Chapter 369: Chapter 368 Husband
The night deepened, a crescent moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the rolling estates below.
At the top of the tower, the glass windows of the secret chamber reflected the cold, desolate moonlight. Faintly, through the heavy, dense black mosquito net, a human silhouette could be seen lying on the bed.
Light snores emanated from the silk bedding. This peaceful and resonant sound hadn’t been heard in this room for several months.
The snorer’s relaxed state was perhaps thanks to the intricate geometric pattern drawn on the ground around the wooden bed—
The pattern was octagonal overall, composed of several circles and diagonal lines. A slowly burning, orange-yellow candle was placed in each of its eight corners, around which were drawn strange characters this world had never seen.
Apart from the snoring, the room was a bastion of silence. The buzzing of noisy mosquitoes was inaudible. Cotton pads stuck to the outer walls soundproofed the room, completely blocking out distant sounds that traveled along the ancient estate walls.
"HUUU..."
The human figure on the bed contentedly turned over, burying his head in the soft pillow. He was completely unaware that, outside the narrow glass window, a pair of deep, pitch-black eyes had emerged at some unknown time.
Those eyes silently stared at the figure on the bed for a long time before finally moving away, focusing on the candles around the wooden bed.
A breeze blew in from outside the window without warning, and all the candles were snuffed out at once, leaving only a wisp of lingering smoke rising from the wicks.
The owner of the eyes waited quietly for a while, but the Magic Circle showed no reaction to the extinguished candles, remaining completely undisturbed. Then it moved. A pitch-black hand slowly approached the metal bars outside the glass window. The moment it was about to touch them, it melted into a puddle of clear water and slipped through effortlessly.
A ball of water rolled over the bars and slid through the glass window. It descended along the cotton pads, leaving no trace of water throughout the entire process, as if its surface was coated with some kind of insulating layer.
Soon, the water ball landed on the wooden floor. It stretched out a tendril to carefully pick up a book that had fallen on the ground, knocking over an extinguished candle on the Magic Circle in the process.
Nothing happened.
Emboldened, the water ball directly touched the Magic Circle with a tendril, wiping away part of the design with its aqueous body.
Still nothing happened.
Finally sure of its safety, the water ball rolled backward for a distance, then shrank into a ball and began to tremble rapidly.
At a rate visible to the naked eye, the water ball swiftly evaporated, eventually vanishing completely, not even leaving a wet mark behind.
Then, a corner of the heavy mosquito net was slowly lifted by an invisible force, or perhaps an invisible hand made of steam.
The invisible steam, unseen by the naked eye, crept into the mosquito net. It hovered in midair, staring at the silk bedding that bulged with a human contour.
"HEH HEH HEH HEH—"
An extremely faint sound, like that of boiling water humming, arose in midair.
The steam slowly pulled back the bedding, as gently as a loving wife waking her husband in the early morning.
Then, it saw the Asian youth lying in bed. He wore the same style of pajamas as Peter, a sinister smile on his lips, and held a strikingly huge Giant Scythe in his hands, swinging it towards the creature.
The silhouette formed by the steam acutely felt the terrifying aura emanating from the scythe. It was an unknown Energy, powerful enough to injure it, even capable of slicing it in two.
The watery silhouette let out a piercing, ghastly shriek. The frenzied gale tore the mosquito netting around the wooden bed and blew it away. The entire room shook, and several soundproofing cotton pads fell to the floor.
It retreated rapidly, but the distance between them was just too close. The scythe, reflecting the cold moonlight, finally struck it.
"WHOOSH—"
The sound of tearing through the air rose sharply, then fell silent just as suddenly.
The retreating watery silhouette crashed heavily against the wall, collapsing to the ground.
First, it rapidly formed into a ball of water, and then... into a Mermaid.
Just as Peter had described earlier, she—for it was indeed a she—had a long tail covered in phosphorescent green scales, and a dark-skinned human upper body clad in a two-piece shell garment.
Compared to a human, her torso and arms were more slender and elongated. Her body was thin and flat, without contours.
Between her fingers were green, filmy webs like a duck’s, covered in a layer of mucus—just like the scales on her tail.
The mucus exuded a seaweed-like odor. It wasn’t the fresh, natural kind, but a salty, acrid smell akin to rotting sea creatures—nauseating and inescapable, even if one held their breath.
And her face... Her face had irregular and oddly shaped areas. Her nose was flat, extending into a receding forehead, yet her brow ridges were high and narrow.
Similarly elongated eyelids were set beneath the brow bones. Her deep-set, black pupils radiated an unsettling malevolence, like the deep sea.
What was most striking was the exaggerated spacing between her two eyes. Just as Peter had described, she was reminiscent of an anglerfish or flatfish. This facial structure, already discomfiting on a fish, invoked an indescribable horror when replicated on a human—like a maliciously twisted humanoid doll. Any sensible person would recognize this instinctual aversion as the uncanny valley effect.
Overall, this Mermaid looked like a case of biological regression. This became especially clear after Li Ang noticed the pink, quivering gills on either side of her neck. He immediately associated her with the Deep Ones of legend.
Even with Li Ang’s mental fortitude, he couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath after carefully examining the creature.
No wonder Peter was driven to mental instability. If one were to be kissed by such a "Mermaid" in the deep sea, anyone slightly less stable in mind would likely be scared into insanity on the spot, not to mention the foul breath emanating from those sharp teeth...
The more carefully Li Ang scrutinized her, the deeper his sympathy for Peter became.
He leaped from the bed, gripping the Giant Scythe in both hands, and strode toward the collapsed Mermaid on the ground.
At this moment, several players and the estate’s Spellcasters, having heard the commotion in the secret room, had arrived. John Joyce and Bob kicked open the door, while Smoker Julia emerged from a secret door in the adjacent room.
Two Spellcasters hired by the Governor emerged from the room on the right.
All eyes fell upon the Mermaid.
Li Ang had just struck the Mermaid in the chest with his scythe, spilling a large amount of fluorescent green blood on the floor beside her. Yet, in just those few seconds, the wound that had previously exposed bone and organs was already nearly healed.
Facing the indifferent scrutiny of the Spellcasters, the Mermaid showed no panic. In a voice as grating as scraping metal, she slowly spoke, "Where is my husband?"