Chapter 160: Waves
In the quiet swimming pool at night, Rena lay on the back of the giant crab Haru, floating in the water, looking at the night sky through the glass. The clouds outside were heavy and gloomy, with only a ray of moonlight breaking through and shining on the ground.
Looking at the bright moonlight, Rena asked,
“Mother, can Daddy come back?”
“We should trust the noble royal family and Mr. Fisher, and believe in the guidance of Lord Ramastia.”
Although Bai Mu had tried her best to comfort her child, the sensitive Rena keenly perceived the uncertainty in her mother’s words.
Her eyes turned slightly red as she kept staring into the pool below. Even Haru noticed his little master’s unease and blew some bubbles to comfort her.
“Guruguru~”
“Thank you, Haru. I believe they will succeed.”
Haru lowered his head and stopped “speaking,” but Rena noticed that the bubbles under Haru had not ceased, becoming increasingly frantic.
She hurriedly sat up, and the next moment, a massive jet of water suddenly surged from the pool, lifting Fisher, Jasmine, and Ling Jiu out and placing them on the shore beside the pool.
“Daddy!”
Seeing the unconscious Ling Jiu being brought back, both Rena and Bai Mu excitedly ran to his side.
Jasmine clutched her chest, gasping for breath, her body gradually returning to human form under the blessings of Ramastia.
Fisher leaned against the wall, watching the joyful reunion of the three, resting while recalling his earlier interactions with Anna on Snakehead Street.
What had allowed her to recognize him?
He hadn’t exposed his appearance, had deliberately muted his voice, yet she still discerned that he was Fisher. Could it be based on smell?
Having just been cleansed by Ramastia, his usual scent should have faded significantly. If she could still identify him by smell, did that mean the perfume he used to cover his scent when he and Trandal visited the Pink Pavilion was ineffective?
Fisher pondered as the water currents next to the pool gradually transformed into the shape of a giant serpent, gazing down at Jasmine on the shore.
“…”
The water serpent swirled low, while Jasmine simultaneously looked up at Ramastia. Although Fisher heard nothing, Jasmine pursed her lips and nodded from time to time, while Bai Mu and the others appeared puzzled, clearly unable to hear anything.
Only the Whale Folk could hear the voice of Ramastia; other beings could only interpret His thoughts through the bubbles that emerged when He manifested.
After a long while, Jasmine displayed a somewhat sorrowful expression, then lowered her head to make a devout gesture of prayer, offering a slight bow to the water flow before saying,
“I understand, Lord Ramastia, during this time, I will take good care of myself.”
Upon hearing this, the water serpent raised its body slightly and nodded, then tilted its head slightly and looked at Fisher who was sitting nearby. Despite having no facial features, the flowing water seemed to contain the faces of countless beings, with what felt like thousands of eyes gazing at him, causing the hair on Fisher’s body to stand on end.
The movement’s meaning was unclear, lacking any aggression but holding an indescribable significance.
Fisher couldn’t decipher it, and in the next instant, the serpent transformed back into ordinary water and vanished.
Jasmine pouted then stood up to look at Fisher, but her gaze was filled with pity as she appeared downcast.
“…What did He say?”
Fisher smiled and asked.
Jasmine wiped the dirt from her face left by the battle, walked to the pool’s edge, rinsed herself off with water, and replied,
“…It’s almost time for the Full Tide. Lord Ramastia will be leaving temporarily, and we won’t be able to call upon Him freely afterward, just now He told me to take good care of myself.”
“What is the Full Tide?”
“Ah, it’s probably… a ceremony our Whale Folk hold periodically. During the Full Tide, all whales in the sea must enter the deep trenches to the temple of Lord Ramastia. I went once as a child, and that was when I saw Lord Ramastia’s temple.”
“However, I also don’t know what everyone does during the Full Tide. My mother might know, but she never tells me. During the Full Tide, Lord Ramastia never emerges from His form to see us, and we can’t hear His voice. He won’t come back for a long time afterward.”
