Once the surrounding movement quieted down, Tang Xin breathed a sigh of relief. Her judgment had been correct; the red curtain was able to isolate the gaze of these siren cocoons, as they possessed no capacity for thought.
Half a minute later, movement came from downstairs. Tang Xin lifted a corner of the curtain, a vantage point that allowed her to take in the scene below. Gunfire flared and died intermittently; she saw a siren cocoon with its chest cracked open, biting off the head of a fish-man townsperson. A misfiring gun blew apart the brain or heart of a nearby companion, and the ceiling chandelier burst, sending sparks flying everywhere.
These senseless townspeople felt no pain and let out no wails; they only used their weapons to ruthlessly smash the siren cocoons before them. Anything that blocked their movement was an enemy. Aside from the gunshots, there was only the sound of cold weapons sinking into flesh and the thud of impacts. The monsters tore at each other without a word, reminiscent of the human purgatory described in scriptures; all living beings were silently accepting their punishment.
Seeing this chaotic scene, Amy couldn't help but complain, "So these monsters even fight their own kind."
Tang Xin shook her head. Deep in their bones, these siren cocoons hated the fish-men; it was this race that had turned them into these neither-human-nor-ghost abominations.
The four of them huddled together under a small red curtain and snuck down amidst the chaos below, the scene looking somewhat ridiculous.
The battling monsters noticed something. A fish-man townsperson ruthlessly smashed the skull of the siren cocoon beneath him with a hoe, then turned to see a suspicious-looking clump of red curtain huddled in the corner. He moved forward in confusion to investigate, only to have half his body bitten away by a siren cocoon pouncing from behind.
Foul-smelling blood splattered onto the curtain. The group watched in silence as an eyeball rolled to their feet before continuing their small, quick steps. As they passed through the statue gallery on the first floor, they discovered that the statue of the Siren King from before was gone. Torrential rain poured down from the skylight above, with thunder exploding from time to time.
The massive gap in the skylight looked cold and hideous. They fell silent and continued to move forward. Before long, they reached the exhibition hall; they were only dozens of meters away from the mansion entrance and would soon be able to leave.
A foul-smelling, large face suddenly poked out from below, its crimson eyes staring at everyone as its mouth curled into a bizarre smile. A fish-man had discovered them.
The red curtain was yanked open, and the fish-men wandering nearby all looked over, excited and restless.
Tang Xin reacted instantly, a sharp ice spear piercing the eye socket of that fish-man. The latter felt no pain and pushed forward against the ice spear, only stopping once its entire head was pierced through.
The surrounding fish-men converged on their position with ill intent, and the monsters from upstairs came rolling and rushing down from the staircase. Amy and Tang Xin each summoned their weapons, preparing for the inevitable battle.
Someone outside shouted, "Get down!"
Tang Xin pressed everyone down. A fire dragon roared past above them, lava flowing within its golden pupils as scorching flames spewed from its mouth, incinerating all the monsters into ash.
Tang Xin looked up to see flames lingering in Xu Xiaoyou's hand. Her dazzling blonde hair fluttered, and her other hand gripped a heavy sniper rifle. Her combat suit was stained with blood; it wasn't hard to tell that the girl had fought her way here.
The two nodded in greeting. Xu Xiaoyou came to Amy's side. "Tell me everything related to the siren miracle."
Xu Xiaoyou's face was calm. "If you're still worried that leaking knowledge will cause the miracle to be triggered prematurely, there's no need."
"Because this miracle is already known by thousands of people."
Amy hesitated for a moment.
Xu Xiaoyou said, "Do you remember the story about the siren miracle at the very beginning of Paranormal Explorers?"
"If knowledge carries pollution, then in the Star of Art hundreds of kilometers away, thousands of people have already been contaminated."
Cold sweat ran down Amy and Tang Xin's backs.
"The mastermind behind this used the show's scriptwriters to ensure every viewer of this episode came into contact with this miracle. And every second, the story of the siren miracle is being spread across major forums, short videos, and social platforms."
"This means the scale of this miracle will be so massive that it will be completely out of control."
Amy's face lost all color. She should have realized from the beginning that the siren miracle was being spread in this manner.
If the siren miracle were to be fully activated under these circumstances...
"Don't tell me your companions outside don't know about this," Xu Xiaoyou said, glancing sideways.
Amy looked as if she had lost her soul, her lips trembling.
Quickly, she steadied herself. "They will definitely deduce it. I believe in them."
Now that things had come to this, Amy decisively revealed everything about the siren miracle.
After learning about the seal and the anchor point, Xu Xiaoyou nodded. "If you don't want to be buried at the bottom of the sea, we need to move faster."
"Amy, Tang Xin, take these two children back to Mermaid Town first to scout for the location of the anchor points. I will go look for the sealing ground."
After delegating the tasks, Xu Xiaoyou pulled Tang Xin aside and pressed a golden, glowing object into the girl's hand. "If you encounter danger, you must make a choice."
"Be a little selfish; your own life is more important than anything else."
"You are truly important to me."
Tang Xin didn't understand why the other girl was suddenly saying this to her. Xu Xiaoyou offered no further explanation; after handing over the object, she turned and left, running back into the curtain of rain.
"Let's go too," Tang Xin turned to look at the other three.
As dusk deepened, a group of uninvited guests arrived at the town.
A young man from the Winter family ran onto the street in a panic, still wrapped in a bath towel, cursing the world with venom in his heart. The mermaid girl who had been sharing a beautiful spring evening with him had suddenly gone mad, and he had nearly lost the happiness of the rest of his life.
"Damn it, this race is exactly as crazy as they say."
Water streamed down the young man's face as he looked around. The family members traveling with him were being tackled by fish-men, their chests pierced over and over again by knives. He even saw his own kin turning into these half-ghost abominations, screaming as they pounced toward him along with the crazed fish-men.
He didn't understand why the whole world had suddenly changed, why a beautiful vacation had turned into this. Everyone on the island had gone mad, attacking each other. Didn't these damn peasants know he was from the Winter family?
Seeing several more fish-men notice him and charge, he fled blindly forward, crashing into a solid chest.
He looked up and was overjoyed when he saw the person's appearance. It was a group of guys dressed as mercenaries; the family must have learned about the situation on the island and sent people to save them, right?
"God damn it, why did you useless bastards take so long to get here? I almost died! Hurry up and blow the heads off those peasants; they're just a bunch of hopeless lunatics!"
The young man chattered incessantly, venting the anger in his heart, even as a dark gun barrel was pressed against his forehead.
"Eh?"
Under the grey sky, a tiny spark flickered, and red and white splattered.
Lone Wolf blew his head off with a single shot, making his ears much quieter. He jerked his chin at the companions behind him. The group understood, advancing in a tactical posture, clearing out all the approaching fish-men with a few well-placed shots.
A massacre targeting the members of the two great families was about to begin.
Rate on N.U.
