Compared to the lobby and the garden, the swimming pool is obviously much quieter.
I don't know if this place hasn't been cleaned for a while, there are a lot of fallen leaves on the ground and even in the pool water.
The water in the pool is dark green and almost black, and I don’t know how long it has been since it was changed. In any case, with that color, probably no one would want to swim in it.
There are some lamp stands by the swimming pool, with candles lit on them. The light is not bright, but it is not dim either.
Xitong can easily see everything here.
She was a little puzzled, not knowing what surprise Sinovan had prepared, but she instinctively disliked this place, the gloominess here, and the dark green pool water.
Sinovan was holding a classical lantern with a black patterned metal fence. Inside the glass lampshade, the wick emitted a warm, dim light. As Sinovan walked, the light swayed, casting shadows all over the little boy.
"There's nothing fun here. Let's go back to the lobby?" Before approaching the swimming pool, Xitong stopped, turned around and looked at the little boy.
Sinovan did not respond, but just smiled, raised his hand, put it to his mouth and whistled.
Immediately, the dark green pool water began to gurgle, and many bubbles floated in it. Then a slippery head emerged from the water. It had a pair of big, glowing eyes, and made a slightly ethereal cry.
Xitong turned around curiously and saw the creature in the pool swimming happily on the water twice, then jumping out of the pool with a splash. Under the candlelight, she could see that it had a spindle-like body, smooth skin and a cute appearance.
"This... Is this a dolphin?" Xitong couldn't believe her eyes. She had only seen this kind of creature in biology textbooks, but this was the first time she saw one alive and kicking.
After all, this is a desert area, and you definitely won't see dolphins. Xitong never dreamed that she would actually see a real, living dolphin in Sinovan's home.
The dolphin fell into the pool, swam to the edge, poked its head out, and its two big round eyes reflected Xitong's appearance, and it made a clear cry.
At this moment, Xitong forgot the gloomy environment. She ran over and tried to reach out and touch the creature's head.
The dolphin in the pool gently nudged Xitong's hand with its head, which made the little girl laugh happily. Si Nuowan came out and said with a smile: "Miss Xitong, do you like it?"
Xitong nodded vigorously: "I like it, it's so cute."
"Then it's yours. You can take it home. I think it will be happy to... follow you." Sinovan looked at the dolphin in the pool and said lightly.
Dolphin also nodded, as if he understood what Sinovan said. Xitong laughed, but soon she shook her head and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Sinovan, but my father said that we can't accept gifts from others casually."
"Also, this gift is so special. Although I like it very much, I need to ask my father's opinion before I can accept it and take it home."
Si Nuowan said excitedly: "Miss Xitong, if you like, I can give you the whole world. Besides, it's just a small dolphin. You can decide for yourself. You don't need to ask for anyone's opinion!"
Xitong stood up and said seriously: "Sinowan, I'm not asking for anyone's opinion, I'm asking for my father's opinion!"
"My dad is the most important person in the world to me, so his opinion is very important to me!"
She glanced at the dolphin in the pool, then said to the little boy: "Thank you for inviting me tonight and thank you for giving me a surprise, but I can't just accept it now."
"It's getting late, maybe I should say goodbye."
Xitong gently lifted the hem of her skirt, bowed politely, and left the swimming pool.
Si Nuowan hurriedly chased after him and said, "Please wait for me, Miss Xitong."
In the swimming pool, the dolphin watched Xitong's figure disappear around the corner and let out a sad cry.
After a while, Sinovan returned to the swimming pool. He looked at the dolphins by the pool and said, "This is a little different from what I expected. Her Highness clearly likes your current image, but she didn't accept you immediately."
"I miscalculated."
"That man, that human, has had too much influence on Her Highness. Her Highness has unknowingly considered herself a human being, and that man as her father, her real father!"
In the pool, the dolphin opened and closed its mouth, vibrating the air, and made a sound like a human: "If this continues, Your Highness will inevitably drift further and further away from our clan, and will never be able to return to the 'original' state."
Sinovan clenched his fists gently: "Your Highness must be freed from the control and influence of that man."
"That man must die!"
"You're right, leave this matter to me."
After saying this, the dolphin sank into the water. Its body quickly rotted away, and in the blink of an eye only a skeleton remained, sinking to the bottom of the pool.
At the same time, at a port on the east side of West Land, a creepy scream suddenly rang out from the sea, causing two drunkards who were peeing into the sea at the dock to shiver. The drunkenness instantly disappeared, and they looked at each other and hurriedly left with their pants pulled up.
