《[The Little Mermaid]》

[Rebel Broom] Though its words were a bit arrogant, it hadn't provoked Chen Miemie.

Last time, Chen Miemie had done nothing to it. This time, it was only playing around in its own shop, so Chen Miemie certainly wouldn't truly attack it.

"We're neighbors from now on. Take care of each other." Chen Miemie took neighborly relations seriously.

"You? I may not run a shop, but I know everyone on this street. Which household are you from?" [Rebel Broom] showed disbelief.

"19 Fairytale Road."

Chen Miemie thought this address would intimidate [Rebel Broom], since the typical reaction from other neighbors was always "How is that possible? There is no number 19."

"Oh." [Rebel Broom] had little reaction. "So that shop has started doing business again."

[Rebel Broom]'s calm took Chen Miemie by slight surprise.

"Oh? You know my shop too?"

"I know of it. Anything else? I'm leaving." [Rebel Broom] wasn't in a chatty mood.

"Alright, we'll talk another time." Chen Miemie didn't push it.

After Chen Miemie left the broom shop, the door was locked from the inside.

Then the broom that [Rebel Broom] had possessed lost its activity, and through other brooms across the city, it transferred to another location.

Chen Miemie checked the time: 14:43. He didn't browse any longer and returned to [Four Seasons Café] to wait for the Mermaid.

Qiu Tian walked over, staring straight at him: "Another cup?"

"No thanks. Only one cup a day, too much affects my sleep."

At 14:55.

At a sewer opening not far from the café.

"Thump, thump, thump~"

Something seemed to be banging against the manhole cover.

After four or five consecutive hits, the cover was flipped open.

A mermaid swam out.

Chen Miemie hadn't exaggerated. In his eyes, it was indeed a mermaid exactly as he'd imagined—using air as water, swimming straight up from the sewer.

Her upper body was human, her lower body a fish tail. Her facial features were striking, her figure graceful. She should have been a great beauty, except that because of her eyes, anyone who saw her wouldn't place her in any category of beauty or ugliness, and might even mistake her for a freak.

Her two eyes were constantly drifting independently—her left eye might float toward her temple, her right eye might sink toward her chin, their positions changing every moment as they slowly traveled across her whole body.

The moment she emerged from the manhole, she shouted: "Qiu Tian, where's the fat sheep you mentioned?"

Qiu Tian was speechless and held his forehead with his hand.

Chen Miemie looked from the Mermaid to Qiu Tian. There were only three people here now—who was the "fat sheep"?

"Alright, don't you know how much attention you draw? Come over here. Let me introduce you.

This is Mermaid, extremely skilled underwater, famous in the beachcombing world. This is Chen Miemie, my neighbor; though I don't know exactly where he lives."

Mermaid used her eyes—which had drifted to her navel and left hand—to glance at Chen Miemie with some suspicion:

"Just a neighbor? You? So young, you don't look like a big spender either. My things are all quite expensive."

Qiu Tian led the two into a relatively secluded booth inside before his task was complete and he left.

Chen Miemie was quite interested in this Mermaid.

"Are you human?"

"Yes. The way I am now is due to a curse from a freak. My own power constantly fought against the transformation the curse caused. The two maintained a balance, and in the end, this is how I became."

"So, you can't change back?"

Mermaid was instantly struck in a sore spot: "Enough rambling. What exactly are you buying from me? My time is precious. Business only, no small talk."

"I want to know the identities of the other two buyers of the two extra portions of that seaweed you sold to Qiu Tian this time."

Mermaid almost jumped up: "So that's it! So you're not here to buy seafood from me! Why would I tell you my clients' information?"

"I'm not asking for free. I'll pay a high price."

"That won't do either. I sell seafood, not information. I'm leaving." Mermaid huffed and flicked her fish tail, smacking the chair with a loud crack.

Using the momentum from the slap, she "took off" from her chair, seemingly floating in the air again, already about to swim away.

