Lin Feng jolted awake in fright, her eyes snapping open. The ceiling swayed faintly above her, and hazy light filtered through the porthole from outside the hull. Only then did she realize she had just been dreaming.
The icy sensation in her hand still felt all too real. Lin Feng lifted her palm and discovered it was drenched in moisture.
Drenched?
She sat up, switched on the light, and examined her hand closely. It really was wet, with a sticky, clammy feel that made her stomach turn a little.
What was this stuff?
Frowning, Lin Feng swung her legs out of bed and grabbed a tissue to wipe it off. It seemed to be just plain water—the stickiness probably from it sitting there too long, mixed with some seawater residue.
Where had she gotten the water from?
Lin Feng had no recollection at all. She only remembered boarding the ship the previous evening, heading straight to her cabin to rest, and drifting off into a hazy sleep at some unknown hour. Midway through, she had a nightmare about Zhao Shuqing that had scared her awake.
Daylight was already filtering through the window. The sun would rise in another half hour or so. No longer in the mood for sleep, Lin Feng got up to freshen up.
When she opened her cabin door, the narrow corridor outside was eerily silent. She glanced around curiously, scratched her head, but didn’t dwell on it. Towel and toothbrush in hand, she headed off to wash up.
While brushing her teeth, Lin Feng peeked out into the corridor again. It was early, sure, but the ship shouldn’t have been this deathly quiet—as if everyone aboard was still fast asleep.
She spat out the water with a gurgle—
Rinsing her face quickly afterward, Lin Feng dried it off with her towel and prepared to head back.
The corridor remained unnaturally still—too still.
The more she walked, the stranger it felt. Pausing at her cabin door, Lin Feng turned to stare down the empty hallway. An ominous premonition crept over her.
“Senior Sister?”
She glanced at Xu Tang’s door. No sound came from within. After hesitating at the handle, Lin Feng twisted it anyway.
Click-click.
It was locked—from the inside.
Locked from the inside meant someone was in there.
“Senior Sister? Xu Tang?” Lin Feng knocked again, but there was no response, as if the occupant were deep in slumber. Panic gripped her now. She dashed to the doors of several other team members she knew and pounded on them too.
But without exception, every single door was locked tight—and utterly empty.
This time, Lin Feng truly panicked. She raced through the entire ship, from top to bottom—even checking the galley astern. But aside from her, there wasn’t a soul aboard. Not even a sign of life.
“Is anyone there?”
Standing in the corridor, Lin Feng shouted at the top of her lungs. She had scoured countless spots and knocked on endless doors before finally emerging onto the deck.
The sun still hadn’t risen. Grayish-white mist rose from the sea’s surface, leaving Lin Feng unable to tell if they were still at sea or docked somewhere.
Everything was a foggy blur. Her hands gripped the damp railing, feeling its chill.
Just then, dark shapes began surfacing on the water. Lin Feng leaned over the rail for a closer look and realized with horror they were all the people from the ship.
Motionless, they bobbed face-down in the waves—dead or alive, she couldn’t tell.
Amid them, Lin Feng spotted another silhouette watching the ship from afar. Jet-black hair clung wetly to her back, and a pair of pitch-black eyes stared silently at the vessel.
Lin Feng’s breath caught as her gaze locked with Zhao Shuqing’s.
It was her…
The mermaid…
“Lin Feng!”
A voice roused her from slumber. Lin Feng blinked awake in confusion to find several people gathered around her bed, their faces etched with concern.
“Are you okay?” the ship’s doctor asked kindly. “Any discomfort? Sore throat? Trouble breathing?”
Lin Feng furrowed her brow, trying to speak, but her throat ached terribly, allowing only a hoarse rasp.
Her breathing was fine, though her body felt off.
“What… happened to me?” she croaked softly.
“You had a little accident, but you’re out of the woods now,” the doctor reassured her. “If you’re still unwell, get some more rest. This is the medical bay—you’re safe here.”
From her throat to her stomach, her entire esophagus felt scorched. Her body alternated between chills and feverish heat. Lin Feng figured she must be sick, which was why they had brought her here.
Too uncomfortable to resist, she drifted back to sleep soon after. This time, no nightmares haunted her. She floated in and out of consciousness for what felt like ages until she woke again to find night had fallen.
Someone else seemed to be in the medical bay. Lin Feng frowned, about to ask for water, when a familiar voice drifted from behind the curtain.
“How is she doing now? The Scientific Expedition Team can’t afford another loss.”
It was Xu Tang.
Lin Feng knitted her brows tighter. What did Group Leader Xu mean by that—”can’t afford another loss”? Was her condition really that dire?
Another voice replied, “Lin Feng’s running a high fever. We’ve done everything we can, but this is a ship, not a hospital. Group Leader Xu, you should prepare yourself mentally.”