As the sea rose and fell, a thick gray fog suddenly rose up, and in the fog, a shadow as huge as an island loomed. The shadow moved closer to the pier with the sea fog, and gradually shrank in the process, as if it sank into the sea.
After a while, a smooth-skinned hand reached out from the sea, grabbed the dock, and pulled hard, and a black shadow shot out from the sea. It landed on the dock, and the lights on the dock outlined a human figure nearly two meters tall. The figure's body was extremely smooth, with several holes on the chest and back. When these holes opened and closed, seawater and gas were sprayed out from them.
This 'man' without a single hair had fin-like organs on his neck that opened and closed.
He raised his hand, looked at his current appearance, then snorted and strode towards a settlement near the dock. When he came out of the settlement, all the people in the settlement were dead, and he had an extra layer of clothes on his body.
He put a hat on his head and pulled up his collar to hide his fins, so that he looked no different from a human.
Sunfort.
The West District, which is centered around the Moonlight Tower and is home to pubs, hotels, shops, and various entertainment venues, is still brightly lit even in the middle of the night.
A man of medium build, not very strong, with eyes half-closed, was walking and yawning, as if he had not had a good sleep for a long time.
He rubbed his dark circles under his eyes, raised his head, looked at the hotel in front of him called "Desert Lizard", took out a piece of paper and read it.
After looking at it, he said, "It should be here, right?"
He pushed open the door of the hotel and walked in, and saw a girl in her early twenties sitting in the lobby. She was wearing sun-protective clothes and a sun hat. Her face was a little thin and she seemed malnourished, but her black hair was unusually soft and shiny.
At her feet, there were more than a dozen suitcases of various sizes, as if all the clothes in the house were pulled out.
She was holding a pocket watch and opening and closing it repeatedly, making the lid of the pocket watch make crisp sounds again and again.
"Hi." The listless man raised his hand and greeted, "Good evening, Mao Wei."
Mao Wei raised her head and glanced at the man with dark circles under his eyes: "What do you think is wrong with me? It's already late and Chen Hu hasn't finished the registration. If I don't sleep, my skin will become very bad, especially since this is a desert."
"Oh my god, how can this place be so dry? If I had known, I would not have agreed to come to this damn place at midnight."
At the reception desk in the lobby, the waiter wearing black clothes and trousers was a middle-aged man in his fifties. He was tall and thin, with thick hair that was combed meticulously.
He fiddled with an electronic board and smiled, "Don't complain. After all, before yesterday, I had never worked as a receptionist. This kind of registration system is also my first time using it."
"You should be more considerate of older people, like me, right, Ziang?"
The man with dark circles under his eyes yawned again and sat down. "Are we the only three here? I say, with just these few people, they want to surround and kill Lin Jianping. Why do I feel like they are courting death?"
Footsteps sounded, and a young man with a scholarly air walked into the lobby. He pushed his glasses down and said, "We have arrived a long time ago. You and Mao Wei are the last. Most of us arrived yesterday or today."
"Can you blame me for this? I came here from the East Continent. If I remember correctly, Hyperion, you have been living in the West Continent, right?" Mao Wei closed her pocket watch with a snap and stared at the bookish man with dissatisfaction.
At the reception desk, Chen Hu said, "Registration is complete, Mao Wei, your room is 2024, here is the key."
The middle-aged man took out a key and placed it on the counter.
Mao Wei walked over and took it unhappily, saying, "What's the point? We've already bought this hotel, so why don't you just give me the key?"
Chen Hu snorted and said, "That won't work. We still have to entertain other outsiders. We need to keep this hotel open as usual so as not to alert others."
"Also, everyone better restrain themselves during the assassination. Otherwise, Midnight will probably be unhappy."
Ziang looked up and asked, "Is it Midnight himself who is here this time, or one of his useless iron men?"
Raising his glasses, Hyperion said in a low voice, "It's me. He's waiting for us downstairs, so you guys have registered and come to room 2015."
Zi'ang and Mao Wei were silent for a moment, and then the man yawned again and said, "Oh my, half of our 'Twelve Branches' have come. If we fail, the Wuying organization will be finished."
Mao Wei glared at him angrily: "Shut up!"
Then he stood up, looked at Chen Hu and said, "Help me take the luggage upstairs!"
Chen Hu coughed dryly and smiled, "Sorry, our store is limited in staff and cannot provide this service."
PS: Happy birthday to the handsome guy 'hahaha'~