I started on a rocking horse and relied on watching ads to dominate the highway survival charts.

The next morning, Huo Yunzhi was woken up by Fufu.

"Sister, sister, it's dawn."

The moment Huo Yunzhi opened her eyes, she was already awake from her sleep.

After she finished breakfast, she rubbed Fufu's head and then activated her temporary work pass.

A flash of white light.

When she opened her eyes again, she was standing in front of the stone wall that stretched across the seabed once more.

The two guards outside the archway were the same two as yesterday, and the merman on the left saw her make another mark on the seashell.

Huo Yunzhi put away her work pass and went through the archway.

This time, however, she did not head towards the primary mining area.

Instead, they dodged left and right and went to an empty mining area where there were no fish.

Even the entrance to the waterway was partially blocked by a few reefs, which were covered with some dark red seaweed.

She squeezed through the gaps between the rocks, seaweed brushing against her shoulder, the cool touch seeping through her clothes.

The waterway was much narrower than the one on the right, and the corals on the stone walls on both sides were not the glowing kind, but a dark grayish-white, as if they had been dead for a long time.

As the light grew dimmer, Huo Yunzhi had to slow her pace. Her feet were treading on soft sand, and with each step she sank a little deeper.

After walking for about three or four minutes, the waterway suddenly opened up at the end.

A much smaller mine pit than the primary mining area came into view. The pearl oysters embedded in the pit walls were significantly larger, with a layer of gray-black sediment covering their surfaces, indicating that no one had been mining them for a long time.

Huo Yunzhi took two more steps inside. The bottom of the mine pit was covered with a thick layer of broken shells and mud, which made a soft crunching sound when she stepped on it.

But the entire mine was empty; there wasn't a single merman in sight.

"You're here?"

The sound came from above, slightly diagonally.

Huo Yunzhi looked up and saw a merman sitting on a protruding rock wall at the very top of the mine.

Her tail was dark green, with the edges of her scales shimmering with a dark gold hue, making it look almost exactly the same color as the sediment beneath.

Her tail swept lightly across the ground, scattering a shower of broken seashells.

"Did you throw that ring?"

The merman did not answer, but swam around her halfway, his gaze sweeping from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.

"I just sent the dolphin to find the nearest ghost messenger."

"What's the matter?"

The merman with the dark green tail sat down against the pit wall, fiddling with the broken seashells on the ground with one hand. Soon, he pulled out a pearl the size of a grain of rice from one of the shells and twirled it between his fingers.

At the same time, she took something out of the net bag at her waist with her other hand and threw it at Huo Yunzhi's feet.

It was half a seashell, with clean cuts, clearly cut with a tool.

There was a picture carved on the inside of the seashell. The lines were crooked, but it was barely recognizable as a door. Behind the door was a huge pearl, which was larger than the mermaid next to it.

"What is this?"

"At the very bottom of the deep mineral belt is an old mineral layer, which contains the minerals mined by the Mermaid Queen."

She pointed to the picture on the seashell: "The beads inside are called 'tidal beads'."

Huo Yunzhi picked up the seashell and examined it. On the back, there was a line of tiny characters engraved on it; the writing was so faint that it was only visible upon close inspection.

[When the Tide-Sound Pearl appears, the tides can be summoned.]

"You want this bead?"

"No." The merman's dark green tail swayed. "What I want is what's next to that bead."

"What is it?"

"The key to the sea prison of the Merfolk."

Huo Yunzhi put the seashell down: "What kind of place is the Sea Prison?"

The mermaid's dark green tail tightened slightly at the tip.

She paused for a few seconds before speaking: "The place where merfolk prisoners are held. Inside is someone...someone very important to me."

"Then why don't you go by yourself?"

"The barrier over the deep mineral zone was personally erected by the Queen. Merfolk will suffer a backlash if they touch that barrier. You ghost messengers are not subject to this restriction."

She swam a few steps forward, her tail drawing an arc on the ground: "If you help me get that key, all the pearls mined in the deep mine, including the Tide Sound Pearl, are yours."

Huo Yunzhi looked down at the half-shell in her hand, thought for two seconds, and then cautiously asked a question.

How do I know you're telling the truth?

The merman with the dark green tail suddenly approached and extended his right hand in front of her.

He held a scale the size of a fingernail in his palm, its edges gleaming with a dark golden luster.

"This is my life-bound scale on my tail. If I'm lying, you can crush it. Even if the scale is broken, I won't live for more than three hours."

Huo Yunzhi stared at the scale for two seconds, then reached out and took it.

The scales are warm to the touch, and their surface is as smooth as polished jade.

Without the slightest hesitation, she gently broke off a small piece of the scale.

A wound that almost reached the bone immediately appeared on the merman's body.

"Now you believe me?"

The merman seemed unconcerned about Huo Yunzhi's probing, and simply took out a few pieces of seaweed from his bag to bandage his wounds.

"How do we get down to the deep mineral layers?"

Only after confirming that the scales did indeed have a harmful and controlling effect on the merfolk did Huo Yunzhi slightly relent and decide to go and take a look.

After all, she was really interested in that Tide Sound Bead and really wanted it.

"Right at your feet."

Its dark green tail flicked towards the very center of the mine.

"Below that layer of sediment is a square stone slab. Push it aside, and you'll find a staircase leading down. It takes about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea to walk down to the old mine layer."

Huo Yunzhi put her life-bound scale and half a seashell into her pocket, then walked to the center of the mine and squatted down.

She reached into the sediment and felt down, and sure enough, she touched the edge of a cool, flat stone slab.

After pushing the sediment aside, the rock underneath was revealed.

The stone slab was about half the size of a person, with a recessed corner just big enough for a finger to fit into.

Huo Yunzhi dug her fingers into the indentation of the stone slab and lifted it upwards with force.

The moment the stone slab was lifted, a salty, fishy smell mixed with a rotten, sweet odor surged up and smeared Huo Yunzhi's face.

She tilted her head and coughed, completely overturning the stone slab. Just as she was about to step down, the slippery moss under her feet caused her to slide to the side.

She managed to steady herself by grabbing the rock wall on the side of the steps.

"Be careful," the merman's voice came from behind. "This layer of moss has been growing for at least a hundred years."

"A hundred years? Is the person you're trying to save still alive?"

"None of us mermaids live for less than 500 years."

The merman spoke calmly, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

Huo Yunzhi, whose lifespan is only 100 years at most: ...

"Why aren't you leaving?"

The merman noticed that Huo Yunzhi had stopped and turned to look at her in confusion.

"It's nothing."

Huo Yunzhi squatted down and took out a thin rope from the backpack compartment. She tied one end around her waist and the other end to the protruding stone edge of the stone slab above. She tugged at it a couple of times to make sure it was secure before taking another step down.

The stone steps were steeper than she had expected, with each step reaching almost to her knees and leaving only half a foot's width of space to step on. The moss was also wet and slippery.

She had to turn sideways, holding onto the rock face with one hand, and move down step by step.

The surface of the rock wall was as rough as sandpaper, making one's palms ache.

Just as she and the merman had descended about thirty levels,

"boom!"