Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The Great Trench is located in the far north, where the days are short and the nights are long. The mountain peaks are covered with ice and snow. The water is bone-chillingly cold. Han Zhan even felt that his heartbeat was slowing down.

As time passed, he almost lost track of how long he had been here.

A dozen mermaids gathered around the Great Trench, all coming from other sea areas. When they swam out of the Great Trench, they were attacked by insects and almost died. They were later rescued by Lei Zhe and others.

After more than ten days, countless sea beasts died. If their bones were piled up, they would probably pile up into a hill.

Lei Zhe wiped the flesh scraps from between his nails and said, "After killing these sea beasts, we will go back."

Han Zhan silently finished his last mouthful of sea beast meat. He stood up and raised his head to the level of Lei Zhe's shoulders. He turned his head and looked towards the trench, his eyes heavy. The killing for several days made him even more gloomy.

Lei Zhe said slowly, "Zai Zai must miss you very much."

Han Zhan's thoughts drifted away, and a small blue fish tail appeared in his mind.

When he was free, he would also wonder if the little mermaid would be hungry and if she would grow taller.Every time he thought of that delicate little mermaid, Han Zhan's anger dissipated from his brows, and his eyes became a little softer, "Okay."

"After you go back, see if you can call more mermaids over." Long Hui covered the bleeding wound on his arm, his voice was weak and his face looked pale due to excessive blood loss.

Long Hui could feel that the nearby mermaids were ready to retreat. Once they retreated, this line of defense would completely collapse and insects would flood into the sea.

"You really don't want to go back with us?" Lei Zhe asked him.

"I won't leave." Long Hui said calmly, "Don't worry, I have a sense of discretion."

Lei Zhe had no intention of continuing to persuade Long to return, "Zo Lun promised that he would not leave here before we come back, and he would try his best to persuade other mermaids to stay. You should be careful."

Zuo Lun is one of the mermaids rescued by Lei Zhe and the others. He was once a mermaid born in this sea area. When he was young, he went to other sea areas to explore. Not long ago, something happened in the sea area where he was staying, so he came back alone through the Great Trench.

As soon as he took a breath, he saw a long tentacle sticking out of the crack. Long frowned and said, "Here we go again."

There are circles of blue rings on the body of the sea beast, and several tentacles protrude from the bottom. It is a sea beast that only contains highly venom.

Another hard fight followed.

The little fat bird lay on the beach, bathing in the sun, facing the blue sea and sky, chewing on the fragrant grilled fish.

The little fat bird narrowed his eyes, so happy.

Dong Zai reluctantly jumped down from Jia Li's father's shoulders. At the same time, his tail transformed into short legs. He tentatively stretched out his little feet and stepped on the beach, "Pangpang~"

"Little mermaid, are you calling me?" The little fat bird turned over and sat up, running over.

The little mermaid and the little fat bird sat neatly on the beach.

"Little mermaid, do you want grilled fish?" The little fat bird enthusiastically shared the food with his mermaid friend.

Dong Zai's eyes were glued to the roasted fish, which was browned and fragrant, and he refused with difficulty, "No, I won't eat it."

The little mermaid cried inwardly.

Woohoo~ Zaizai can't bite.

"Okay then." The little fat bird felt quite regretful, and then buried his head in eating happily.

Dong Zai was so greedy that he could only bite his little hand, "Pangpang, weave a net?"

Pangpang, can you weave a web?

"You said weaving a net." The little fat bird scratched his head, "I can't weave, but the orcs in our tribe can. If you want it, I will bring you some nets tomorrow. Little Mermaid, what do you want the nets for?"

The winter cub said softly and waxily: "Catch bugs."

"It shouldn't work." The little fat bird showed his hand to the winter cub, "The holes in the net we weave are so big that the insects are not thicker than my fingers, so they will get out of the holes."

"Ah..." Dong Zai lowered his little head, feeling a little disappointed.

Qihe, who was sitting by the campfire grilling fish, suddenly said, "If you want to weave a small net, you can find a shark."

Dong Zai looked at Qi He with his blue eyes and waited obediently for him to continue.

Qihe felt that his claws were itching again. He forced himself to turn his head away from looking at the little mermaid, and turned the fish over in his hand to continue grilling. "The silk made by the mermaid is very tough, and the insects should keep biting it."

Jiali didn't like fire very much. He always felt uncomfortable when he got close to it, and his tail was dry, so he sat on the beach and waited for the winter cub.

