Fusang Sword Heart Diagram

Chapter 41 The Truth Behind the Weeping Pearl
Zhu Bei turned around, her back to the two of them. Her fish tail had beautiful, flowing lines, and the scales on it shimmered with silver light as she swayed gently, blending with the moonlight.

Yang Ruo dejectedly said "Oh," and was just about to leave when a few small mermaid pearls were swept by the current and floated past his eyes.

Yang Ruo was stunned, then pointed in the direction from which the mermaid pearl had drifted: "Your people are crying..."

He heard faint sobs, a sound of deep sorrow.

Zhu Bei's expression changed, and he said coldly, "I don't need your fake kindness!"

Like a fish swimming at the bottom of a lake, her figure disappeared into the dark water.

Yang Ruo felt a little wronged and turned to look at Ning Fusang: "Why was she being mean to me?"

"Our Southern Star Sword Sect has never enslaved the Merfolk."

"Because you are human, no matter what you do or don't do, you are an enemy of the alien race." Ning Fusang's voice was cold. "The merfolk also understand the principle that those who are not of our race will have different hearts."

Yang Ruo said dejectedly, "We can't generalize like that."

"There are still many humans in the world who do not enslave the alien race. At least our Nanxing Sword Sect does not, and neither does Kongyun Temple."

Ning Fusang's smile didn't reach her eyes: "Senior brother thinks this is important, but is it really important?"

"The world is as it is; it cannot be changed by the efforts of one person alone, unless—"

She paused, and Yang Ruo quickly pressed, "Unless what?"

Ning Fusang continued, "Unless Senior Brother can reach the legendary Divine Realm."

“Cultivators at the Divine Realm are invincible in this world; they might even be able to change the world.”

Yang Ruo muttered, "The realm of the gods is just a legend. No one has ever reached it, and it has always been so throughout history."

He sighed softly, thinking, "Although Junior Sister Ning is aloof, she can be quite mischievous at times. The Divine Realm is a legendary realm. If I could reach it, there would definitely be other Divine Realm cultivators before me."

The world is vast and full of talented people. What is Yang Ruo compared to that?
Even if someone in the Southern Star Sword Sect could actually reach the Divine Realm, that person should be Senior Sister Jinzhen.

Ning Fusang remained noncommittal, but wondered if there had truly never been any powerful beings at the divine level throughout history. If not in the current era, then were there none in the first, second, third, and so on?

"Junior Sister Ning, shouldn't we go back?" Yang Ruo waved his hand in front of her eyes when he saw her lost in thought.

Bubbles bubbled and floated, and Ning Fusang turned to look at Yang Ruo: "Aren't you going to find out the truth about the Mermaid's Weeping Pearl?"

Hearing this, Yang Ruo wavered again, a conflicted look appearing on her face: "But that mermaid girl said that the mermaid race doesn't welcome us."

Ning Fusang remained calm and said seriously, "As my senior brother just said, we cannot generalize. Among the human race, there are people like you who do not hold racial prejudices. Among the merfolk, there may be kindred spirits."

Yang Ruo was dazed by Ning Fusang's words, his thoughts in disarray. He stared at the girl for a while, then stammered out a sentence: "Junior Sister Ning, I feel like you have a bit of a split personality."

He couldn't understand Ning Shimei's attitude towards the matter of the alien race and the human race at all.

It's not quite true that she hates the alien race. Yang Ruo thought about it but couldn't make sense of it. However, there was one thing that Junior Sister Ning had said that he found very reasonable.

Yang Ruo asked, "Shall we go and take a look?"

"It's fine if it's decided by your senior brother."

Ning Fusang left the choice to Yang Ruo, and was quite casual about it himself.

Yang Ruo released his divine sense and quickly locked onto a direction.

Amidst the dense aquatic plants, a mermaid girl huddled, her tears turning into pearls as they fell, drifting away with the current.

Suddenly, the girl shouted warily, "Who's there?" She held a dagger, its cold light gleaming. Yang Ruo quickly replied, "We are from the Southern Star Sword Sect."

Upon hearing this, the merman girl lowered her grip on the dagger slightly and said bitterly, "What was bound to happen has finally happened."

Yang Ruo was completely bewildered: "What should come?"

The girl raised her eyes, beautiful as jewels, yet shrouded in a misty aura: "Aren't you here to take people away?"

At this point, the girl stopped talking. The clan chief had instructed that this matter must not be known to anyone. The elders of Qingbo Cave Lake wanted to profit from the merfolk. As dependents, they had no choice but to obey and keep quiet. Only in this way could the remaining members of their clan have a place to live.

She was one of the chosen ones, and although she volunteered to dedicate herself to her people, she still couldn't help but want to cry when she thought about her tragic fate.

Yang Ruo heard only half of what was said and continued to press for more information, but the girl refused to say anything more no matter what.

At that moment, a cold voice suddenly rang out: "Someone wants to capture the merfolk for profit."

A-Quan suddenly looked up, shocked, and asked, "How did you know?"

Yang Ruo reacted strongly, his neck swelling: "The Southern Star Sword Sect would never do such a thing!"

Ning Fusang didn't look at Yang Ruo. The corners of her lips curled up slightly, and she said casually, "Is it that hard to guess?"

"The business of selling mermaids has always existed in Zhongling Tianxia."

However, most of the merfolk in the world have either died or been injured, and the remaining ones have all gone into hiding, making it much harder to buy merfolk anymore.

Scarcity increases value. With such a large treasure trove as Qingbodong Lake, it's perfectly normal for people to be tempted by the potential profits.

As the saying goes, "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish." How could everyone in such a large sect as the Southern Star Sword Sect be so indifferent to worldly affairs?

Every elder stationed at a resource point will, to some extent, seek personal gain. As long as it's not too excessive, such things can usually be overlooked.

Ah Quan fell silent, because many members of the merfolk had experienced similar things. It really wasn't anything to be surprised about.

A-Quan glanced at the two, his eyes still wary: "Since you're not here to take someone away, what are you doing at Qingbo Cave Lake in private?"

Yang Ruo was still reeling from the shock of Ning Fusang's words. After slowly processing them, he asked, "Is it true that someone is illegally selling merfolk from Qingbo Cave Lake?"

Ah Quan remained silent, but his expression said it all.

Yang Ruo said indignantly, "The sect clearly stipulates that your Merfolk clan is only supposed to cooperate with my Southern Star Sword Sect. How could they go so far as to do this!"

"I must report this matter to the Sect Leader!"

Yang Ruo decided that once he left the lake, he would send a letter back via flying sword, and the people from the Discipline Hall would come to thoroughly investigate the matter of selling merfolk.

Seeing that he was angry and it seemed genuine, A-Quan's perception of Yang Ruo and Ning Fusang changed.

But will the Southern Star Sword Sect really side with the merfolk?
Ah Quan wasn't quite sure, or even had no idea at all.

She pleaded, "Could you please just pretend you don't know anything about this?"

Yang Ruo was extremely surprised: "Why? They're going to sell your people. Do you really want to have your oil extracted and made into everlasting lamps?"

Yang Ruo had heard about the merfolk; many people slaughtered them for the sake of the eternal lamp.

Such cruel things are sought after by people, how indifferent they are.

(End of this chapter)