Yu Mian’s subconscious question caused An to momentarily choke on his words.
Most visitors were concerned with whether the mermaids in the painting were real, but Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ question was whether the artist had seen a real mermaid before painting it.
Would ordinary people care about that?
“Uh, all we know is that this artwork was acquired from the widow of an outer star-system artist. The widow claimed that the mermaid couple in the painting was real.”
“They were once active in their mysterious bay, offering much care to the creatures nearby, but no one has heard the mermaid stories for a long time now.”
As soon as An finished speaking, Yu Mian subconsciously exchanged a glance with Huo Ting.
‘Wait, this sounds so familiar.’
“E821 Water Planet?”
Huo Ting’s question made An’s eyes widen in surprise.
“How do you know about that?”
Could it be that the Huo family knew about this painting as well?
Yu Mian, noticing An’s shocked expression, took a few steps forward and frowned, carefully examining the two figures in the painting.
For some reason, Yu Mian suddenly felt that the mermaids’ silhouettes in the painting looked oddly familiar.
“Anyway, I think this should be a mermaid couple. The scene depicted is a very rare one, with the mermaid shadows on the moonlit rocks. It’s almost as if you can faintly hear the ethereal song from the painting…”
Seeing how seriously Yu Mian was appreciating the artwork, An couldn’t help but explain further.
“Yes, this is indeed a mermaid couple.”
After a long pause, Yu Mian spoke seriously, agreeing with An’s guess.
“Haha, so you think the same way? Mermaids are rare to begin with, and this is a couple, so many visitors had always assumed this painting was a product of the artist’s imagination, not necessarily based on real existence.”
An was unusually happy after Yu Mian confirmed his guess.
He felt that Teacher Fish Soup Noodles and he were on the same wavelength.
Though Yu Mian’s expression was rather subtle.
These silhouettes were clearly his parents, right?
They used to drift on the sea every day, how did they travel from Earth’s oceans to the interstellar seas, leaving so many legends and traces behind?
Could it be that the truth behind their work as maritime civil servants was actually them traveling the universe while carrying out official duties?
Feeling like he had stumbled upon some kind of truth, Yu Mian knocked on the system.
[Uh, well, we truly don’t know either? But various props do have some cause and effects.]
The little system was confused.
At that time, it was purely bewitched by its host’s looks, and had no idea that the host’s parents were so mysterious.
“Speaking of the painting, though it’s just a silhouette and only one side of the face can be faintly seen, there isn’t a single visitor who doesn’t think this mermaid couple is extremely beautiful. It’s probably the kind of beautiful and romantic atmosphere it gives off. Look at this side profile… hmm?”
When it came to the gallery’s collection, An, who had been somewhat nervous, gradually began to relax.
Just as he was about to have Fish Soup Noodles closely examine the cleverness of the painting, An’s gaze faltered for a moment, switching back and forth between the mermaids in the painting and Yu Mian.
Could it be that beauty is always similar?
Otherwise, why did he feel that this mermaid couple in the painting looked a bit like Teacher Fish Soup Noodles?!
Just as An was about to rub his eyes, Yu Mian suddenly withdrew his gaze from the oil painting and looked at An seriously:
“Although it might be a bit forward, would you mind contacting the seller for me? I’m willing to pay for the inquiry to ask them a few things.”
“You want to contact them?”
After a few seconds of shock, An clearly hesitated.
He really wanted to help Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, but the issue would most likely lie with the seller.
“It’s not that I don’t want to, but the seller has a very peculiar personality. The painting was sold at that time because the other party needed to raise funds for her illness. The lady is from a special race and doesn’t really like interacting with humans.”
An, who had previously interacted with the seller, knew that the seller was eccentric. He only managed to gain the trust to buy the painting because their conversation in the field of art had been very smooth.
Although Yu Mian was initially concerned, he suddenly blinked upon hearing this:
“She’s a special race? And lives on a water planet?”
Wouldn’t that mean she’s most likely an aquatic race?
One of the rewards he received earlier was “Friend of the Ocean”, granting him 100% favorability with aquatic races.
“Could you help me pass something to her? I think after she sees the gift, she might be willing to meet with me.”
At the moment when he looked into Yu Mian’s eyes, An inexplicably found that he had nodded in agreement.
By the cosmos, why couldn’t he refuse?!
Several days later, An looked at the small wooden box in his hand and couldn’t help but feel doubtful.
Would giving this gift really make the lady willing to meet?
He even thought he should send a full set of Teacher Fish Soup Noodles too, hoping the lady would become a Fish fan. That might increase the chances of her agreeing to meet.
But no matter what, he thought it was worth trying.
Meanwhile, in the study, Yu Mian looked at the photocopy of the oil painting framed in the picture frame and pondered seriously: “Do you think the lady will have any special news?”
“Well if she’s really ill, the pearl you sent should be very useful.” As Huo Ting recalled the details An had described, he always felt that the lady of the aquatic race probably had an issue with her mental sea.
“Mmm, you’re right.”
Moreover, this pearl was the one that fell into the aquarium after bumping into it. It shouldn’t be too embarrassing if the lady saw the scene, right?
“But you gave it back to me, and now I’ve sent it to someone else. I no longer have any more.”
Since arriving in the interstellar era, Yu Mian had only dropped two pearls. He had originally intended to leave this one as the last rent payment to Huo Ting before moving.
Huo Ting, however, just chuckled.
“That means the fish has been raised well and doesn’t drop pearls often.”
Yu Mian:!
Turning his head to glance at Huo Ting, who was still looking at the documents, Yu Mian couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed and lightly flicked his tail.
Having said that, even the scales haven’t fallen off for a long time, and now it’s a very healthy and beautiful mermaid tail.
This was the perfect growth achievement, accomplished without any guidance from his parents.
[Fish nods.jpg]
While waiting for An to contact the widow and gather information, Yu Mian continued to collect popularity points seriously. The plot of the first volume of “The Vast Immortal Path” officially reached its climax amid a storm of blood and chaos.
In fact, although Elder Gu in this lifetime failed to accept Qi Hanzhou as a disciple, he was still keeping an eye on him, waiting for the opportunity to take over his body.
However, due to the young sect master Lin Shuyi’s special attention to Qi Hanzhou, Elder Gu could never find an opportunity to act.
As the situation became more complicated, Elder Gu had no choice but to strike a deal with the demonic sect. A tragic incident where an elite group of disciples perished at the hands of the enemy shocked the entire Miao Xuan Sect, and an order for a thorough investigation was issued.
Coincidentally, or perhaps by the will of heaven, Lin Shuyi’s golden core reached perfection just at this moment, forcing him to retreat into seclusion to wait for his breakthrough.
Before retreating, Lin Shuyi earnestly told his father, the sect master who was quite indecisive in the original book, that Elder Gu was definitely suspicious.
However, as the investigation deepened, all the evidence seemed to point toward Qi Hanzhou, the orphan who was the only one qualified to get close to the young sect master and gather confidential information.
[[“Moreover, he has an inner demon plaguing him, but he’s been pretending all along. This child’s demonic qi is so dense that he must not be kept!”
As soon as Elder Gu held the Heavenly Mirror up, everyone was shocked as they gazed at the reflection of Qi Hanzhou in the mirror.
The demonic qi on Qi Hanzhou was so strong and terrifying. If he were to break through to the Golden Core stage, even the elders in the sect would not be able to stop him.
“The young sect master is not good at judging people, and even you want to be willful!?”
The sect master, who was being questioned, was forced to look at the usually silent Qi Hanzhou, his face full of reluctance as he asked whether Qi Hanzhou was a traitor and was secretly colluding with the demonic cultivators.
