forgot about its deep-sea phobia. Obviously, it lied.
Soon, sporadic dots of light appeared ahead. Hao Ren could see it.
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