What appeared before them was a badly wounded Shahua Merman.
It was neither an elite guard with two pairs of arms nor a spellcasting Murloc Priest, but merely the most ordinary and common individual of the Shahua Merman race.
It looked as though it had just gone through a fierce battle. Its body, covered in fine blue-green scales, bore numerous deep, bleeding wounds. The worst of them had nearly torn open its chest and abdomen, revealing the vague outlines of organs beneath the diaphragm.
Its right hand tightly gripped a metal harpoon standard to its race, but the spearhead was not pointed at the group. Instead, it had been driven deep into the mud beneath it, supporting the merman's body.
Clearly, this Shahua Merman was severely injured.
As mentioned before, because of their inherently brutal nature and extreme hatred toward other races, Shahua Mermen were regarded as Monsters by Islanders living along the coast.
But in truth, they were also intelligent beings. They had their own language and writing, as well as a distinct civilization.
They feared death, too, and grieved for fallen companions.
Under normal circumstances, a lone Shahua Merman in critical condition that encountered a seasoned Adventurer party like Oath of Vengeance Blades—healthy and powerful—
would know it could not win and had no chance of escape.
Apart from the occasional particularly stubborn individual, few would take the initiative to attack.
Begging for mercy or simply waiting to die would have been the most likely response.
Yet strangely, the Shahua Merman displayed obvious hostility the instant it spotted them.
Xia Nan had the sharpest senses among them all. Drawn by the faint sounds coming from beyond the corridor, he had spotted the merman even before it saw them.
Because of that, he had observed its reaction in full.