Lie Huo Jiao Chou

烈火浇愁

lie-huo-jiao-chou

Chapter 71

Everyone was too busy marveling at Director Xuan's miracle and quickly crowded around the screen.
It turned out that the wanted criminal Silver Shadow could "see" some things, but only living things.
In his "field of vision," there were no tables, chairs, or benches.
The people and animals that passed by him were all different shapes of shadows, with blurry edges and mostly composed of black, white, and gray. Some were darker in color, some brighter, but their facial features were indistinguishable.
The images in his mind were a bit blurry, and he could hear the sound of water. He should be on a tourist boat, with visitors passing by from time to time.
The noisy chatter and shutter sounds were endless - people were all discussing the strange phenomenon on the sea not far away.
At the end of Silver Shadow's "vision," there was a massive mountain-shaped shadow.
Unlike humans, in Silver Shadow's "eyes," the edge of the "mountain" was sharp as if carved by a knife, completely black, with a dark red object at the center, like a heart, maintaining the shape of the "mountain."
"This guy is actually related to the Mirage Island incident!"
"He actually dares to pretend that nothing happened and use Zhi Chun to trap Captain Yan!"
Wang Ze's face suddenly tightened, he fiercely bit his cheek, and forcefully turned to Xuan Ji, "Director, human memory is always a mess, even with psychic interrogation, we still need 'word guidance.' We just broke through his mental barrier and coincidentally saw what we wanted to know the most - is there any deception?"
"No, there isn't. He's been fighting with our spiritual-types for a long time, feeling highly nervous and knowing that you want to ask something. He must have been suppressing memories related to Captain Yan."
Xuan Ji snapped out of his thoughts and quietly put the hand that Sheng Lingyuan had hit into his pocket.
With this half-assed knowledge, he acted like a seasoned expert, confident and composed.
He continued, "This is a kind of witchcraft called 'Retracing'. It not only breaks through mental barriers, but also blurs the line between reality and memory. The more one tries to suppress memories, the more they will be the first to surface."
"Hey, look at this guy," one of the interrogators in front of the screen said. "He's different from the others!"
In the memory, Silver Shadow withdrew his gaze and turned to the person next to him. The other shadows were all varying shades of darkness, but the figure next to him was like a human flashlight, shining so brightly it was almost blinding.
Like the mirage island, the outline of this flashlight was clear and distinct. It was probably not very tall, bald, and shockingly thin, with proportions that seemed abnormal.
No matter how you looked at it, something about it seemed off.
Silver Shadow asked, "Is this enough?"
The human flashlight replied, "Let's take another look. I've heard that the mirages are timid and easily dispersed by human energy. We have no precedent to follow, so we can only try and see. Let's wait until it can reach the shore before we worry about completing the task."
The human flashlight had a voice like a duck, and it was impossible to tell if it was male or female. As soon as it spoke, several interrogators simultaneously realized what was wrong with this clearly outlined figure - it had no sexual characteristics.
Silver Shadow turned his gaze back to Mirage Island, staring at the dark red mass in the center for a moment before whispering, "What exactly is that thing? It seems to have sucked up all the filth within tens of thousands of miles. If those who salvage ocean garbage knew about this treasure, they would surely come begging on their knees."
"Don't be too excited, it's not some treasure. It is said that some foreign scientific expedition team discovered a type of shell on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean many years ago. They thought they had found a new species and wanted to bring it back for research.
"However, ever since they picked up that thing, they have been plagued with bad luck. Soon, everyone who had contact with the shell died, and their deaths were gruesome. They gave this thing a mysterious name, 'Dragon Crystal Shell', thinking that there might be unknown biological toxins inside."
The human flashlight said, "In fact, we have records of this thing from ancient times. Our ancestors called it 'Zhu Xin'."