Chen Miemie made no move. Only after she'd turned around and started to move did he speak softly:

"That's a pity. I originally planned to trade some information about a Pupil Drifter. Since you're not interested, forget it."

The words "Pupil Drifter" made Mermaid slam on the brakes, then directly spin around 180 degrees.

"You know about the Pupil Drifter?"

Chen Miemie didn't, but as long as Pure Water knew, then he knew.

"Pupil Drifter, also known as the Lord of the Abyssal Jellyfish. Those struck by its ability have their eyes transformed just like yours—able to see two different directions at once.

Its ability is to lead other beings on journeys, of course, provided the other party pays the price.

Each time it guides, it uses one eye to look at you and the other to look at where you want to go, then says 'That way.' But its 'that way' is always the averaged direction between its two eyes. Those unaware of this often take wrong paths and meet misfortune."

"You... you actually know all this. I've been seeking help for years, and no one knew as much as you!"

Chen Miemie waved his hand modestly: "In terms of knowledge, I'm about equal to three top scholars."

Mermaid returned to her seat.

"I understand what you mean. But what you want to know and the information about the Pupil Drifter are nowhere near the same level. I can't let you be shortchanged. How about this—I'll add a treasure from the deep sea as a bonus."

Chen Miemie hadn't expected that this Mermaid, though quick-tempered, was an honest person, even voluntarily throwing in a treasure.

He was just as straightforward: "Deal."

Mermaid quickly revealed the buyers of the two portions of seaweed. She normally sold seafood products and had no agreement of confidentiality with her buyers.

"This material is very expensive; without a certain level of strength, one can't afford it. The first buyer was a senior scholar named Li Liang. The second buyer was Mr. Kong of the Book Chasers."

This result was somewhat unexpected for Chen Miemie—he'd thought it would be Stone Speaker or Butler.

After sharing the information without any hesitation, Mermaid looked at Chen Miemie with eager, pleading eyes.

"You really are an impatient one. You're not afraid I'll go back on my word?"

"Haha, people say that a lot. It's not that I'm impatient by nature. It's just that I prefer being in the water. When I'm back on land, I don't feel comfortable, so I want to get things done quickly and return to the water."

"Alright then. I'll tell you what I know.

The transformation you're experiencing is extremely rare. An ordinary person would have died long ago, yet you've managed to coexist with the transformed eyes."

"Heh, it was my Secret that saved my life. And back when I first encountered it, we'd only locked eyes for less than a second before someone pulled me out and rescued me, cutting the transformation short."

"Mm, generally speaking, Pupil Drifters live at depths below 1,000 meters. At that depth, ordinary people are unlikely to ever encounter one."

"Ah, but I was on a small boat at the time. I hadn't even gotten into the water yet."

"No wonder. Whether that was luck or misfortune on your part, I can't say. I have no idea why a Pupil Drifter would anomalously rise to the surface and cross your path. If you had met it at the depth it normally inhabits, I don't believe you could have survived its aberrant power, which is rated at Danger Level 7."

"Ah! It... it's Danger Level 7! At that level, how am I still alive?"

"That's where your luck comes in. It's a deep-sea aberration, accustomed to the immense water pressure down below. So when it anomalously surfaced, nearly all of its power was consumed just to keep itself from being destroyed. When you met it at the surface, the power it could project outward was less than one percent of its full strength."

"Self-preservation?"

"You're skilled at underwater activities yourself. You should know well how terrifying it is for a creature used to deep-water pressure to suddenly rise, with the pressure dropping drastically."

"I know, I know. It's not even surprising if it just goes 'bang' and bursts apart."

"If you want to find it, you'd need to dive more than 1,000 meters down. My advice is, if you're already used to the eyes you have now, you might as well just accept yourself as you are."

As they spoke.

The Mermaid's eyes shifted—one moving to her palm, the other to the back of her head.

The exchange of information came to an end.

The Mermaid opened the shell-shaped pouch at her waist.

"These are all treasures I've collected from the sea. You may choose any one of them."