After hearing this, Fisher grew even more suspicious that the Whale Folk living in the trenches had a definite purpose. Their actions should align with Ramastia’s; otherwise, He wouldn’t be so kind to Jasmine and her mother.
“So that’s how it is.”
Fisher didn’t inquire further, just roughly noted the information he gained, planning to explore the specifics later when he acquired more clues. He still had a large number of matters to attend to.
After Jasmine wiped her face, she turned to Bai Mu and Rena, saying,
“You can’t linger on the shore anymore. Since someone has discovered your whereabouts, it’s very dangerous to stay here any longer. You’ve already brought me a lot of things; I’ll take on the next mission alone.”
Bai Mu sighed and didn’t insist. After all, her husband was still injured and lying in her arms, and they couldn’t be of help by staying here, so she decisively nodded and said,
“I understand, we will set out back to the sea tonight, Lady Jasmine, you must be careful.”
She then looked at Fisher, bowing deeply, saying,
“We are truly grateful for your help. We will leave all this gold and jewelry for you as a reward; please do not refuse, after all, we really have nothing else to offer you.”
“Yes, yes.”
Bai Mu and Rena left the large bag tied to Haru by the poolside. Fisher glanced at the bulging bag on the shore but didn’t decline, merely nodding in agreement.
Taking advantage of Ramastia still being able to respond to prayers, they would ride Ramastia’s “express” back to the sea.
Before leaving, Bai Mu took everything Jasmine’s aunt Muxi had sent for the bottom of the sea and handed it all to her. Fisher also walked over to her side and noticed that besides the letters, there were various human specialties, some familiar and some not.
“Goodbye, Fisher, Lady Jasmine!”
“Goodbye!”
Hearing Rena’s clear, childlike voice, Jasmine held on to the items and waved goodbye to Bai Mu and the others in the pool, and only after the water flow lifted them away and they disappeared did Jasmine lower her hand.
The swimming pool fell silent, leaving only Jasmine and Fisher. She turned back somewhat shyly and smiled at Fisher.
“I’m sorry, Teacher Fisher, for troubling you.”
“No, it’s fine.”
But Fisher didn’t pay attention to her words, instead fixating on the items left by Muxi in her hands. After a second, he suddenly reached out and grabbed a small iron box among the items, lifting it up to examine it closely.
The small iron box was the largest and most conspicuous among the items, clearly a creation of humanity, so Fisher picked it up to take a look and unexpectedly found it quite rewarding.
The box had faded somewhat from prolonged immersion in water, showing only a faint trace of blue, but in the center of that iron box, the inscription in Nali Language was still clear, indicating a line of words:
[Healing Room]
By the seaside at night, lights still shone in a villa at the foot of the mountain.
The ocean pushed waves toward the beach, but due to lack of power, they slowly retreated back into the ocean, then gathered strength to assault the shore again.
An old man sat in a chair near the beach in the villa, quietly watching the waves crashing onto the shore, his gaze deep, lost in thought. After a long while, he sighed softly,
“Humans, like those feeble waves striking the shore, foolishly aspire to explore worlds that do not belong to them, even if it’s just a step forward. But unlike the waves, human life is short and fragile, and the price of failure in their explorations is often their own precious lives.”
Behind the old man’s chair, two beautiful women knelt on the ground, slightly bowing their heads, listening to the old man’s somewhat hoarse voice.
After the brief lament, the old man slowly stood up, his tall figure once again blocking the dim moonlight, walking to Anna’s side.
“Let’s talk about recent events. I heard that the ocean subhuman you captured was rescued by his companions in plain sight tonight?”
Hearing this, Anna’s face turned pale, and she hurriedly pressed her head to the ground, apologizing,
“I’m very sorry, Master, his companions are no ordinary people; I underestimated them.”
“Ha ha.”
The old man looked at Anna, who knelt at his feet, daring not to move. He gently squatted down, his tone soft,
“I’m not blaming you. The ocean is vast, another world beyond human sight, where any variable or miracle can be acknowledged by the world; it is the sacred land of life. Moreover, we no longer need those ocean subhumans to help us find the Child of the Sea; I already know the location of the Child of the Sea.”