Xu Tang stiffened at the female doctor’s words. She glanced toward the curtain before replying steadily, “Save her, no matter what it takes.”
The doctor nodded. “We’ll do our best.”
Lin Feng absorbed every word, puzzled. She felt unwell, yes, but hardly at death’s door.
In fact, she was already feeling better.
“…Doctor.”
Lin Feng called out hoarsely, “I’m thirsty. Could I have some water?”
The curtain flew open with a swish. Xu Tang and the doctor stared at her in astonishment. The doctor hurried off to fetch water while Xu Tang circled to the bedside, frowning as she reached out to touch Lin Feng’s forehead.
Lin Feng flinched away—Xu Tang’s hand felt freezing cold. Were things really so bad between them that she’d be this standoffish?
Yet the worry creasing Xu Tang’s face was genuine. Stunned, Lin Feng murmured, “Senior Sister…”
“Don’t talk yet,” Xu Tang said, leaning over her. “Let the doctor check you first.”
Soon, the doctor returned with a nurse in tow. They drew blood, ran tests—keeping Lin Feng flat on her back the whole time. At last, they finished, and the doctor visibly relaxed.
“Wonderful—her temperature’s normal,” the doctor said gladly to Xu Tang. “Vitals are all stable, though she’s still got some fever and inflammation. Bed rest for now.”
Bemused, Lin Feng watched the nurse tuck her in before murmuring, “What happened to me?”
“Nothing serious,” Xu Tang replied calmly. “Just rest up.”
Despite Xu Tang’s reassurance, something felt off to Lin Feng. That evening, when the young nurse brought her dinner, she seized the chance to ask.
“What exactly happened to me?” Lin Feng asked with a troubled frown. “Am I dying of some horrible disease?”
The young nurse was green enough not to have been told to keep quiet, so she spilled everything.
“You don’t know?” The nurse gaped at her. “You almost got carried off by a mermaid and eaten! It took everything we had to save you.”
Lin Feng blinked in bewilderment. “Me? Carried off by a mermaid to be eaten?”
The nurse nodded vigorously. “Word is, it was around dawn. Someone heard a noise in the cabin and opened the door to see a silver-white mermaid slinging you over her shoulder, heading for the gangway. You had blood all over your mouth. If the crew hadn’t fought tooth and nail to pull you back, you’d have gone overboard and drowned.”
Lin Feng listened, dumbfounded. The story sounded so real.
A silver-white mermaid—that had to be Zhao Shuqing.
But why had she been vomiting blood?
She didn’t feel injured anywhere.
“Luckily, you’re one tough cookie,” the nurse went on with a smile. “Not only did you not get dragged into the sea, but you woke up safe and sound. You don’t know the half of it—your temperature stayed dangerously low for days, bottoming out at twenty-three degrees. I was the one looking after you.”
Lin Feng blinked and smiled back. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
The nurse went on to describe Lin Feng’s state when they brought her in: blood in her mouth, but no other obvious injuries. The hypothermia set in hours later. Everyone thought she was a goner—literally cooling off for good. Yet aside from the low temperature, her vitals kept chugging along in some orderly fashion.
Her heart rate plunged from eighty-four to thirty-five. Temperature dropped, breathing shallowed—abnormal readings across the board.
Even so, after two days in a coma, Lin Feng woke up. Her heart rate normalized. No lingering issues.
It was as if that extreme hypothermia had been a collective hallucination.
Lin Feng could scarcely believe it. Human body temperature couldn’t dip below thirty degrees—not unless you were a mermaid. That would’ve been fatal.
But the nurse had proof: videos on her phone, showing the thermometer and monitors confirming the anomalies.
Lin Feng frowned deeply as she watched. After dinner, she lay in bed mulling it over long into the night, unable to sleep even after darkness fully settled.
According to the nurse, she had been out for three full days.
Two more team members had gone missing after the mermaid sighting. No one dared set foot off the ship now.
One dead, two missing—and Lin Feng nearly snatched away. The expedition was scrapped. They lingered only to search for the lost pair.
But the clock was ticking: seven days max for rescue ops, found or not, then back to port.
The medical bay was quiet. Lin Feng tossed and turned, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts, until sometime late, she heard noises in the corridor outside. Thinking it was the nurse on rounds, she shut her eyes and feigned sleep.
Whoever it was fumbled with the door for ages before getting it open. Lin Feng wondered why the medical bay door was so tricky.
Finally inside, the intruder crept to her bedside and bent down to peer at her.
A faint whiff of sea salt wafted over. The instant Lin Feng caught the scent, her eyes flew open—straight into those fathomless black pupils.
Zhao Shuqing’s raven hair hung sodden at her sides. She wore an open white coat from who-knows-where, and Lin Feng’s gaze dropped involuntarily to her waist and below. Her eyes widened.
What was she seeing???
The mermaid… had grown legs?
