The Dragon Bone Umbrella spun in mid-air, creating a circle of cyan flames that directly suppressed the female mermaid who was attempting to escape. Cyan spiritual chains scattered outward like vines, firmly grabbing the mermaid and immediately binding her tightly.
The pure white space hadn't dissipated, and Xin Yunmao hadn't put Chu Zhishui down. He curiously examined her from all angles.
The little girl had soft skin, slightly chubby cheeks, bright round eyes, and adorable bun-styled hair with a crystal star pendant hanging on her chest. She looked like a white mochi ball, giving the impression that one bite would taste sweet and soft.
Chu Zhishui had allowed him to carry her mainly because of the height difference with the mermaid, as being held would allow her to look down at the opponent. Now that he was staring at her, she had to keep her balance with one hand around his neck while the other hand couldn't help but pat his shoulder: "What are you looking at?"
Xin Yunmao responded with great interest: "Never seen this before."
He had never seen her childhood appearance, and unexpectedly got to make up for this regret here. He hadn't known human cubs could look like this, so different from the little boys at the game center.
Chu Zhishui looked at her small hands in astonishment: "Why did I turn into this?"
"This is your true form manifestation, so it might represent..." Xin Yunmao glanced at her slyly, "that this is your mental age."
"Impossible." Chu Zhishui furrowed her brows seriously, though unfortunately in her shrunken state, she had no intimidating presence and looked more like a child pretending to be an adult. "I'm not like you, I'm very mature."
Even her voice had become childish, making her words sound babyish.
Xin Yunmao suppressed his upturned lips and soothed: "Mm-hmm."
Hearing him add an extra "hmm" compared to usual, Chu Zhishui immediately felt something was wrong and protested: "Put me down, I want to get out."
Xin Yunmao deliberately ignored her words and shamelessly continued carrying her around in circles, clearly enjoying himself.
She complained angrily: "You're the one kidnapping people."
Xin Yunmao: "We won't be able to see this once we go out, let's play a while longer."
Chu Zhishui instantly bristled, suddenly understanding why young cubs all targeted Xin Yunmao. After turning back into a little girl, she found him quite annoying too, and reached out to grab his black hair, threatening: "Let me out."
Xin Yunmao ignored her tugging at his hair. He stared at her for a long while, unable to suppress his curiosity, and slowly reached out to gently pinch her soft cheek - it really did feel like a mochi ball.
Chu Zhishui got so angry she actually yanked his long hair.
The pure white space dissipated, and the human and demon emerged back into the real world, with Xin Yunmao letting out a regretful sigh.
Inside the underwater Dragon God Temple, the adult version of Chu Zhishui had already awakened. She sat up supporting herself against a reef, feeling completely soaked, but thankfully had the all-in-one household device nearby. Xin Yunmao snapped his fingers and dried all her clothes.
After tidying herself up a bit, Chu Zhishui began searching for pearls. Sure enough, she saw the female mermaid not far away, along with beautiful pearls scattered on the ground, though fewer than in the pure white space.
Chu Zhishui picked up a pearl and asked puzzled: "Why are there fewer?"
"That was the spiritual world, when it transfers to reality, things might become weaker," Xin Yunmao explained. "The spirit may be in great pain, but how many tears flow in reality varies by person."
She humbly asked: "Do they all drop pearls?"
"I'm not very familiar with their clan, but I think they have different roles. You can ask Braids," he answered. "He probably lived in their clan before."
Chu Zhishui thought for a moment before realizing "Braids" referred to Lan Quanxian.
The Mermaid Clan were loyal followers of the Dragon God, with a complex and strict family system, but later split into two factions after the great war. One faction, like Lan Quanxian, recognized the Dragon God's true nature and withdrew, mostly living in calm seas near the surface; the other became exile merfolk who firmly believed the Dragon God would return, stirring up trouble near Qi Wu to force humans to maintain their faith in the Dragon God.
Chu Zhishui had been captured and taken to the exile merfolk's dwelling place. The endless seabed was decorated with countless temples draped in water-controlling gauze, which was why the Dragon God's influence couldn't be eliminated from Qi Wu.
"So if we want more pearls, should we find more temples?" Chu Zhishui looked around the temple interior, studying its structure. "Otherwise we can't screen out which merfolk will drop pearls."
When Xin Yunmao appeared in the Dragon God Temple, he had already scared away all the merfolk, who scattered and fled quickly into the deep sea.
