I woke up to find myself as the villain's older sister.

"Our clan's most treasured possession is something called the Soul-Soothing Lamp. In our clan, the soul of every deceased merman is guided by the Soul-Soothing Lamp to the path of rebirth, so that even if they are not mermen in their next life, they will still be happy and healthy."

“It does sound like something very important,” Yun Qingyi said.

Upon hearing this, the mermaid princess gave a soft snort: "It's just for psychological comfort."

"That Soul-Soothing Lamp is just an ordinary glass lamp. Even when it is used, it will only emit a slight light. In terms of appearance, it is not as good as any treasure in the hands of a mermaid."

"I think it's all nonsense to say that you can guide the souls of merfolk to a happy and peaceful next life."

“I have seen my grandmother pass away. Her soul had already dissipated when she died. Only after that did my father hurriedly bring the soul-soothing lamp to hold a farewell ceremony.”

"Leaving aside whether the merfolk have a next life, in this situation, the human soul has already dissipated, so what kind of guidance is this?"

"The lamp only lit up briefly as usual, and then went dark again after the ceremony. It felt like we were just going through the motions."

"Then what about Liang Jiao damaging your clan's most treasured artifact?" Yun Qingyi asked thoughtfully.

Speaking of this, the mermaid princess's previously calm expression instantly turned indignant: "That An'an Soul Lamp was not broken by Brother Liangjiao at all."

"At that time, another mermaid in the clan passed away. My father was tied up with something and couldn't get away, so he instructed Brother Liangjiao and Tusuo to lead a group of the clan to the palace where the Soul-Soothing Lamp was enshrined and retrieve it."

"Everything was fine at first, and the Soul-Soothing Lamp was successfully retrieved. But during the ceremony, the Soul-Soothing Lamp suddenly stopped lighting up. Since Brother Liangjiao had been holding the Soul-Soothing Lamp, Tusuo immediately accused Brother Liangjiao of breaking it."

At this point, the mermaid princess gritted her teeth, her face full of resentment: "From the time we went to retrieve the Soul-Soothing Lamp to the time of the ceremony, I was by Brother Liang Jiao's side the whole time. I can guarantee that the Soul-Soothing Lamp did not have any accidents at all."

"But none of the people accompanying him spoke up for Brother Liangjiao. They all let Na Tusuo talk nonsense. Even though there was no bump or bruise at all, he made it sound like there was nothing at all."

“I was very angry at the time and tried my best to defend my brother Liangjiao, but they wouldn’t listen to me at all.”

"At that time, I realized that they didn't care who was right or wrong, or who broke the Soul-Soothing Lamp. They just wanted to find a scapegoat to take the blame for them from the Mermaid King's wrath."

When she said the last sentence, the mermaid princess's expression calmed down again, but it still had a hint of coldness.

"After that, Brother Liangjiao was accused of damaging the clan's treasure and was attacked by the entire clan. If it weren't for my help and the fact that he had inherited some useful abilities, he probably wouldn't even have a corpse left in that situation."

Upon hearing this, Yun Qingyi secretly gasped. This was completely different from the merfolk she knew. Weren't they supposed to be innocent and kind?

That sounds so brutal. It's one thing to die, but they don't even spare the corpse.

However, Yun Qingyi thought about it again and realized that she could understand it. Most merfolk did not understand the truth of the matter and only believed what the majority of people said.

The Soul-Soothing Lamp is an extremely special thing to them, and this specialness is related to the souls and rebirth of their people.

It would be inexcusable not to be angry when you suddenly hear that something has been broken.

Putting everything else aside, just imagining someone damaging the jade pendant or phoenix zither given to her by her master was enough to make her want to kill them to cover it up.

"But the Soul-Soothing Lamp is clearly broken; it couldn't light up for some reason in the first place," the mermaid princess couldn't help but complain, feeling wronged.

"Moreover, everything went smoothly along the way, and there were no other unexpected situations. How could it be Brother Liangjiao's fault? It's something that anyone could figure out with their heads, yet they're putting all the blame on Brother Liangjiao."

"Father doesn't question right or wrong, and others just blindly believe what he says."

The mermaid princess's face was gloomy, and a hint of resentment flashed in her eyes: "It's all Tuso's fault. If Tuso hadn't directly pointed the finger at Brother Liangjiao, Brother Liangjiao wouldn't have been forced to leave his tribe and live alone at such a young age!"

Yun Qingyi paused for a moment, thinking to herself: It might not be entirely Tuso's fault.

Other merfolk also have their share of problems.

But Yun Qingyi didn't say those words aloud. Instead, she asked the mermaid princess, "So, Liang Jiao left with the Soul-Soothing Lamp?"

"Yes, that's right." Hearing Yun Qingyi's question, the mermaid princess nodded: "The situation was quite special at the time. Brother Liangjiao didn't believe there was anything wrong with the Soul-Soothing Lamp, so he thought of taking it from beside his deceased mermaid grandmother to check it out."

However, this action unexpectedly enraged the other merfolk, who thought that Brother Liangjiao still harbored some ulterior motive regarding the Soul-Soothing Lamp. Coupled with Tu Suo's instigation, the merfolk launched a coordinated attack, forcing Brother Liangjiao to flee the merfolk's territory with the Soul-Soothing Lamp.

After pondering for a moment, Yun Qingyi looked up at the mermaid princess: "We have a general understanding of Liang Jiao's situation."

“But Tuso, you haven’t told us what your feud is.”

"A festival?" The mermaid princess was clearly taken aback by these words, and closed her eyes in pain, as if recalling what had happened in the past.

He then slowly opened his eyes, a bitter look on his lips, and said to Yun Qingyi, "Senior, can I tell you what happened between us later?"

Now I'm a little reluctant to recall what happened back then.

"Okay, sure," Yun Qingyi said softly.

She doesn't like to forcefully reopen old wounds when people are clearly unwilling. If they don't want to talk about it, she'll just dig it out little by little in secret.

"Well then, we've learned everything we needed to know." Yun Qingyi looked at the coral reefs outside the palace, which were gradually brightening as night fell.

He said to the mermaid princess, "It's getting late. Shouldn't we go and discuss the migration with your father now?"

Upon hearing Yun Qingyi offer to help with the migration, the mermaid princess's previous gloom vanished, and she smiled happily: "Alright, alright, let's not delay, let's set off now."

Having said that, as if afraid that Yun Qingyi had other questions, he quickly swam out of the hall. Yun Qingyi and the others only heard a voice coming from afar: "Seniors, I'll go and call Beibei over first."

……

Yun Qingyi and the others exchanged glances.

"Sister."

"Junior sister."

Yun Qingrou and Ji Zhaoze spoke at the same time.

"Hmm?" Yun Qingyi looked at the two of them: "What's wrong?"