The Mirror Lake’s Secret

“So, does love simply fade away?”

“Or was it never truly there to begin with?”

The blonde young woman sat on a crooked-necked tree by the lake, swinging her legs as she gazed down, posing her questions to the white moon reflected in the water.

She had remained there from dusk until the stroke of midnight.

The tall tree canopy encircled the tranquil lake, its surface devoid of even a ripple, while the bright moon above seemed content to use the water as its mirror.

Hence, Noren had bestowed a name upon it:

Mirror Lake.

****

Six years prior, she had been carried to this very spot by a white wolf, intended as a sacrifice to challenge the wolf king.

The two wolves fought fiercely, neither gaining an advantage, and both were left severely wounded.

Subsequently, the pack split into two factions, engaging in a continuous battle.

Noren, then merely a young girl, was still in the nascent stages of memory recovery, lacking the rational thought of an adult.

Terrified beyond measure, she stumbled and accidentally fell into the lake.

However, the shock of the icy water momentarily cleared her mind.

She instinctively kicked, propelling herself to shore, and in doing so, the lake’s waters washed away her scent.

This, ultimately, was why the wolf pack failed to track her down later.

In the following years, Noren, true to her nature, repaid every kindness and settled every score.

She systematically annihilated the wolf packs within this forest.

It was, in her eyes, a fitting retribution.

She harbored no guilt.

‘They were just beasts,’ she thought. ‘They deserved to die!’

The young woman gazed at the white moon reflected in the water, yet the celestial body, hanging high above, could offer no answers to her questions.

It understood nothing of human grievances, passions, delusions, or affections.

Noren offered a faint smile, then gracefully leaped from the tree branch.

With a soft rustle, she shed her clothes and hung them carefully on the tree trunk.

The Moon Lady seemed to gather the sun’s reflected light, pouring it over Noren’s body like a cascade of ethereal moonlight.

The young woman’s skin radiated a soft, luminous glow, reminiscent of polished mutton-fat jade.

Her size 38 feet, plump and translucent, appeared as if sculpted from jade by a master genetic artisan.

She stood completely nude, save for a ruby-studded silver necklace adorning her slender neck.

The ruby itself was hidden from view, its substantial size and prominent placement suggesting it could only be revealed by parting what lay beneath.

With a subtle shift of Noren’s will, an expanding air membrane began to unfurl from the deep valley between her breasts.

Like a living entity, or perhaps a viscous slime, it enveloped her entire body, leaving an eerie, reflective sheen on her skin.

Only when the membrane had completely covered every strand of her hair, forming a protective shield around her eyes, did Noren seem satisfied.

She stepped across the damp, cool lakeside grass, her long, shapely legs, measuring three feet four inches, carrying her gracefully into the lake.

The water rose steadily, covering her hips, then her chest, then her chin, until her golden hair floated like seaweed on the surface.

The world beneath the surface was truly wondrous.

Her ears felt muffled, as if covered by several layers of leather, a ‘gugudongdong’ sound echoing faintly.

At depths of one or two meters, moonlight still pierced the water, but descending further plunged her into absolute, murky darkness.

“So dark, so cold…”

Noren spoke, and the large air bubbles she exhaled caused the membrane shield to bulge outwards.

With a thought, a long, transparent tube extended from the bulging part of the membrane, breaking the water’s surface.

Warm summer air rushed in, allowing her to breathe even underwater.

Lowering her head, she could see her long legs treading water, swaying gently.

Below her lay a gaping, dark abyss, from which an icy current surged upwards.

The coldness of the current seeped through the membrane shield, prickling her skin.

Her pores contracted, her body hair stood on end, and the deep-seated human fear of darkness coiled within her heart.

Suddenly!

A sudden sucking sensation enveloped her big toe.

Something heavy had bitten down on the young woman’s toe!

Startled, Noren tumbled in the water, then brought her foot up to examine it.

It was a foolish fish!

The stupid fish’s lips gaped and closed, its sharp, tiny teeth embedded in the membrane shield.

Its dull, vacant eyes held no intelligence; its every action was driven by pure instinct.

‘Damn it,’ she thought. ‘I’ve never heard of a girl’s toes being used as bait!’

Noren was utterly disgusted, wanting to tear the idiotic fish apart.

Its slippery scales almost allowed it to escape her grasp!

She scraped off a few scales, then dug her fingers into its flesh once more.

With two forceful strokes of her palm, all the fish meat was stripped clean, and even the main bones were snapped and pulled away.

“Hmm, why is it dark?”

In the brief moment she’d spent dealing with the foolish fish, the young woman had forgotten to tread water.

Her entire body was now plummeting towards the abyssal lakebed.

The light from the surface gradually receded, and boundless darkness enveloped her from all directions.

