Attack Of The Sirens
Min Xu turned around just in time to see Wang Lui turning his head in her direction.
The way his intriguing mouth parted and how he blew out quick breaths, made her swallow hard.
This was the closest she had been with Wang Lui, he was just standing two feet away from her.
His skin was almost pale white, completely different from theirs. His eyeballs were entirely white with no pupils but they still exceptionally adjourned with his toned face. It was hard not to appreciate his good looks. His lengthy white hair was a bonus. And he had a large, lean body. Big in all the right places. Her husband was half his size and his Peach minty scent already had this nerve-calming effect on her. Unlike the damp and musty odor of the rest sea pirates.
"Did you come from the other side of the multiverse?" She asked after staring at him to her fill.
"Where is your husband?" Wang Lui gruffly inquired, inhabiting her question.
"Do you want something from him?" Min Xu tipped her head to look at him.
"I need to speak with him." Wang Lui firmly responded.
"You can tell me, I'll pass the message to him." Min Xu took a step closer to him, letting her nostril bask in his mesmerizing smell.
"I don't need you to do anything." Wang Lui snapped.
"Fine, he's having a meeting with his men and won't be available until noon." Min Xu was irritated by his mean attitude.
"I'll wait."
"Suit yourself then."
Knowing that statement required no response, Wang Lui turned away from her and neared the ship's wooden railings.
Wang Lui could sense Min Xu at his side once more. He thought she would leave but she didn't.
"My husband told me to keep an eye on you."
"Why? Is he afraid I'll turn into a monster and devour everyone?"
"No, actually he thinks you carry a curse because you appear different."
Wang Lui snickered and remained silent.
"Do you need anything? There's food and I could make you a warm bath." She offered.
"Are you always this hospitable to men in your husband's absence?" Wang Lui twitched a brow even though he couldn't see her face.
"Accept my help or not," Min Xu clenched her jaw, clearly offended by his mean snarky attitude.
"Fine, I could use a warm bath. I haven't had any since I sprung out from my mother's womb in this realm. It's been two days."
Min Xu thought Wang Lui was trying to be sarcastic.
"Let's go," Min Xu took his arm.
"I can walk by myself, I don't need your support," Wang Lui pulled his hand away. One of the many things he despised was being touched without his consent.
He followed the Captain's wife into the small place of resting until he heard the sound of water being poured into a wash basin.
"Go." He ordered after letting some seconds pass.
"You'll be needing my help," Min Xu slammed the empty bucket against the wooden floor.
And Wang Lui would've rolled his eyes in their sockets if he could see.
"Trust me, I like to live dangerously but for now I have so much on my plate already." He put his fist on his mouth and bit into it.
"What exactly do you mean by living dangerously?" Min Xu blinked as she halted from scooping up the sponge.
"Wang Lui seemed to enjoy pushing her buttons and challenging her.
"Seducing and getting intimate with you, because that's obviously what you want." Now I'm not sure if you're attractive or not. I've had my fair share of women, and believe me, I'm naturally the picky sort."
Wang Lui barely concluded before a dry sponge was flung in his face.
"You must be out of your mind to think I'm interested in you when I'm the wife of Muyang." Min Xu snarled.
"Doesn't change anything." Wang Lui muttered to himself as he stripped down to his boxers and slid into the warm soapy water by himself. He wasn't intimidated by Min Xu's devotion to her husband.
Min Xu's silence told him she was observing him. And she refused to leave.
"I'll help you," he heard her say, and the next thing he knew, she was sponging his body.
Min Xu was clearly devoted to her husband and her loyalty was unquestionable but on the other hand there was a certain level of curiosity and interest she had in Wang Lu, save for the fact that she enjoyed the banter and tension between the two of them. Still, she couldn't keep her distance when she was drawn to the intrigue and mystery of Wang Lui. How he didn't seem to be bothered by his blindness.
She intertwined her fingers with his hair as she washed it, loving the feel of them in her grasp.
