Azure Eye! A Clue About Merfolk

"By the way, Senior Qingcheng, I'm the kind of person who likes doing good deeds without leaving a name behind. I hope you won't mention my name."

Gu Xin felt that he still preferred being praised behind his back to having little paper effigies stabbed with needles.

So he decided to ask Shen Qingcheng not to reveal his name.

"I understand, Gu Xin."

Shen Qingcheng's moist, gentle eyes seemed to hold a pool of autumn water, making her exceptionally captivating.

"Gu Xin, I heard you went to a secret realm a couple of days ago?"

"How did you know, Senior Qingcheng?"

Gu Xin froze. Only the people in his class should have known about that.

"I have my own network of connections too. What did you think of the secret realm?"

Shen Qingcheng changed the subject. She couldn't exactly say that she occasionally kept an eye on Gu Xin, could she?

"It felt very real. It deserved its reputation as a small world," Gu Xin replied after giving it some thought.

Although the secret realm's small world truly was tiny and couldn't compare to the main world at all, it was indeed a small world.

The humans inside were living, breathing people of flesh and blood as well.

"Yes. That's why we need to be especially careful not to disturb the lives of those natives as much as possible, and not to harm them lightly."

Shen Qingcheng spoke slowly with a gentle smile. For some reason, there seemed to be sorrow and despondency in her eyes.

It seemed Senior Qingcheng had a story of her own.

Noticing this sharply, Gu Xin narrowed his eyes slightly, but after considering it, he chose not to ask.

After all, this clearly touched upon Shen Qingcheng's secret. Their relationship was not intimate enough for that.

"Gu Xin, you're a Tier 2 card maker now, right?"

"Huh? Yes. Do you have any advice for me, Senior Qingcheng?"

"I wouldn't dare call it advice. It's just that I recently returned from a secret realm as well. For a card maker like you, rare and precious magical beast materials should be very important, right?"

Shen Qingcheng carefully chose her words.

"Yes."

"It was a sea-world secret realm. We gathered some information there, and it seemed that merfolk existed in that sea world."

"Mermaids?"

Gu Xin's eyes immediately lit up. Mermaids? They really were an extraordinarily rare and precious race.

"I don't know whether they were mermaids or not. I got this information from one of the local natives, so I can't be one hundred percent certain that it's true." Shen Qingcheng shook her head.

Merfolk and mermaids were theoretically the same race, but in practice, they were fundamentally different.

Mermaids were beautiful female merfolk. They had human-like appearances and beautiful fish tails.

As for merfolk... they could come in all sorts of strange and bizarre shapes.

In Gu Xin's words, mermaids were eighty percent humanoid, since only their lower halves differed from humans.

But for merfolk, having even fifty percent humanoid features would already be considered high.

Gu Xin had seen pictures of merfolk online before. Rather than merfolk, they looked more like fishmen.

"I see." Gu Xin fell into thought.

"However, based on my judgment, I don't think that native was lying to me. So if you're interested, Gu Xin, you can invite your friends and go search for them in that sea-world secret realm."

Shen Qingcheng's voice remained soft and gentle, making it exceptionally pleasant to listen to.

It was practically an ear massage.

"Senior Qingcheng, aren't you interested in merfolk?"

"Gu Xin, I'm not a card maker, and I don't want to deliberately seek out merfolk for money or profit."

Shen Qingcheng stated her thoughts.

Merfolk were very rare in the main world. From what was known, the main world's merfolk tribes mostly lived in the Silver Moon Sea.

If one could catch a merperson, they would definitely fetch a high price in the main world. If it was a mermaid, it could even be put up for auction—there would be a huge profit to make.

However, Shen Qingcheng was not someone who placed much importance on profit. Of course, she was not some purely saintly person either. She knew Gu Xin might need merfolk, so she gave him this information.

"Thank you, Senior Qingcheng. If I really manage to obtain a merperson, I'll definitely thank you properly!"

"No need to be so polite. Do your best, Gu Xin. I believe you'll definitely become an outstanding card maker in the future."

A serene, gentle smile appeared on Shen Qingcheng's childlike face as she softly encouraged Gu Xin.

"Senior Qingcheng..."

Feeling the utterly sincere blessing from this petite senior, Gu Xin was deeply moved and nearly spoke that timeless classic line again.

But it seemed he had already said it last time...

"Senior Qingcheng, if you ever need my help in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me."

Shen Qingcheng was taken aback for a moment, then smiled faintly.

"Alright, I'll remember that. Gu Xin, you're here to see Uncle Chen this time, right? Go on in. I need to sweep the floor."

"Goodbye, Senior Qingcheng."

Watching Gu Xin enter Uncle Chen's General Store, Shen Qingcheng tilted her head, then couldn't help but smile. Lowering her head, she began sweeping away the puddles on the ground.

This adult loli seemed to be in a much better mood this time. Once she finished sweeping, she planned to visit a nearby bookstore and look for study materials suitable for those children.

Surely those children would be very happy when they saw so many textbooks.

Meanwhile, inside Uncle Chen's General Store.

"Uncle Chen, I'm here."

"Oh, Gu Xin. Haven't seen you in days."

Uncle Chen was sitting and reading the newspaper. Hearing him, he pushed up his glasses.

"What are you buying today?"

"Just looking around first. Uncle Chen, have you gotten anything good lately?" Gu Xin offered Uncle Chen a cigarette.

"You came at the right time. I received a few new materials this morning." Uncle Chen took it, lit it, and replied with a smile.

"Oh?"

"[Soul-Devouring Insect]. You know it—I sold you one before. But this one's quality and completeness aren't as good as the last one."

"I'll take it."

Gu Xin did not hesitate in the slightest. The [Soul-Devouring Insect] was absolutely a good thing to him, because [Baron Nashor] had been made using a [Soul-Devouring Insect].

Although Uncle Chen said this [Soul-Devouring Insect] was inferior to the last one, it didn't matter.

Even if he couldn't make a second [Baron Nashor], making a "son" for [Baron Nashor] would still work.

"Alright, I knew you'd be interested." Uncle Chen took a drag from his cigarette, unsurprised.

"Anything else?"

"There's one more thing that's a real treasure. Heh." Uncle Chen put on an air of mystery.

"But I don't know whether you'd want it."

"As long as you dare to sell it, Uncle Chen, I dare to buy it."

"Alright, then take a look at this—[Azure Eye]."

Uncle Chen took a bottle from his spatial ring. Inside was a beautiful eye that glimmered with azure light.

Its pupil bore a snowflake-like pattern, mesmerizing beyond measure.

But Gu Xin was stunned.

"This eye... it belongs to an elemental spirit, doesn't it? No, Uncle Chen, where did you get this thing??"