Exchange

Lu Li watched the witch turn away, a thoughtful expression on her face. Some things were actually laid out quite clearly; it was just that one didn't know how to face them. Everything was far more than mere coincidence.

The sound of the waves made Lu Li recall that time he fell into the water a year ago. The murky river water churned, countless air bubbles drifted upward, and the light shining down from the surface became distorted through the refraction of the water. That figure emerging from the light fell into Lu Li's eyes. A massive amount of unclear information flooded into Lu Li's mind and soul, scorching his soul and causing it to twist and mutate. That bright red...

The boat suddenly came to a halt. The maid looked at the group with an indifferent expression, her gaze urging them to disembark quickly. Lu Li looked up and discovered they had already arrived at the small island. The speed was impossibly fast. Lu Li's memories were interrupted, and the figure in his mind slowly faded. Only then did Lu Li realize his back was soaked with sweat—a rare experience for him.

"Is it right in the center of the island? There are massive magical reactions there..." The witch stepped onto the island, eyes narrowed, speaking in a grating, unpleasant voice as she headed toward the lake in the center. The maid and the others followed. The boat writhed for a moment, then shrank beneath the maid's skirt and vanished. She followed the witch with a detached expression.

Upon reaching the lake at the heart of the island, the Mermaid Princess swam up from the depths, as if she had known they were returning. When the witch saw the Mermaid Princess, her expression faltered, and then she actually laughed aloud: "How truly interesting. I never expected someone of your lineage to be bewitched by a human, wanting to become one?"

"Some things have nothing to do with lineage, don't they?" The Mermaid Princess's voice formed a sharp contrast to the witch's; it was a sound that could seep into one's soul and warm the heart.

"You should understand the rules of our kind, shouldn't you?" The witch stopped laughing and looked at the Mermaid Princess. "To gain something, you must pay a price. You want to become human; the cost will not be simple. Have you considered this?"

"There is nothing to consider. Nothing can stop me from being with William!" the Mermaid Princess said firmly. She then turned to Lu Li and the others: "I keep my word. Someone will take you to my treasury shortly. You may each choose one item, and then I expect you to leave."

The mermaid who had been displeased with Lu Li and the others appeared once more. Seeing that they had brought the witch back, her expression grew even uglier. Without greeting them, she turned and swam toward the other side of the lake, leaving Lu Li and the others to hurry after her.

They walked to an ice staircase where a spell had been cast to prevent the water from affecting the humans walking upon it. By the time they caught up to the mermaid, she had already been standing before a treasury for some time, looking at them with clear annoyance.

Despite her disdain for Lu Li and his group, she faithfully followed the Mermaid Princess's orders. As she opened the treasury doors, she said coldly: "The Princess said you may only take one item. Don't think about taking more; I will be watching you."

"Fine, hurry up. I'm leaving as soon as I get my item; I don't have time to waste with you!" Xu Haoran said impatiently. He didn't want to leave the witch at all; he was currently experiencing something akin to withdrawal symptoms, feeling physically uncomfortable whenever he wasn't near her. Seeing the mermaid wasting time made him incredibly irritable.

"Hmph, those items are all cursed. If you are greedy, don't blame me when you die without a corpse," the mermaid warned one last time before letting them inside.

Walking into the treasury, it was quite different from what Lu Li had imagined. He had thought the Mermaid Princess might have some assets, but she was acting in secret, trying to become human. Such a change of species could not be done openly, so her treasury likely wouldn't contain anything of high quality. After all, the quest description had stated there was no reward for the Mermaid Princess's quest; the current reward was merely an extra offering from her. Usually, extra rewards meant poor quality, though Lu Li hadn't expected the Mermaid Princess to be this generous.

The first things to catch the eye were the piles of gold and jewelry discarded randomly on the floor. The hoard was dazzling and eye-catching, but since the people here were players, they only cared about the promised magical items and had no interest in gold or jewels.

Then, the group saw the magical items hanging on the other three walls. Every player present had at least come into contact with special energy, so they could vaguely sense the energy reactions coming from the items on the walls. These were all magical or witchcraft-related artifacts.

Roughly counting them, there were dozens of magical items on the walls. Magical items were not common goods; even if their functions were weak, a single magical item was extremely rare. With dozens of them, that Mermaid Princess outside was definitely a massive tycoon—unbelievably wealthy!

"Take your time choosing. Items hanging together count as one; you are not allowed to take more," the mermaid reminded them again. She watched as Xu Haoran, looking impatient, grabbed a conch-like item and hurried away. His withdrawal symptoms were nearing a full-blown crisis; he was desperate to return to the witch's side, while simultaneously blaming himself for being greedy enough to leave her for a magical item. Little did he know, this was the final struggle of his personality. Once that struggle failed, he would lose himself completely and become a mere tool in the witch's hands.

Lu Li silently observed the magical items on the wall. There were quite a few, in all sorts of varieties: some were shaped like swords, others like hats, or crystal balls. Lu Li looked at them one by one, but he felt no particular connection to them. According to the rules of the game instance, some items could not be taken out of the instance space and would only be broken down into modules.

Over there, Gao Xiaowen picked up a goat skull, nodded at the mermaid, and left the treasury. Her left hand cradled the goat skull, and a ring of black fur began to grow quietly from it, emitting a faint, evil, and twisted aura.

Hu Wenxu chose a small knife carved from coral, tested it in his hand, and left with a satisfied expression. Only Lu Li remained, making his final selection. As his gaze swept across the items on the wall, it suddenly stopped, fixated on one particular object.

Lu Li looked it over, pointed at the item, and asked the mermaid: "Does this count as one item as well?"