Chapter 150: The Little Mermaid (20)

Tang Mu did not quite understand the internal grudges of the Mermaid race. Therefore, she naturally turned a blind eye to whatever was going on between Sang Wu and Sang Da.

The person Sang Wu spoke of was not to be seen by Tang Mu.

Because what came into view was only a very, very large giant clam. The clam was three meters wide and firmly shut.

The exterior color of the clam was exceptionally beautiful, with radial grooves running across its shell. Its wave-like patterns added a touch of beauty and mystery to it.

"She lives inside."

"Is she not going to see us?"

Sang Wu shook his head. "She only comes out when she wants to. If she doesn't, even if we shout our throats hoarse outside, she won't come out to see us."

"..." How much time was she going to waste in this instance?

Ever since the first day she entered this instance until now, several months had already passed. This was probably the instance where she had consumed the most time.

The players were losing their patience as well.

Yin Yue was the quickest to act. She picked up her mallet prop and smashed it right against the clam's shell.

A D-grade prop. Although its grade was superior to E and F, if the ghost or monster's level exceeded D, this mallet would still be unable to inflict any damage upon the giant clam.

Just like right now.

The mallet struck the clam shell, yet it didn't even leave a single scratch.

Seeing this scene, the hearts of most players turned cold.

If a D-grade prop didn't work, they would have to resort to C-grade or above. However, C-grade and higher props were exorbitantly expensive in the system store. Moreover, there was a high probability that the points they earned wouldn't entirely belong to them. Almost everyone present belonged to some guild, and high-level props were mostly scavenged by the guilds. How could they ever get a turn to use them?

Tang Mu cast a casual glance out of the corner of her eye at the rankings of the accompanying players, shaking her head inwardly.

If you haven't even accumulated initial capital, why on earth would you join a guild?

Aside from saving your life in the early stages, what else could you possibly do?

The hard-earned money you slaved for ultimately just turns you into someone else's harvestable leek.

Truly impressive.

However, when Tang Mu used her own Red Thread Bell to strike the giant clam, it was likewise blocked and kept outside.

This clam's shell was truly tough.

It seemed that ordinary methods were entirely ineffective in luring the boss out of its thick shell.

On the other hand, Sang Wu and the others watched the players attack the giant clam with complete calmness, as if they had anticipated all along that things would turn out this way.

"She won't appear to see you today," the mermaids calmly stated. "We should return to the coral stone houses."

"You haven't had dinner yet. After dinner, we must bury the dead mermaids."

As for the iron-skinned skeleton men...

"Sang Wu, Sang Zha. You are the bravest and most powerful among the mermaids. Leave the iron-skinned skeleton men to you to handle. However, without you, your partners will likely find it difficult to take a single step in the sea-grass meadows. Therefore, you must also spare some attention to take care of them. Do you understand?"

"Mm," Sang Wu answered calmly.

Sang Zha's tone was much more relaxed than Sang Wu's. "My partner completely evolved into a full mermaid as early as last year. The dangers in this sea-grass meadow are actually of little consequence to her. But Sang Wu, yours... is still too frail. If by any chance she accidentally dies here, you might as well go ashore and find another one—"

"I will never find anyone else," Sang Wu said in a cold voice. "A loyal mermaid has only one partner for life. Don't teach Tang Mu bad things."

Sang Zha fell silent. His intention was clearly to keep Sang Wu from being so stubborn and narrow-minded. How did it somehow turn into teaching Tang Mu bad things?

Could it be that in Sang Wu's heart, Tang Mu was actually the unfaithful one?

How dare she?

If Tang Mu dared to be unfaithful to a mermaid, wouldn't killing her solve the whole matter?

Tang Mu perceived Sang Zha's dissatisfaction toward her and cast an equally displeased look in his direction. So what if a fully evolved mermaid was stronger than a half-mermaid? Just how powerful could they possibly be? Besides, sometimes brute force wasn't the absolute deciding factor when you wanted to ruin someone.

"Sang Zha, you take charge of the three iron-skinned skeleton men over there. Tang Mu and I will handle the three on this side."

Even though Sang Zha was quite displeased with Sang Wu's arrangement, because Sang Wu was the mermaid chieftain, Sang Zha had no choice but to obey.

The two parties parted ways.

Sang Wu was finally able to spend some time alone with Tang Mu.

He meticulously explained the precautions for subduing the iron-skinned skeleton men.

"In the sea-grass forest, mermaid tails are easily entangled by sea grass. At times like this, it is best to transform into human legs to reduce our surface area of physical contact with the sea grass. However, because you are originally a half-mermaid, turning back into a human will make you extremely frail and easily counter-controlled by the iron-skinned skeleton men... But during this process, I will not step in to help you."

Sang Wu said calmly, "You saw the miserable state of the half-mermaids earlier."

"Mermaid pearls are the most precious treasures of the mermaid race. Moreover, in many instances in the future, mermaid partners cannot always accompany their half-mermaid partners completely. If a half-mermaid is unfortunately killed while traveling alone, the mermaid pearl will be left behind. For a mermaid, this is a fatal loss."

"To prevent you from being killed, as my partner, you must also grow strong."

For some reason.

Hearing the words, "To prevent you from being killed, you must grow strong," Tang Mu felt a strangely familiar sensation wash over her.

It was Yan Xingwen.

It was Yan Xingwen's soul.

For a moment, as Tang Mu gazed into Sang Wu's face, she fell into a daze.

In truth, if the soul residing within this mermaid's body were not Yan Xingwen, her relationship with Sang Wu would be nothing more than that of a complete stranger.

If he were a stranger.

Tang Mu would still ruthlessly and mercilessly refuse to leave, sparing herself from once again bringing sorrow to a man whose love for her went unrequited.

Often, waking from dreams in the dead of night, all she could perceive was merely a shadow, a wisp of fog. When she had nightmares, the terror that gripped her was the fear of failing to find Yan Xingwen's new body, and an even greater fear of mistaking someone else for him.

She could only rely on instinct to perceive one thing: Yan Xingwen would grow jealous whenever he saw her getting close to other males.

That was her sole clue.

That was why she kept a distance from all other males.

Why she remained so cold and merciless toward anyone who attempted to draw near her.

However, having searched for so long, enduring endless trials only to receive no response, she grew weary, too.

An Yan Xingwen devoid of memories caused Tang Mu even deeper sorrow. Communication between them was forever blocked.

How deeply she longed for the days they had spent together in the past.

If there were a new possibility, could she please be spared from searching for him anymore?

Let him come find her instead.

If he recovered his memories, she believed there were more than enough private codes between them to recognize one another.

It was simply a pity.

That damned Spade Q was most skilled at disgusting people and driving them mad.

She hated Spade Q!