When he said this, Officer Lin was still confused. “Oh, oh, the leader of the blood eel fish, right? This fish here?”
He walked over to the tied-up male fish, circled it a few times with curiosity, then pinched his nose. “My god, it reeks.”
“You misunderstood,” Jiang Luo calmly patted Lisa’s shoulder again. “The blood eel fish’s leader I’m talking about is this one.”
Everyone who heard this froze—even his own people.
Lisa looked up at him, confused, tilting her head. “Big brother?”
Jiang Luo looked down at her with a gentle smile. “Don’t be afraid. Big brother will lock you up soon.”
Then he turned to the police. “Officer Lin, prepare a well-secured room.”
Officer Lin glanced at Lisa, then at Jiang Luo, hesitating. “Isn’t there some kind of mistake?”
Lisa’s eyes widened in fear, and she backed away, retreating behind Wenren Lian. She clutched Wenren Lian’s clothes and sobbed, “Sister, I’m scared.”
Wenren Lian looked deeply at her and gently held her hand. “It’s okay.”
But just as Lisa relaxed a little, Wenren Lian suddenly pulled her hands back and swiftly tied them behind her.
Lisa looked back at her in disbelief. Wenren Lian curled her lips into a slight smile. “Sorry, but I trust my friend more.”
That sentence snapped everyone out of their daze. Cheng Li exclaimed in shock, “She’s actually the blood eel fish’s leader?!”
The thought of his wife and daughter’s deaths made Cheng Li’s face twist with rage. His eyes burned with hatred as he stared at Lisa. “Was it you who killed my wife and daughter?!”
He raised his fist to rush forward, causing Officer Lin to panic and throw his notepad aside to hold him back. Still in disbelief, he pleaded, “She’s just a little girl—how could she survive a punch? Don’t act on impulse!”
Ye Xun silently picked up a coil of rope from the floor and nudged Lu Youyi. The two moved to tie up Lisa. Lu Youyi gave an awkward smile. “Lisa, don’t worry—we’ll be gentle.”
Lisa stared at them in confusion, then suddenly lowered her head. Her shoulders trembled, and her soft sobs filled the air. Even Cheng Li began to hesitate, unsure, and looked at Jiang Luo. “Did we really get it wrong?”
Just as he spoke, the bound male fish suddenly went berserk. It broke free of its ropes and lunged at Wenren Lian. At the critical moment, a golden tiger appeared out of nowhere. It had been prepared—it sank its teeth into the male fish, swung its head, and slammed the fish hard to the other side.
“Roar—” The tiger growled lowly, its powerful limbs making the floor tremble. It pounced again and viciously tore off the blood eel fish’s limbs.
The male fish howled in pain. The tiger spat out the bloody flesh, then, seeing that the male fish was shaking and unable to continue fighting, gracefully padded over to Jiang Luo’s side. It nudged its head into Jiang Luo’s hand, tongue sticking out pitifully. “Blegh.”
It was acting spoiled—the taste of the blood eel fish had disgusted it.
Of the twelve zodiac animals Jiang Luo could now summon, each had its own personality. The Snake was calm, poisonous, and ruthless. The Tiger was fierce and proud but loved to act cute. The Rat was timid yet clever, with unique talents in both escaping and guarding food.
Sometimes, Jiang Luo felt they were real living creatures, not just twelve incantations carved into the Yin-Yang hoop.
Jiang Luo rubbed the tiger’s head and looked at Lisa with a half-smile. “What a shame. Even the last male fish is useless now.”
Lisa slowly raised her head. Her delicate face was now expressionless, her black curls hanging beside her ears. She stared darkly at Jiang Luo. “How did you find out?”
“I suspected a long time ago,” Jiang Luo shrugged. “Your stories and everything else—they were full of holes. A girl who was abused and neglected by her father would still miss him? You’re only eight, yet you survived on a ship full of blood eel fish without harm, knew their weaknesses and secrets, and ‘accidentally’ fed that info to me. You kept appearing around us ‘coincidentally,’ all for one goal—to get us to bring you ashore. The reason we escaped the Angonise so smoothly… you helped with that too, didn’t you?”