Silver Shadow asked, "What do you mean?"
"Don't be fooled by its appearance as a shell, it's not. That thing is a mermaid fetus."
"What? Mermaids really exist?"
"It is said that there is no smoke without fire," the human flashlight nodded stiffly. "Merfolk are a type of creature that is neither born from eggs nor from the womb. These big fish do not differentiate between male and female, and each one is hermaphroditic. They also do not have any reproductive organs such as a uterus. According to legend, young merfolk grow on their parents' chests."
Silver Shadow and the people listening in the interrogation room all held their chests at the same time, feeling their heartbeats becoming irregular just from listening.
Du Ruo muttered, "How big would their chests have to be to hold them?"
On the screen, Silver Shadow had a similar thought to her hero and asked the question for her.
"The pregnancy of a mermaid doesn't take up much space," said the human flashlight. "After conception, a shell begins to form in her chest. The shell will grow for three years, and as it grows, the mermaid's heart will shrink. Eventually, the shell will be the size of a palm and half encircle the mermaid's heart. At this point, the mermaid's blood flow slows down, and her blood supply decreases, entering a state similar to hibernation. Newly born mermaid fetuses are usually only an inch or so in size."
"How do they give birth?"
The human flashlight chuckled, its laughter sounding eerie and fitting for a horror movie soundtrack. It made people want to fast forward through it.
"How are they born? If they can't vomit outwards, then they have to be cut out. The mermaid's claws are as sharp as a knife, with tough skin and thick flesh. They can tear open their own chest and take out the baby. If the little mermaid is born smoothly, then the shell stays inside the mother's body and supposedly helps heal the wound... It's a nourishing thing, you can think of it as something similar to the Purple Palace Chariot."
"But what if it's not a smooth birth? Do mermaids also have difficult deliveries? And if the shell is absorbed, where did this expedition team get them in the first place?"
"The newly born mermaid still only an inch big, so it's not difficult for her to give birth. Do you think she's just an ordinary human? It's precisely because these big fish are naive and stubborn that they can't handle betrayal. If it were just a pair of mermaids getting married, it would be fine. They could live their own lives with their own stubbornness.
"But because mermaids have human faces and are said to be quite beautiful, there are often some people by the seaside who are curious and want to have a go. Curiosity may kill the cat, but no one can marry a fish. After the deed is done, it naturally ends there.
"If a mermaid is betrayed, the little mermaid in her heart will turn into liquid and flow out of her eyes, forming pearls when it meets water. This is the origin of the mermaid's 'tears into pearls'.
"The shell left in the heart will turn from pearl white to gray-black, from a great remedy to a deadly poison. Therefore, mermaids who have shed pearl tears will 'die of a broken heart'. After a mermaid dies, the shell...
"The shell doesn't rot. When the body decomposes, it continues to pollute the environment in the ocean. It's so toxic that our ancestors gave it a name - 'Zhu Xin' - which means 'heartbreak'."
Silver Shadow remained silent for a while, his view swaying with the ship's movements. The people outside the monitor also fell into silence.
"Is this true or false? Why are all the scumbags throughout history of this caliber?" Wang Ze, perhaps with some royal carp lineage, was particularly indignant after hearing this story.
"Treating mermaids as humans is to start chaos and end in abandonment! Not treating mermaids as humans is...isn't that like Japanese dogs messing with fish? How twisted!"
"Let's not discuss ethics for now," Du Ruo calmly rolled up her headscarf with a pen in hand, raising it to ask, "I think what he said is a bit contradictory. If 'Zhuxin' has such a strong toxicity that it can suck a mirage island out of thin air in the sea, ordinary people simply cannot get close, let alone salvage it. What about that previous scientific expedition team? I think his description is inconsistent."
