() The autumn leaves dancing on the sea cliff are not maple leaves, but they are no less beautiful than maple leaves.
On a November night, when Xia Han was wrapped in a cloak and fell asleep beside the horse, an ethereal song finally sounded in the ocean.
Xia Han jumped up suddenly and ran barefoot towards the sea cliff.
Just as he expected, a mermaid appeared on a reef not far from the sea. Mermaids are a half-human, half-fish race. Their upper bodies are breathtakingly beautiful women, and their lower bodies are beautiful fish tails covered with scales.
.
However, the mermaid that appeared in Xia Han's field of vision was obviously just an underage girl. She sat on the reef and slapped the sea with her tail, looking at Xia Han with surprised eyes.
"You're the one who sings here all day long?"
She asked, her face slightly bulging: "Are you here to compete with me?"
This mermaid behaved as the villagers said, she cared very much about her singing voice.
"No."
However, Xia Han shook his head at her: "I just want to ask you something."
He stated his purpose - Xia Han wanted to know if the corpse thrown here two years ago was Wu Jian, and where the corpse was now.
"Wow!" But the mermaid shuddered as soon as she heard Xia Han's request: "So you came here to find that corpse, how disgusting!"
This coast is very beautiful, and there are no disputes. The mermaid likes the feeling of looking at the small forest from the ocean to the land. She once wanted to turn this area into her own private territory. But two years ago, she was sleeping soundly, and she was dead.
The putrid corpse was suddenly thrown into the sea, just close to her hut.
The mermaid was frightened and left the beach.
This time she was attracted back by the singing, but she didn't expect that the other party's purpose was to inquire about the corpse.
"I can tell you." The mermaid almost turned around and left, but before she left, her eyes moved and she suddenly said to Xia Han: "But you have to compete with me in singing, and you can only win if you win!"
She could not forget the song that attracted her. Why could complex human beings sing such beautiful music?
"keep your word."
Xia Han nodded in agreement.
In fact, he is not particularly good at singing, but there are huge differences in society and times, and the skills he masters are not on the same level as this world... Of course, the key is that the innate talents of his body are very good.
With talent and skills, there is no reason why he should lose to the mermaid.
But in terms of results, Xia Han still met an unprecedented opponent - in terms of singing voice alone, the mermaid completely beat him.
Even though Xia Han has elven blood, her voice is still incomparable to that of a pure mermaid. They have perfect voices given by God. When they sing songs, they will unconsciously have a seductive tremor, and it is easy to express the lyrics.
emotion.
The competition between Xia Han and the mermaid lasted for five days.
They will start singing in turn every day when the sunset stretches out the shadows of the trees, and stop when the moon is at its peak. During the day, they will each think about the competition songs.
In this world formed by power and war, there has never been such a competition.
Even in the mermaid society, singing exists as a weapon. They sing for war, and the only person who really likes the song itself is this young mermaid.
The final winner is - Xia Han.
His victory is not because of singing, but because of songs... Songs from other worlds come in various forms, but mermaid songs are always bound to the traditions of their own people. It is like a singer who has mastered different genres and only sings bel canto.
compared to singers.
"I lost..."
The mermaid accepted this failure and looked at Xia Han: "What is your name?"
"Han... I won't say my last name."
"That's it..." the mermaid puffed up her face angrily: "Then my name is Shui... I won't say my last name either."
"As promised, I will tell you about the corpse."
She told Xia Han the characteristics of the corpse. It was indeed a small female corpse that was abandoned here two years ago, but her hair was blue - that is to say, the corpse was not without a sword.
Xia Han was a little disappointed.
He said goodbye to the mermaid, then turned and left the seaside.
"Hey, wait...you're coming to compete with me next time!"
He ignored the mermaid's words. To him, she was just a passerby. However, the mermaid was different. She had not forgotten the last moon of autumn. She would remember the children singing under the fallen leaves and all of this.
Even if the two meet again as incompatible enemies and things change, she has not forgotten today... She believes that singing can express a person's heart, and in the heart of the child who sings with her - there is no war.
Perhaps history always changes inadvertently like this, because of a small encounter, when the sea and land start a bloody war, the young king who has stopped singing will speak again, and the mermaid who has been singing...
Singing together - that is the miraculous end of the epic war.