He walked toward Lisa step by step, with the tiger following closely at his side. Even next to such a tall and imposing beast, the black-haired young man’s presence was just as commanding—sharpness filled his brows and eyes.
“Two years ago, when the crew pulled you from the sea, you were no longer Lisa, right? You were a female blood eel fish that had escaped from the deep ocean. You drilled into Lisa’s brain in the water and took control of her consciousness.”
Jiang Luo shook his head to himself. “But it wasn’t just that. There were three kinds of people on the ship: the rich, the poor, and the crew. You belong to the third group—but there were no children among the crew, let alone a girl. Could it be that blood eel fish, like ants or bees, also have a queen who commands everything?”
Lisa quietly stared at him, the hatred in her eyes gradually fading into calm. Then she smiled sweetly, two small dimples forming at the corners of her lips. “Big brother, you’re so smart.”
Jiang Luo came to a stop in front of her. He had intended to bend down, but as he just started to lower his waist, his body suddenly tensed, and he straightened back up. Looking down from above, he said coldly, “Big brother has one more question for you. Why did you want to come ashore?”
“And,” he added with interest, “you seem different from the other blood eel fish. Even when we killed them all, you didn’t seem the least bit affected.”
“Because I’m not like them at all,” Lisa said calmly. “If blood eel fish are a species undergoing evolution, then those others are failed, half-finished products. I’m the successful, completed one. I can control blood eel fish, and I can merge perfectly with the human body and brain. Look at those crewmembers whose bodies were taken over by the male fish, or the rich whose minds were controlled by female fish. Over time, their eyes grow cloudy, their teeth sharpen—those are deep-sea fish traits. The other blood eel fish eventually turn their human bodies into fish. In the end, they’ll always just be fish.”
Lisa lifted her head proudly. “But look at me—my eyes are still human, my teeth too. I have human intelligence. Those ordinary and ugly blood eel fish—if they’re killed, so what? They’re worthless to me anyway. Too stupid.”
Lu Youyi and Ye Xun had already finished tying her up, but Lisa didn’t struggle at all. She let them tie her down and even looked at Jiang Luo with a hopeful gaze, waiting for him to ask more questions.
Jiang Luo asked, “So? Why were you willing to sacrifice a whole boat of blood eel fish just to get ashore?”
The police, guns drawn, began to surround Lisa in a loose semi-circle.
Lisa sighed and said, “You humans are the ones to blame.”
Officer Lin couldn’t help but frown. “What do you mean?”
Bound tightly, Lisa tiptoed and whined in a cute voice, “It’s because you kept fishing the ocean over and over again. That’s how we ended up getting caught and brought on board, and saw humans for the first time. And then you greedy people wanted to hunt us. That’s how we realized—wow! Humans are so delicious. Even our eggs love to hatch inside your bellies!”
She mimicked Jiang Luo’s tone and shrugged. “So, the reason so many of you died is really your own fault. You can eat fish—why can’t fish eat you?”
Lu Youyi froze, brain short-circuited. “That… kinda makes sense?”
Zhuo Zhongqiu immediately slapped him awake.
Jiang Luo, unfazed, pointed out, “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Oops, sorry,” Lisa stuck out her tongue.
Since her identity was exposed, she had become lively and animated, shedding her previously pitiful and weepy facade entirely.
Lisa said, “I wanted to come ashore because I have bigger ambitions, of course.”
“Humans can go to the sea, so why can’t fish come on land? All those female fish that controlled the rich people’s minds—they listen to me. I could use them to do so, so many things,” Lisa blurted like she had been holding it in forever. “My original plan was perfect. You caught the ‘leader’ of the blood eel fish, and you destroyed the ship. I was clean—I could’ve come ashore without a stain and turned the land into my own ‘fish pond,’ with humans as the fish in it. But now, you ruined everything, big brother—”
Jiang Luo chuckled. “Well, sorry about that.”
Lisa gave a dramatic sigh like an old woman.
“Oh well,” she suddenly beamed, “Big brother, big sisters, I’m done talking. See you next time!”
And with that, she suddenly leapt over the rail!