Just after taking care of Ai Rui, Jia Li saw that it was getting late. He waved to Dong Zai, "Zai Zai, go back and eat the meat paste."

"Okay~" Dong Zai ran over, his little feet leaving a series of small footprints in the sand.

The little fat bird quickly waved its paws, "Little mermaid, I will come to play with you tomorrow!"

Returning to the shallow sea area, Jiali slaughtered the remaining fin fish that were seriously injured and died. He and the little gray whale ate two each, and there was one left. Jiali tore off the fin fish meat and pounded it into a paste.

Jiali picked up the shell bowl. The meat paste looked delicious. Jiali couldn't help but take a bite, and then another.

Just when he was about to take the third bite, Dong Zai on his shoulder pulled Jiali's father's hair.

Dong Zai pouted his little mouth, "Dad, Zai Zai is hungry."

Jia Li felt guilty and quickly coaxed the little mermaid, "There's still half a fin of fish meat. If it's not enough, daddy will get you some more."

Dong Zai was so hungry. He spent the whole day watching the bird man eating, his father eating, and the little fat bird eating. Dong Zai was so greedy that his mouth watered. He held the spoon with both hands and ate quickly with his small mouth.

After eating the mushy meat, Dong Zai touched his belly, jumped into the arms of Jiali's father, and shouted in his tender little voice: "Dad."

Jia Li picked up the little mermaid, put her forehead against it and rubbed it, "Zai Zai, what's wrong?"

Dong Zai didn't know how to pronounce the word "mermaid". He wrinkled his little face and held his father's fingers in his hands, "Dad, weave."

Jiali blinked, embarrassed, "Zai Zai, dad can't weave."

Dong Zai became anxious, and his words became stumbling, "Fish, weaving, weaving nets..."

After communicating for a long time, Jia Li finally understood, "Zai Zai is talking about the sharks, right?"

Dong Zai nodded heavily, "Yeah!"

It's the shark, dad.

Mermaids and mermaids are both half-human and half-fish, but if you look closely, they are quite different.

For example, the most important thing is that the mermaids eat vegetarian food and the mermaids eat meat.Moreover, the shark's fish tail cannot be turned into legs. They live in the deep sea all year round and rarely go ashore.

After the shark eats a lot of sea flowers and seaweed, a layer of silk will form in the navel. At first, the shark feels it is very troublesome because the silk often needs to be pulled out.Later, when they were bored, they saved up the silk they produced. After learning the weaving techniques from the orcs, they became unstoppable.

The shark gauze woven by the sharks is thin, flexible and available in very small quantities. It soon became a best-selling commodity on the mainland.

The sharks like to live in groups, and will often migrate as the ocean fish and warm currents change, with an average migration of once every ten years."Note" The last time Jiali saw the shark was ten years ago. I don't know if they have changed places.

Jia Li picked up the little mermaid and sent him back to the small room, and took off the leaves from Dong Zai's little head, "Okay, tomorrow dad will take you to find the shark, but Zai Zai, it's time for you to go to bed."

Dong Zai glanced at the small room next to Gorgon through the window sill. His brother had not come back today.

After watching for a while, the winter cub crawled back to the shell bed and covered himself with his "little quilt".

At the same time, in another small white house in Qianhai District, Yuan Xi looked at Ai Rui with a bruised nose and swollen face in surprise, "Uncle Ai Rui, what's wrong with your face?"

Ai Rui covered his face and came outside Xiaobai's room. He originally planned to take a look at Yuan Xi quietly before going back, but he was bumped into by Yuan Xi.

He laughed dryly and said, "It's nothing. I was scratched a few times by sea beasts."

"Uncle Ari is lying." Yuan Xi said angrily.

"Okay, little baby, it's time for you to sleep." Ai Rui picked up Yuan Xi and put him on the stone bed, coaxing him to sleep. "Go to bed early and take your uncle to play with Dong Zai tomorrow."

Yuan Xi turned his back and ignored him.

But Yuan Xi was a gentle little mermaid, and his anger quickly subsided. He touched Ari's chin and said, "Don't fight with other mermaids next time."

"Our little Yuanxi is so nice." Ai Rui rubbed Yuanxi's little hand and grinned.

Ai Rui got up early in the morning and fished up the original stream to find Dong Zai. As soon as he approached the small stone house, he heard Jia Li talking about looking for the sharks. Ai Rui stuck his head out and said, "I know where the sharks live."

Jia Li let out a soft "hum" from her nose and ignored the other party.

Dongzai looked at the bruises on Ai Rui's face, "Huh?"

