Stories of Mermaids

Fangsu began to clean up her utensils, putting them away into her spatial ring before mounting on Tian once again to continue to one last place. Sim Siu and Ang Siu both followed behind Fangsu as the wind gently blew in their direction, a sign meaning that they were close. There was a slightly salty taste to the air, the ocean was near. As the sunset began to set for the night Fangsu quickly hastened their speed to a nearby village that was very familiar to Fangsu.

It was nostalgic to Fangsu who missed the fresh salty air blowing at her face as the sunlight gently beamed on her face, "It should be able to time to start," Catching seafood and eating it was the best feeling. The sounds of drums were evident as the powerful strike hit the thick skin of the drum creating a resonant sound as it vibrated through the port, travelling to the ocean.

However, Fangsu's train of thought was immediately interrupted by Sim Siu, "Where are we?" They finally arrived at the entrance of a coastal port where festive decorations were decorating the plain port, "What is about time?" As Fangsu dismounted, leading Tian into the port and the siblings followed her actions.

People from the port were surprised to see new visitors that were accompanying the ash grey-haired girl who was the young mistress of the owner of the small port, "Young Miss, are you and your friends going to stay for the duration of the festival?" A middle-aged man smiled at the trio as he was manning a nearby stall of food. Fangsu nodded as she moved to a nearby inn to unload all the luggage and allow for the horses to rest, "Friends of our young miss! Please enjoy what our small port can offer for you!" Handing them a bowl filled with a liquid smelled of alcohol which was unique to this port made from the seaweed that was harvested from the ocean that was nearby.

It was a night filled with delicious aromas of food which Fangsu had to explain to Sum Siu and Ang Siu who were naturally curious about the food that was foreign to them. There was also music playing throughout the night, performing on the stage were dancers that emulated the folklore that has been passed down from generation to generation.

A story of a captured mermaid and a human that longed for the sea. It was thought that the two found their way to each other by the act of a savage pirate who had captured the mermaid displaying the creature for all to wonder at for a pricey fee. The human, feeling pity for the mermaid, secretly rescued the mermaid under the guise of a messenger that the authorities had heard the whim of one of the customers and that the authorities were going to investigate and possibly confiscate the mermaid.

The savage fueled with anger began tearing through human flesh as his profitable show was about to be taken away and the human quickly took the mermaid under the nose of the savage pirate. With the mermaid returned to the ocean and the human had remained with the mermaid, quite envious that the mermaid could live in a free underwater world which was inaccessible to humans. Despite this, the mermaid and human continued to meet with each other until the human was found by the savage pirate who was able to wound the human but before the pirate could give the final blow to the human. The mermaid dragged the human into the ocean giving her only power to give the human the ability to breathe freely under the water.

It is said that a kiss from a mermaid would save a human from drowning if the person showed protection or were righteous. Dragging them into the ocean to continue living with the human and have children with them.

After the performance had ended both Sim Siu and Ang Siu were at awe with the story. Especially with Ang Siu who only knew of people talking about the majesty beauty of mermaids but never heard of such an untold story, "Do you think mermaids exist?" Offhandedly asking both Sim Siu and Fangsu who had differing opinions.

Sim Siu was first to answer, "If mermaids were real then wouldn't there be more well known?" Even though the story was quite entertaining there hasn't been any news that mermaids exist.

A small giggle erupted between the two siblings who were confused by Fangsu's laughter, "Well mermaids could want to hide their existence even though they're beautiful, another much unknown tale tells that their flesh grants the eater eternal youths and immortality," Her smile wicked with playness flickered in her eyes as she smiled wickedly, "However, very few people survive as mermaid flesh is also a poison, killing you slowly and turning you into an ugly monster that only knows how to kill," Releasing another giggle as Sim Siu's expression could only cause more enjoyment for Fangsu.

Ang Siu, however, was intrigued as to whether the tale of consuming mermaid flesh would grant the person immortality, "Is it true?" He wanted to know the existence of mermaids existed.

