Chapter 126: That’s amazing

Why did she like her? Liu Qiu didn’t know. But Duan Liming’s feelings only made her feel burdened.

For the first time, Liu Qiu was a little afraid of being liked.

In her life before, people had confessed to her more than once. She never understood why they liked her.

On the day she died, one of her friends confessed to her. At first Liu Qiu thought it was just a joke, but later she realized her friend was serious.

That evening, she went to the bridge to feel the wind. When no one was around, she sat on the wide bridge railing and thought about it.

What exactly was liking someone?
Why did so many people confess to her?

She couldn’t understand it.

Then someone pushed her off the bridge.

Drowning was a terrifying and painful feeling.

The system saved her and told her that if she completed her tasks as the female lead, she could be revived.

She didn’t care much about the details. She only knew that once she finished the tasks, she could go home—see her mother, see her father.

In the previous two worlds, no one had died.

She was afraid of people she knew dying.

Liu Qiu quietly turned her head away from Duan Liming and looked out toward the deeper night. For a moment, the image of Fu Jinyin dying appeared before her eyes.

“I’m going to sleep,” Liu Qiu said hoarsely, her voice still thick with a nasal tone.

She was just an ordinary person. Not particularly smart, not strong, even somewhat cowardly.

It was hard for her not to blame Fu Jinyin’s death on Duan Liming.

If Duan Liming hadn’t grabbed Fu Jinyin… if—

But there was no “if.”

Liu Qiu gently closed her eyes.

But the real mistake had been hers. She had caused Fu Jinyin’s death.

She had failed to obtain the device meant to control Fu Jinyin and instead caused her to lose her life.

Liu Qiu had never wanted to harm anyone.

Even though the system had told her from the beginning that these were only people from mission worlds—fictional existences.

But to Liu Qiu, the people she interacted with were living beings of flesh and blood, warm and real.

The next day, when Liu Qiu woke up, Duan Liming was already gone. The cold bedding beside her showed that she had left long ago.

After washing up, Liu Qiu tried stepping out of the room.

But just like yesterday, the moment she crossed the doorway, the ring around her ankle made a sound.

Someone was guarding the door. He bowed slightly and politely asked her to return inside.

Pressing her lips together, Liu Qiu went back into the room and sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the ring around her ankle.

“System,” Liu Qiu asked,
“Can you break this?”

The system replied,
“Sorry, Host. I can only electrocute you.”

Liu Qiu sighed.

“It’s fine. If I behave for a few days, Duan Liming will probably let me go out for a walk.”

She bent down and tried pulling at it with her fingers. The ring fit perfectly around her ankle—neither tight nor loose.

She had already taken a shower, and the ring hadn’t been damaged, meaning it was waterproof. What Duan Liming gave her clearly wasn’t an ordinary object.

After trying for a while and realizing it wouldn’t budge at all, Liu Qiu gave up and lay down on the bed.

“System, let’s watch TV.”

The system sounded surprised.

“Host… aren’t you sad anymore?”

Liu Qiu shook her head.

“I’m still very sad. But crying won’t help. No matter how many times I cry, Fu Jinyin won’t come back.”

“The most important thing now is to make Duan Liming let me go out.”

The system replied firmly,
“Okay, Host. Let’s watch TV.”

Thankfully, the host wasn’t endlessly trapped in sadness.

Liu Qiu was confined to this room. The number of people she saw or could talk to every day could be counted on one hand.

Duan Liming always left early in the morning and returned around six or seven in the evening.

Liu Qiu hadn’t seen the “bad” Duan Liming for a long time.

Recently, she had only seen the “good” Duan Liming.

The good Duan Liming never forced her to do anything. When they slept, she simply lay quietly beside her.

Days passed one after another.

Then one day, someone Liu Qiu never expected appeared.

Duan Fan.

Liu Qiu stared at her blankly, shocked.

Duan Fan looked unusually disheveled. Her eyes were red, her cheeks hollow, her hair messy. She looked nothing like her usual arrogant self.

Liu Qiu stood at the doorway, while Duan Fan was stopped outside by the bodyguards.

“Liu Qiu!” Duan Fan shouted anxiously.

Liu Qiu stepped forward slightly, and the ankle ring immediately rang.

Duan Fan saw it and cursed under her breath, running a hand through her hair.

“Liu Qiu. The thing you asked me to investigate…”

“It’s related to Duan Liming.”

“No… it’s related to my family.”

“That experiment started decades ago—”

Meanwhile.

“Why hasn’t it woken up yet?” Chaoyue muttered, confused. “It’s been a week. The octopus experiment subject should have awakened by now.”

Chaoyue didn’t come every day. Most of the time she stayed in Duan Liming’s office, acting completely normal.

Duan Liming was a very intelligent human. If she noticed anything strange, she might send Chaoyue back to the lab.

Although she had lost her memory, Chaoyue was certain that before it was erased, she must have had some connection with Liu Qiu.

Otherwise, Duan Liming wouldn’t have thought her memories needed to be erased.

What a petty woman.

Evening soon fell.

Chaoyue’s newlywed seaside villa stood beautifully by the coast.

Since leaving the laboratory, Chaoyue had stayed around Duan Liming, living nearby. In the villa there was a room full of surveillance monitors—her living space.

She knew everything happening in the villa.

