——"The sad thing is, Merfolk are Merfolk, Fishman are Fishman."

——"Even they themselves deeply loathe the filthy and ugly appearance of their own kind."

This world is not a fairy tale, there are not so many beautiful stories.

Yain left the Iris Foster Home, left the Piano Key District, a place forever cursed by the Stars, devoid of color.

...

The first to report the Rongsen Media and Moon Sugar incident was Station No. 4, Flower of the Frosty Winter Radio Station, a station actually controlled behind the scenes by the Lindong family;

They invited a well-dressed expert to sit in the studio, explaining the origin and dangers of Moon Sugar with reason and evidence in front of countless cameras and media.

With a precedent set, all city stations began to scramble to report this matter, and the true nature of Moon Sugar became widely known.

[:Have you heard about Starry's daughter's matter, there's another twist!]

[:Is it that girl named Xiaomeng? Really admire her courage, I really don't know what that Tang Xin is thinking, doesn't she have a mouth to explain herself?]

[:Oh please, are we really going with the victim-blaming here?]

[:However, this incident did make me aware of that Dream Chasing Media, turns out there's this media company, seems like they only have Starry's daughter as an artist?]

The turmoil settled down, and the people behind the curtain gradually learned part of the truth, beginning to independently delve into the content behind this wave of public opinion, pushing Dream Chasing Media Company into trending topics, allowing countless people to learn about this previously unknown small media company through this event.

As well as the person behind the initial release of the video, which sparked this wave of public opinion.

[:Speaking of, who was the first to release that video, let's 'dig' that person out, shall we?]

[:Support for digging up the truth, maliciously using public resources, using the sense of justice of netizens to do such things, serves them right!]

[:↑Seems like it's those who were at the forefront of the initial wave of public opinion.]

[:This is what they call the goodwill of good people isn't absolute, and the malice of bad people isn't pure.]

Everything developed dramatically, from beginning to end, this wave of public opinion seemed like an absurd opera, having gone through the rise and fall, it was finally time for the curtain to fall.

In a small, dark room in the city, watching people's discussions, the girl's gaze trembled, her fingers constantly gliding across the virtual light screen, slime dripping onto the rumpled bedding, spilling on the floor littered with garbage bags.

"Why, why can this wave of public opinion pass by, why did that person named Xiaomeng have to help her, why!" the girl's face twisted and became malicious and vicious.

"How did it get reversed, why was she born so beautiful and dazzling, everyone surrounds her, it's not fair... it's not fair..."

At this moment, countless curtain communications popped up, densely occupying her virtual light screen like a virus, automatically connecting.

"Is it Miss Furen?"

"Miss Furen, your heart is as ugly as your appearance."

"Miss Furen, you don't want the Starry Arts Academy to know about this, right?"

"It's not easy to get into the Starry Arts Academy, although your race gets some extra points due to supportive policies."

"Miss Furen..."

"Furen..."

"Miss Furen, you really deserve to be of this race."

The girl screamed in fear, clutching her head, kicking away the garbage by the bed, she ran towards the apartment's washroom, each move dropping hard scales from her body, leaving a stinking footprint with each step.

The light from outside the apartment shone in, illuminating the ceramic box holding soap pieces, illuminating the bottles and jars of cosmetics on the storage shelf, illuminating her ugly; fish face rapidly sprouting scales, full of sores.

She cried bitterly, her body itching unbearably, countless tiny scales bursting out of every inch of her skin, scattering scale light.

She reached out to press against her quickly ugly-changing self in the mirror, slapping again and again, until the smooth mirror shattered, shattered like her increasingly twisted face.

"Don't hate me."

"Don't hate me... I don't want to become ugly..."

Dark green mucus flowed down the mirror, dripping along with the saliva at the corners of her mouth, her voice becoming hoarse and sticky, making a 'hng hng chh chh' sound, like phlegm stuck in her throat.

The girl suddenly thought of something, thought of the person who handed her the video.

The person promised that as long as she edited the video and posted it online, she would definitely advance to the next round in the competition. The person promised to surely transform her into a Mermaid.

Now only that person can save her, she must contact them, only that person can save her now.

Thinking this, she kneeled on the floor, dialing that person's curtain number with her bloodshot fish eyes, the communication was quickly connected.

She frantically vented to the other side of the curtain, cursing them with the most vicious and crude language she could think of, then with a sobbing tone, stated her plea.

Like the Devil in legend agreeing to the requests of the Fishman ancestors, the other party didn't bother with her rude and vicious insults, a light and slightly enticing voice came through.

"Sure, come find me."

...

The sky grew dark, the sky still grey, water flowed from the row of street lamps beside the pier, flowing into the drains.

Scattered lights on the sea surface, the horn of a departing cruise ship sounded from afar, slicing through the silent night, returning swiftly to silence.

Furen as wished met that girl, the other had dazzling golden hair, holding a black umbrella standing under the street lamp. In the light, each strand of her hair flowed like gold, her face seemed perpetually adorned with a gentle, polite smile, very noticeable.

Furen wildly rushed forward, reaching out to touch the golden-haired girl's expensive and well-fitted strapless evening gown, but the other backed away, avoiding her, causing her whole body to fall in a pothole, the large splash of mud letting her see her face, that hateful fish face deeply stabbing her gaze.

"My clothes are very expensive, they're hard to clean when dirty." The girl's voice echoed in her ears.

"You promised me."

"You promised me..."

The Fishman's breathing grew heavier, louder, finally turning into an unrestrained roar, shaking off raindrops from the street lamp.

"You were the one who promised me first!!"

The girl asked, "What did I promise you?"

"You promised me, as long as I edited the video and posted it online, that Starry's daughter would be scorned by everyone, so that people's attention would no longer focus on her, and as someone in the same race as her, I would advance to the next round of auditions, would transform into a Merfolk, become beautiful."

"Those were your original words, right?"

"I just want to get rid of others' strange gazes, I just want to be beautiful, just want to be liked by others."

"I just want to wear those beautiful dresses, just want to live like a normal girl."

Furen's voice was choked, making a choking 'gurgle' sound, as her vocal organs were degenerating.

"I know I was wrong, I shouldn't have been so greedy, shouldn't have thought of getting things that weren't mine, shouldn't have vented malice on others, I really know I was wrong, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

She struggled to crawl to the girl's side, her hopeful gaze like a tiny flame shining, wanting to grab the girl's hem, but recalling the previous words. Lowering her posture, growing fish fins; her five fingers glued in the membrane-joined hand reaching towards the ground by the girl's shoes, making her last plea.

"Please, save me, now only you can save me."

The girl said, "No, now only you can save yourself, tell others the truth of the matter with your own mouth, admit your mistakes, and add a final period to this farce."

Furen was stunned, looking up she found the recorder in her pocket had somehow appeared between the golden-haired girl's fingers, losing its function amidst a burst of electric current.

"And not making these little moves, Miss Furen."

"The promises you made, don't they count?" Furen, as if completely losing the last hope, accused loudly. "This is under the aegis of the Stars, you will be cursed! You will be cursed by the Stars just like us!"

"Of course they count, all the promises I've made are equally valid."

"But those promises weren't made by me, I had someone else, a death row inmate read them before their execution."

The girl, with a mischievous interest, replayed the audio in front of her, the familiar sound echoing in the ears, like a knife piercing Furen's eardrums.

The ridiculous and laughable silhouette of the Fishman glanced casually through Xu Xiaoyou's golden eyes, a slight dismissive curve formed at the girl's lips.

"Hasn't anyone told you, Miss Furen, that when making a deal with the Devil, achieving your wish requires a price as well?"

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