Sheng Lingyuan pressed his temple with one hand and began to speak with half-closed eyes: "The Zhu Xin Pearl and the Mermaid Pearl come in pairs. When the mermaid loses its young, it would be constantly attracted by the Mermaid Pearl that flowed out, so there were rumors that the Mermaid Pearl would bring disaster.
"However, people also coveted the beauty of the Mermaid Pearl, so the Mountain people created the 'Pearl Refining Technique' to refine the Mermaid Pearl. Once the Mermaid Pearl is refined, the corresponding Zhu Xin Pearl will 'die' and its resentment will dissipate, leaving only residual mermaid poison.
"As long as you don't directly touch it, there won't be much trouble. The refined Mermaid Pearl is as bright as the moon and is also called the 'Blue Sea Pearl', which is priceless. In the Wei Yu's palace in the past, there were exactly 100,000 Blue Sea Pearls used for illumination."
As a seasoned beauty enthusiast, Du Ruo was always impressed by the enchantress-like appearance of the man in front of her.
She blushed at the sound of his voice, nodding her head repeatedly while holding her face.
However, halfway through his words, she suddenly realized something and her face darkened.
"Wait a minute," Du Ruo put her infatuation aside for a moment, "If that's the case, won't these people do anything for the priceless 'Blue Sea Pearl'?"
"They deliberately lure the merfolk ashore, deceiving and trapping them with emotions. If they acts skillfully enough, they can even take their poisonous blood as material for refining tools before the merfolk die from the poison. In addition, merfolk oil is the best fuel for lamps, windproof and waterproof, and can burn for thousands of years."
Suddenly, Sheng Lingyuan's headache became so severe that he could barely endure it. He refused to show any weakness in front of others and wished he could just dismantle the blind man's brain to understand what was causing his pain.
He became impatient and spoke faster.
With a wave of his hand, a cluster of black mist shot out and quickly formed a circle, casting a rough spell that hit Silver Shadow's temple.
Silver Shadow's body twitched and the screen flickered.
Sheng Lingyuan suddenly opened his eyes and stared directly at Silver Shadow's forehead, coldly questioning, "Unrefined mermaid pearls are called 'living pearls', dull and useless with poison. No one keeps them. Where did you and get this pair of mermaid pearl and Zhu Xin pearl?"
The screen flickered for a moment before changing scenes - it seemed that Silver Shadow and the human flashlight had returned to shore with the tourist boat.
The background noise of a news broadcast could be heard, "Due to tidal reasons, pollutants have accumulated in some areas of the South China Sea, urgently requiring removal of large amounts of toxic substances. On March 22nd, related ports were urgently closed, and relevant departments are currently evacuating the crowd..."
Wang Ze's pupils contracted, "That's the date we discovered the mirage island. I remember we received an emergency call on the night of the 21st."
"On the screen, the news ended and the spotlight turned off.
"It's done," said the voice to Silver Shadow.
"Recently, a foreign special forces team visited and all the experts from the Thunder-fire type of the Bureau were assigned to guard them in Yong'an. A super-powered tomb was unearthed in Biquan Mountain after an earthquake, with energy radiation spreading over hundreds of kilometers.
The main force of the Storm team has already gone there, leaving only Wind God available. Yan Qiushan's hometown is less than two hours away from here, and reliable sources say he is currently visiting his family there. He will definitely come to see you in person. The rest is up to you, my friend. I have accomplished my mission and will now report back."
"Okay. Give my regards to your 'old lady'," Silver Shadow nodded happily and asked, 'How long can I stay on Mirage Island?'"
"Look at you," said the human flashlight. "You've got the living pearl, haven't you? As soon as the job is done, you just soak it in concentrated sulfuric acid. Be efficient and don't be greedy - the poison of the Zhu Xin Pearl is too strong. If you drag it out, those agents of the Wind God will easily spot the flaw."
Silver Shadow sighed, "There's only one pair of Living Pearl and Zhu Xin Pearl left in the world. To just be able to throw them away, the old lady's wealth is truly immense."

Lie Huo Jiao Chou

Lie Huo Jiao Chou

Chapter 71 - Chapter 71

Skye