Chapter 8: The Three Life-Saving Pearls Were Given to Someone Else

There was no love in her eyes. No hatred. Not even the faintest flicker of emotion.

She looked at me as if I were a ridiculous little ant, struggling in a puddle.

“Huỳnh Huỳnh, you recognize me, don’t you? Look into my eyes. Take me with you. Even if you drag me under and drown me, I’d be willing!”

I crawled to the edge of the invisible wall and pounded on it like a madman.

Blood streamed from all ten fingertips.

She looked at my pathetic state and tilted her head slightly.

Then she smiled.

It was an utterly pure smile, belonging only to beasts and gods, untouched by even the faintest trace of human emotion.

Her red lips parted.

No human words came—only a string of mermaid song, clear and resonant, yet carrying absolute authority.

It was a rejection.

She was telling me that in her world, there was no longer anyone named Lục Thâm.

A colossal wave surged up to the sky, like an invisible hand, and hurled me back onto the shore.

My insides felt as if they had been shattered.

Before I could vomit up a mouthful of blood, darkness swallowed my vision.

I saw her flick her tail without a trace of reluctance and dive into the depths where the sun would never reach.

She didn’t look back even once.

She didn’t even want to grant me her hatred anymore.

I deserved to stay in this cold lighthouse, clinging to those illusory memories.

To rot in regret, day after day.

Forever beyond redemption.

The End.