The eerie glow on the mirror instantly extinguished.
It seemed as if nothing had happened.
However, the singing drifting from the harbor outside the window had disappeared.
All the noisy sounds, including the clamor within the city and the booming of salutes, had vanished.
Only the sacred music for the wedding resonated within the temple. The joyous songs flowed, completely replacing the sorrowful, bitter, yet romantic song that had previously drifted in from outside the window.
"The singing outside has vanished? No, it seems to have become completely quiet outside."
However, this was only the perception of the people inside this wedding temple.
If someone were standing at the entrance of the temple in the real world at this moment, looking inside, they would discover that the temple had suddenly become empty.
Whether it was the groom and bride dressed in expensive clothes, the bridesmaids holding up the wedding dress, or the priests carrying incense and candles, all had disappeared without a trace.
And the only person left in the temple was the Old Witch.
The Old Witch smiled and walked towards the full-length mirror in the corner of the temple, examining the scene in the mirror with interest—
The scene inside the mirror was still bustling, and everyone was still there:
There was the groom at the window, clutching his head in pain, the bride gently patting the groom's back and comforting him in a low voice, the flustered groomsmen and bridesmaids, and the priests discussing what had happened at the wedding.
"I have temporarily moved the entire wedding venue into the mirror world. They are all inside a building I replicated with magic."
"This way, Prince Eric cannot leave the wedding venue, and people outside cannot find their way in!"
"Once I move this full-length mirror away, no one will be able to find them."
"Even ordinary divination and witchcraft cannot locate a wedding venue that does not exist in the real world! Unless there are magic items specifically enchanted with spells to contact the outside world inside…"
"Oh, right, this is the imperial city of Ender, and I also have a powerful Super Warrior I can deploy. Even if this mirror is found, it will be useless…"
The Old Witch laughed heartily, turning her gaze towards the window.
The beautiful mermaid song, praising love, continued to drift in from outside the window, uninterrupted.
"Sing, you damned mermaid, just keep singing! Even if you sing until your voice breaks, Prince Eric won't hear you!" the Old Witch snorted disdainfully.
…
At the harbor, inside a luxurious room on a ship from the Kingdom of Summer.
The source of that beautiful singing was Ariel, singing loudly by the window.
She sang with all her might, trying to make her voice as loud as possible, her throat becoming hoarse, yet she dared not stop.
"I can't help it, Ender Soldiers are guarding the door. I can't leave the room, I can't leave this ship to find Prince Eric. I can only use this method to make Prince Eric hear my voice…" Ariel thought.
However, even though she had been singing for a long time, nothing had happened.
This made Ariel even more disheartened, her spirits gradually sinking to rock bottom.
When the first ray of dawn shone down, she would turn into foam.
Just then, two child-like figures suddenly materialized behind Ariel.
It was the magician boy, Rhine, and the blonde girl, Aurora.
Her two human friends she had met in the sea!
"Ariel, we'll take you off this ship to find Prince Eric!"
…
Outside the room.
Ender Warriors were taking turns guarding the door, and another person ran over from a distance to report information:
"We've received orders not to worry about how the girl sings. Let her sing whatever she wants!"
The Ender Warrior, clearly the officer, nodded slightly and instructed his subordinates:
"Keep a close eye on this room. As long as we hear the singing, we'll know the girl is still singing inside. Once the singing stops for more than 10 seconds, you go in and check. No matter what, make sure that girl doesn't leave this ship."
…
Inside the room.
"But, Rhine, Aurora, there are still Ender Warriors guarding outside. As soon as I step out of this room, they'll stop me. Oh, right, your magic can definitely take me out of thin air—just like you can come in out of thin air."
"But those Ender Soldiers will occasionally open the door and peek in, and they'll say a few words to me to confirm I'm here."
"They'll discover me as soon as I leave! They'll definitely report it to their superiors!"
The more Ariel spoke, the more anxious her expression became:
"There must be something wrong here. The Ender Soldiers must be deliberately blocking me, not wanting me to see Prince Eric. Eric must have run into something!"
Rhine smiled faintly:
"No need to worry."
He pulled out a seashell, placed it on the table, and then gently clapped his hands twice towards the seashell.
The seashell's "mouth" at his fingertips suddenly opened, and beautiful, mournful, bitter, yet enchanting songs poured out.
Ariel's singing.
"My singing? This is my singing!"
Ariel was stunned.
She had heard before that the beautiful songs of mermaids could not be recorded by any magic; even if copied, there would be obvious flaws, unable to be as pure and heavenly as the original. Otherwise, the Sea Hag would not have demanded her voice as payment back then. It was for this reason that when a mermaid with an incredibly beautiful voice turned into foam, no magic or item could reproduce her singing.
But what this seashell was singing was indeed her song! Even Ariel herself couldn't distinguish any difference.
"Let this seashell sing here," Rhine said with a smile, "Let's go."
Rhine grabbed Aurora with one hand and Ariel with the other.
The figures of the three rapidly blurred and disappeared from the room. Only the seashell continued to sing its melodious song.
…
Outside the room, the Ender Warriors heard the uninterrupted singing from inside the door, knowing that the girl was still in the room, and all felt relieved.
Just then, the sailors on the ship and the Ender Warriors all felt that the ship was rocking more violently than before.
"Look, so many fish are gathering!"
At this moment, a sailor noticed the anomaly in the sea and shouted, pointing at the water below.
Countless fish and sea beasts, large and small, gathered near this large ship of the Kingdom of Summer, like loyal listeners to a song. Some large fish even occasionally bumped the ship with their bodies, causing it to rock slightly.
The mermaid princess's singing attracted too many listeners from the sea!
"Damn it, we can't let these large fish and sea beasts gather any more, they might capsize the ship. When that happens, there will definitely be chaos, and the girl might escape. How strange? Where did so many fish come from!" The Ender Warrior's officer frowned.
"Assign one person to watch the door, and the rest of you come with me to drive these fish away!"
So the Ender Warriors took out bows and arrows, heavy crossbows, and other similar weapons, attacking the large fish and sea beasts near the ship.
They temporarily had no time to check or worry about whether anyone was still in the room from which the beautiful singing continued to drift.