Chapter 49: He Put Her in His Heart, but She Put Him on the Knife

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: He Put Her in His Heart, but She Put Him on the Knife

Shen Yue stood where she was, gasping for breath.

Staring at the pond, she tried to calm herself down.

’An illusion. It’s an illusion. It has to be an illusion!’

Her face was pale. She took a moment to recover as she recalled the voice from just now. It was as pleasant as the trickle of a clear spring.

’I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before.’

’But I can’t quite place it.’

After composing herself for a moment, she decided to walk over and take another look.

But when she reached the edge of the pond, the fish was gone!

Shen Yue: "???"

’What’s going on...’

’I clearly saw it get tossed back into the water!’

’Where did it go?’

Just as she was reeling from the shock, a small figure appeared beside her.

She turned her head. "Qibao?"

Little Qi, who had been playing with her brothers in the bamboo house, was now standing beside her.

Her delicate, sweet little face looked up at her grievously, then glanced at the pond, and then back at her.

Her eyes darted back and forth, and she pursed her lips, looking like she was about to cry.

The sight made Shen Yue forget all about the fish.

She hurried over to her.

"Qibao, what’s wrong? What happened? Did your brothers bully you? Why are your eyes so red?"

"Tell your Female Mother, did your brothers bully you!"

In response—

"Waaaaah!"

Qibao burst into tears.

"Female Mother, please don’t kill the pretty fishy! Qibao is scared!"

Shen Yue was speechless.

’So Qibao was scared because she saw me about to kill the fish.’

She’d almost forgotten that Qibao was a mermaid, which was basically a type of fish. Qibao must have been so upset because she saw her about to kill one.

The Mermaid Clan did feed on ordinary, non-sentient schools of fish in the sea.

But Little Qi had only just hatched. She’d never seen such a bloody scene before. Shen Yue’s actions with the knife must have truly terrified her. ’After all, it’s one of her own kind.’

Shen Yue quickly pulled her into an embrace.

"Okay, okay, Female Mother won’t kill it!"

"It scared our Little Qi, didn’t it? Don’t cry, come here, let your Female Mother hold you!"

Tears continued to stream down Little Qi’s face, crystal clear and utterly pitiful.

The sight made Shen Yue’s heart ache.

Meanwhile, Lan Cangyue was hiding in the shadows, clutching his rear end and hopping up and down in pain.

’How could my little Female Master be so cruel?’

’She stabbed me in the butt with a needle the moment we met! Ouch, ouch, ouch! The pain is killing me!’

"Come on, your Female Mother will take you to see. The fish got away, I didn’t kill it. Let’s go find it together, okay?"

Hearing this, he forgot all about rubbing his sore butt. In a flash, he dove back into the water.

Little Qi rested in Shen Yue’s arms as they stood by the edge of the pond.

Shen Yue pointed at the pond.

"Look, the little fish is gone, see? It got away..."

She trailed off mid-sentence.

Shen Yue froze.

The fish that had vanished just moments ago had reappeared in the pond.

Only this time, it wasn’t swimming around cheerfully. It was just lying motionless in the water.

It even seemed to be looking at her with a hint of resentment...

Shen Yue was speechless.

’What is going on? Am I seeing things?!’

’Is this fish blinking in and out of existence?!’

In her arms, Little Qi saw the fish in the water and immediately stopped crying.

Wiping away a tear, she hopped out of Shen Yue’s arms, crouched by the edge of the pond, and stared at the fish.

"Female Mother, Little Qi likes this fishy. Can we please not eat it?"

Shen Yue wondered if she was just on edge today, causing her to hear and see things.

Little Qi’s words snapped her out of her daze.

She noticed that as soon as Little Qi spoke, the fish wiggled its body and swam over to her.

’From the looks of it, this fish really is sentient.’

’And it seems to really like Little Qi.’

As if on cue, Little Qi looked up, her big eyes glistening.

"Female Mother, he’s so pretty. Can Little Qi keep this fish? And... he said he likes Little Qi, and he likes you too."

Shen Yue froze.

"It talked to you?"