Wang Lui could swear Min Xu wouldn't give this same treatment to any man on the ship except her husband, still, he let her do as she pleased with his hair. And the way she moved the sponge on his body was as if she was giving a newborn a bath.
"You know, your husband will throw a fit if he finds you like this with me." Wang Lui said.
"He's not coming until two hours." Min Xu waved this off.
"So you admit you're in the wrong," the corners of Wang Lui's mouth curved into a challenging smirk.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just assisting a blind man."
"Blind man my foot," Wang Lui snapped, grabbing her wrist to stop what she was doing, "you know I am more perceptive than most of the men out here."
"Sirens! Sirens!" This outburst could be heard above them right before Min Xu could speak back.
Someone handling the blowing horn and running feet could be detected. The whole ship which was calm earlier was now chaotic, with men yelling and running around.
Wang Lui swiftly released Min Xu's hand and rose to his feet, upon sensing her panic.
They were in the Baklam, the dark dangerous large sea. It was where men went missing because of the treacherous sea beasts and amulet-blowing sirens.
Baklam as a whole was bad luck. It was the exact sea Cobhor II (Air God) fought his battle after with Mynaid (Water god). So its curse was worse than the rest of the seas.
Earlier, Muyang the captain had given a strict order for his men to not fish or even take the seawater to filter for drinking.
"Brace yourselves up, the sea god's luck might not be on us today," Wang Lui heard Muyang's voice.
"My husband has sailed through this ship twice, he lost men who drank from it. Sometimes they're struck with blindness if they stare at it too much. It's been like this since the battle between the air and water god." Min Xu informed Wang Lui as she slid her sword into her sword belt and dashed to join her husband outside.
She was leaving when she suddenly returned.
"Stay here and don't come out, sirens blow their deadly amulets to lure men into the sea for sex and then kill them thereafter."
Wang Lui heard her leave. If only she knew he wasn't ordinary like her, if she knew he was this 'Kai' god, she wouldn't say that.
Still, it wasn't his business if they all died.
He could hear the screams, loud sloshing of water against the ship as if there was an incoming wave.
Not giving a care, he slipped out of the wash basin to dry his body.
He was wearing his clothes when he heard someone humming.
Wang Lui paused, listened carefully, and concluded that the sound was coming from his side rather than the top of the ship.
At this, he knew it was a siren because Min Xu was the only woman in the ship and she definitely won't dive into the sea just to hum.
The next thing he heard was a loud bang against the ship.
Wang Lui was startled but it was only for a matter of seconds before he recollected himself.
"Obviously, you're this dangerous mythical creature but whatever you are, I am not afraid of you."
When the siren banged his side on the ship once more, he climbed out through the wooden ladder because it infuriated him.
"The sirens are trying to make their kill," Wang Lui heard Muyang making this announcement to his men, and at the same time the humming of the sirens.
"Block your ears before they take their amulets off to cause manipulation!" Muyang gave the instruction and abruptly placed his hands on his ears.
His troops imitated him, wrapping their heads and covering their ears with everything they could get their hands on.
The only person whose hands were at his sides was Wang Lui.
More sirens swam to the extent that they could be seen as they began blowing their hypnotic amulets and singing.
Wang Lui stood in the midst of it all. Immune by their magic and not about to give in.
Manipulated men were diving into the sea to meet with the sirens, this happened because they were too slow to shield their ears. And the sirens' strong allures were irresistible.
There was nothing the remaining men could do as they watched them taking swims to the giggling, wagging-tail sirens.
The Queen resurfaced from the water and held her balance in the air because she was a bat-winged siren. Men marveled at her sight because. Her beauty was entirely indescribable, and the scales on her tails were made of shiny gold. She was stunning and ethereal.
As she spread out her arms, her amulet was louder than the rest of her subjects. But it went to an immediate halt when she found the unfazed white-haired god, folding his arms across his chest.