The Mermaid of the Deep Sea

Chapter 9

The seven-day confinement time became less difficult because of Derby's company every night. Lei Boting himself did not realize how gentle the smile on his face was when he saw Derby sneaking out of the reef hole every day.

Such a timid mermaid with low self-esteem who never likes to go out, for himself, muster up the courage to swim out of the house and come to him every night, just to spend a short time with him, to drive away some boring and lonely.It's not that Lei Boting never told Derby not to come again, because he couldn't rest assured that such a weak Derby would go back and forth between home and the confinement room in the dark, such a long distance.But every time I said it, Derby agreed well, and then appeared in front of Lei Boting as usual the next night, saying that he, Derby just stared at Lei Boting with blue eyes, "What is there to worry about?" ? I didn't go outside again!"

Derby refers to the outside, which is the place outside the protection of the invisible transparent cover. When Derby said this, Lei Boding really felt that the security of the mermaid world is actually quite good, at least the door can be kept open at night. After staying here for a long time, the direct reason why Lei Boting finally allowed Derby to visit him every day is that Derby now smiles more and more every day, and it is precisely because of getting along with himself that this result is achieved.

For such a derby, besides feeling distressed, Lei Boting also has gratitude for him for accompanying him and a love that he seems to have not noticed yet.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fifth day of the seven-day confinement. At night, when the two guarding mermaids closed the stone gate and left, Lei Boding began to swim to the window to wait for Derby's arrival.

But today, the sound of moving rocks was not Derby's usual location, but the other side. Lei Boting turned his head and looked at the people who couldn't hide his surprise, "Ralph? Ivor?"

"Hey, buddy, how are you doing these days?" Ivor and Ralph finally got through the reef hole that seemed a little narrow for them, and Ivor shook his tail to shake off the sticky Get fine sand on the scales, raised his head to say hello to Lei Boding.

Lei Boding turned his head and glanced at Derby's usual place, where there was no movement at the moment, and then nodded at Ivor and Raffle, "It's okay, how about you?"

"Us? It's still the same as before." Ralph shrugged, "I wanted to see you a long time ago, but you know, our father found out about the last time we went to the forbidden area..." Ralph made an expression that he couldn't recall the past. .

Reberdine was amused by Ralph's movement, "Oh, guys, have you been beaten?"

"Beating?" It was Ivor who screamed strangely, "Do you think it's enough just to be beaten when we make such a mistake? Oh, Ray, to be honest, I'd rather trade with you than let my dad punish me." Stay in this confinement room for seven days!"

Lei Boding laughed, "Is it so scary?"

"Of course!" Ralph swam to Lei Boding's side, shaking his head, "You don't want to experience it."

"Hey, here's your buddy, your favorite fish." Ivor also swam to Lei Boding's side and brought him a 'visiting gift'.

Lei Boding accepted it with a smile, "Oh, well, thank you."

Ave looked at Lei Boding, "It seems that you are doing well here."

Lei Boding made a grimace, "Of course, the environment is quiet and the air is fresh. Is there a better place to meditate than this? The patriarch can let me think about my future life here."

Ralph smirked and said, "It seems that you like this place very much, why don't you go and ask the patriarch to stay for another ten or twenty days."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no," now Lei Boding shook his head like a rattle, "Although I love the environment here, I love the freedom to roam around without restraint even more. Have you ever heard such a saying? Life is precious, love is more expensive, if it is freedom, both can be thrown away."

Lei Boding's serious look made Ralph and Ivor slap their tails with laughter, and Ivor reached into the stone railing to pat Lei Boding's shoulder while laughing, "Hey, buddy, I have to say, you That last sentence sounds like it really is!"

Lei Boding's expression was still serious, "Because this is a truth." He patted Ivor's arm back as he spoke, "Young man, you are still young, and you will understand the infinite truth contained in it after a while."

Ivor got goosebumps from Lei Boding's nagging, "Hey hey hey, you're so weird, so weird!"

Lei Boding looked at Ivor's avoidance, looked at Ralph and laughed again.

After laughing, Lei Boding asked, "Why are you here today? Didn't your father not let you wander outside at night? Is your curfew lifted now?"

"Of course not." Ralph sat down on the stone outside the confinement room, "It's just that today is the day when the patriarch leads the adults of our father's generation to the annual fishing tide, and they are all gone, so I and Alfred can sneak out and let you go."

"Fishing tide? What is that?" Lei Boding said he didn't understand.

Ave explained, "The fishing tide is at this time of year. The patriarch will lead the adults to fish along the established route. This route is very long, and it will take about a month to go back and forth."

After listening to Ivor's explanation, Lei Boding still didn't understand, "Why did you take such a long-distance fishing trip? Is there any special meaning?"

Ralph gave Lei Boding an angry look, "It seems that you really forgot everything. In fact, the fishing tide is not so much a fishing as it is a ritual, because the adults have to follow along Singing songs while walking along the route, and the fish caught along the way will be dedicated to the Sea God except for the daily survival needs. Because the destination of the fishing tide is rumored to be the place where the Sea God is, the patriarch and the others will catch The fish pay homage to the sea god and offer it the most beautiful song of the mermaid, expressing its gratitude to the sea god for the protection of our mermaid family."