Of course, that period of history... is still too far away from now.
Xia Han led the horse and walked slowly through the woods towards the village. He was thinking that he was tired of searching, and then decided to go back to Jade City to obtain the real address.
However, before he reached the village, the girl with two buns and a hairpin on her head ran from the front with a face full of panic. When she found Xia Han, her eyes lit up: "Hurry, just in time! You run away with us
!”
"escape?"
"Yes! Monsters have occupied the Gale Wind Grassland, and both His Majesty the King and His Majesty the Queen are dead! We have to go to sea quickly, otherwise we won't be able to escape."
In November 998 of the Bi-monthly Calendar, news of the fall of Wind City spread throughout the Qilin Continent, and the southern continent fell into panic. With the roads cut off by the beasts, countless southerners ventured out to sea and relied on sea transportation to escape to the north.
In the same month, Xia Han took a boat to travel north with the villagers, but when he learned of the death of the king and queen, he showed no expression.
————
Yulin Mountains,
Under the dark twilight, a long dragon composed of torches spreads into the distance on the mountain road... These are the humans who have escaped from the Gale Grassland.
The Lord of Jade City, Wujing, stood at the gate of the city, with his back to the brightly lit city, looking coldly at the little figure in front of him.
The once beautiful face was stained with dirty dirt, and the eyes were red and frightened - this was his daughter.
"You escaped, but where is your mother?"
Wujing asked calmly.
"Mother...is dead."
Bai Yue hugged the package in her arms tightly and shouted to him hoarsely: "It's all your fault for not saving my mother that she died!"
Wujing shook his head and stared at her pitifully: "Why should I save a tool?" As he said, Jade City did not send any reinforcements to support the Church of Light and Wind City.
Bai Yue took two steps back in disbelief, looking at Wu Jing's eyes full of hatred: "Tool, tool! Everything is a tool to you, but... But mother... Mother, she still let her go in the end.
I don’t want to hate you!”
"She loves you so much, why did you abandon her, why!!"
She gritted her teeth and suddenly rushed towards Wujing.
However, Wujing just stretched out his hand and lifted her up: "Don't try to figure out my heart with your childish thoughts!"
He snatched the package from Bai Yue's arms, threw her to the ground, and said to the housekeeper beside him: "Lock her up."
"yes."
The old housekeeper then took Bai Yue and left.
"Grandpa Butler...why...why do I have such a father..."
Bai Yue struggled, cried, and asked why.
She has never enjoyed her father's love since she was a child, but her mother Bai Ya has always spoken kind words to her about Wu Jing. Bai Yue obeys Bai Ya's words, even if Wu Jing beats and scolds her, she still faces him with a smile
.
She believed that one day Wu Jing would change his mind. However, until now... Wu Jing had stood by and watched Bai Ya's death.
"Mother, is she really a tool to my father?"
Bai Yue doesn't understand.
In the story her mother told her, Wujing was a very powerful hero, who fought his way from the poor to the city lord, and transformed the slums, turning Jade City into the place with the fewest refugees in the Jade Empire.
However, in other people's mouths, Wujing is a despicable careerist. When he was young, he targeted Bai Ya, a church saint, deceiving her with sweet words, and relying on her help to usurp the position of city lord, and then in life
After the white moon fell, he ruthlessly abandoned the mother and son.
Bai Yue believed her mother's words, but... Wujing was a cold and heartless person after all. Was her mother really deceived by this man?
Just like what he said... Bai Ya is just a tool, a tool used to protect him at a young age to gain power.
"In the eyes of the city lord, everything is a tool..." The old housekeeper sighed, and he touched the tears on Bai Yue's face: "Miss, crying can't solve any problems."
Crying is a sign of weakness, and Wujing hates seeing people crying - especially his daughter.
But at this moment, the Lord of Jade City has already put Bai Yue aside and focused entirely on the package in his hand. He carefully unwrapped the package and then smiled: "Sure enough, people who don't have the strength to get involved with you... Absolutely
I can’t have you for long.”
This is a crown - a crown that can only be owned by those who stand at the top of the Emerald Empire.
It seems to have gathered the light of all the stars in the night sky. The crown made of precious jade is not emerald, but traditional gold. Pearls and gems are inlaid on it. After a war, this crown has not been damaged at all - of course.
