56 Moonstone

[x] – There is a stone called "moonstone" in the real world, but it's not the same one, the author just borrowed that name.

Although it was only a song sung by a cub, the audience on the shore subconsciously started to slowly adopt a more serious attitude when listening. Some even became enchanted by the singing.

When they had first heard it, many adults of the mermaid race had thought that the cub's singing would be intoxicating once he grew up. But as they continued to listen, they felt that the cub's singing already had this kind of effect.

Not to mention that the strength of the singing had directly shown the cub's great talent, the mermaid cub's singing was also very beautiful. Its tone clean and elegant, it was almost unfair.

Speaking of… What about the parents of this cub? Pulling themselves away for the cub's enchanting singing, the audience on the shore began to look around. But they could not see any adult mermaid or merman go into the sea.

The parents of every cub who had gone up before this one, had all responded to their cub's singing.

Although there was no rule that the parents must do this, according to the customs of mermaid race, parents who loved their cubs would definitely respond at this time.

The cub had mustered up the courage to sing to their parents in front of so many people, if the parents who heard this song did not respond, it would be a bit hard to justify.

Moreover, the cub had put in a lot of effort into his singing, they could hear that the little mermaid must like his parents very much. If the parents didn't respond, how disappointed the cub would be….. As the parent who was currently being condemned in the hearts of the audience, Xie Tao was actually looking for a way to get close to the reef. His first reaction was to consider whether he would straightforwardly jump in and swim or not.

But when an adult of the mermaid race saw that he wanted to go into the sea, he pulled him aside and asked him about it. He then asked him to stay put and wait for a moment.

Xie Tao did as he was told and impatiently waited for a bit. He could see that the little mermaid sitting on the reef singing was looking at him a little anxiously. Then a road leading to the reef at last appeared in front of Xie Tao's eyes.

Just like columns of stones rising up from the depths of the sea, round stone plates emerged from underneath the surface, creating a path between Xie Tao and the reef.

This was one of the environment simulators' functions. The administrators could manipulate the environment through the control panel when necessary.

Seeing a path appearing on the sea, the people on the shore were a little puzzled. Especially when a young man with black hair quickly stepped onto the path and started walking forward. The cogs in the minds of everyone present all of a sudden did not seem to be able to turn.

Wasn't it the parents of the cub who should go pick the cub up? Why was a human walking over to the cub? However, the mermaid cub sitting on the reef was indeed looking at the youth, this made some people gradually start to react a little.

It was an artificial reef which could be regarded as relatively large in size. After swiftly walking over on the path, Xie Tao smoothly stepped on top of it.

The reef was uneven. Careful to not let himself slip and fall into the sea, Xie Tao approached the cub who was sitting on the edge of the reef singing to him. Bending down, he picked up the little mermaid.

In order to make it easier for the youth to move at this time, the Knox cub who originally nestled in the arms of the youth had taken the initiative to climb up onto the youth's shoulder.

"Nor'sifa utha…" The mermaid cub in the human youth's embrace did not stop singing. But when he had been picked up by the youth, the cub's fin had very distinctly begun to sway, gently patting the person holding him.

With the cub's blue eyes fixed on him, Xie Tao followed the cub's singing and began to try to lightly hum a tune that could respond to the cub's melody.

The mermaid race had an innate talent for singing, the parents in the mermaid race could therefore easily sing a song that integrated with and matched their cub's song without interrupting or overpowering the cub's singing.

Xie Tao did not have this innate skill, but he still really wanted to respond to the cub's song. So he could only try hard to hum and carefully feel his way forward.

There were no lyrics, no change in syllables, but Xie Tao managed to lightly hum out a melody that responded to the cub's song.

Although he was a human, the youth's voice was also quite pleasant.

Hearing the melody the youth hummed, the singing of the mermaid cub in the youth's arms quickly became full of joy. Whether it was from the song and the cub's body language, this obvious joy could clearly be felt.

Because of their racial characteristics, mermaids and mermen were much more sensitive than other races when it came to perceiving spiritual power. Even though they couldn't see what ability a person had, they could also detect them.

At this moment, the majority of the audience along the coast all sensed a very strong spiritual power.

The spiritual power sensed came from the melody lightly hummed by the human youth. The strength of the cub's song seemed to have been amplified by this spiritual power and slowly climbed a little.

Those of the mermaid race in the audience were once again in awe. They all felt that this was unimaginable, even in their race this level of spiritual power was quite outstanding.

With all of his attention focused on the mermaid cub singing to him, Xie Tao did not notice the others' shocked reactions.

The spiritual power released in the song was actually not Xie Tao's full power, but the result of him deliberately manipulating the power to appear lesser than it was.

Ever since he became aware of the fact that his spiritual power belonged to an extraordinary high category, Xie Tao had begun to learn how to control his power

It could be heard that after a lot of effort groping about, the melody the youth was lightly humming became relatively good at responding to the cub's song.

Although they didn't know why this little mermaid had a human parent, just from the efforts the youth put into responding to the cub, everyone there knew that he doted on his family's cub just as much as any other mermaid parent there.

Everyone on the shore felt that the mermaid cub with the ice blue tail must have sung the most pleasant song of the evening. So when the singing stopped completely, all of the people present instantly gave the warmest of applause.

The cub's clear and beautiful singing absolutely deserved being applauded.

"Papa, papa~" After he stopped singing, the mermaid cub nestled in the arms of the youth immediately called out to his parent two times. With his tail fin swaying, the little mermaid attentively gazed up at the youth with blue eyes full of obvious expectations.

