Chapter 205: Mermaid Reef 06

Ji Jiangci was even more miserable, now he had no limbs and was still weak, ugly, and old; whenever Ye Xi'an gave him another look, he felt she was despising him.

So painful~

If it weren't for preserving his last shred of dignity, Ji Jiangci would be crying even worse than Yi Yang.

Ye Xi'an had just virtually beheaded her enemy, feeling very pleased, and now seeing the miserable state of the three people in front of her, she inexplicably found it somewhat amusing.

She walked over, placed her hand on Yi Yang's head and gave it a satisfying rub twice: "You three stop crying, I'll show you something fun."

After speaking, she raised her hand and snapped crisply: "Watch closely."

Ye Xi'an's mouth corner slowly curved a faint arc; that smile held no warmth, only the cool composure of seeing everything clearly.

"This is just a clumsy nightmare."

She deliberately lowered her voice, like a divine chant from the heavens; Ye Xi'an's pale, delicate fingertips were surrounded by a heart‑pounding violet light, denser and more brilliant than ever before.

She lightly tapped this bloody, twisted, false laboratory.

"Give me—break!"

A clear shout rang out, like thunder cracking across the nine heavens.

The entire laboratory space seemed like a mirror struck by an invisible giant hammer, instantly covered with spider‑web‑like cracks.

The cracks spread rapidly, emitting a "crack‑crack" shattering sound.

The next second, it collapsed with a roar!

Blinding white light spewed from the fissures, devouring every illusory scene.

Bao Jing, Yi Yang, and Ji Jiangci only felt a flash of whiteness before their eyes, a buzzing in their heads, their bodies as if pulled and torn by a massive force, like falling into a bottomless abyss.

When their vision returned, the first thing that hit them was a salty, briny sea breeze.

The wind carried a slight cool moisture, brushing their cheeks with a ticklish feel.

In their ears came the "whoosh… whoosh…" of waves, gently lapping something, rhythmic and real.

Bao Jing subconsciously twitched his finger.

His fingertip met a hard, rough, slightly slick rock surface.

He moved his arm, then his leg.

His hands and feet... are still there!

Intact!

"I..."

Bao Jing almost thought he was still dreaming.

Yi Yang and Ji Jiangci also snapped out of their daze, almost simultaneously feeling their limbs return.

First a brief bewilderment, then a massive euphoria flooded them like a tide.

"Wife! Our... our limbs!"

Yi Yang, overwhelmed, stammered; he propped himself up, saw his healthy limbs, and tears welled up again, this time tears of joy.

Ji Jiangci couldn't help wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, a faint relieved smile spreading across his lips.

Ye Xi'an, however, had already stood; she ignored the three's excitement, her sharp violet eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

They were now on a solitary reef island.

The reef island was small, entirely black‑brown, its surface uneven and riddled with holes of all sizes, clearly eroded by the sea over years.

All around stretched an endless blue ocean, where sea and sky met in a hazy line far off, with no trace of land.

The sunlight was somewhat harsh, the air thick with briny sea scent, tinged with a strange, faint sweet fragrance.

At the island‑sea boundary, the water rippled gently.

A group of strange creatures lay on the reef edge, their upper bodies submerged, only their sleek backs and wet heads exposed.

They slowly lifted their heads, revealing their faces.

Their upper bodies resembled humans; their skin was so pale it was almost translucent, features delicate and gorgeous, beautiful beyond gender distinction.

They bore long, dense hair of various colors like seaweed, wet against their cheeks and shoulders, threaded with tiny shells and pearls that glimmered faintly.

Yet, starkly contrasting their stunning beauty, was their gaze now.

Each pair of eyes glittered with ferocity; their gaping mouths were full of sharp teeth that, under sunlight, reflected a terrifying cold gleam, like the apex predators of the deep sea, staring intently at Ye Xi'an.

Yet amid that ferocity was a hint of an unhidden apprehension and suspicion.

Their lower bodies were massive fish tails covered in fine scales, each a different color, gently swaying in the clear water, powerful yet graceful.

Mermaids.

Ye Xi'an's gaze instantly turned ice‑cold and piercing.

She could almost be certain that the realistic nightmare earlier had been caused by these beings.

No wonder the first line of the mission brief said "wake up from a nightmare".

"Was it you who did this?"

Her voice was not loud, yet it carried the overwhelming pressure of a ninth‑rank mental cultivator, like an invisible mountain crushing those mermaids.

The mermaids' bodies froze in unison, their underwater tails twitching uneasily, splashing fine droplets.

The leading mermaid, with seaweed‑like ink‑green hair, flashed a fierce glint in her eyes and opened her mouth to sing; a mermaid's song has hallucinogenic effects, trapping people in their worst nightmares from which they cannot escape, eventually becoming the mermaids' prey.

But Ye Xi'an gave it no chance at all.

She raised her hand, her five fingers poised.

"Swish—"

Countless solid strands of mental energy shot from her palm, like living spirit snakes, precisely coiling around each mermaid's neck and tail.

The mental strands tightened abruptly.

"Ugh—!"

Heh heh—

Mermaids let out painful, sharp suffocating cries; their beautiful faces instantly flushed crimson, eyes bloodshot, huge fish tails frantically slapping the water, sending up towering columns—yet they could not break free of the seemingly slender but incredibly tough mental power threads.

Their bodies hidden beneath the seawater were lifted by Ye Xi'an's mental power threads, pitifully dripping water in the air.

"Speak, or not?"

Ye Xi'an stepped step by step toward the reef's edge, cold light glinting in her purple pupils, killing intent undisguised.

She had endured such torment; Bao Jing and the others were even dismembered alive, their eyes gouged out—this debt she would collect with interest!

But these mermaids clearly had backbone; even as Ye Xi'an was about to strangle them to death, they uttered not a word, only making noises like 'ee-ya' and 'heh-heh, hiss-hiss'.

Yi Yang came over, tugged at Ye Xi'an's sleeve, leaned close to her ear and whispered softly: "Wife, do you think there's a chance they can't speak human language?"

Ye Xi'an froze for a moment; it seemed... indeed there was such a possibility.

However, it didn't matter; after her mental power upgraded, she had mastered a new skill.

Perfect for practicing on these mermaids.

A thick-as-an-arm mental power thread pulled one of the mermaids slowly toward Ye Xi'an, stopping when it was still two people's distance away.

Ye Xi'an raised a finger, almost touching the mermaid's forehead; between her finger and the mermaid's brow, several mental power threads as fine as hairs slowly connected them.