But she couldn’t show any concern toward Liu Qiu.

“Liming-jie, how about arranging a wife for me?” Chaoyue teased casually.

Duan Liming’s calm gaze fell on her.

“Chaoyue. Do you still remember your identity?”

Chaoyue shrugged.

“I’m just joking. Don’t look at me like you’re warning me.”

Duan Liming shook her head slightly.

“It’s not a warning.”

“We are different from humans.”

“Not every human can accept monsters.”

Chaoyue smiled.

“You’re too serious, Liming-jie. That’s no fun.”

Duan Liming said nothing and walked upstairs.

Chaoyue watched her disappear.

Soon, Liu Qiu would board that cruise ship.

She couldn’t wait to see Duan Liming lose control.

Later that night, footsteps approached.

Liu Qiu lay on the bed, burying herself under the blankets.

Duan Liming stopped by the bedside.

“Liu Qiu. You’ll suffocate like that.”

Liu Qiu clenched her hands but stayed silent under the blanket.

The Duan family funded the laboratory. She refused to believe Duan Liming didn’t know about Fu Jinyin’s condition.

And those experiments…

They were utterly inhumane.

Duan Liming was truly terrible.

Later, Duan Liming offered to take her out.

Liu Qiu asked cautiously,
“Can I choose the boat I like?”

Duan Liming nodded toward the port.

“You can choose any of those.”

Liu Qiu walked slowly and finally stopped in front of a small yacht.

“S-61.”

“I want to take this one.”

Duan Liming looked at her silently, as if trying to see through her thoughts.

The sea breeze blew Liu Qiu’s hair and skirt. She looked thin, fragile, almost transparent in the sunlight.

“Is it not allowed?” she asked carefully.

Duan Liming nodded.

“It’s allowed.”

Liu Qiu’s eyes brightened slightly.

“Thank you.”

They boarded the yacht.

Soon the horn sounded as S-61 sailed out to sea.

Liu Qiu stood on the deck looking at the wide ocean.

The ring on her ankle was still there, but for some reason it no longer made noise.

What exactly did Chaoyue want her to do by boarding this ship?

She was still thinking when footsteps approached.

Duan Liming handed her a fishing rod.

“Do you need me to teach you?”

“No,” Liu Qiu replied.

She only used fishing as an excuse to go out to sea.

Suddenly—

Boom.

The yacht shook violently.

Another explosion followed.

Black smoke rose from the ship.

“Boss, the ship is sinking. I’ve already called for a helicopter!”

“We should evacuate by lifeboat!”

Liu Qiu realized this was her chance.

If she jumped into the sea and died, she could restart the cycle.

But Duan Liming grabbed her wrist.

“Liu Qiu. Come with me.”

Liu Qiu suddenly shook her off.

Another explosion rocked the ship.

She climbed onto the railing.

“Liu Qiu, come back!” Duan Liming shouted hoarsely.

“We can divorce! I don’t need children!”

“If you need experimental companions, I can give you many!”

Liu Qiu looked back at her once.

Her eyes were filled with helplessness.

Then she let go.

Her body fell forward into the sea.

Duan Liming ran to the railing and jumped after her without hesitation.

Underwater, she saw Liu Qiu sinking.

She swam toward her desperately—

But suddenly her eyes widened.

A shark.

It was swimming straight toward Liu Qiu.

Too late.

Duan Liming could only watch as the shark bit Liu Qiu and dragged her away.

Blood spread through the sea.

“Liu Qiu—!”

But underwater, no sound could escape her lips.

Liu Qiu thought she would die horribly.

But strangely, the shark didn’t bite through her.

Then someone appeared.

Chaoyue.

Behind her was not a pair of legs—

but a long, dark blue mermaid tail.

She swam over, held Liu Qiu’s face, and kissed her so she could breathe.

Then she carried Liu Qiu through the sea.

Every so often she kissed her again to keep her from drowning.

Finally they surfaced.

Liu Qiu gasped desperately for air.

“No one ever gets used to dying.”

“Chaoyue… thank you.”

Chaoyue smiled.

“Liu Qiu, you’re really brave.”

“You jumped without hesitation.”

“If the octopus wakes up and finds out you died, it’ll probably die again.”

Liu Qiu’s eyes turned red.

“She… she isn’t dead?”

Chaoyue nudged her nose playfully.

“Go see for yourself.”

Liu Qiu leaned against her shoulder weakly.

“Thank you, Chaoyue… really.”

Chaoyue flicked her beautiful tail through the water.

“Since I saved you—and saved your ex-wife…”

“Shouldn’t you marry me?”

Liu Qiu laughed softly.

“Okay.”

Chaoyue paused, then laughed.

“Actually, forget it.”

“If we register our marriage, that crazy woman Duan Liming will definitely come looking.”

Liu Qiu nodded quietly.

As Chaoyue swam toward shore, Liu Qiu suddenly whispered,

“Chaoyue…”

“Your tail is very beautiful.”

Chaoyue froze for a moment before laughing loudly.

“See? Duan Liming really is crazy.”

“Some people clearly know how to appreciate it.”

“Did the shark scare you?”

“Yes… I thought it would bite me.”

“Haha. I already told it not to hurt you.”

“Chaoyue… can you talk to animals?”

“You’re amazing.”

…

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