The Old Man and the Mermaid

When Mr. Mermaid said this explanation, his tone was very calm, and his expression was still as indifferent as usual. After a few seconds of eye contact with him, Aigre nodded slightly: "I want to go."

Mr. Mermaid smiled slightly, turned his eyes back to those tombstones, and continued: "When I was very young, I used to live with other families in the sea not far from here. According to the couple who raised me According to an elderly man, I probably lost my family in that sea."

Aigre quietly listened to his endless words, remained silent, and did not ask any questions immediately.

"Our clansmen will try not to let the bones be lost outside, which is why for a long time, few humans have been able to discover our existence." Mr. Mermaid continued, "So unless my clansmen are unfortunately swallowed by sea beasts There are no bones in the belly, otherwise even if you are seriously injured, you will try your best to return to the location where all the cores of the ethnic group are stored."

Aigre recalled the cave in the sea that Mr. Mermaid took him to before, he was stunned, and asked: "The place where we made the oath before?"

"Yes." Mr. Mermaid nodded, "We not only have that meeting place, but also have several altars like that in other sea areas. We remember the location of each altar, and we will return every once in a while. , so as to ensure that the documents stored in the assembly hall and the resting place behind them are safe and sound."

Aigre was silent for a while, then asked again: "Then your family may not actually... sleep in a resting place nearby, right?"

"Yes." Mr. Mermaid raised his hand and lightly pinched Aigre's back and shoulders a few times, probably to bring them closer together, "If we meet someone who can't find the bones of the same family situation, and want to mourn them, we will go to any meeting place and leave what we want to say—probably similar to the prayers of human beings..."

When he said this, he keenly heard the sound of footsteps approaching not far away, so he stopped discussing this topic with Aigre for the time being, "Someone is coming."

"Let's go back to the lighthouse first." Aigre nodded and said, "If Mr. Fish doesn't mind... shall we meet on the beach at dawn tomorrow?"

Mr. Mermaid laughed and agreed, then raised his hand again and patted Eigre's back, and took the lead in hiding from the shadow of the flowers and plants in the cemetery.

Aigre glanced back at the approaching lights in the distance, carefully wiped off the remaining traces on the ground, and then sneaked out of the cemetery with Mr. Mermaid.It wasn't until he was completely out of the scope of the cemetery that he turned around again, facing the direction of the tombstones as usual, and said softly: "May heaven remain beautiful."

Then he turned his head and saw Mr. Mermaid flipped twice on the sea surface, and then stopped at a suitable height, looking at himself with calm and gentle eyes.

Under the gaze of such peaceful eyes, Aigre no longer felt even the slightest bit of sadness, and even felt a little bit amused because of their trespassing behavior in the cemetery today.He shook his coat twice in the warm sea breeze at night, and finally trotted to Mr. Mermaid's side.

The next morning was not too hot.When Mr. Mermaid woke up from his sleep at the bottom of the sea, the sun was being blocked by a few white clouds that were not particularly thick, which made the bottom of the sea, which was already difficult to be exposed to sunlight, even darker.He quickly came to his senses, turned around and used some herbal ointment specially used to clean his mouth and eye sockets in his hiding place, and then quickly jumped out of the sea, and sat down next to the boulder that he and Aigre usually used to watch. He glanced at the somewhat dark sky today.

From the point of view of the residents of Twilight Island, this kind of weather may not be sunny, but for Mr. Mermaid, this kind of temperature makes him feel quite comfortable—at least the sunlight that can easily irritate the mermaid skin deeply. It was covered up a lot, and he no longer had to feel the unbearable burning sensation.

Aigre was always very punctual, so not long after Mr. Mermaid sat down, he walked to the shore with the bag containing the diving suit from last time.

Mr. Mermaid looked down at the bag as a question, and Egrele smiled knowingly, and explained: "After you took me to the middle of the sea, I went to the shop owner to rent this set of diving equipment for a long time. , so that it can be taken out and used at any time when necessary. Now it seems that there is nothing wrong with my decision."

Mr. Mermaid chuckled and nodded, still using the same method as last time, leading Aigre directly across the sea to the isolated island last time.

After his feet touched the ground again, Eigre noticed that the area of ​​this small deserted island seemed to have expanded a little this time, which probably had something to do with the water level of the sea.But Aigre didn't intend to waste time on this small island, so he quickly put on his diving equipment and stepped back into the sea. After confirming that there was no problem with his breathing equipment, he nodded to Mr. Mermaid.

Mr. Mermaid stretched out his hand to him, and after successfully grasping his wrist, he re-entered the cave together with him.This time, Mr. Mermaid didn't stop in front of the huge stone bookshelf, but directly led Aigre to a corner of the stone room, and bent down into another small corridor.

Despite the light of those luminous stones shining, those faint lights could not directly penetrate into this tunnel, so the environment around them was still quite dark.This is probably why Aigre didn't find this small hole when he came last time.

Aigre couldn't see the surrounding situation clearly, so he simply let his body follow Mr. Mermaid's lead in front, and shuttled through the corridor slowly without stopping, until the space in front of them was completely expanded again.

Mr. Mermaid stopped, turned his head and looked at Aigre, then turned over and swam to Aigre's side, allowing his eyes to completely roam the area in front of them.

When he saw the scene in front of him, Eigre deeply realized that he probably would never forget this scene in his life.

——Countless luminous spheres are inlaid on the surrounding arc-shaped stone walls in different arrangements, setting off the entire sea current as if it is flickering to reflect these tiny light spots.The sea current hovered unhurriedly near the corridor, but after completely entering this space, it calmed down again, docilely circled with other small sea currents, and finally left again.There are countless unnamed sea plants clinging to the stone wall. These green and purple traces gradually spread to the lowest end, entwined on the seaweed of the same color as them, growing densely and covering the entire ground.

It is as peaceful and serene as the only remaining pure land in the world, as if it is only filled with warmth and ignorant Eden, and it is also similar to some kind of church that only accepts the most sincere and sincere followers.In such a church, there will probably be a devout godfather who will tell his heavenly father day after day, and sit down on a pew in a peaceful environment, solving problems for the confused believers and making them understand To the happiness and hope hidden in every corner of this world.

The seaweed on the ground swayed gently with the current, and the surrounding area was not completely quiet, but Eigre just thought that this place was so peaceful that it seemed that the end of the world could not affect its existence.

He looked down and saw the bones and some brilliant unknown crystals hidden deep under the cover of seaweed.At that moment, he felt as if he could hear the last cry of the mermaids before they died, or feel the last peaceful expression before they closed their eyes, thinking that his body and even his soul were completely integrated into this environment middle.

Mr. Mermaid accompanied him silently, until he came back to his senses again, he raised his hand and waved it twice in front of him, leading him to swim to a more profound location.