The Unruly Merperson’s Escape and Capture

The only reason Su Xiaoxiao managed to escape so far was thanks to the recent brutal cold that had gripped the Demon Realm. The land was frozen solid, barren of even a single blade of grass. Many demons had retreated into hiding, leaving few to wander outside. Moreover, Su Xiaoxiao wore the crimson jade bracelet Xiyue had given her. Her spiritual meridians had been nurtured by Xiyue’s cultivation over these past days, and she had inadvertently absorbed Xiyue’s aura. Other demons, sensing the Demon Lord’s presence, fled in terror, desperate to avoid an encounter. Foolishly unaware, Su Xiaoxiao believed her escape was simply due to good fortune. Alas, her efforts were in vain, for Xiyue caught her red-handed.

Xiyue had not come alone. She was accompanied by Gu Yan, the rabbit spirit who served Su Xiaoxiao, and two other demons Su Xiaoxiao recognized but couldn’t name.

Today, Xiyue was clad in golden-black armor. Her white hair, secured by a black dragon hairpin, framed a face of breathtaking beauty and formidable majesty. Yet, her hurried journey had left a faint disarray in her usually perfectly styled tresses.

Su Xiaoxiao was terrified, convinced that being dragged back meant certain death. The crimson jade bracelet on her wrist still pulsed with heat, a vivid reminder of Xiyue’s earlier warning: ‘Step outside the Demon Realm, and this bracelet will claim your life.’ She was already at the border; the opposite shore marked the exit from the Demon Realm.

Su Xiaoxiao clasped her hands behind her back, summoning a surge of blue light. Seizing the moment while their attention was diverted, she unleashed it onto the snowy ground.

“Peng—”

The snow, flung skyward by the impact, formed a temporary wall. As Xiyue raised an arm to block it, Su Xiaoxiao’s legs transformed into a fish tail, and with a ‘splash,’ she plunged into the water.

“This foolish fish…” Xiyue’s eyes blazed with furious fire. “You’ve truly grown bold!”

The bone-chilling cold left her no time for other thoughts. Her only desire was to swim as far as possible. However, no sooner had Su Xiaoxiao plunged into the water and swum but a short distance, than black, tentacle-like water weeds emerged from beneath, coiling around her tail and dragging her forcefully downwards.

Su Xiaoxiao thrashed her fish tail, but it was futile. As she was dragged deeper, she glanced down. In the abyssal darkness, the gaping maw of a giant man-eating flower slowly began to emerge.

Su Xiaoxiao attempted to summon spiritual energy to sever the water weeds entwined around her tail. Yet, the strike she had unleashed against Xiyue and her companions on the shore seemed to have drained all her cultivation. Her spiritual meridians felt utterly depleted, and when she tried to force it, a burning sensation flared in her chest.

This burning sensation, which she hadn’t felt for days, had inexplicably returned.

‘To think I would die in such a manner,’ Su Xiaoxiao thought, raising a hand and closing her eyes, ready to embrace death.

She did not see the crimson jade bracelet on her wrist. Within it, red threads swirled like boiling water, moving with frantic speed, as if poised to shatter at any moment.

At the last possible moment, the man-eating flower was obliterated. Su Xiaoxiao felt herself fall into a familiar embrace. She weakly opened her eyes, only to see Xiyue’s furious gaze fixed intently upon her.

Xiyue dragged Su Xiaoxiao ashore. Gu Yan and the others, who had been waiting with her moments before, had vanished.

Xiyue’s grip was forceful. She threw the trembling, freezing Su Xiaoxiao onto the ground.

The sharp stones by the shore gashed Su Xiaoxiao’s large tail. The pain was so intense that her vision blurred, and she nearly fainted.

‘She didn’t seem to expect to leave here alive,’ Su Xiaoxiao thought, ‘but she would die a merperson with dignity.’

She tried to summon spiritual energy once more, but the burning in her chest brought a metallic sweetness to her throat.

Xiyue seized her wrist, her grip so tight it felt as though she meant to crush the bones.

“Still trying?” Xiyue had kept the damage to Su Xiaoxiao’s heart and spiritual meridians a secret. Out of consideration for their intimacy on the bed, she had even nurtured Su Xiaoxiao’s damaged spiritual meridians with her own cultivation on cold nights. The strike Su Xiaoxiao had just unleashed was not her own spiritual energy at all, but Xiyue’s, which had lingered within her body these past days. ‘This little fish was untameable, foolish, and ungrateful. She actually used the spiritual energy Xiyue had given her against Xiyue herself.’

