Chapter 96: The Center of the Fish Pond (End)
“Splash—”
Near the coastline of a seaside city, the sound of something entering the water was barely audible.
A beautiful, black-haired woman was holding a camera, dressed in a blue casual outfit. She was aiming the camera at the railing on the coastline, where a dazzling figure had been standing just moments before.
The live stream camera flying nearby and the staff members rushing over were all shocked by the sudden disappearance.
—
[Live broadcast accident?]
[Did anyone see how Suhui fell? The railing seemed perfectly safe, didn’t it? She seemed to have fallen backwards on her own…]
Su Mingxiu, also worried after hearing the splash, put away her camera and rushed to the railing, looking down.
Seeing the churning blue waves below, she breathed a sigh of relief.
This incident started with the filming of the second episode of the variety show. The theme for this episode in the seaside city was a random card draw. Each card had a different travel budget, offering different travel packages—
Package A: A luxurious one-day city tour worth 888 yuan, including a candlelit dinner at a high-end hotel and various premium tourist attractions.
Package B: A set of tickets to local attractions worth 88 yuan, including a couple’s hot dog combo at the amusement park.
Package C: A bus ticket from a shady travel agency worth 8 yuan, providing only two hours of bicycle rental. Travel, meals, entrance fees, and other expenses had to be covered by themselves.
The three couples each drew a card to determine their travel budget for the day. And Su Mingxiu and Suhui… unfortunately, drew Package C.
In addition to the travel packages, the program team also gave each couple a camera, asking them to capture memorable moments during their trip. The photos would then be auctioned off, and all proceeds would be donated to charity.
This meant that the photos taken by the three couples had to be either beautiful or meaningful. Otherwise… they would have to rely on their fans to buy them.
Since Su Mingxiu and Suhui had drawn Package C, this meant that apart from the free view of the sea, they wouldn’t be visiting any scenic spots.
She had originally planned to take some photos of Suhui by the coast, but Suhui, sitting on the railing, had suddenly fallen backwards…
Su Mingxiu, gripping the railing, saw a silver head emerge from the churning waves. Suhui looked up at her, waving.
As if inviting her to join her in the water.
Program staff: “…”
The viewers in the live stream, relieved, commented that they had never seen such “surprising” guests on a variety show.
Su Mingxiu gestured for the fish in the sea to come back up. But Suhui shook her head, still wanting Su Mingxiu to join her.
After a stalemate, Su Mingxiu finally gave in. She walked over to a staff member, handed over the camera hanging around her neck, and asked if they had any equipment suitable for underwater photography.
Program team: “??”
The director was also shocked.
After all, the purpose of this episode was to see how different couples’ relationships would develop under different budget constraints. But Su Mingxiu and Suhui, taking the unconventional route, actually wanted to film underwater…
Regardless of whether they could get the equipment or ensure their safety, the most important thing was that once they entered the sea, the live stream cameras wouldn’t be able to follow them.
They were essentially reducing their own screen time.
After much effort, Su Mingxiu finally convinced the director. They chose a spot that was easier to access the water. With a waterproof camera and a small camera attached to her, she went to join Suhui.
The live stream viewers had a new experience.
[I thought the forest exploration and the sports competition were their limits, I didn’t expect to be watching an ocean documentary on a dating show, I’m shocked.]
[Does anyone remember the rumors about Su Mingxiu and Suhui disappearing on Produce 101? It’s been ten minutes, and they’re still underwater, their swimming skills are amazing. So… how did they disappear from the ship back then? Could it be that they jumped into the sea like today?]
[Suhui grew up by the sea, it’s understandable that she’s a good swimmer, but what about Su Mingxiu?]
[For a moment, I couldn’t tell which one of them was the real superhuman.]
…
The live stream chat was still buzzing with discussion as the camera descended into the ocean. But when Su Mingxiu and Suhui reached the depths where sunlight couldn’t penetrate, the screen turning dark, the comments gradually decreased.
Su Mingxiu had originally come to bring Suhui back, but after reaching her, she heard the fish say that she sensed a place nearby that was very attractive to her, and she instinctively wanted to explore it.
What could the owner do when their pet fish acted coquettishly?
Indulge her, of course.
A transparent fishing line, with a glistening white, teardrop-shaped pearl strung on it, floated from Su Mingxiu’s neck, swaying with the underwater currents.
As they descended into the deep sea, Suhui’s body began to transform. The fiery red coral slipped off her ankle, like a red ribbon, unfurling in the water, swaying with the currents, as if dancing around her.