Now the altar was in disarray, with no demons daring to continue their ceremonies, all thinking only of preserving their lives.
Xin Yunmao looked up at the dark waters above, aimed the Dragon Bone Umbrella, and said: "They have too many hideouts, it would be too exhausting for us to find them all. But if we remove the demonic energy from the sea surface, we can let those idle workers search slowly."
The Qiwu Bureau had been clearing Dragon God temples for a long time, but the Dragon God's demonic energy on the sea surface prevented ordinary demons from locating them.
If Chu Zhishui hadn't called Xin Yunmao's name, even he would have had to repeatedly churn the seawater to detect the underwater situation.
Just as Xin Yunmao was about to fire at the sea surface, he noticed his cyan sleeves - his purified form from the spiritual world had manifested in reality. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly lowered his hand and turned to Chu Zhishui: "Would you like to try?"
Chu Zhishui asked confused: "Try what?"
"Removing the demonic energy from the sea surface." Xin Yunmao handed her the Dragon Bone Umbrella. "Just aim and release with the umbrella."
Chu Zhishui stared at the umbrella handle before her, startled, and reminded him: "But I'm not a demon, I don't have demonic energy."
"The Dragon Bone Umbrella doesn't need demonic energy. It specifically targets the five poisons and eight sufferings of both demons and humans - that's why it could become a divine artifact," he said, lowering his gaze. "I wasn't sure before, but now I know you should be able to use it."
Chu Zhishui had cleansed the stains the Dragon God left on Xin Yunmao, which meant the Dragon Bone couldn't harm her - she had no five poisons or eight sufferings, so she wouldn't face any backlash.
Hearing this, Chu Zhishui took it with great curiosity. Although she had seen the Dragon Bone Umbrella many times, this was her first time holding it. The black handle felt hard and rough, while the deep cyan canopy was thin yet resilient. The canopy no longer had charred sparks, replaced instead by faint bamboo leaf fibers.
When the Dragon Bone Umbrella opened, it was as if a bamboo forest sheltered overhead, creating an indescribably romantic and poetic atmosphere.
Chu Zhishui closed the umbrella and aimed the tip upward, asking: "Just aim like this? But how do I release it?"
Xin Yunmao walked over, slowly approaching her. He gently supported her wrist with one hand, helping her raise the umbrella tip higher, and instructed: "Imagine the feeling you had in your own world earlier."
In the dark underwater depths, only the temple's lights provided illumination, yet the frost-touched bamboo leaves emitted a fresh fragrance, masking the unpleasant smell of wax and seawater.
At the bottom of the sea, Chu Zhishui had felt her arms getting cold, with goosebumps rising from the strange creatures swimming around. But when his warm body drew near, it instantly dispelled the eerie chill that had seeped into her bones, bringing the vitality of surface plants basking in sunlight.
He seemed to have changed somewhat, unconsciously shaking off his melancholy and naturally spreading his branches and leaves, unlike his usual self who always seemed to be suppressing something, with turbulent undercurrents beneath his expressionless face.
Perhaps it really was the arrival of summer, when even bamboo reaches its most flourishing season.
Chu Zhishui gripped the umbrella handle and calmed her mind to focus on the feeling, recalling her own bittersweet experiences while surrounded by bamboo branches. She felt a surge of energy rush into the Dragon Bone Umbrella, uncontrollably shooting toward the dark sea surface!
The shot had recoil, but fortunately Xin Yunmao supported her, letting her lean against his chest.
A magnificent white light erupted from the seabed like a volcanic explosion. With a slight tremor, it burst into pure white fireworks on the sea surface.
Ordinary people couldn't see it with their naked eyes, only noticing several golden rays piercing through the dark clouds. The shower came and went quickly, and after the rain stopped, the Qi Wu sea surface returned to its peaceful and serene state with rippling waves.
On a small boat, Lan Quanxian and Wu Changgong were demons, yet they could see the changes on the sea surface. Pure white power bloomed on the pitch-black sea surface like a flourishing flower, not only resisting the black power's erosion but slowly spreading outward, thoroughly cleansing the seawater that had been covered in the Dragon God's demonic energy year-round.
Wu Changgong exclaimed in surprise: "Is this the Divine Lord..."
Lan Quanxian said in amazement: "No, it's not him, this isn't demonic energy."
"Quanxian, how's the situation!?"
In the distance, Director Sha and other monsters arrived by boat for rescue. Looking at the clear sea surface, they also showed surprised expressions: "The Dragon God's demonic aura has dissipated."