Xiyue’s voice was sharp and cold. “You truly overestimate yourself. Do you honestly believe I wouldn’t dare to slaughter you?”

‘At worst, it was just death,’ Su Xiaoxiao thought, ‘and she was no longer afraid.’ Xiyue glared at her, but Su Xiaoxiao, unwilling to show weakness, stared back with stubborn defiance.

It was already a tense, volatile situation. Yet, Su Xiaoxiao still refused to apologize or yield.

Su Xiaoxiao had no recollection of how she was dragged back to the Demon Palace. Her wounded tail was still bleeding, its scales scraped off.

Su Xiaoxiao was cold and in pain. She kept telling herself not to cry, but she couldn’t hold back, and a few tears of sheer desperation escaped her eyes.

Xiyue, exasperated, roared at her. “You have the audacity to cry?! Who told you to run?!”

Several charcoal braziers glowed fiercely within the bedchamber. While the frigid weather outside could claim a demon’s life, Su Xiaoxiao’s small courtyard remained as warm as spring.

Despite Xiyue making such concessions for her, Su Xiaoxiao remained ungrateful.

Su Xiaoxiao, her voice thick with tears, shouted back. “Why can’t I run?! I never belonged here in the first place…”

The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she became. “My home is in the South Sea, and I’m a merperson! I’m not a demon lord like you, so why should I live in the Demon Realm? I don’t want to be here at all!!!”

Gu Yan, seeing their fierce argument inside the room, hesitated at the door, clutching a bowl of medicine. ‘She had never realized before that this little fish possessed such a fiery temper.’

‘At worst, it’s just death,’ Su Xiaoxiao thought, and resolved to confront Xiyue head-on. She grabbed every porcelain vase and collectible within reach, flinging them at Xiyue. However, Xiyue’s demonic spiritual energy deflected them all. Su Xiaoxiao, mistakenly believing they had struck, hurled even more objects at her.

A cacophony of shattering sounds filled the air.

Outside the door, Gu Yan, terrified that Xiyue might actually kill Su Xiaoxiao, forgot about the medicine bowl in her hands, dropped it, and burst through the door, shouting. “Stop! Don’t hurt her! Her body is weak; if you truly injure her, then…”

Gu Yan couldn’t finish her sentence. A jade inkstone, used for calligraphy, smashed against the doorframe, shattering into pieces on the floor. The impact startled Gu Yan, leaving her utterly speechless.

‘Don’t the books say merpeople are gentle by nature? This… Could I have read the wrong books? That shouldn’t be the case.’

Su Xiaoxiao had thrown many objects. Xiyue effortlessly deflected them with her spiritual energy, though she didn’t show it, instead gracefully dodging them as if by chance, not even a hem of her robe touched.

Furious and exhausted from her rampage, Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but bend over, coughing.

Observing the bleeding wound on Su Xiaoxiao’s leg, Xiyue moved in a flash, appearing before Su Xiaoxiao and effortlessly subduing her.

She had thrown her tantrum and was now crying again. ‘Xiyue had never encountered such an unreasonable fish.’

Xiyue cast a glance at Gu Yan. The latter stepped forward, produced a pill, and placed it into Su Xiaoxiao’s mouth.

Xiyue was far from appeased. She had only allowed Su Xiaoxiao to vent her fury because she wanted to see what the little fish would do when pushed to her limits.

The pill Gu Yan had given Su Xiaoxiao was made from incredibly precious ingredients. ‘Just thinking about it made her heart ache.’ But its effects were undoubtedly first-rate; relief came almost instantly upon consumption.

“Thankfully, there’s no serious harm. Rest well for a few days, and you’ll naturally…”

Xiyue cut her off with a sneer. “Rest well?”

Gu Yan paused. Su Xiaoxiao’s hand remained clutched to her chest, her face still contorted in pain, the metallic taste of blood lingering in her mouth.

Xiyue gazed indifferently at the suffering Su Xiaoxiao, stating calmly. “It seems to me she’s grown tired of her comfortable life. If she finds living here so unpleasant, then send her to the dungeon.”