Have you ever seen a merfolk?

What does she look like?

Is it like in a fairy tale with long golden wavy hair, sapphire blue eyes, and a beautiful glossy fishtail?

Ian hadn't seen a merfolk.

She hadn't even met anyone.

She lived alone in this village for a long time, yes, she did not know the time, there was nothing left for him here to keep a time. There was no watch, no cell phone, and certainly no day office she wouldn't use.

She also thought of using hemp rope to keep time, like the old people, tying a knot at the rising of each sun.

But those days were too numb and boring for her to last long, and there were only 100 knots on that hemp rope so far.

She didn't know why she was banished to the village.

In a village where there was no one but there was food, in the autumn the wheat in the fields would turn golden and be harvested and stacked, and she used to stand there and enjoy the scene of the wind blowing the wheat waves.

Spring, summer, autumn and winter, it's all here, but it doesn't work for her, she doesn't feel cold, she doesn't feel hot, she doesn't feel warm, her body temperature never changes.

The passage of time had no effect on her. A person will always change differently over the years, but she doesn't, her hair always reaches her waist, and her nails never grow.

She couldn't hear anything, except for her own voice, whether it was the sound of wind and water, or the sound of insects, or even the sound of her own falling, she couldn't hear it.

Even occasionally her unconscious murmuring would startle her.

Ian is not from here, she clearly remembers that she is not from this world, and she is also a member of the Crossing Current, but her crossing is too wonderful.

She guessed that maybe she had crossed over into a creature called a ghost. It's like a movie she once watched, about people living in the same house at the same time, but they can't see each other, and they all think they are the owners of the house. Ian watched the movement of the house, trying to find any difference, even if it was only subtle.

But she didn't find anything.

She's not crazy.

It was something that made her think it was amazing to herself, and she thought she was going crazy.

Ian lived like this for a long time.

She has seen her appearance, in the mirror, apricot eyes, curved eyebrows, melon seed face. The facial features were familiar to her, but the dark blue pupils were not hers.

She couldn't look at herself in the mirror for long, those eyes would make her scalp tingle and fall into boundless fear, she didn't see anything in those eyes, including herself, which was the most terrible thing.

There was no self in her pupils, only dark blue, like an abyss.

Then the horror spread to other places, anything that reflected light, everything that reflected herself, the eyes that were placed on her body, but they did not belong to her.

Strange and unpredictable, peeking into the world and peeping at her.

Ian stopped looking in the mirror, and she locked the porcelain in the cupboard.

She grew accustomed to life here.

She grew accustomed to not thinking because she couldn't come up with any answers.

Then one day, she heard another voice.

Tick -

Tick -

For the first time, Ian heard something else, and she followed the sound of the water.

She came to the lake.

She rarely comes here because the water will reflect her face.

Circle after circle of ripples spread across the water, no blisters, no gurgling sound. She heard a ticking sound, like the hour hand turning, like drops of water falling on the water.

The water reflected her, making the same expressions, movements, as she did.

That sense of peeping is like a man's back.

Ian didn't run away this time, she bent down and approached the water.

Will there be monsters underneath the water?

She saw her lips move, and when she heard herself ask, she pursed her lips, ignoring her own voice.

Rightfully so, there was no response.

Then her waist bent more and more, the tip of her nose almost touched the water, looking at herself in the water, and if someone pushed her behind her, she would surely fall in.

But it doesn't matter, there's no one here.

Scared?

Don't be afraid.

She didn't have the courage to commit suicide, but she was enough to face death calmly.

The color of the water was so dark that even if she was so close, she couldn't see what was underneath.

She was bored and wanted to get up.

The surface of the water moved.

Tick -

Tick -

The sound is getting clearer.

Then blisters appeared on the surface of the water. Strands of filaments spread out around, or rather, hair.

Ian remained bent over.

She didn't move because she found she couldn't.

The stiffness spread little by little from the toes to the crooks of her legs, waist and abdomen, she wanted to raise her head, but her neck was dead, she couldn't move, she couldn't take her eyes off, she could only stare at the water.

Strangely, she didn't feel fear, but a feeling spread from the bottom of her heart that it was indeed so.

The water trembled, and her reflection floated and mottled.

Then she met a pair of eyes.

A pair of familiar eyes.

It is blue and deep, like a whirlpool, like an abyss.

Have you ever seen a merfolk?

Long wavy golden hair, blue eyes, shiny like a fishtail sprinkled with stars.

That's a mermaid from a fairy tale.

And the mermaid in reality is in front of her eyes.

Her skin was white and fine as ceramic, her hair was black as ink, and her lips were red and red as blood.

Her tail is inky and resembles the common carp.

She reached out and stroked Ian's face, her fingers were white and slender, and the tips of the slightly long fingertips were also inky, with water stains, and they felt cold to the touch.

It was as if with his presence, the senses of touch and hearing began to unlock, and Ian could feel the temperature.

Water droplets drip on the surface of the water with her movements.

Tick, tick, tick, just as Ian heard.

She tilted her head, her face close to hers.

Her skin is extremely clean, without a single pore, and with a cool air.

Her eyebrows and eyes are delicate and beautiful, gentle and affectionate, and her eyes are full of joy when she looks at her.

She got up slowly, there was nothing on her, white and stunningly beautiful.

She lowered her eyes, her red lips gently resting on Ian's, and then gave her a hug that she couldn't refuse.

A very light, cool hug, water soaking Ian's clothes.

A feathered arrow shoots into Ian's heart and pierces her vest.

The mermaid's red lips grinded in Ian's ears, soft and cold.

The mermaid's voice is very beautiful.

But Ian couldn't understand her.

A viscous liquid flowed onto Ian, who looked down.

Red, that's her blood.

It turned out that she could move, and it turned out that the blood of the mermaid was also red.

With her singing, Ian's consciousness became more and more confused.

"Stop singing, I don't understand."

At the end of her gaze, her eyes were bent, and they were full of smiles, like crumpled starlight.

Then Ian heard a lot of sounds, and they flooded into Ian's ears like a tide.

The sound of wind, water, footsteps, dragging, and the sound of talking.

Their voices were full of excitement, fear, malice, cowardice—

Then there was a huge cheer.

Ian fell into a deep sleep.

Tick -

Tick -

The water drops fall on the surface of the lake, and the ripples in circles are blurred.

Where is this?

Is it a dream?

Ian looked around, and as far as the eye could see, it was all darkness.

It's an upside-down world, only Ian is upright, surrounded by walls of water, the walls are flowing, but the drops of water are dripping upwards, Ian seems to be floating on the water, and every step she takes, there is a circle of ripples.

The water around him trembled, and Ian's heart began to tremble.