The villains are redeemed, and the heroines cry and beg for forgiveness.

Gu Ran didn't know that; he only knew that the stairs looked very much like a test or obstacle course.

So he flew directly up to search for the little conch shell.

"No, not here either." Gu Ran had been searching from bottom to top and had almost reached the top of the mountain, but she still hadn't found the little conch.

"Could it be that Little Conch has already reached the top of the mountain? Logically speaking, shouldn't she have succeeded in the challenge? Why did she fail?" Gu Ran wondered.

If it weren't for the mechanical electronic voice in the ruins saying that the little conch had failed the challenge and would be eliminated, Gu Ran would never have been so anxious.

Suddenly, Gu Ran's expression turned serious because he saw bloodstains on the steps.

Those were blood-red footprints, and from the marks, you could tell that the feet were small, not very big.

As you climb higher up the stairs, the bloody footprints become clearer. In the end, it feels like walking on a mountain of knives, with more and more blood on the footprints, as if your feet have just been soaked in a pool of blood.

Gu Ran's heart clenched.

From these footprints, Gu Ran could empathize with the pain of their owner, and he also saw the unwavering determination of the footprint's owner.

Because from the moment these footprints appeared, not a single one was backwards, and there wasn't even a single random footprint; they were all moving towards the mountaintop!

This is a determination to fight to the death!

Gu Ran's heart trembled.

He became increasingly eager to fly to the mountaintop.

"Little conch!"

At the mountaintop, Gu Ran indeed saw the woman he had been longing for day and night.

However, the little conch at this moment was very different from the little conch he knew—she no longer had a fish tail, but instead had a pair of long, slender legs.

The feet of those long and beautiful legs were mangled and bloody, as if they had been cut into pieces.

Her body was in a prone position, and her delicate hands were covered in blood.

In front of her was a closed door, a high-quality metal door that looked very futuristic, and covered in bloody handprints.

Gu Ran was deeply saddened.

He quickly landed beside the little conch and checked on her condition.

"Little conch, can you hear me? It's me, Gu Ran!"

What reassured Gu Ran somewhat was that the little conch was still breathing, and the worst had not happened. However, she was clearly unconscious and did not respond to Gu Ran's calls at all.

"The door...open the door..."

Suddenly, the little conch frowned and muttered something to itself.

Gu Ran immediately grasped the little conch's hands: "Little conch, I'm here, it's alright, it's alright, I'm here!"

Gu Ran felt her hands gripping his tightly, as if she were terrified he would let go.

Gu Ran gently comforted her, "I am Gu Ran, I'm here. You don't need to undergo the test of inheritance anymore. I will protect you well, little conch."

The little conch's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, then her eyelids twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Gu Ran was overjoyed: "Little Conch, you're awake!?"

"Am I... dreaming? Gu Ran... it's so nice to be able to dream of you before I die..." Little Conch looked at Gu Ran, smiled slightly, and her face was full of happiness.

"No, you're not dead! I've come to save you!" Gu Ran pressed her blood-soaked hand, clutching the little conch shell, against her face. "Look, I'm real! I'm the real Gu Ran, the person you love most! And the person who loves you most!"

"Really? I'm not dreaming? You're not hallucinating either?" The little conch was stunned for a moment, then she laughed happily, but at the same time her eyes reddened and crystal tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Yes, you're not dreaming. I am the real Gu Ran, not a hallucination. I've come to save you!" Gu Ran replied with a smile, her tone firm.

"Don't move... my hands are covered in blood, I'll get your face... dirty..." Little Conch looked at Gu Ran with great excitement, her face smeared with blood from Gu Ran's hands, and felt a pang of guilt, wanting to pull her hands back.

"You're the one who shouldn't move around! Your body is so weak, you should just lie down and rest!" Gu Ran scolded with a stern face.

"Waaah... Gu Ran, I'm so useless. I failed. I failed the challenge. I can't accept the inheritance of the ruins." The little conch buried itself in Gu Ran's arms and cried sadly.

"It's alright, it's okay now. I'm here, I'm here. Failure is failure, I don't care," Gu Ran comforted the little conch by patting its back.

"But I care!" the little conch immediately broke free and shouted, "If I can't accept the legacy of the ruins, the crisis of the mermaid race can't be resolved!"

Gu Ran: "Is it because your mermaid race can't leave this ruin? It's alright, I've already driven away all the sea beasts and ferocious beasts outside, your mermaid race can come back again."

The little conch shell was taken aback, but then she whispered, "Thank you, Gu Ran, but... I also want to wear your wedding dress myself and stay by your side forever."

"I want to be with you forever and ever, and never be separated from you."

"To take care of you like a human wife would, and to bear you a bunch of children..."

97. The little conch is dead? Gu Ran has gone mad! 4k

Gu Ran was taken aback upon hearing what the little conch shell said.

He had no idea that this was what she was thinking.

So she cared about this so much, so much about having a pair of legs?

He originally thought that as long as he didn't tell the little conch, she would stay with him carefree forever.

However, he overlooked one point: the little seashell had its own thoughts.

Her grandmother merely brought out the desire in her heart; ultimately, it was her own will that determined her resolve and actions.

Gu Ran gently comforted her, "It's okay, little conch. Just stay the way you are. I don't mind. You're just fine the way you are now. I like it very much."

