Life Pearl

Mei knew the human wouldn't find the pearl even if he stripped her naked. She had absorbed the little red sphere into her body as soon as she had seen the killing intent in his eyes. Thankfully, most humans were unaware of the many abilities merfolk could possess.

"I don't have it. Even if you screen my whole body for it, you won't find it. So would you please not take advantage of this situation to touch me?" She tried to sound nonchalant, but she was actually a bit worried, having heard horror stories of human men raping merfolk of both genders ever since she was young.

She was only able to keep her facade because the man laying on top of her didn't look like he was interested in her body whatsoever. He was cold to the touch, with an even frostier demeanor.

"Your plea has been denied. I wouldn't believe a mermaid so easily. But I can assure you I have no interest in your body." He affirmed, looking at her with a glint of amusement in his eyes, which betrayed his otherwise expressionless face.

He started by searching both of her arms. He touched and groped every part of them very roughly, paying attention not to miss any spot. He was trying to detect the presence of any suspicious objects through her clothes. Not having identified any abnormality, he continued on, deciding to search her legs next.

However, before he had changed his attention to her lower half, he noticed something between her collarbones: it was a pearl. He knew that this white and oval-shaped pearl wasn't the Ocean's tear, since it wasn't red — its most distinguishing characteristic. This pale and glistening orb was known as a Life Pearl.

Every mermaid and merman had one, usually on their neck, forehead or hands but it could be placed anywhere else in their bodies. It was as important as their heart, akin to their life source, and if shattered, the merfolk would lose their strength and die very quickly. He had watched many men on the battlefield collecting the broken pearls from the bodies of the fallen merfolk to either keep as trophies or sell at a high price in the black market.

If touched directly, they would instill a tremendous wave of pain and thus, they had to be extracted and handled very carefully. It was a repulsive and barbaric ritual that he had never found tasteful whatsoever.

Yet, he was now feeling compelled to touch this mermaid's Life Pearl.

He was confident about the outcome since the bracelet she was wearing could only suppress magic, not her pearl. Still, his urge to touch the bright silvery orb was overwhelming his reason.

Nothing known to men could remove these repelling properties — even hundreds of years after the passing of their owners, the Life Pearls would retain their ability to inflict pain on anyone who touched them. And yet, he continued to feel a strong desire to reach for it.

He tried hard to repress his impulse but it was simply stronger than his rationale.

As he let go of his resisting thoughts and allowed his hand to approach the pearl, he looked into her beautiful silver-green orbs. This time, his eyes were thoroughly captivated by hers, as if he had been bewitched by a spell.

Lin Mei was confused by the look in the human man's eyes. "Wasn't this fellow indifferent and aloof just a few seconds ago? More importantly... What is he doing?" She looked at him with challenging eyes, as if daring him to touch her life pearl.

Unfazed by her expression, he continued moving his hand, his eyes still persistently fixed on hers. As soon as he touched the life pearl, he felt that something wasn't right. His heart started beating faster, his breathing grew heavy. He inexplicably felt like he had been longing for this woman for what felt like a lifetime. It felt as if she had escaped him for years and he was now finally getting her back.

He craved more, he wanted to keep her, to hold her, to never let her go. He, who had not yet accepted even one concubine by his side, who had always felt repulsed by physical proximity to both men and women, didn't want to let go of the female mermaid under him.

"Mermaids really are horrifying. This one in particular." He thought. However, he could no longer remain completely indifferent to her.