A flash of bittersweet emotion quickly flashed in Fangsu's eyes as she nodded, "A dear old friend of mine was killed for their flesh," Closing her eyes before releasing a breath, "However, they were an only half mermaid and that their flesh did not grant the ability to grant immortality." The story of Fangsu's friends who were only half mermaid had confirmed that mermaids did indeed exist in the vast ocean somewhere hidden away from the land.

The next performance was a group of people dressed in a navy garment that had long pants to allow for flexible movement which was attached to an upper part which revealed the back, shoulders and arms, showcasing the muscles that were developed for this performance. The performers were both female and males. The performance was thrilling as it was a ritual to allow for the fertility of the sea allowing them for a good harvest for this year. The endurance of different stances and the dynamic movements, shifting to different drums at a moment's notice was accompanied by loud shouts of the performance instantly garnering the attention of those at the festival.

As the tip was fully satisfied with the delicious food, enjoyed all the fun game novelties which Fangsu had beaten both Sim Siu and Ang Siu at and the immersing themselves in the performances tonight. They all went to rest for the night, saying their goodnights before going to their rooms.

After taking a bath, Fangsu, on the other hand, decided to take a nightly stroll along the beach. Allowing the gentle breeze which carried the strong scent of salt in the air enter her nose, invigorating her energy. Carefully stepping at the shifty rock pools that lined the edge of the beach, watching the moonlight reflect itself giving the slight amount of light that was enough for Fangsu to navigate through the rocky pathway but not enough for her to notice the slippery seaweed.

Abruptly being plunged into the cold ocean water gave a shock to Fangsu's body which instantly shivered, however, it was perfectly beautiful at the gentle sway of seaweed and the few fish that didn't sleep at night casually passing by her. Silent. There was no sound but the water which gently pulled her further away from the beach that she was once one. All of a sudden singing. It was beautiful and Fangsu turned to face the direction of the singing. A single silhouette in the distance gracefully manoeuvred through the water with ease. Only one thing could move like that in the water, a mermaid. It wasn't alone.

Fangsu gently hummed in response. The mermaids recoiled in shock as one of the mermaids cautiously approached her, allowing for Fangsu a closer look. It was a merman. Before the merman could approach her, bubbles erupted from her lips as she began to feel the burning sensation that she was losing breath. Swimming to the surface, Fangsu gasped for air as someone dragged her back to the shore. Ang Siu was the one that had taken her, "Are you okay?" He quickly scanned Fangsu's face only to see her, dazed. Waving his hand in front of Fangsu's face who quickly shook herself awake.

Wiping her eyes to awaken from her dazed stupor, "Thanks for saving me," Fangsu releasing a sigh as she covered her eyes with her arm before falling on the sandy ground, "Any later and I could have been serenaded away," As the water gently washed up to her feet luring her back to the ocean.

Ang Siu was confused by Fangsu's words, "What do you mean you could have been serenaded away?" He was honestly terrifying after he found out Fangsu's room was empty so he quickly asked another who was still awake at this ungodly hour of her location. One of the men jokingly said that he had to hurry to save Fangsu from being serenaded away from a merman. At first, Ang Siu dismissed the thought of Fangsu suddenly disappearing but the memory of that mermaids immediately made him panic as he saw from a distance that Fangsu had fallen into the ocean. Doom filled his being as he rushed to the location Fangsu had fallen into but she was not there so he jumped in.

Seeing Fangsu by his side reassuring him as he felt her presence being by his side was comforting, "Although merman are a rarity, they exist," Fangsu began explaining why him rescuing her at that time was imperative, "Their actions are quite malicious; luring women who are heartbroken into their arms with their songs before serenading with those women into the far sea before kissing them thus removing their memories and taking the woman's leg, living land with the woman's legs." Another more unknown tale of a subgroup of mermaids, mermen who are taking advantage of heartbroken women.

Seeing an exhausted Fangsu, Ang Siu took her back to her room to allow her to bathe and return back to bed.

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As the morning shone on Fangsu with no mercy as the disassembling of the festive decorations were way, "Young Miss, preparations aren't done so why don't you take the girl for a dive while I use the boy to help with the heavy lifting," The man settled the massive drum down at the stage which was lined up in threes the first two lines were the massive drums whereas the largest drums which required four people to carry.