‘A novel experience,’ Noren mused.

She spread her arms and closed her eyes, allowing her body to slowly sink.

The sensation was akin to the hazy transition from REM and light sleep into deep slumber, a comforting descent into a dream.

With a soft ‘plop,’ the lakebed stirred, kicking up silent dust.

Small fish and crabs scattered in terror, having never encountered such a colossal creature.

A bold green crab scuttled sideways, its eight legs propelling it forward.

It tried to pinch the membrane shield with its large pincers, but finding it impenetrable, it then attempted to scale the ‘mountain,’ hoping to pluck the ‘crimson fruit.’

To its surprise, a venomous snake lay hidden upon the peak!

A long, transparent snake glided forth, tightly binding the large green crab’s eight legs and two pincers against its shell.

“What a massive crab!” she exclaimed.

Saliva gathered beneath her tongue, and her appetite was instantly whetted.

‘In my previous life, there was a fish, what was it called? An anglerfish?’

She picked up the Bloodstone, giving it a forceful squeeze, and a burst of red light erupted, illuminating a small patch of the surrounding darkness.

Tiny fish and shrimp circled the red light, but Noren dismissed them.

They were too small even for a snack; only larger fish, shrimp, and crabs were worth catching, which she then bound into a string with membrane tentacles.

She spent nearly an hour at the lakebed, catching three large crabs, four big fish, and an eel.

This eel was particularly peculiar, with seven circular gill-like spots and a repulsive, suction-cup mouth.

“That’s enough,” she decided. “Time to go up.”

Her calf muscles tensed as she crouched, preparing to swim upwards from the lakebed.

However, a fleeting glimpse caught her eye: a light emanating from the bottom of the lake.

“Oh?” she wondered, intrigued.

The pressure at the lakebed was negligible for ‘Hercules.’

Despite the significant resistance, she reached the source of the light in less than half a minute.

The light, a soft, milky white, originated from beneath a pile of pebbles.

“What could naturally glow like this?” the young woman wondered aloud.

Though perplexed, her hands moved swiftly, immediately overturning the pile of pebbles.

A cloud of sand and dust instantly billowed through the surrounding water.

By feel, it seemed to be a long, rigid, and thick object.

The shaft was slightly thinner, but when her fingers reached its end, they encountered a large, rounded, and smooth mass.

The young woman understood.

She moved out of the murky, yellow-brown water, finding a clear space where she meticulously wiped away the clinging mud and lake sand from the long object.

It revealed its true identity: a…

Bone.

The bone emitted a white glow, slightly weaker than the Bloodstone’s red light, yet far more gentle.

While the Bloodstone felt distinctly Noren’s own, this bone exuded an inviting aura, as if welcoming anyone.

From its white luminescence, the young woman perceived a silent cry, a yearning to be used.

A chill ran down the young woman’s spine, immediately followed by overwhelming ecstasy.

‘This is a wondrous artifact!’ she realized.

Her earlier distress vanished completely, the memory of her father’s beating cast aside.

‘Have I been beaten any less in the past six years?’ she muttered to herself.

‘This one time won’t make a difference, not at all. I should swim up first and see what this ‘wondrous artifact’ can do!’

With a ‘splash!’, the young woman burst through the water’s surface.

The pressure on her skin abruptly released, and the world brightened around her.

“After staying underwater for so long, it’s a bit disorienting to suddenly resurface.”

The blonde young woman casually tossed her captured fish and crabs aside, then meticulously examined the ‘bone artifact.’

Once out of the water, the bone’s white glow had vanished.

It now appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary bone.

She shook it, then rubbed it, but it seemed to have no effect, so she tossed it aside.

‘Never mind,’ she decided. ‘I’ll study it properly once I’m home.’

With that, she shed the Bloodstone’s air membrane.

A pair of plump ‘rabbits’ sprang forth, their reddish ‘eyes’ fixed keenly ahead.

A great white tiger, previously resting, lifted a ‘paw’ to cover its head, obscuring its pink ‘nose.’

Noren stretched languidly.

Before she had her own bath, she had always come here to wash, as she had already eradicated all the surrounding animals…

There was no need to worry about small animals defiling the area, and a natural spring fed the lake from its bottom.

The lake water had always been pristine; otherwise, her mild germophobia would never have allowed her to bathe here.

“Ashes, ashes, we all fall down…” she hummed a cheerful nursery rhyme.

She was ready to dress and head home for a long sleep.

The very next moment, Noren’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Wait, where are my clothes?” she exclaimed.

The tree trunk, where her clothes had been hanging, was now empty.

Only the warm summer breeze of the night rustled around the disoriented young woman.

The crooked-necked tree seemed to shrug its branches, as if saying: “Don’t ask me!”