More than a dozen mermen suddenly appeared before them, their bellies ripped open, leaving behind hollow shells.
The mermen's eyes were wide with terror, their faces frozen in place. Their hands seemed to be nailed to a cross, and their tails were cut off halfway.
Their bodies and arms bore vivid red wounds, indicating they had suffered torture, even extreme torture, before their deaths.
Above these mermen, oil lamps flickered, casting an ethereal glow. In the center hung a massive oil painting, which swayed gently in the lamplight.
Zhou Lin gazed at the painting, which depicted mermen with enormous tails, their eyes filled with resentment.
It was as if they harbored immense hatred for something, their gazes fixed on the figure in the center.
Upon seeing the portrait, Huo Qi, along with the metaphysics professor and Professor Fang, shivered in unison.
The gazes in the painting felt like thorns, as if they had fallen into an ice-cold abyss, chilling them to the bone.
"Are these mermen? We used to consider seeing just one enough for our research. Now there are several, and appearing all at once, we don't know what to do."
Huo Qi looked at the mermen, still stuck in old ways. If these could be taken back for study, it would be excellent.
"You want to take these things back? That's unlikely."
Zhou Lin heard Huo Qi's intention and shook his head helplessly.
"Why? Mermen are incredibly rare. Even with their bodies hollowed out, as long as the flesh is usable, it can still be studied."
The metaphysics professor also harbored such thoughts.
Zhou Lin, however, felt that these mermen had met a tragic end and saw no reason to treat them in such a manner.
"You people, you look at these things like they're just bee droppings. Some things can be studied, but many cannot."
Zhou Lin's words held a deeper meaning, but he didn't elaborate further.
"Professor Zhou Lin, what do you mean by that?"
Huo Qi called out as Zhou Lin walked away.
Zhou Lin approached one of the mermen and examined it closely.
The mercenaries and other students nearby, seeing this, also approached with curiosity.
These were mermen, something they might never see in their lifetimes. Now that they had the chance, they wouldn't miss it.
In the live stream.
"Holy crap, these are mermen! They're incredibly rare. No, it's almost impossible to see them. I can't believe we're actually seeing them?"
"Exactly! This is amazing. So many people can't see this, but the Queen not only saw them but brought them back, and not just one?"
"This is such a waste of nature's bounty. How could anyone harm such a creature? It's so rare!"
"You people in Great Xia are truly cruel. To mutilate such beings like this, it's despicable."
"Isn't that right? We in Sakura Country have always been benevolent. You are truly barbaric."
"You're benevolent, yet in the end, you'd dissect the mermen if you got them. How dare you say that? It's laughable."
...
In the Dean's conference room.
Everyone was equally astonished upon seeing the mermen. Such creatures were indeed rare.
"Can we take this corpse back for research?"
Professor Hu's eyes gleamed at the sight of it. This was an opportunity that would not come again.
"It seems Professor Zhou Lin doesn't want us to take it back, and besides, this thing... may not be researchable."
Professor Wen looked at the merman, lost in thought.
"Why? How do you know?"
Professor Hu felt displeased upon hearing this.
"Zhou Lin said not everything should be researched. Also, based on Han Dynasty practices, they preserved corpses using a mixture of gypsum soil and mercury."
"Even if you take it back for research, their cells and tissues would be replaced by mercury, all mercury."
Professor Wen recalled seeing records about the Han Dynasty.
This secret method was cruel, forcibly solidifying mercury.
The victims would also suffer manifold harm; it was a brutal technique.
"Gypsum soil? Isn't that the most important material for repairing tombs? Why would it be used on people?"
The Dean was taken aback upon hearing this.
"This material is used for fixation. These mermen aren't tied up, nor are they bound by ropes. Don't you wonder why they stand so stably? They don't have legs."
Professor Wen said slowly, looking at the large screen.
Everyone suddenly seemed to awaken from a dream, realizing it was indeed true.
Inside the tomb.
Zhou Lin looked at one of the mermen. This one's belly looked different from the others; it was a female.
"Hmm?"
Zhou Lin approached several female mermen and noticed their bellies were several sizes larger than the male mermen's.
The size of these bellies strongly suggested they were pregnant.
If they were pregnant, what about the children?
Captain Zhao and the other mercenaries were curious about the mermen, but ensuring the safety of the professors was more important.
They suppressed their curiosity and vigilantly scanned their surroundings.
"Look, the expressions on these mermen are all identical. How was this achieved?"
One of the students asked, puzzled.
"A special technique was used, but... these eyes are different. Don't you notice the males are somewhat better, but these female mermen look different?"
"It's as if there's a lot of sorrow, beyond just hatred, there's also resentment."
A student from Sakura Country, overhearing the conversation between the Great Xia students, chimed in.
"Sorrow? Of course, there's sorrow. Who wouldn't hate the person who killed them? Who wouldn't feel resentment?"
The students looked at the Sakura Country student with disdain.
"The only thing a woman would resent is her offspring. Perhaps these female mermen were pregnant, which is why there's sorrow."
"Otherwise, why wouldn't the male mermen have sorrow? They have hatred, but not sorrow."
The Sakura Country student offered their opinion.
The Great Xia group felt it was a plausible theory.
They remained silent for a moment.
However, the student who had proposed this theory began to examine the female merman more closely, staring intently.
After less than ten seconds of staring, the female merman suddenly turned its gaze, looking directly at that student.
The look in its eyes seemed as if it wanted to kill the student.
"Ah..."
The student, seeing this, felt a jolt of fear and instinctively cried out.
"What are you doing?"