Just when it seemed one problem was over, another immediately arose; before we could even locate my older sister, Wang Jue had been spirited away by the mermaid.

Hou Dayong’s swimming speed was astonishingly fast. In the blink of an eye, he caught up to the mermaid and Wang Jue. Wang Jue followed her as if mesmerized; upon seeing Hou Dayong, he didn't come along but instead swam behind the mermaid to hide. The mermaid, realizing she couldn't outswim Hou Dayong, stopped, her face contorted in a snarl, revealing two sharp fangs in her mouth, confronting him with the fury of a little cat. Hou Dayong paid her no mind, charging forward with his trident. One jab—dodged. A thrust to the right—also evaded. The trident moved faster and faster, and the mermaid’s evasive maneuvers grew quicker in response. While they were engaged in this dance of thrust and dodge, I quietly swam behind Wang Jue, grabbed his arm, and tried to pull him back toward Hou Dayong.

But he wouldn't move with me. He shook off my grip and swam back to the mermaid, clinging tightly to her. Only then did I notice that Wang Jue’s usually deep pupils had turned gray, vacant like those of a blind man. I waved my hand in front of his eyes, and he seemed not to see. I intended to test if he could still hear by opening my mouth, but instantly, a thick, bloody "water" gushed in. It turned out the surrounding ** was still blood, merely appearing like water.

A pool of blood is a pool of blood; the peril remains absolute, without pretense. Just as Hou Dayong and the mermaid were locked in their struggle, a school of large fish swam past us, each as long as half an arm. While they appeared to glide by leisurely, they suddenly darted out, pecking furiously at the four of us. I quickly grabbed Wang Jue with one hand, using the other to shield my face, and the fish that pecked my diving suit quickly darted away to attack the mermaid. I curled up and sank down, and Wang Jue, pulled by my movement, was carried out of the immediate swarm.

Hou Dayong, holding his trident, wasn't afraid of them. He simply widened his target from the mermaid to the school of fish, still calmly striking left and right, skewering quite a few. He would pluck the impaled fish off the tines with his hand and continue stabbing. Having suffered at Hou Dayong’s hands, the school of fish dared not engage him directly again and turned, swimming toward the mermaid.

At this moment, the mermaid became the target of all hostility, pecked until she was covered in wounds, emitting continuous, faint cries for help.

In a haze, I realized the mermaid’s features were becoming familiar. She looked at me with eyes that held a hint of resentment beneath their sparkle—a delicate, pointed face, small lips, an exquisite nose... I held my breath, rubbed my eyes, and looked again, scrutinizing her.

There was no mistake—it was Wenshu! Wenshu was surrounded by the school of fish, her bare arms and legs crisscrossed with bloody gashes from their pecking. Where was the fish tail? Where were the scales? Suffering amidst the swarm were the Wenshu I longed for!

I settled Wang Jue onto a rock on the lakebed, swam desperately to Hou Dayong’s side, snatched the trident from his hand, and charged recklessly toward Wenshu, heavily encircled by the fish, viciously striking the sharp-beaked attackers with the trident.

The school of fish paused, stunned by this sudden assault, then swarmed darkly toward my head and face. Though the pecks against the diving suit felt dull, the suit didn't cover my entire body. My exposed head, hands, and neck were quickly assaulted by sharp pain from the fish, revealing streaks of wounds on the back of my hands; my neck and face were likely not far from meeting the same fate.

Just then, Wenshu, momentarily free, turned and swam out of the encirclement, heading toward a rock deep in the lake's center. Watching her retreating back, a powerful longing suddenly surged within me—a desire that drove me, ignoring the fish attack, to follow her there.