Qi Wu was the birthplace of the Dragon God, but now someone was shaking his power.
The sky brightened, the sea calmed, and light penetrated to the seabed.
Sunlight projected into the sea, illuminating the colorful shallow waters, creating unusual and brilliant reflections.
On cloudy days, the seabed was stuffy and pitch-dark, forcing them to rely on the faint lights from the Dragon God Temple to find their way. But when the scorching sun emerged from the clouds, they could clearly see the gently swaying seaweed and the delicate beige shells.
Even the weathered eaves of the Dragon God Temple were bathed in warm sunlight.
Chu Zhishui and Xin Yunmao stood at the temple entrance, admiring it all. Without the water-repelling gauze, ordinary people would rarely have the chance to see such a sight.
In the shimmering, magnificent play of light and shadow, he turned to look at her, his usually dark eyes now containing light, a slight smile appearing on his lips: "Congratulations on your deification."
Chu Zhishui still held the Dragon Bone Umbrella in her hands. She had always seen him use his powers, but this was the first time she had done it herself. Although he said it wasn't demonic energy, it still gave her an immense shock, or perhaps precisely because it wasn't demonic energy, she was so moved.
Hearing his words now, she felt increasingly excited and delighted in her heart, like a small bird eagerly flapping its wings, and responded: "Mm, today is my one-day trial card for becoming a deity."
A human deity who could only live for a hundred years had completed her first fireworks show.
A moment later, Wu Changgong saw the human and monster appear at the bow of the ship and hurriedly rushed over joyfully, moving like a sea crab speeding across the beach: "Wonderful, I'll inform Director Hu right away that Section Chief Chu has been found..."
"Oh, Section Chief Chu, what you're holding is..." Wu Changgong noticed the Dragon Bone Umbrella in her arms and exclaimed in panic, "How can you be holding that!?"
The Dragon Bone Umbrella had always been the terror of monsters, a lethal weapon that meant certain death upon contact, yet now she held it in her arms.
She seemed completely unaffected, though it should have worked on humans too.
"Oh right, here's your umbrella back." Chu Zhishui handed the Dragon Bone Umbrella to Xin Yunmao. They had just come up using the water-repelling gauze, and she had been holding it for him.
The monsters from the Qiwu Bureau clearly saw this scene, and they all showed astonished expressions, surprised that Chu Zhishui could use the Dragon Bone Umbrella.
"Indeed, that wasn't demonic energy earlier," Sha Jingwen scrutinized Xin Yunmao in his pure cyan clothes. "His demonic energy isn't that color."
The white power that had cleansed the Dragon God's demonic energy had disappeared, leaving no trace, as if it had merged with the sea like water.
Lan Quanxian stared dazedly at the renewed sea surface. Unable to contain his excitement, he became emotional at the sight, his voice choking up: "After so many years... finally..."
Hearing his tearful voice, Chu Zhishui tactfully advised: "Chief Lan, excuse me, but could you hold back your tears for a while?"
Lan Quanxian's eyes glistened as he looked at her in confusion. A tear suddenly fell, but instead of forming a beautiful pearl, it rolled down his cheek tragically.
Chu Zhishui watched helplessly as the teardrop shattered, and her heart seemed to shatter with it.
Sha Jingwen, seeming to understand her thoughts, explained: "Quanxian isn't the type of mermaid who produces pearls; he's from the lineage that weaves water-repelling gauze."
But like the memory-erasing bubble water, water-repelling gauze wasn't a product that could enter the human market; it was a monster's natural gift.
Xin Yunmao had also mentioned earlier that the Mermaid Clan had internal divisions of labor.
Chu Zhishui asked: "Director Sha, then which type produces pearls?"
"Mostly female mermaids who excel in illusion magic. They're physically weaker but have strong spiritual power," Sha Jingwen said. "Of course, since exile mermaids live in groups, we usually find them when we locate their bases. Now that the sea surface has been purified, our search will be easier, and we should find them soon."
The Qiwu Bureau's Investigation Department had been called in, and they could take advantage of the Dragon God's dissipated demonic energy to sweep away the Dragon God Temple's influence.
Chu Zhishui readily agreed: "Alright, once we finish cleaning up the evil forces, we can black-eat-black..."
Sha Jingwen: "?"
Chu Zhishui: "...hehe, develop poverty alleviation economics."
"..."
