870 Freedom (1/2)

If you think about it, there were indeed cats in fairy tales, except that they were mostly black cats sitting on an evil witch's shoulder. They were gloomy and scary, and often terrified the fairy tale heroes with their long, sharp teeth.

Fina's tone and face were both provocative and tempting. It showed its little tiger's teeth once in a while, looking slightly like an evil black cat in a fairy tale.

It placed a seemingly impossible trade in front of Sihwa––trading her tail for a human's identity.

Yet, the trade was not totally impossible; it was actually kind of feasible.

If Sihwa really showed up to the world as a handicapped girl who had lost her legs, nobody would ever think that she used to be a mermaid. She could get as much sympathy as she wanted by using her gorgeous face. It was hard to get an ID card, but not totally impossible. There were many things one could not buy with money, but an ID card was not one of them.

Without considering who would perform the surgery, or how Sihwa could survive the surgery, Fina's proposal was not as impulsive as Zhang Zian had imagined.

”Hey! We get our body from our parents. We don't have the right to mutilate it…” Old Time Tea said quietly from outside the bathroom. Maybe it wanted to convince Sihwa to give up the horrible idea. Yet, later it realized that Sihwa had no parents at all, so she would not feel guilty to anyone even if she mutilated her body.

It seemed that Fina's fierce speech had shocked all the elfins on the first floor.

Sihwa's face was as pale as paper. ”Fi… Fina, you mean that… I need to cut off my entire tail?”

”Yes. Don't you always complain about your tail? You always want an ID card and a human identity… Cutting your tail off is the easiest and the only feasible option…” Fina's eyes shifted up her tail, stopping at her skinny waist.

Sihwa was no different from a human from her waist up. Light blue scales started appearing around her waist. They were small at first, and became bigger around her waist.

To execute Fina's horrible idea, Sihwa would be cut in two at the waist…

A bloody scene appeared in Zhang Zian's mind, along with other elfins, including Sihwa herself.

She quivered. Fear penetrated her bones.

They were not in a fairy tale. She could never get a pair of legs––never ever. But she could obtain human identity through another cruel way.

But, was it worth it?

Zhang Zian wanted to tell her it was not worth it, but after glancing around the narrow bathroom, he swallowed his words back.

If a prisoner was confined in a ten square meter room all his life, and could never step out, but was offered a way out if he was willing to give up half of his body, he would do it. He could be free from his prisoner's identity… Although he would end up handicapped, he would at least be able to leave the small, shabby room. Who could be sure that the prisoner would never choose the latter?

Fina turned around and stepped away slowly. ”You can think about it.”

As Fina left, the other elfins also went back downstairs so that Sihwa could think about it by herself.

”I'll be out, too,” Zhang Zian said, closing the bathroom door behind him.

He didn't go downstairs, but leaned against the door to think. Giving up a fishtail for a human identity sounded familiar somehow, as if he had read it somewhere.

Speaking of books, nobody could beat Pi.

Zhang Zian walked next to the desk. Pi was not typing but was flipping through the Nameless Book.

”Pi, I want to ask you something.” He pulled a chair close to sit.

”Eek?” Pi scratched its head, then pointed back at the bathroom, meaning, ”Is this about Sihwa?”

Zhang Zian shook his head. ”Yes and no. In fact, I wanted to ask you… You stay in the living room all day and barely go out. Do you ever feel lonely?”

”Eek.” Pi grinned and typed, ”Sometimes. Sometimes I want to get out and look.”

”But?” Zhang Zian asked again.

Pi tapped its Nameless Book and typed, ”The whole world is in my book. Looking at the world with my own eyes is no different from looking at it in my book.”

Then it pointed at the busy Book Friends Group and typed, ”Besides, I have so many Book Friends with me. So I'm not lonely.”

Zhang Zian believed Pi, but its case didn't suit Sihwa, as it was too spiritual. There was fortune, beauty, and everything in the book. It could gratify all curiosity through the Nameless Book; there was no need to step out of the house.

”Okay, Pi. I'll leave you with your work. Don't forget to take breaks.” Zhang Zian stood up and tapped its shoulder. ”I'll head downstairs.”