Does it sound similar to sacrifices in ancient times? Lei Boding thought silently in his heart, and he asked again, "Then when can we go fishing with the adults?"

Ivor sighed with longing and regret, "It's not so early, because only adult fish who have found their mate and have offspring can participate in the fishing tide."

Lei Boding turned into a hundred thousand whys, "What is the reason for this?"

This time it was Raffle who answered, "Because the fishing tide is still full of unknown dangers, we live not only for ourselves, but also for the reproduction of the mermaid family. Therefore, only adult male mermaids with offspring can You can join the fishing tide."

Lei Boding nodded after listening, "Then, will the female mermaid also participate?"

"Only some will," Ralph replied, "it depends on the choice of the patriarch, because we also have to offer our gauze to the sea god. It is also invaluable for the female mermaids to be chosen to offer their gauze to the sea god." the glory of the world."

"Then... are my father and Daddy... because of...?" Lei Boding asked suddenly, although the words were not complete, the other two mermaids understood the meaning.

"Uh..." Such a sudden question made Ralph choke.

In the end, it was Ave who said, "Your father and Daddy are just what you think." After speaking, Raff patted Lei Boding's shoulder comfortingly, "I think they have returned to the embrace of Sea God, and they are still in the sea. Live happily ever after and don't worry about them, man."

Lei Boding raised his head and smiled at Ivor, "Thank you, I think so too."

Ralph didn't want to make the atmosphere more and more heavy, so he changed the subject, "Speaking of which, I saw Derby two days ago. It's really surprising to see him leave his hut for the first time in so long."

Ai Fu also nodded and echoed, "Yes, yes, I thought I was wrong at the time."

Lei Boting understood the kindness of the two of them, so he continued along the topic, "Really, what did you do when you saw him?"

Ai Fu patted his tail, "It seems to be fishing, you know, he is the only one in his family, so he can only fish by himself."

"Speaking of which, it seems that the ointment you changed at Nathaniel's is not bad. I think his wound has healed well." Ralph continued, "However, I didn't agree with you at that time. You asked Nathaniel to let us go with you, why did you go alone?"

Unexpectedly, Raph would be here waiting to settle accounts with him, Lei Boting smiled and waved his hands, "That's what I suddenly thought of, I didn't make up my mind before, I just wanted to see it, but I didn't expect it to be true in the end. Switch to ointment."

At this moment, Ave came up to Lei Boding gossipingly, "Speaking of which, buddy, is the Nathaniel family as eerie as the rumors say? Is he also particularly scary and weird?"

Reberting recalled Nathaniel's home that was comparable to a garbage dump and the indescribable strange smell that rushed straight to his forehead, and couldn't help but shiver again, "It's not particularly scary, it's just too dirty, it's almost It's just horrible. And the dirt on that tail... oh my god, I've never seen such a dirty mermaid!"

"Dirt? My sea god, there is dirt on the fish's tail!" Ivor seemed to have received a huge shock, "How can a mermaid tolerate dirt on his tail? This is too disgusting!"

Raffle on the side also felt sympathetic, "This is terrible, Lei, how can you make up your mind to exchange things in the hands of such a terrifying mermaid?"

Lei Boding felt very innocent, "The pearls and gold coins I brought were taken away by him, and you didn't say that his things were useless before, so I think you can try it. You also know Yes, Derby's wound was horrible."

"He really isn't a good mermaid, he actually took away the pearls and gold coins first." Ivor's expression was a little annoyed, but in the end he waved his hand and muttered, "But anyway, I finally exchanged for something useful."

"You really paid a high price, and actually exchanged gold coins for the ointment." Ralph obviously felt that Lei Boding had made a loss in this deal.

Lei Boting didn't care much, "As long as things are useful, the gold coins are still there anyway, why don't we do something meaningful."

"Hey, what I did to you is enough to pay off Derby's kindness to save you." Ivor sighed, "You can be regarded as the best mermaid to Derby."

Lei Boding smiled when he heard what Ivor said, "Don't say that, he saved me, of course I should treat him well." After speaking, he frowned again, why didn't Derby come today?

Raph who was on the side just saw it, and asked, "What's the matter? Is there something wrong? I saw you were a little absent-minded just now."

"Huh?" Reberdin shook his head at Ralph's questioning eyes after regaining his senses, "It's nothing, I just see that the time is too late, do you want to go back early, or your Daddy will find out that you are not here for a while Are you worried?"

Raph, who was fooled by Lei Boding, looked at the changes in the light outside and nodded, "It's getting late, Ivor and I really have to go back."

After hearing this, Ivor swam to Lei Boding's side, "Ray, we'll come see you tomorrow night!"

Now Lei Boting was worried about Derby, so he nodded happily, "Okay, be careful when you go back."

Both Ralph and Ivor flicked their tails and waved their hands to express their understanding, and the two mermaids left the reef cave where they came from.

Seeing the backs of the two mermaids disappear, Lei Boting turned his head to check the location of Derby, but to his surprise, the reef hole where Derby came did not move at all.

That night, Lei Boding waited until he couldn't bear it and fell asleep, but he didn't wait for Derby's arrival.