"Zai Zai," he found that Dong Zai's hair was a little messy, and Ai Rui tied it into a beautiful braid for him. When he was braiding, he took the opportunity to get close to Jia Li, "You haven't calmed down yet, why don't you hit me again?"A meal?"

Jiali pinched her fingers and couldn't help but want to hit someone, "Stay away from me."

Ai Rui put down Dong Zai's hair and immediately swam three meters away, intending to chat with Jia Li, "Jia Li, when will your Lei Zhe come back?"

Jia Li turned her head and ignored him, "Zai Zai, let's go." He took Dong Zai and swam towards the canyon.

"Jiali, you are going in the wrong direction. Those sharks have already moved to the south." Ai Rui picked up Yuan Xi and followed him hurriedly.

Jiali immediately turned around, swung the red fish tail slightly, and dived to the bottom of the sea.

Ai Rui laughed bitterly, "Xiao Yuanxi, you have to help Uncle Ai Rui."

Yuan Xi patted Ai Rui's face sympathetically, "Uncle Ai Rui, why did you make Uncle Jia Li unhappy?" Dad said that Uncle Jia Li was terrifying when he was angry.

He deserved it, stealing Zaizai in front of Jiali.Ai Rui had no choice but to take Yuan Xi with him and follow Jiali secretly.

This time the sharks moved a little far. Jia Li swam for a long time but didn't see a single shark. She couldn't help but wonder if Ai Rui had lied to him. Jia Li was ready to beat him up.

Dong Zai sat on his father's shoulder and looked around. Suddenly he saw a brown fish tail dangling in front of his eyes. Dong Zai pulled Lajiali's father's hair, "Dad, there is a fish~"

Jia Li took a closer look, and sure enough, there was a fish swimming in front of him. Jia Li swung his tail and chased after him, "You shark over there, don't run away!"

When the shark heard the mermaid's voice, he was frightened and swam away in panic.

Jiali rushed over and grabbed the shark's tail, "Why are you running away? I don't want to eat the shark."

Dong Zai opened his curious eyes, ah, the shark is so small, not even half as tall as his father, um, it has a short tail, and there are translucent gills connected between the arms and both sides of the body.

Dong Zai lowered his head and looked at himself. Zai Zai had no gills.

The other party was a female mermaid. She was trembling violently. Tears fell from her eyes, melting into the water and turning into white beads. She was so nervous that she was about to faint. She said in unskilled mermaid language: "Mermaid, please, please let me go."

"Wow~" Dong Zai opened his hands and hugged a pearl. The tears that had just fallen from the shark's eyes still had the warmth of the shark on them. Dong Zai held it up happily, "Dad, look."

"Be good, Zai Zai. Let's play by yourself for a while."

Jiali let go of the shark's tail and asked, "Where do you live?"

The look of fear on the shark's face remained, and her voice trembled, "It's right in front, I'll take you there."

Jia Li was very confused. He wasn't very fierce. As for whether he was so scared, the shark was just timid.

He followed the shark man with his Dong cub at a short distance. After swimming for a while, he saw a series of houses floating in the sea, with sheets of transparent shark girders hanging on the roof, forming a strange line.underwater scenery.

Most of the sharks are ingenious. They weave seaweed into nests so that they can be taken away easily when they migrate.

A ferocious mermaid broke into the shark's territory, just like a ferocious wolf among the sheep. The sharks quickly dropped their belongings and hid in the seaweed house in panic.

At this time, a male mermaid swam over, and it seemed that he should be the mate of the female mermaid.When the female mermaid saw the male mermaid, she quickly hid behind him and spoke incomprehensible words.

The languages of mermaids and mermaids are not the same. Most mermaids can understand mermaid language, and some mermaids can speak mermaid language, but within the mermaid tribe, they usually use their own language to communicate.

The male mermaid's accent was slightly harsh, "Mermaid, what do you want from us?"

"Can you weave a net?" Jia Li said, "There are a lot of bugs coming to the sea. They not only eat sea beasts, but also mermaids. We have to find a way to catch the bugs."

The female mermaid whispered in her partner's ear and said, "I heard from a passing mermaid that bugs ate mermaids."

The male mermaid hesitated for a moment, "I have to ask my people."

Jiali did not take a step closer to the shark's nest and kept a certain distance from the sharks. After all, the sharks did not welcome the arrival of their mermaid tribe.

