Chapter 345: The Waterlands

Gilbert’s submarine broke through the crystalline layer and into open water on the other side.

The first thing I noticed was the dome.

It curved overhead like the sky itself had been pressed into glass, stretching so far in every direction that its edges blurred into the water beyond. Faint patterns rippled across its surface, slow and rhythmic, like the dome was breathing. Inside it, the water gave way to air, and the air was warm. Not warm like sunlight. Warm like a room someone had been living in for a very long time.

The second thing I noticed were the islands.

Dozens of them, maybe more. They sat at varying depths beneath the dome like a scatter of stones someone had dropped from a great height and never bothered to collect. Some were enormous, their surfaces covered with clusters of buildings and greenery so dense it spilled over the edges. Others were small, barely large enough for a single structure, connected to their neighbors by long, arched bridges that curved through the open air between them.

’How does a place like this exist?’

I didn’t expect an answer from Kassie and didn’t get one. Gilbert, on the other hand, was already steering towards the nearest descent point, Nightfall groaning as it transitioned from water to air. The moment it did, a rush of warm wind hit my face, carrying a scent I couldn’t place. Something floral and old.

"We’ll be docking at Chen Lin," Gilbert announced, tapping something on his console. "The Cāng Lán household sent word they’d receive us there."

"Chén Lián," I repeated. "Sunken Lotus?"

"You speak that strange language?"

"I know what a lotus is."

’School made it a compulsory subject...’

Gilbert gave me a look but said nothing else.

As the whale descended, the islands came into sharper focus. Chén Lián was one of the larger ones, positioned near the center of the cluster where the dome’s light was brightest. Its surface was shaped like a crescent, and the buildings that covered it rose in tiers, climbing the island’s natural slope in a way that made the whole thing look like it had been sculpted rather than built.

The roofs swept upward at the corners, curving like the tails of birds frozen mid-flight, layered in tiles that shimmered between dark green and black depending on how the light hit them.

Beneath them, the walls were pale, almost white, with wooden frames in dark lacquered wood that created geometric patterns against the stone. Round doorways, covered walkways and courtyards that were visible from above, their floors laid with flat stones arranged around shallow pools.

Hanging from the eaves of nearly every building were lanterns. Paper lanterns, cloth lanterns, some that glowed with a faint inner light that had nothing to do with fire. They swayed gently in the warm air currents that circulated beneath the dome, and the effect from above was like looking down at a field of scattered embers.

’Beautiful.’

I meant it, too. There was a delicacy to the construction that I wasn’t used to seeing. Everything on the surface tended towards the imposing, the grand, the statement. This was different. This was careful.

Gilbert brought the whale down to a wide stone platform that extended from the island’s lower edge like a tongue. The moment we touched down, a small group of merfolks moved to meet us.

The group approaching us consisted of four individuals, three women and one man. The man had blue-grey skin that transitioned smoothly into fine scales along his forearms and jawline, and he carried himself with the quiet authority of someone used to being listened to.

I noticed all of this very briefly because the three women walking ahead of him made it extremely difficult to notice anything else.

Their skin had an iridescent quality, like light passed through it twice before reaching my eyes. One had hair the colour of deep coral, falling well past her waist. Another’s was black with a sheen of dark blue that only became visible when she turned her head. The third, the one in the lead, was a silver-haired woman whose features were so symmetrical that it was almost disorienting.

All three moved with a fluidity that didn’t quite belong on land, their steps smooth and unhurried, their bodies swaying with a natural grace that made even walking look like something performed.

I stared.

’You’re staring,’ Kassie said.

’I am aware.’

’Respectfully?’

’...Broadly.’

Kassie’s silence carried a weight of judgment that no amount of words could have matched.

The silver-haired woman stopped a few paces from our group and placed her right hand over her left, both resting against her stomach, and inclined her head. The gesture was formal, practiced, and elegant.

"Welcome to Chén Lián. You were recommended by that person."

Her voice had a quality to it that I could only describe as wet. Like every word had been dipped in cool water before leaving her lips.

Gilbert stepped forward. "That’s us. Gilbert Hain. These are my associates."

She glanced over the rest of us. When her gaze passed over me, there was a flicker of something. Curiosity, maybe. It passed quickly.

"I am Lín Shuǐyáo, attendant to the Cāng Lán household. Please, follow me. The Matriarch is expecting you."

She turned, and we followed.

The streets of Chén Lián were narrow and clean. The stone underfoot was worn smooth by what must have been generations of foot traffic. The buildings pressed close on either side, their overhanging eaves nearly touching above us, creating a shaded corridor that the lantern light filled with a soft amber glow.

Every few steps, a side path would branch off, leading to a courtyard or a garden or a set of stairs descending to a lower tier. Occasionally I caught glimpses through open doorways: interiors with low furniture, painted screens, and the quiet movement of people inside.

People... merfolk were everywhere I looked.

They sat at open-air tea houses, cups raised with both hands. They crossed the bridges between buildings in small groups, their clothing all light fabrics in blues and greens and silvers. They haggled at stalls where things I didn’t recognize were laid out on woven mats. And most of them, I couldn’t help but notice, were stunning.

Not just the women. There were men, too. They had that same iridescent quality, the same easy grace, the same features that looked like someone had taken a human face and polished away every imperfection. But I’ll be honest. The women were a different category entirely.

"You’re drooling," Nisha said beside me with a flat tone.

"I am not drooling."

"Your mouth was open."

"I was breathing."

"Through your mouth. While staring."

"The architecture of this place is very impressive, can’t you seeee?"

Nisha gave me a look that said she didn’t believe a single word, which was fair because none of them were true.

’For what it’s worth,’ Kassie added, ’the architecture is quite impressive.’

’Thank you, Kassie.’

’That was not a defence of your behaviour.’

I closed my mouth and focused on following Lín Shuǐyáo.