Beyond the railing was open sea—if the blood eel fish’s queen returned to the ocean, the consequences would be unimaginable! Everyone’s heart tightened in an instant. The police rushed over, shouting in panic, “Stop her!”
But the next moment, Lisa—who had flipped over the railing—never touched the water. Confused, she looked up and followed her wrist… there was a rope wrapped around it. The other end of the rope was held by none other than Jiang Luo, that handsome face even fish would fall for.
Pretty big brother smiled lazily, “Where do you think you’re going?”
Kuang Zheng reacted quickly and yanked Lisa back.
In his arms, Lisa flailed and kicked. “No! Let me go! Let go of me!”
Kuang Zheng held her tightly. Officer Lin, whose arms and legs had gone weak, felt his heart—suspended this whole time—finally fall back into place. He could breathe again. Pulling a colleague close, he said weakly, “Quick… go prep a room!”
Five minutes later, Lisa was locked up.
Everything had finally settled. Jiang Luo could finally take a shower. He stretched and followed the staff toward his room. Passing by Cheng Li, he patted him on the shoulder. “Brother Cheng, come to my room at 11 tonight. We’ll perform the summoning ritual for your wife and daughter.”
Cheng Li, who had been in a daze since the tiger appeared, muttered in a daze, “Summoning? A… summoning ritual…”
After he understood the meaning of those two words, he suddenly snapped out of it and looked at them in shock.
But that group of young people had already walked away, arms slung around each other’s shoulders.
***
Before they could even return to their room, Jiang Luo and the others were surrounded by survivors, thanking them hundreds of times.
“Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have survived.”
There were elderly people, middle-aged people, but mostly young men and women.
Each face bore the expression of someone who had just escaped death, some wiping away tears in small clusters. Jiang Luo didn’t know how many people had shaken his hand in gratitude. When he turned his head, he saw that his companions were the same. Not far away, some were even enthusiastically praising them to the police officers.
“These young men are incredible—really amazing! If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have made it out alive. Those monsters—they killed quite a few! Their moves, seriously, no way they don’t know martial arts!” Jiang Luo’s ears were sharp and caught a few rich people crowding around a police officer, singing their praises. “Officer, these young men deserve a reward. We’ll cover the bonus. They should even go on TV—get interviewed, get famous! It’ll be good for them in the future.”
The police officer gave a wry smile. “The matter of the blood eel fish can’t be revealed to the general public. You’ll also need to sign confidentiality agreements with us. As for rewards, the state will give recognition to anyone who helps the country and its people.”
Jiang Luo stopped listening after a few lines. Another ten minutes passed before he finally returned to his room.
Once the door closed, the noise from outside instantly died down. Jiang Luo checked the bathroom. This room wasn’t as luxurious as the suite on the Angonise, but it had everything he needed.
After confirming the hot water worked, Jiang Luo started undressing.
But the moment his hands touched the hem of his shirt, he paused. He first summoned the Yin Tiger and had it guard the door for him.
Pushing away the big tiger’s affectionate head, Jiang Luo sternly repeated, “Don’t let anyone—or anything—get in, understand? Even a mouse or a fly.”
The Yin Tiger lazily squatted by the door, its tail swaying casually. “Awoo.”
Jiang Luo smiled. “Good boy.”
With the Yin Tiger there, Jiang Luo felt at ease. He quickly stripped off his dirty clothes and tossed them in the corner. But when it came to removing his pants, his expression froze. He didn’t even want to look down.
The fishy smell masked another kind of scent—one no one else might notice, but he could.
More importantly, after a few hours… everything that shouldn’t have happened had happened.
Expressionless, Jiang Luo walked into the bathroom.
Outside, the Yin Tiger yawned. A gust of cold wind slipped in under the door. Though formless, it made the tiger tilt its head and glance a few times.
It wasn’t a person. Nor an animal. Not even a fly or a rat.
The Yin Tiger’s tail flicked. It didn’t care.
The cold wind silently slipped into the bathroom.
Author’s Note:
Chi You: I will no longer feel worldly desire for Jiang Luo.
Chi You (shouting): I only came to find my enemy’s weakness!
