"If only Song Wanníng were a descendant of the Mo clan," Mo Rou thought. "Then Mo Wentian would never have dared act so brazenly for all these years."
She shifted her gaze back to the merfolk.
At the moment, its eyes were dull and unfocused, clearly resisting Song Wanníng's intrusion into its soul.
Mo Rou watched anxiously, also keeping an ear out for any movement from outside the hall.
Meanwhile, within the Mo Clan's main compound, Mo Wentian sat cross-legged in his cultivation chamber, eyes closed in deep concentration.
Just now, he had sensed a disturbance from the merfolk's divine soul. It seemed the plan had begun.
He opened his eyes with a cold smile.
If he hadn't been worried about alerting Mo Rou, he would have long since left a spiritual imprint on the merfolk. Even so, just a faint connection to its soul essence was enough. Soon, once the time was right, he'd go to Mo Rou's hall himself and demand she publicly name him as her successor. Then, everything would fall into place.
Mo Rou had always been too cautious. He'd never found the right opportunity before now. But that lingering injury of hers, over two centuries old, had always been her greatest weakness. If he missed this window, who knew how long he would have to wait for another?
Mo Wentian narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of Mo Rou's chambers.
"Mo Rou, wait for me to send you off."
Inside the merfolk's sea of consciousness, Song Wanníng continued her search for its soul origin. But the creature fiercely resisted, conjuring surging waves and clouding its soul realm in an attempt to hide the source from her.
Her eyes grew cold. If it wouldn't cooperate, then there was no need to be gentle. Her divine soul pulsed, and suddenly, a black-and-white Eight Trigrams sigil appeared, descending with oppressive might upon the sea.
The soul realm trembled violently, the waves churning in wild fury.
The Eight Trigrams seal met resistance, and in response, it exploded in rage. Rings of light burst outward, rippling across the ocean with terrifying force. In an instant, the entire soul realm was enveloped in its glow.
The next moment, a deafening boom sounded as the rings constricted, trying to crush the ocean itself.
Squeeze. Collide. Devour.
The pressure grew so intense that it nearly consumed the merfolk's entire sea of consciousness.
"Ahhh!"
A shriek tore through the realm as the merfolk's divine soul suddenly manifested in front of Song Wanníng. It dropped to its knees with a thud, hands cupped in a silent plea. Though it could not speak, the terror and agony in its eyes were impossible to miss.
"Begging me now?" Song Wanníng tilted her head and looked down at it with a cool, playful smile.
The merfolk nodded frantically, tears pooling in its eyes within moments.
"Fine."
She smiled and withdrew the rings of light.
The crushing force vanished instantly. The merfolk slumped to the ground, gasping in relief, clearly shaken. A closer look would reveal its divine soul had already faded, its energy thinned from the ordeal. A little longer, and it might not have survived.
Its terrified gaze locked on Song Wanníng. How could this terrifying woman be a mere cultivator?
Mo Wentian had said it would be safe...
"Take me to your soul origin," she ordered, her tone absolute.
The merfolk didn't hesitate. It nodded quickly and flew ahead, leading her through the now-quiet sea of consciousness.
Without further resistance, Song Wanníng soon arrived at the core of its soul.
She turned her gaze on the creature, her voice frosty. "Contract with me, now. You don't have another choice."
Although it bore the word "folk," merfolk were classified as part of the beast races. That meant they could be bound into master-servant contracts by human cultivators.
The merfolk shuddered again, fresh tears spilling down its face. It looked pitiful, utterly pathetic.
But when it glanced up at Song Wanníng and met her cold, lethal gaze, its tears stopped instantly.
In the end, it could only submit.
As her divine soul mark branded the merfolk's soul origin, Song Wanníng's lips curled in a faint smile.
Just as she suspected.
It was a male.
From the moment she learned this merfolk was involved in Mo Rou's death in her previous life, she had questioned how a Nascent Soul cultivator like Mo Rou could be killed by one of these creatures. Her first guess had been that the merfolk's gender was key.
Now, that theory was confirmed.
"You hid it well," she said with a smirk.
The merfolk managed a bitter smile. That secret, buried so deeply, had been exposed just like that.
"Master," it called, voice echoing within the shared soul realm.
With the contract formed, they could now communicate directly.
"Start talking. What really happened?"
Song Wanníng crossed her arms, calm and composed as she waited.
Merfolk came in male and female. Both had control over water, but only the females possessed healing abilities. Males, in contrast, were inherently toxic—deadly to the soul and body alike.
Mo Rou, in her past life, had tried to heal using a merfolk. It was suicide.
And if Mo Rou had formed a contract with it, her soul would have been poisoned immediately.
In either case, Mo Wentian would get what he wanted.
What intrigued Song Wanníng most was how this merfolk had managed to hide its gender so well. Without forming the contract, she might never have discovered the truth.
The merfolk glanced away, flustered. "I… I'm a mutant merfolk. I can switch genders at will."
"What?" Song Wanníng blinked, startled, and stared at it in disbelief.
It could switch genders?
There was nothing like that in any of the ancient texts.
Her eyes narrowed. "Does Mo Wentian know?"
The merfolk nodded. "He's the only one. That's why he—"
"Oh?"
A cold glint flashed in Song Wanníng's eyes.
Mo Wentian had just added another reason to die.
"Then tell me, why did you help him?"
The merfolk looked ready to cry again. Head bowed in shame, it muttered, "I used to live in the Wuyou Sea. One day, Mo Wentian captured my beloved. To save her, I had to agree to help him kill Mo Rou. He promised that afterward, I'd be set free to return home."
Now, though, it was bound to a human.
Worse, to her.
Its eyes welled up again.
Oh, its dear sweetheart…
It really wanted to go back.
And as the tears spilled over, it broke down sobbing for real.
Song Wanníng: "..."
"Serve me well. In a few days, I'll be heading to the Wuyou Sea. If you behave, you might just see your beloved again."
She tossed out the offer with a casual tone.
The merfolk looked up, a big bubble of snot wobbling at the tip of its nose.
"Really?"
Its eyes sparkled with hope.
"Yes," Song Wanníng nodded.
With a loud snort, the bubble popped and vanished.
Song Wanníng: "..."
So much for appearances. What a waste of such a gorgeous face.