"Uh-huh! He also said he wants to stay with you and me forever."

In the water, Lan Cangyue listened.

He was so moved and gratified that he shed fish tears.

’I was too naive,’ he thought, sniffling. ’I held this woman in my heart, but she put me on the chopping block!’

’She wanted to kill me and make me into fish head soup!’

’I can’t believe I almost lost my life as a fish the moment I got here!’

’But at the critical moment, my own daughter came to my rescue. She really knows how to protect her dad.’

’I’m so happy!’

Shen Yue listened, giving the fish in the water a suspicious look.

It was wagging its tail back and forth, looking rather cheerful.

But the patch where she’d scraped off its scales looked bald and a little pathetic.

She wasn’t surprised by this. After all, Little Qi was from the Mermaid Clan, so she was naturally able to communicate and resonate with the fish.

What she hadn’t expected, however, was that the fish was truly sentient and capable of thought.

’It’s a good thing I didn’t chop it up for soup.’

With that thought, Shen Yue crouched down.

"Alright, since Little Qi likes it, we’ll keep it as a pet. We can eat other fishies, just not this one!"

Little Qi immediately clapped her small hands in delight.

"Yay! Female Mother is the best!"

From the shadows, Huang Ziyue and Mu Silin shrewdly observed Little Qi and the fish in the water.

Something felt off.

The fish had suddenly spoken, then vanished, then reappeared.

That was clearly only possible with the invisibility granted by a High level Spiritual Power. They’d bet anything that this fish was more than it seemed. It was definitely not just a simple fish.

Huang Ziyue considered a possibility.

He had heard before that the Mermaid Clan possessed shapeshifting abilities in water, allowing them to transform into any aquatic species.

’Could it be... that this fish is a shapeshifted mermaid?’

’And judging by how protective Qibao is of this fish...’

He narrowed his eyes, an answer forming in his mind.

’Hmph.’

’How despicable.’

’Using a trick like that to get close to her... he deserved to be almost made into soup.’

On the other side, Mu Silin seemed to be on the same wavelength. Having reached the same conclusion, he spoke.

"Later, when no one’s around, you go down and test that fish."

He suspected the fish was a transformed member of the Mermaid Clan, and that it was very likely connected to Qibao.

His subordinate was stunned.

"Me?"

Mu Silin glared at him.

"Who else?"

The subordinate shrank back.

"Yes, General."

’But my spiritual power... won’t I be exposed the moment I make a move?’

’Besides, how am I supposed to test a member of the Mermaid Royal Family, one so mysterious they can even shapeshift?’

’It would make more sense if the General went himself.’

...

After placating Little Qi, Shen Yue paid the fish no more mind.

She made bamboo rat stew with potatoes, and also roasted a duck and another fish.

Then Shen Yue and her seven little cubs sat in the bamboo house, enjoying a fragrant meal. The little ones ate with gusto.

Laughter and delicious aromas wafted from the bamboo house, making the four grown men hiding in the shadows drool.

They longed to simply rush in and eat with Shen Yue and the little ones.

But they didn’t dare.

Besides, at that moment, they had more important things to do.

Lan Cangyue lay in the water, his rear end stinging from the two times Shen Yue had poked him.

Smelling the delicious food and hearing the laughter from inside, he cursed himself for using the wrong approach.

’I should have just revealed myself to my little Female Master and seduced her with my handsome looks.’

As he was thinking...

A shadow fell over him.

Before he could react, someone struck at him with their palm.

Lan Cangyue instinctively counterattacked, slapping his small fishtail to create a massive splash.

Even though there wasn’t much water in the pond, the slap sent a wave crashing violently into the person above.

Mu Silin’s subordinate was knocked back several steps, soaked to the bone.

The fish, meanwhile, had instantly vanished from the pond.

Seeing this from the shadows, Mu Silin’s eyes widened.

Huang Ziyue’s pupils contracted.

It seemed they were right. This fish was no ordinary creature.

In a flash, the two of them were gone.

Seeing the others in the shadows begin to move, Ye Lüqi was no exception. He too vanished in a flash and followed them.