15: Chapter 15 First Encounter with the Mermaid Bride

"Splash!" The dark water surged from all directions, instantly engulfing Wu Xi.

Wu Xi shuddered, the river water piercing his pores like countless needles.

He instinctively tried to open his eyes, vaguely feeling himself enveloped in pitch-black darkness, unable to distinguish up from down.

His ears were filled with the "gurgling" sound of water, as if something were breathing beside him.

Water pressure squeezed in from all sides, and his chest felt stifled, as if someone were strangling him with a rope.

Wu Xi kicked his legs wildly, not knowing which direction he was swimming in.

Just then, his back itched.

It was Tentacle Lady. Wu Xi was stunned for a moment; he realized he could "see."

He wasn't seeing with his eyes, but perceiving everything around him through those two Tentacles.

The flow of the water, the change in temperature, a reef three zhang ahead, an undercurrent surging below to the left...

All this information was transmitted clearly into his mind.

"So... this is what it's like underwater..."

Only then did Wu Xi notice that the original single Tentacle had now become two, growing from near his tailbone, one on the left and one on the right, like two agile water snakes swimming freely in the water.

Once those two Tentacles entered the water, they were like fish returning to the sea, twisting happily.

They traced arcs in the water, creating subtle ripples.

The voice was thin and soft, like a little girl muttering: "Oh my... so comfortable... so cool... so soft..."

Wu Xi asked internally: "Why are you only coming out now?"

Tentacle Lady's voice was languid, as if she had just woken up: "Yin Marrow Ore... ate too much... so sleepy..." As she spoke, the two Tentacles swirled in the water, as if stretching.

"Husband... look..." Tentacle Lady's tone was filled with a touch of pride, "One... became two... can... breathe..."

Only then did Wu Xi notice that the two Tentacles seemed to have an auxiliary breathing function underwater, so he didn't have to worry about drowning.

At this moment, three zhang ahead, a ball of green light was lighting up in the water.

The vertical eye on the scholar's forehead was wide open, staring directly at him.

That eyeball shimmered with a cold light underwater, as if it had come to life.

Wu Xi's heart sank; this vertical eye had been torn to shreds by the Tiger Ghost just a moment ago, so how had it healed already?

"Found you." The scholar's voice came through the water, and before the words had finished, the scholar moved.

The water resistance was high, but the scholar darted over at extreme speed. Wu Xi only had time to raise his arm to block before his shoulder was tightly gripped by a hand.

"Go!" Tentacle Lady suddenly shot out two black shadows, whipping out two arcs in the water, heading straight to coil around the scholar's wrist.

The scholar frowned, and the vertical eye on his forehead shifted slightly.

Bang! Wu Xi's body flipped backward, a mouthful of blood rushing to his throat, dissolving into a patch of red in the water.

He kicked his legs to retreat, his two Tentacles flailing wildly in the water, forcing the scholar back two steps.

His chest burned with pain; the fight with the Tiger Ghost had caused him severe internal injuries, and now every movement felt like being carved by knives.

"Two? It seems you've also made quite some progress."

The scholar was unhurried, aiming his third eye at Wu Xi's face, the green light flaring up suddenly.

Wu Xi's vision blurred, and his head felt as if it had been pierced by steel needles, a sharp pain drilling into his brain.

The light contained something that made his brain go blank with a buzz.

In that instant, the scholar broke free from the Tentacles and chopped Wu Xi on the back of the neck with his palm.

Wu Xi's vision went black, and his body sank downward.

He wanted to struggle, but his limbs felt like they were filled with lead, too heavy to lift.

"You're quite severely injured." The scholar's voice drifted down from above.

Wu Xi struggled to lift his head and saw the scholar's third eye shining on him, the ghastly green light making the scholar look like a water ghost.

The two Tentacles lashed out violently, creating two currents.

The scholar simply tilted his head, dodging them easily.

He even had time to spare a kick, landing it right on Wu Xi's waist.

Wu Xi flew sideways, his back slamming into a rock at the bottom of the water.

His already split wounds burst open again, blood dispersing into the water.

"Too slow." The scholar shook his head, "In your current state, you can't even exert thirty percent of your usual strength, so what are you holding on for?"

Wu Xi stood up, leaning against the rock, his vision beginning to blur. The scholar's figure wavered in the water, creating multiple overlapping images. Tentacle Lady fully extended her two Tentacles, flanking from above and below.

"Foolish." The scholar sidestepped, dodging the Tentacle sweeping from above, and reached out to grab the one below.

He pulled hard, and Wu Xi lost his balance.

Then he struck his chest with a palm.

Pfft! Wu Xi spat out a mouthful of blood that exploded in the water, his body sinking limply.

The scholar sank down after him, pinning him against a giant rock at the bottom, the light from his third eye shining on Wu Xi's face.

"This is the end." The scholar leaned in, his voice icy.

Wu Xi's consciousness began to drift, the ball of green light before his eyes growing brighter, as if it were about to swallow him whole.

Just then, he heard a sound—not the sound of water, but an ethereal singing voice.

The tune was very low, as if drifting from a very distant place, or perhaps resonating directly inside his brain.

The sound was extremely strange, unlike anything Wu Xi had ever heard. It was babbling, sounding like a woman crying, yet also like something was laughing.

The scholar's hand paused, the green light in his vertical eye suddenly extinguished. It was as if that vertical eye had been pierced by something; the scholar let out a muffled groan, and his grip on Wu Xi loosened slightly.