How should he interpret this expectant look? Xie Tao first touched the cub's hair, then applauded in a slightly awkward position. As he lightly clapped his hands together, he bent his eyes in a smile and praised, "Gale sings very well."

Just as soon as Xie Tao's voice fell, the mermaid cub in his arms pressed close and without warning affectionately rubbed against Xie Tao's left cheek. After he immediately moved to hug and snuggle into his shirt.

If someone were to look into the eyes of this mermaid cub right now, they would surely find that the cub's blue eyes were as bright as stars.

Regarding the applause coming from the shore, the mermaid cub did actually not pay much attention to it. What the little mermaid wanted was to hear the youth applaud.

Xie Tao had briefly felt a slippery touch on his left cheek just now. Lowering his head, he rubbed the cheek of the cub in his arms.

It had to be said that the baby's skin was always very nice, like a piece of tofu.

Under the exuberant applause, Xie Tao carried the cub over to the sea path and returned to the shore.

"Papa~" Appearing especially happy, the mermaid cub held in the arms of the youth quite frequently issued these two syllables.

There was no particular meaning behind it, the little mermaid merely wanted to call out to his parent.

"En, en, Gale, be good."

Xie Tao did naturally not understand what Gale wanted by it, but he responded patiently and did not get irritated at all.

If you had asked Xie Tao if he had been moved when the cub sang to him, his answer would without a doubt have been yes.

It was the first time that the mermaid cub had sung. That in itself was already very memorable, not to mention that the cub had specifically sung just for him.

The only thing Xie Tao felt regrettable about was that he hadn't been able to record the scene of the cub singing on the reef just now.

The attention of everyone present was focused on the human and mermaid pair, it did not shift away after the young man returned to the shore with the cub in his arms. Their eyes were full of curiosity and inquiry.

It was not until the next cub was seen swimming near the reef that the audience on the shore looked away in order to give each cub the respect they deserved. [T/N: Jeez, what a brave cub, I wouldn't want to be the one to go up after that. (^◇^;)]

Xie Tao stoked the fluffball crouching on his shoulder and moved him back into his arms. They stayed at Lailou Pond for a while. However, after listening to two more performances, Xie Tao felt that it was almost time for them to find accommodation.

Looking at the mermaid cub nestled in his arms, he also seemed a little sleepy. Xie Tao intuitively chose a direction to go look for it.

In any case, it was the heart of the city, comfortable hotels for accommodation could be found everywhere.

He wanted to find a hotel as quick as possible. But as he was walking, they unexpectedly bumped into another place where a vast crowd of people had gathered.

There seemed to be a lot of couples at the scene. This made Xie Tao, as a single person, feel a little out of place.

Not having any desire to join in on the excitement, Xie Tao just watched the activity with curiosity. This should be that lovers event which the mermaid mentioned before.

On Nesela Day, couples would go to the Moon Pond and make a promise to stay together. According to a legend in the mermaid race, they would be acknowledged and protected by the God of the sea by doing this.

"I wonder who is going to find the moonstone this year."

The person who said this used a lamenting tone, but there were still expectations mixed into their voice.

The moonstone was a beautiful gemstone that could only be found on Hailumite. According to rumors, this gemstone had magical powers. It was said that there was a chance that something magical would happen when a moonstone was gifted to a lover as a token of love.

What exactly did this incredible thing mean? No one had ever given a definite answer, but some people said that there would really be magical things happening.

In order to make the festival more interesting, every year officials would hide a moonstone in the area around the Moon Pond in advance, so that interested lovers could treasure hunt together.

As he was just curious about what the tradition entailed, after listening and getting the gist of it, Xie Tao continued in his search for a hotel.

Unlocking the door, Xie Tao entered and took in the room. Although it was not the most extravagant room, it was neat and functional.

Placing the little mermaid in a small pool specially designed for mermaid cubs in the room, Xie Tao brought the other cub in his arms over to the bed, then went into the bathroom.

To take a bath, then sleep. Xie Tao's plan right now was this simple.

Putting on his pajamas, Xie Tao walked out of the bathroom and swept his eye over the room. The mermaid cub was resting peacefully in the small pool, but the fluffball who was supposed to be on the bed had disappeared.

The room was not big and could easily be scanned at a glance, but he could not find him anywhere. Just as Xie Tao began to feel a little anxious, a sound came from the door to the room.

A round cub with a small black cloak came in through the slit that had been pushed open.

Xie Tao did not know how to react to this. He could faintly see that the black cloak worn by the cub had some dust on it.

Bending down, Xie Tao lifted the cub up to his lap and gently patted off the dust from the cub's cloak. He then pushed back the cloak from the cub's head.

After pushing away the hood, the two small horns on the Knox cub's head were plainly visible and the small ears beside the horns could also be seen moving slightly.

All of sudden, the cub came closer and when the Knox cub lifted his head a little, Xie Tao was slightly stunned.

"Meah."

Holding an oval gemstone in the color of faint moonlight, the Knox cub attentively gazed up at the youth in front of him and with the gemstone still in his mouth, called out to him with a muffled sound.

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Translator's note:

Awwww, I didn't think the author would be able to top Xie Tao and Gale singing together, but I was wrong. \u003e\u003c

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Xie Tao will react to this declaration of love.

Many thanks to Jessie and Jessica Lins for the coffees! ❤️❤️❤️