Blasphemy

The scene grew exceedingly bloody and revolting. Only then did Li Jia realize that the one who had stayed by her side day and night was no ordinary person, but a demon with absolute authority over the lives and deaths of others.

For some reason, Li Jia felt inexplicably miserable. She even collapsed to the ground and began dry-heaving.

As someone who had grown up with a modern education, Li Jia could not accept why a single remark or incident could justify casually harming another person or creature.

If he had done wrong or committed a crime, he should have been punished through the law, rather than directly stripped of his right to live.

Hera could not understand why Li Jia was so frightened. She had already been as calm as still water lately. With her former temperament, any suspected act of blasphemy would have earned, at the very least, exposed bones and entrails trampled underfoot.

But she could hardly question Li Jia to her face. She could only shield her behind her, concealing her completely with shadows so that no one else could see her disheveled state.

Seeing what had become of that merperson, the other merfolk trembled with fear. Nearly all their questions and suspicions were shattered, and no one dared make another sound.

Only the strong ever held the right to speak. That was an immutable law throughout the ages.

"Your Majesty, Goddess of Marriage, please save the Wave Capital. Its light must not go out."

Realizing that Hera was an omnipotent deity, the merfolk chief immediately bowed his head and pleaded with her.

Hera's eyes quivered. She extended a hand, and crimson divine power burrowed into the broken section of the Light Vortex. Before long, its cracks healed and it was restored, with no sign of any change.

Seeing the Light Vortex restored, the merfolk cheered and leaped with joy. Hera was not looking at them. She crouched and gathered Li Jia into her arms, discovering that her entire body was frighteningly hot, like a stove for warming hands.

The fright she had just suffered had left her dazed and terribly disoriented, curled into an exhausted ball. Hera stroked Li Jia's back. "What's wrong?"

"I... I feel awful..."

Tears suddenly streamed down Li Jia's face. She could not tell one direction from another, nor could she tell who was holding her. That familiar fragrance rushed into her nose.

She kept feeling that she knew this person. She felt safe and let her hold her without reservation.

"I feel so awful..." the little one murmured, her voice already thick with tears. "I want to go home. I want to go home..."

Li Jia felt as though her body had been suspended over flames, roasting and frying in oil, with mangled chunks of flesh roasting beside her. Wave after wave of fishy stench made her stomach turn and left her wanting to vomit.

A searing heat of heart-wrenching intensity spread from her lower abdomen to her limbs and jawbone. Li Jia gave a sharp gasp, and her body slumped limply.

Her thoughts gave her little chance to choose, either. Her consciousness sank into darkness along with the pain. All she remembered was catching sight of a strand of golden hair through a gap the instant she closed her eyes, dazzling as the sun.

It dazzled her into a daze.

The merfolk chief deliberated at length. By repairing the Light Vortex for the merfolk, Hera had done him a kindness.

Seeing how worried she was about the girl in her arms, he felt it necessary to reveal the merfolk's secret to Hera.

"Your Majesty, she has entered 'heat.'"

"Heat?"

The merfolk's Light Vortex was the source of their bloodline's continuation. It determined whether the young of their entire race could grow up safely, and offspring were the future of a people.

To protect that future, the merfolk ancestors had sacrificed their own flesh and blood in exchange for an endless supply of Merfolk Candlewicks, which burned eternally at the center of the Light Vortex.

The ancestors had placed something inside the candlewicks. Damage to the Light Vortex would immediately release the siren extract within, giving off the merfolk's uniquely beguiling fragrance and awakening the most primal desires deep in the heart. It would only stop once that deadly desire had been satisfied through coupling with someone.

"What if it cannot be satisfied?"

"If it cannot be satisfied, the extract will travel through the internal organs, burning the skin and flesh. That pain is beyond what an ordinary person can endure. In the end, nothing will remain but a handful of ashes."

"Your Majesty, she is only an ordinary human. You could easily find someone else to take your..."

Before the merfolk chief could finish, she was gone.

Li Jia lay completely naked on the bed. Moonlight shone through the shell-covered window frame onto her sweat-beaded skin, as though her whole body had been gilded with a layer of shattered light.

The girl's eyes were tightly shut, but her long lashes trembled violently with unbearable pain. Deep furrows formed between her brows, and her teeth had bitten her lips pale.

Even the spaces between her bones ached. Every breath carried a sharp pain, every inhalation like swallowing a red-hot branding iron.

So hot.

"I feel awful..."

Beside the bed, Hera had been staring at her face for a long while. Her fingertips nearly touched the ends of her sweat-soaked hair, only to stop just short at the last moment.

Once she crossed this line, only eternal damnation awaited her.

But losing her would hurt more than eternal damnation.

At last, she removed her own clothes, baring herself before her. Hera turned Li Jia's face toward her and leaned close to her ear.

"Li Jia."

She softly called her name, her low, husky voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor. "Who am I?"

Enfolded by a body that was cool all over, Li Jia was like a desert finding an oasis, naturally unwilling to let go. She wound herself tightly around her, seeking even a moment's relief.

The lust surging through her blood gradually subsided like an ebbing tide. Beneath the strokes of jade-like fingers, the searing agony also turned into a fine, persistent tickle.

Before Li Jia could make out the outlines of her surroundings, the clear, cool female voice sounded behind her head again. "Who am I?"

"Who... are you..." A frail whimper spilled from the girl's throat as Li Jia curled up in her arms.

The air fell still. A low chuckle suddenly drifted over. The next second, that low voice drew exceedingly close, as though carried into her ear by the wind, its warm breath brushing her outer ear. "Li Jia, you know."

"I know..."

Li Jia forced herself to lift her head and found herself looking into bottomless crimson eyes. A shadow descended over her.

Before she could react, warmth covered her lips with a hint of urgency, instantly dispelling their feverish dryness.

Her tongue lightly swept along the seam of her lips, cool and cold. They exchanged several breaths, the sensation indescribably exquisite.

Li Jia wanted to push her away, but she had no strength. Both of them were utterly naked, and all she dared do was clutch her hair, trembling slightly.

Seeming to notice her stiffness, she softened the kiss. The tip of her nose brushed Li Jia's sweat-soaked temple, her breath carrying a restrained rasp. "Don't be afraid. This can make you feel better."

"Until you give me permission, I won't force you."

As her words fell, her kisses descended again, close and relentless, utterly domineering. Once Li Jia tasted that sweetness, she began responding of her own accord.

Broken moans spilled from the room, mingled with heavy panting, especially distinct in the silent night.