Ang Siu was promptly taken by the men to help with moving whilst Fangsu took Sim Siu with her to the shore where there were people were dressed in garments that were much more suitable for diving. Fangsu assisted Sim Siu in the garments as it was tight to keep the wearer warm from the cold depths of the water, however, most people tend to avoid diving so deep. As diving equipment was being prepared, Sim Siu was taught how to swim since she had never been near any large bodies of water.

Sim Siu gently kicked her feet as she clutched at Fangsu's hands for dear life frightened by the depths of the ocean yet they were only in the shallow area, "Eww! What did my feet touch!" Jumping into Fangsu's arm, "It feels weird," Causing the rest of the women who were preparing the equipment to adored the scared girl.

Fangsu laughed at Sim Siu who had jumped into her arms, "Just some seaweed," Pulling out the seaweed from the water while ripping a piece for herself to eat, "Though this one isn't edible," Spitting out the seaweed into the water before dumping the bundle of seaweed back into the water. Nevertheless, Fangsu took a spear and a basket that would float on the surface of the water mindlessly swimming further out to the ocean while being pulled by a strong current. The warmth of the water that enveloped her like a hug, now cold which lightly prickled at her skin. The only keeping her afloat in the water was by her feet kicking back and forth together.

Taking a deep breath and diving down into the depths of the water, her arms propelled her deeper into the watery depths. Marine Life was abundant in the ocean with fishes swimming to shelter in fear of predators, scanning the seafloor for edible seafood. In between the rocky surface of a sea rock was an abundance of black spiny balls which were known as urchins have secreted a painful poison when stabbed with one of the spikes, emitting a slow pain which could burn through the affected area where the pain would exponentially increase until the person's nervous systems would be paralysed causing the poisoned individual to drown to their death. Fangsu had already prepared for catching urchins as she wore thick gloves which wouldn't allow for the spikes of the urchin to pierced through and poison her.

Swimming to the surface with the urchins in hand, tossing the urchins into her basket that leisurely floated on the surface of the water as it slowly moved from the bobbing motion of the water. Once again diving back down to the ocean floor with a spear in hand searching for more seafood as she rummaged her hands through the sandy seafloor to feel for any scallop shells which she did and many of them. Those weren't the only things she found. Conch shells attached to the sea rocks, lobsters hidden within the nooks and crannies of rocks, occasionally spearing fishes with her spear and some cuttlefish and squids.

But, the one thing that Fangsu had always wanted to catch. An octopus. A sea creature is known for always being difficult to catch and having the ability to hide from plain sight. The most important thing was that octopus was a delicious creature to eat. After searching through the inconspicuous hiding places Fangsu had finally found two octopuses underneath one of the rocks with an awkward spot. However, Fangsu's determination to eat delicious seafood overcast the awkwardness of the rock's location. Aiming for the perfect angle to pierce through both the octopuses, piercing through the tentacles as Fangsu swiftly grabbed a hold of the octopus. With two octopuses in hand, Fangsu swam up to the surface handing up her prized catch, cheering with her exhausted lungs.

The drivers who were at the surface including Sim Siu cheered along with Fangsu, seeing the slippery creature try to escape her latches ultimately failing. Seeing that Sim Siu had only a few catches with some conch shells and a single urchin. Seeing Sim Siu so defeated after diving for so long to only have caught so few, "When there is someone new to diving the more experienced driver have to put in an octopus into the newbie's nets," Placing one of her octopuses in Sim Siu's basket who was shocked, "It's a tradition here at this port," It was custom that was unique to this port. So that the newbie can get better with diving and do the same for inexperienced drivers.

With all the catches the drivers had caught for today, breakfast was prepared by the cooks. Seafood delicacies that are only available in coastal areas. Boiled octopus, seaweed, cooked conch shells, cooked lobsters and beautifully sliced raw fish. But the best thing that Fangsu loved were the cooked scallops with melted butter on piping hot rice. They all ate in gusto with the delicious aromas and unique taste of seafood.