Before Wu Xi could react, he saw a white shadow darting up from the pitch-black riverbed.

Wu Xi only had time to see a flash of ghastly white, and then he heard a muffled sound—pfft.

The scholar's eyes widened, and black blood was spurting from the vertical eye on his forehead.

A pale hand had pierced through his chest.

The fingers were slender, the nails pale green like the shell of some shellfish.

In the palm of the hand was something still beating, dark red, wrapped in wisps of black Qi. It was the scholar's heart.

The hand squeezed gently.

Pfft—like squeezing an overripe persimmon, black blood exploded in the water. The scholar's whole body convulsed a few times; he opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but only spat out a string of bubbles.

The white shadow let go, and the scholar's corpse sank slowly, swept away by the undercurrent into the pitch-black riverbed.

Wu Xi floated at the bottom of the water, watching the white shadow turn around.

Only then did Wu Xi see its appearance clearly. The upper body was a woman, or rather, had once been a woman.

The skin was a bluish-white, the dead-white color of something soaked for too long. Her hair was scattered in the water in strands, drifting with the current and wrapping around her own shoulders.

The lower body was not human at all, but a giant fish tail with grayish-white scales, the edges shimmering with the ghastly white light of a dead fish's belly.

Every scale had tiny cracks, densely packed as if something had shattered them, and they looked ready to fall off at any moment.

The eye sockets were entirely black—not the black of pupils, but the entire socket filled with black liquid, with only two points of eerie blue light in the center, devoid of any human quality.

Mermaid Grudge.

Mr. Xiangli's words flashed through Wu Xi's mind: Legend has it that she is a bride who drowned in the Heizhuo River, her resentment refusing to dissipate, transforming into a mermaid, skilled in music and capable of controlling water.

The creature tilted its head to look at him, its mouth slowly spreading open, wider and wider—she was smiling.

The hair all over Wu Xi's body stood on end, and the singing started again.

This time it didn't drift from afar, but sounded right against his ear, the voice drilling into his ears, crawling along his bones into his brain.

Wu Xi felt the blood rushing to his head, his heartbeat so fast it felt like it would explode.

Tentacle Lady let out a sharp hiss inside him, those black Tentacles twisting frantically, wanting to rush out, but they were suppressed tightly by an invisible force.

The difference in strength and Realm was too great; he couldn't even move.

The Mermaid Grudge swam toward him, her fish tail giving a light sweep, causing the water to automatically part and form a vortex around her.

She extended her right hand—the same hand that had just gouged out the scholar's heart—fingers slender, nails pale green, slowly reaching toward Wu Xi's chest.

Wu Xi wanted to dodge, but his body felt frozen, the singing voice like iron chains binding him tightly from head to toe.

He could only watch helplessly as that hand drew closer, the tips of the nails almost touching his skin.

It's over. This thought flashed through Wu Xi's mind.

Just then—Boom!!!

A loud noise exploded from above, shaking the entire riverbed, the silt churned up, and his vision instantly became murky.

The sound was like something heavy smashing into the water, or like a thunderbolt striking the surface.

Wu Xi even felt the water temperature rise by a few degrees in an instant.

"Prodigy—die!" A roar pierced through the water layer, cutting in like a knife.

The voice was deep and thick, carrying a pressure that made one's heart palpitate.

The Mermaid Grudge's movements suddenly stopped. She tilted her head, her pitch-black eye sockets looking toward the surface, the singing in her mouth coming to an abrupt halt.

This was the moment!

Wu Xi felt the bindings on his body loosen. The power pressing down on him felt as if something had snapped a few of its threads.

Run! Only this one word remained in his mind. Wu Xi desperately urged Tentacle Lady, and the two Tentacles instantly coiled around his waist from the bottom, pulling him backward violently.

The Mermaid Grudge reacted, letting out a sharp shriek—the sound was not human, but like the wail of some giant fish before death. Her fish tail thrashed wildly, and the entire water area instantly boiled.

Countless water arrows shot in from all directions. As Wu Xi was still retreating, he saw an arrow formed of water piercing straight toward his face.

He jerked his head to the side, the water arrow grazing his cheek, causing a stinging pain as if a layer of skin had been scraped off by a knife. Immediately after, his shoulder felt cold, and another water arrow pierced his right shoulder, blood dispersing in the water.

"Hiss—" Wu Xi sucked in a breath of cold air, but was filled with a mouthful of water, making his lungs burn with pain. He dared not stop, the Tentacles twisting frantically, carrying him darting wildly through the water.

The Mermaid Grudge was completely enraged, her ghastly white face contorted, and the blue light in her pitch-black eye sockets flared violently.

With a sweep of her fish tail, the currents across the entire riverbed changed direction, forming a massive suction force, trying to pull Wu Xi back.

Wu Xi felt a massive pulling force from behind, as if he were being torn apart by five horses. He struggled desperately forward, his hands tightly gripping a reef in front.

"Tentacle Lady, hurry home!!!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the Tentacles wrapped around him instantly became incredibly taut, coiling around his entire body. In an instant, a strong sense of dizziness struck him, and the world spun.

When Wu Xi struggled to lift his head, before him was already the gray, hazy sky of the Dreamlands.

He had survived.

Wu Xi grinned, wanting to laugh, but coughed up a mouthful of blood instead. He lay flat on the ground, watching the twisted clouds in the sky, feeling as if all the bones in his body were broken.