Dong Zai was rolling around on the beads, and suddenly rolled into a hug. Dong Zai raised his head, his eyes were bright, it turned out to be Uncle Ai Rui and Brother Yuan Xi, "Yuan Yuan, brother."

Dong Zai picked up the Merman's Tears Pearl, swam his little tail and swam to Yuan Xi. He stuffed the pearl into Yuan Xi's arms, "Brother, play."

Yuan Xi guessed at a glance that Dong Zai wanted to play racquet ball. Yuan Xi held up the beads and threw them up. With a flick of his tail, he patted the beads to Dong Zai.

The little tail fin of the winter cub swayed happily, and the bead flew crookedly. The winter cub swung its tail, jumped into the seaweed, and patted the bead back to Brother Yuanxi.

After a long time, the male mermaid swam back and saw two little mermaids playing happily. The mermaid's eyes were gentle, and the mermaid was always a little tolerant towards the little mermaids.

"Mermaid, they agreed to weave a net for you, but I wonder what kind of net you need?"

The sharks are docile and kind by nature. Jia Li is not surprised by this result. They all live in the same sea area. If even the mermaids fall, they sharks will not be much better.

They, the sharks, still understand the principle of dying lips and cold teeth.

Jia Li gave Ai Rui a lukewarm look, "Hey!"

Ari swam forward with his tail. He grabbed Yuan Xi's little hand, pointed at Yuan Xi's smallest finger, and said, "The bug is about this big, so the hole in the net should be as small as possible."

The male shark said, "No problem."

"Then I'll come and get it tomorrow."

When Dong Zai got tired of playing, he swam up to Jiali's father's shoulder. He patted his shriveled belly and said, "Dad~"

"Are you hungry, Zaizai? Let's go back." Jia Li stretched out his hand towards Yuan Xi, "Xiao Yuan Xi, come to Uncle Jia Li."

Yuan Xi looked at Ai Rui, "But..."

Jia Li sneered, "He will stay here today."

Ai Rui trembled, "Yes, Xiao Yuanxi, you go back with Jiali, I'll stay here and go back tomorrow."

When Jia Li brought the two little mermaids back to the shallow sea area, it was already dark. Jia Li prepared meat paste for Dong Zai, and also prepared a portion of fin fish meat for Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi had a shy face. After finishing his share of fin fish meat, he picked up Dong Zai's shell bowl, scooped out a spoonful of the meat paste, and brought it to Dong Zai. "Dong Zai eats it."

When the winter cub was eating happily, its little tail fin happily slapped the palm of its father's hand, "Good time."

"Xiao Yuanxi, please stay and sleep with Zaizai tonight." Jia Li stroked Yuan Xi's little head.

"Brother, play ball." Dong Zai took Yuan Xi's little hand and swam towards the small room.

Dong Zai played with the ball for a while and soon became sleepy. He yawned and crawled back to the shell bed, "Zai Zai, go to sleep."

After Dong Zai fell asleep, Yuan Xi swam out and hesitantly called out: "Uncle Jiali."

Jiali patted her tail and started swimming, "Xiao Yuanxi, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Yuan Xi said softly: "Uncle Jiali, do you know how my father died?" The father in Yuan Xi's words refers to his other mermaid father, Yan Sheng.

The little mermaid has the ability to think independently after breaking out of her shell. Yuan Xi still clearly remembers that one day his father disappeared and he couldn't find him after searching for a long time.

Until one day, Longhui's father came back and told him that Yansheng's father was dead.

Yuan Xi is still a little mermaid, but she also understands the meaning of death. When she dies, she is gone and will never be seen again.

Yuan Xi cried profusely that day. It was also the first time Yuan Xi cried since she broke out of her shell.

Jia Li bent down and looked at Yuan Xi seriously. The little mermaid's heart was soft but strong, "Bitten to death by bugs."

Jiali didn't feel the need to hide it from Yuan Xi, and she also wanted to let the little mermaids know that bugs are very dangerous, and they must run away as soon as possible and far away when encountering bugs.

Of course, if it were Dong Zai, Jia Li would choose to hide it. For Jia Li, his Zai Zai is different. Zai Zai is so delicate and cannot be frightened.

The double standard is so fresh and refined.

Yuan Xi clenched her fists and asked, "Is it the little bug I saw yesterday?"

"yes."

"I see."

Jiali raised her eyebrows, "Aren't you scared, Xiaoyuanxi?"

Yuan Xi shook his head vigorously, "I'm not afraid. When I grow up, I will also kill insects."

Jia Li put her big hand on Yuan Xi's head and rubbed it, "Go back to sleep quickly."