“Eh?”
Anna looked up in surprise and met the old man’s icy gaze.
Suddenly, he reached out and grasped Anna’s head, his hand slowly exerting force as if wanting to crush her skull.
A look of intense pain flashed across Anna’s face, low moans escaped deep from her throat, yet she was unable to escape the grasp of the old man’s great hand.
“Hah.”
Watching the remarkably beautiful Anna emit desperate sounds for survival, the old man smiled slightly and asked,
“Let’s discuss why the consumption records from the Pink Pavilion ended up in the hands of the Griffin Party. I don’t believe that meticulous Anna would make such a blatant mistake, or are you deliberately trying to sabotage my affairs by exposing the Pink Pavilion to the public eye?”
The calmer the old man’s words became, the more painful Anna’s expression grew. After struggling and gasping for several seconds, she finally managed to explain with difficulty,
“No, I… it was Kachina who did it. She thought that by giving the information to the Griffin Party, she could leave, so she…”
After hearing Anna’s words, the old man stared intensely at her bloodshot eyes, then gently released his grip, causing her to immediately collapse to the ground.
Anna crawled on the ground, coughing incessantly, drops of blood dripping from her eyes and nose onto the floor, as striking as blooming roses.
The scent of blood filled the air, yet the old man’s expression remained very calm.
“Oh, Kachina? Why didn’t you stop her?”
“I don’t know! Master! She and I are sisters; I thought she had already given up her fantasy. You’ve always known what she has done; who could have guessed she kept those thoughts hidden in her heart? If I had known… If I had known she would think this way, I could have stopped her sooner.”
Anna’s voice trembled, tears falling alongside her blood. She seemed to regret it deeply, her nails digging into the ground.
The old man knew that Anna and Kachina were very close sisters. Anna regarded Kachina as her biological sister, and Kachina had always been the most obedient one among his subordinates, helping Anna over the years. It was normal for Anna not to have noticed if it truly was Kachina who had acted.
“Where is she now?”
“I have already dealt with her.”
Anna said while kneeling there.
Hearing this, the old man simply laughed, slowly walking back to the window, addressing the night wind,
“You are very clever; you know if I dealt with her, she would suffer. So, you gave her a quick end.”
“This was my own decision. If the Master wants to punish me…”
The old man raised his hand to interrupt her words, then shook his head,
“Enough, what has happened has happened. I will send someone to verify it again. I hope you haven’t lied to me.”
“I dare not!”
“Since the Pink Pavilion is currently flourishing, you should lay low and not participate in anything, just conduct your business honestly, understand?”
“Yes.”
“Kachina.”
Kachina, who had been kneeling beside Anna and had shown a bit of schadenfreude at her miserable state, straightened up to look at the old man in front of her, responding,
“I’m here, Master.”
“I’m entrusting the matter of bringing back the Child of the Sea to your Healing Room. I will inform you of her location and identity in advance; make sure not to let me down.”
“Yes, I promise to complete the task.”
“Hmm, you may leave now.”
The old man waved his hand. Anna wiped the blood dripping from her face and slowly stood up. Just as she intended to leave after bowing to the old man, the old man’s voice, mingled with the night wind, abruptly chilled her heart,
“By the way… I remember Kachina has a small red mole on her chest, which I quite like.”
After Anna bit her lip, she seemed to understand what the old man was implying. She gently lowered her head and said,
“Tomorrow I will take her to the Healing Room, Master. Good night.”
The old man smiled slightly, gazing at the tranquil sea, where waves persistently attempted to advance toward the land, bravely meeting dissolution and fragmentation, yet never ceased their forward surge toward the shore.
Conversely, aren’t humans just as foolish a species?
Because it is the unknown, they feel compelled to explore; because they explore, they lose lives and pay the price, yet humans never despair and instead celebrate this unwavering courage.
“Snap.”
As the waves continued, two carriages parked at the entrance of the villa quietly departed into the thick darkness.
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(End of this chapter)