Her silver-blue tail appeared, its translucent scales covering its powerful form. From the bottom up, the characteristics of a mermaid gradually emerged, fins extending from her elbows and behind her ears.
Almost as soon as she reverted to her true form, Su Mingxiu untied the camera equipment without hesitation, letting it float away with the current.
Suhui wrapped her tail around Su Mingxiu’s waist and, with powerful strokes, swam towards the place that was calling to her.
Along the way, Su Mingxiu finally saw other merfolk.
Red, silver, blue, all sorts of beautiful tails swam past her, a flash of hostility in their eyes.
At first, Su Mingxiu didn’t understand where their hostility came from. Until Suhui suddenly increased her speed and whispered in her ear: “I can sense that only one mermaid is allowed to enter that place.”
Limited resources, competition was inevitable.
They stopped in a cloud of blood, Suhui’s aura becoming restless. Su Mingxiu patted her arm, signaling her to let go.
Then, in the center of the murky, crimson water, she accurately pinpointed the source of the killing intent.
As a swift hand reached out from the blood mist, Su Mingxiu quickly grabbed its wrist, her cheek narrowly avoiding its sharp nails. She used the momentum to throw the mermaid away.
Suhui let go of her and faced another enemy from her clan.
Initially, Su Mingxiu had only been dodging their attacks like playful fish in a pond, not intending to harm them. But this all changed when Suhui was injured.
The third live stream had been black for too long. The viewers, initially patient, gradually became restless.
Some even called the program team, asking if the two guests had drowned or encountered an accident, demanding that they be rescued.
While the people outside were worried, Su Mingxiu and Suhui had just won a massive brawl.
At first, Suhui’s competitors had thought she was foolish for bringing a weak human here.
But after seeing the blood from their injured comrades attract a school of sharks, they only dared to surround them, no one daring to attack first.
They knew that Suhui was the descendant of the previous clan leader, but before the call of the place of inheritance, as long as the next clan leader hadn’t been chosen, all merfolk would be driven by their instincts to fight amongst themselves, until the place of inheritance chose the strongest one as its successor.
The selection process was simple—
The merfolk who were deemed unqualified would instantly lose their connection to the place of inheritance and would instinctively leave the battleground, returning to their usual gentle and beautiful forms.
Su Mingxiu, beside Suhui, saw the unwilling looks in the eyes of the different colored merfolk as they left one by one, until only the two of them remained in the crimson water.
Suhui vaguely sensed that she had won. She happily cupped Su Mingxiu’s face and kissed her, then pulled her towards the place that was calling to her.
They were finally enveloped in a white light, an ethereal voice echoing from within.
“Are you willing to guard this vast ocean with me, to share my long life?”
“Of course.”
The mermaid princess, having come ashore, found her other half. Witnessed by the place of inheritance, their vows were eternal, until they both turned into foam in this ocean.
Ten years later.
Heart of the Ocean Photography Exhibition.
Someone stopped before a photo and said in surprise: “This is…?”
“Yes, this photo of Suhui, the music queen, and her lover was taken during a dating variety show. She looks like a siren, it’s truly her most captivating photo.”
In the photo behind the glass frame, the subject’s long, silver-blue hair flowed in a faint, bloody mist. A lingering killing intent remained in her blue eyes, like a siren returning from a victorious battle against a pirate ship.
Or like a cold-blooded hunter returning from a hunt.
The shimmering waves reflected on her sharp features, but they couldn’t conceal her beauty or the power in her eyes.
The visitor’s gaze lowered, landing on the title of the photo:
Mine.
He was stunned for a moment, a flicker of confusion in his eyes, then he remembered Suhui’s participation in that dating variety show.
Although she and Su Mingxiu had never appeared together in front of the cameras again, the speculation about their relationship hadn’t stopped.
But seeing this photo, knowing its title, the answer should be clear.
The photographer’s lens, capturing this moment for Suhui, had a casual, almost careless quality, making the red in the background blurry. But they didn’t seem to care about these details.
Because they had already captured the breathtaking beauty of the subject.
…
Many years later, a story began circulating among the merfolk clan.
It was said that after coming ashore, a mermaid had a chance to lure a smart and powerful human to bear their eggs with their beauty.
But the price was that they would be kept by this human.
But so what?
The merfolk were powerful. In the fish pond where she resided, she was the only one, the exclusive center.
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