Chapter 275: Mermaid Lamp Oil
Taotie, unaware that he had been labeled as “tiger” by Fang Xiaocao, was still grinning and showing off.
“Hehe~”
“It’s finally my turn to show off my knowledge!”
Taotie was so happy that he almost blew bubbles out of his nose.
Tom had always been the one to establish the knowledgeable person persona.
Taotie was extremely envious. Now it was finally his turn.
How could he not be proud?
Everyone had vanity, and Taotie was no exception.
Looking at Taotie, who was smug and looked like he was about to ask a question, Fang Xiaocao rolled her eyes: “Alright, if you know, hurry up and say it. We still have to hurry on our way!”
“Hehe~”
Hearing Fang Xiaocao’s words, Taotie grinned mischievously.
He cleared his throat and said, “Speaking of the lamp oil in these lamps, it’s not simple. Can you guess what it’s made of?”
Taotie’s words successfully attracted three pairs of rolling eyes.
Fang Xiaocao glared at Taotie: “Just say it!”
“Aiya~”
“Guess~”
Taotie said in an almost coquettish tone.
Fang Xiaocao and the others felt a chill.
They shivered.
A macho man acting coquettish was unbearable!
“If we knew, would we need you to tell us?”
Fang Xiaocao said angrily.
“Hurry up!”
“If you don’t say it, I’ll beat you up!”
Fang Xiaocao clenched her small fist and threatened.
Looking at Fang Xiaocao’s fierce expression, Taotie suddenly recalled the scene of being beaten up after killing the giant snake, and immediately wilted.
“You really have no sense of humor~”
Taotie muttered sullenly.
“Hurry up and say it!”
Fang Xiaocao shouted angrily.
“Alright, alright…”
“I’ll say it, alright!”
Taotie said reluctantly.
“This transparent lamp oil has a great origin. When I first started out, I hung out with a group of tomb raiders for a few days. Once, when we went down into a tomb, I saw this transparent lamp oil. It was a Han Dynasty tomb, and it seemed to belong to a vassal.”
“At that time, I was also curious about what it was, so I asked the group of tomb raiders. The old tomb raider, seeing that I was cute, told me…”
“Guess what the old tomb raider said?”
“Ahem…”
“I’ll continue…”
Taotie wanted to show off, but received a fierce glare from Fang Xiaocao. He immediately cowered, cleared his throat twice, and eased the awkwardness.
“The old tomb raider said that this transparent lamp oil is the legendary mermaid oil!”
“Do you know what a mermaid is?”
“It’s the legendary mermaid from foreign countries!”
“This transparent lamp oil is fish oil refined from mermaids!”
Taotie said mysteriously.
“Mermaid oil?”
Fang Xiaocao couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Aren’t mermaids legendary creatures?”
“Do they really exist?”
Fang Xiaocao asked curiously.
“They do exist!”
“Why wouldn’t they exist?”
“Just because you haven’t seen them doesn’t mean they don’t exist!”
Taotie argued strongly when questioned by Fang Xiaocao.
“Have you seen them?”
Fang Xiaocao rolled her eyes at Taotie and asked.
“I haven’t seen any live ones…”
Taotie shook his head.
“Have you seen any corpses?”
Hearing Taotie say this, Fang Xiaocao was very curious and asked.
“Also… no…”
Taotie stammered.
Fang Xiaocao was speechless.
She jumped up and flicked Taotie’s forehead.
“You talk like you’ve seen them when you haven’t!”
Fang Xiaocao said angrily.
“But I’ve seen statues and murals!”
“In that Han Dynasty tomb!”
Taotie shouted anxiously.
“Oh?”
“What are the murals of?”
Fang Xiaocao asked curiously.
“The murals depict the tomb owner, representing the Han Dynasty in the East China Sea, wanting to conquer the mermaid tribe. The mermaids refused, and the tomb owner launched a genocide against the mermaids. The mermaid tribe suffered heavy casualties. Some of the surviving mermaids were captured by the tomb owner and given to the Han emperor, who kept them in the pool in Weiyang Palace. Some fled to the deep sea. The Han Dynasty’s large ships couldn’t go deep into the sea, so the tomb owner didn’t pursue them. He only collected the mermaid corpses and refined them into mermaid oil.”
Taotie vividly described the content of the murals he saw in the Han Dynasty tomb.
Fang Xiaocao blinked: “There really are mermaids?”
“Like in the legends, with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish tail?”
Fang Xiaocao was very curious about this legendary creature and hurriedly asked.
“Yes!”
Taotie nodded: “That’s how they’re drawn on the murals.”
Speaking of this, Taotie paused again.
He smacked his lips and continued, “However, they seem to be different from the legends. Those mermaids, although they look like humans, they’re not quite human. They look a bit like dugongs, but they have hair and hands. I don’t know if they really look like that, or if the painters had never seen the real thing and painted them based on their imagination.”
Fang Xiaocao blinked: “Maybe!”
The Han Dynasty was thousands of years ago.
Throughout the dynasties, there have been legends of mermaids.
Moreover, it seems that royal nobles liked to use mermaid oil as lamp oil in their tombs. It is said that lamp oil made from mermaid oil can burn for thousands of years, keeping the tomb bright.
Therefore, many unofficial histories have legends of the court’s large-scale hunting of mermaids.
Perhaps the real mermaids have long been extinct.
Or, like in the legends.
The prototype of the mermaids is the dugong?
Dugongs do fit the description of mermaids in legends.
After hearing a story, Fang Xiaocao’s curiosity was satisfied, and she stopped dwelling on it. She just secretly resolved that if they returned the same way when they left, she would bring back some of this mermaid oil to study.
“Now that the story is over, let’s continue on our way!”
Fang Xiaocao said with a smile.
“Tom, lead the way!”
Fang Xiaocao waved her little hand.
“Yes!”
Tom nodded and continued to lead the way.
Fang Xiaocao had learned her lesson this time. She kept her eyes on Tom’s footsteps, following closely.
She was afraid of stepping on a trap.
Compared to Fang Xiaocao, Taotie and Hummingbird were much more casual. They were skilled and could easily avoid traps even if they stepped on them.
After walking about five hundred meters along this mermaid oil tomb passage, a sandy area appeared in front of Fang Xiaocao and the others, cutting the complete tomb passage into two sections.
The sandy area was more than ten meters wide, with white sand and iron caltrops and blades. Anyone who tried to walk across would definitely be stabbed or cut. Although Fang Xiaocao and the others were wearing high-top combat boots with anti-cut features, they didn’t know how deep the sandy pit was and didn’t dare to try rashly.
But they couldn’t go around or jump over it.
Fang Xiaocao and the others had no choice but to stop.
They pondered how to get across.