The little conch nestled in Gu Ran's arms and said in a muffled voice, "But...but, I'm a mermaid, and you're human. We're ultimately different. The thought of losing you and not being able to be with you terrifies me. But my grandmother told me that if I successfully pass the test of the ruins, I can freely change my form and decide whether I have legs or not."

"Furthermore, if we obtain the inheritance of the ruins, the merfolk will no longer be bullied, and we won't have to hide anymore. So I thought, even if it means death, I absolutely cannot fail; I must successfully receive the inheritance of the ruins, but..."

The little conch's voice suddenly turned self-reproachful and aggrieved: "I finally got through the first two levels and was thinking about challenging the third level, but I just can't open the door to the third level. Am I too useless?"

Gu Ran thought of the bloody footprints on the steps and felt a pang of pain in her heart: "How could this be? This problem should have nothing to do with you."

After thinking for a moment, Gu Ran asked, "How did you get through the previous level? What was the challenge like? And what are the conditions for successfully completing this level?"

The little conch said somewhat confusedly, "Actually, I don't really know what the first two levels were like. I only remember that after passing the first level, I seemed to have gained a very, very powerful ability, which made it easier to control the seawater, and even make the ocean create huge tsunamis."

"Then this level... it seems to be that I have to say my biggest wish, and then I can have it granted. My wish is to have a pair of legs like a human's. And then it seems that I have to reach the top of the mountain to open the door to the third level, which is the last level."

At this point, a hint of pain appeared on the little conch's face.

"I never knew having legs was such a painful thing. Every step was so painful. When I was almost at the top of the mountain, it felt like being cut by a knife. I really wanted to cut my legs off right away. But when I thought of you, the pain stopped. As long as I could be with you, I could endure any pain. So even when the pain became so bad that I couldn't stand up, I gritted my teeth and persevered."

"Human girls are amazing. They can endure such intense pain. But I won't lose to human girls either. You can't secretly be with other human girls behind my back."

Gu Ran felt both heartache and a bit amused and exasperated.

He said, "Human girls' legs, like your fish tail, won't feel any pain unless they're injured or sick. They're something you're born with, part of your body. How could they possibly feel pain? You're such an idiot."

"The intense pain you're feeling is probably part of the ruins' test, which may be testing your endurance or determination."

The little conch exclaimed in surprise, "Ah? So it was part of the test! How come I didn't think of that? I thought walking was always this painful after having legs."

She patted Gu Ran's arm and said coquettishly, "Don't call me stupid. I just didn't understand human girls before, so I didn't think of it for a moment. I'm very smart. My grandmother said I'm the smartest child in the tribe."

Then, the little conch's expression darkened: "But in the end, I still failed the test of the ruins and failed to inherit the legacy. My grandmother must be very disappointed. She had high hopes for me."

Gu Ran didn't know how to tell Little Conch's grandmother about it, so she could only remain silent for the time being.

He changed the subject, saying, "I don't think you failed. After all, you successfully reached the top of the mountain and came to this door. If this is the condition for success, you have no reason to fail."

The little conch shell asked in confusion, "But if I succeed, why won't this door open?"

She said somewhat dejectedly, "Maybe it's true, as you say, that I'm an idiot. There must be some condition I didn't find and fulfill, which is why I failed the challenge. Otherwise, if I had succeeded, it would have opened the door for me, right?"

Gu Ran shook his head and said, "This ruin has a long history and may indeed have played a very important role in the history of your mermaid race. That's why you are too superstitious about this ruin and believe that it is absolutely impossible for it to be wrong."

"However, on the other hand, the longer this site has been around, the greater the possibility of something going wrong. I suspect it is some kind of technological product. If it is mechanical, then the longer it exists, the greater the possibility of it malfunctioning."

"Besides, haven't you already successfully reached the top of the mountain? So logically speaking, you've already succeeded in the challenge. The fact that the door isn't open is a problem with the ruins, not with you."

Gu Ran guessed that it was probably because too much time had passed, and the little conch had consumed too much energy while fighting back against those sea beasts and ferocious beasts, that caused some kind of malfunction in the ruins, preventing it from successfully entering the next level.

"Will I still be able to successfully inherit the legacy?" the little conch asked. "Gu Ran, do you have any way to open that door? I want to continue the challenge."

Gu Ran shook his head: "There's nothing I can do."

Even if there were a way, Gu Ran didn't plan to let the little conch continue the challenge. He came here to stop the little conch from accepting the inheritance.

He was originally thinking about how to explain all this to the little conch and get her to give up, but he didn't expect that he didn't have to worry about it anymore. Now he just needed to find a way to get out.

"Oh, is there nothing you can do? But if I fail, my legs will turn back to normal. Is this our fate? We can't be together anymore." The little conch cried sadly.

"How could that be? You like me, and I like you too, so why can't we be together? Besides, didn't I say before that I wouldn't mind your fishtail? You didn't mind that I don't have a fishtail either. In fact, your fishtail is quite cute, and I really like it!" Gu Ran comforted her repeatedly.

"Really?" the little conch asked timidly, "You really don't mind my fish tail, and you actually like it?"

"Of course it's true!" Gu Ran said with certainty. "Your fish tail is pink, tender, smooth, and cool to the touch. It feels so nice! I love it!"

He looked like he was about to swear an oath.

"How would you know if you haven't even touched it?"

Suddenly, the little conch's cheeks turned redder than an apple, and she spat, "Pervert! Did you... did you secretly touch my tail?"

Gu Ran was speechless. He hadn't secretly done it.

Isn't this to comfort her?