The fish eggs successfully hatched into a group of baby fish, but there were so many baby fish and a few more fin fish that the little gray whale couldn't take care of them for a while, allowing many baby fish to escape.However, there was plenty of food on the gorgonian coral, and most of the young fish remained and became the reserve food for the winter cubs.

Dong Zai stretched out his little hand, and a small fish cub swam over and sucked his finger. Dong Zai felt a little ticklish and couldn't help but giggle.

There were also insects in the fish coming from other sea areas. When the news came out, the mermaids became reluctant to go out. Except for daily hunting, they stayed in the shallow sea area for the rest of the time.

But the little mermaids were so happy that they jumped up and down every day.Dongkui and a group of little mermaids swam past. When he saw the winter calf on the back of the little gray whale, he stopped, waved his little hand and shouted: "The winter calf is coming to play."

The winter cub patted the little gray whale's head and said, "Little gray whale."

The little gray whale carried the winter calf and swam up to Dong Kui.

Seeing Dongcub, the little mermaids who were naughty and mischievous just now became inexplicably shy, "Dongcub, let's go to the sea to play, do you want to come with us?"

"Dad." Dong Zai turned around and shouted, "Zai Zai, go play~"

Jiali was happily counting the little fish cubs, and she didn't even raise her head when she heard the words, "Go, don't play too late, I'll help you watch the little fish cubs."

"Brother, let's go." The winter cub did not forget to call Shangyuan River. The two little mermaids sat on the backs of the little gray whales and swam towards the sea.

"Dong cub, why haven't you played with us recently?" the little mermaids gathered around, chirping, "Dong cub, winter cub..."

Dongzai smiled and said, "Zaizai, raise fish~"

Zaizai has to raise fish, play with little Huihui, and let brother Yuanxi tie his hair. It’s so busy~

Finally, the winter cub was willing to come out to play. The little mermaids were so excited that they caught fish and picked sea flowers for the winter cub. After a while, the winter cub was holding a lot of gifts in his arms.

Zaizai is so distressed.

Dongkui jumped up in anger and opened his hands to stop the other little mermaids, "You are not allowed to give anything to Dongcub anymore."

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Dongkui found that his whole fish was flying into the air, and he was so irritable that he wanted to curse.

The little mermaids picked up Dongkui with a smile, threw him out, and then approached Dong Zai, "Dong Zai, I can also braid, can I do it for you?"

The sea was calm today. Occasionally, one or two eagles flew over and found a group of white and tender little mermaids emerging from the sea. The bird's claws were itchy.Their eyes fell on the little mermaid on the back of the little gray whale. They paused for a strange moment, then fluttered their wings and flew away.

The cub of the red-tailed mermaid was untouchable and slipped away.

The little fat bird was lying on the beach enjoying the sunbathing in its animal shape. He saw little mermaids emerging from the sea. Surrounded in the middle were his fellow mermaids. The little fat bird sat up with difficulty and said, "Little mermaid, what did you do yesterday?"Why didn't you come?"

The winter cub jumped off the back of the little gray whale and swam to the reef, "Looking for fish~"

The little fat bird immediately understood that the winter cub was looking for the shark, "Then did you find it?"

Dong Zai flicked his tail fin and splashed water, smiling sweetly, "I found it."

"What does a shark look like?" The little fat bird was very curious. "Does it have a beautiful fish tail like yours?"

Dongzai thought for a while, then he rubbed his eyes and made a crying gesture, "It's fun to drop beads."

"Quack, quack, quack." The little fat bird hugged its belly and laughed, "I heard that sharks would drop pearls when they cried. I thought it was a lie, but it turned out to be true."

Dongkui shouted from a distance: "Dong cub, what are you telling the birdman? Come and play."

The little fat bird flapped its wings and raised the sand, "Little mermaid, do you want to fly in the sky? I will take you there."

Recalling the scene when he saw the little fat bird for the first time, when it fell mid-flight, Dong Zai shook his head in fear, "No, no need."

"What are you afraid of?" The little fat bird opened its claws, picked up the winter cub, and threw it on its back.

Tears quickly welled up in Dong Zai's eyes. He tightly grasped the feathers of the little fat bird with his little hands, closing his eyes and not daring to move.

The little fat bird spread its wings and flew toward the sea. Just as it took off, it was caught by a hand.

Dong Zai felt like he was falling into a generous chest, and a familiar voice sounded from above his head, "Zai Zai, did you miss me?"