Tianra Prince shook his head: “Water Spider — thank you kindly for the offer, but we don’t need it.”

Ye Kong picked up in a cold voice: “That’s right. All you actually want is to strip Qingping of any way to bring even one person out with her. ‘Helping us escape’ — spare us. Do you think we’re three years old? We’re not leaving. Qingping — take Sea Fatty and go. At least that way two of us might get to safety.”

Water Spider went briefly still.

Then she threw back her head and burst into a wild, overweening laugh: “You’ve guessed my intent — and what will you do about it? Right now your limbs are jelly. You have no capacity to resist. I can drag all of you out and dump you on the lifeboat myself. Whether or not you cooperate is a formality — I can force it if I have to. And another thing: even if this escape was my design, would any of you really pass up the chance? The moment you leave this cell, the moment you set foot in the lifeboat — the Marshal will decide Fuping has gone rogue and won’t come back. Whether or not you make it out alive, the outcome for her is the same. But if you take this shot, there’s a one-in-a-hundred chance you get out alive!”

Qingping saw Ye Kong about to argue and waved him down: “She’s not wrong. It isn’t what we’d have chosen, but it is a chance. Whatever the outcome — we have to gamble on it. What Water Spider is doing is sealing off any hope of my ever returning to White River City. To force the break, she’ll absolutely find us a lifeboat.”

Water Spider laughed brightly: “Clever. Truly worthy of Fuping, called the most intelligent of the younger generation. That’s right — the Marshal cannot bring himself to have you killed. He treats you as a daughter. As long as you’re leading them out, he’ll spare you. But I have no intention of letting you return. I’m going to put you off this ship. Fuping — you have to do this. You have to give me a true, absolute, no-turning-back split with White River City. A total break with the Marshal. Of course — you could take the alternative — use this chance to save these boys’ lives instead! You choose. Come back and confess your sin and go on being Fuping the ever-clever, or go with these handsome boys and use your own life to save theirs — as Qingping the martyr.”

“Don’t agree to her. She’s a lunatic!” Ye Kong shouted.

“Such a beautiful girl. Shame she’s insane.” Sea Fatty was drooling as he mumbled it.

“Shut up.” Water Spider shot Sea Fatty a look. “If any of you gives me trouble, I send him on his way immediately. And more importantly — if you refuse to cooperate, I bring in dozens of guards, and every last one of them takes turns doing whatever they want to your Fuping — the girl you’re all so eager to protect. Give me your answer. Return to White River City, or leave?”

“I choose to leave.” Qingping ground her teeth.

Every syllable was deliberate.

She knew there was no way back. She knew Water Spider was setting her up. But she had no third option.

And if there was even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of saving Sea Fatty, Ye Kong, and the rest, she was going to take it.

Water Spider was in ecstasy. She let out another mad little laugh.

Then, in an eyeblink, she’d seized Qingping’s arm and turned cold as ice on Sea Fatty and Ye Kong: “Follow. If I catch any of you trying to pull anything, I will make Fuping the most wretched woman in the world. If you don’t believe me, try me.”

The threat drew fury even from the mild-tempered Tianra Prince.

Tianra Prince went stone-faced and made a formal vow: “The debt of this day — should we ever have a chance to meet again — will be repaid tenfold.”

The frost in Xue Tanglang’s eyes could have ended the world.

But this ice-block man swallowed it.

He did not detonate.

Water Spider paid Tianra Prince and Xue Tanglang no attention. She sneered contemptuously: “Best you first hope you can actually get out alive. The Wave-Mist Sea is riddled with whirlpools and water monsters. If you truly do have the luck to escape, then — please — do come find me at White River City. Elder Sister will be sure to lay out a Death Feast banquet for you.”

With Water Spider’s cover and arrangements, they slipped out of the ship’s brig without a hitch.

At the stern, a narrow lifeboat was quietly moored. Not a soul around. The whole extraction was perfect — nobody saw a thing!

At this point there was no time for hesitation.

Ye Kong, Sea Fatty and the rest grabbed the oars in a rush and rowed with everything they had, pushing the lifeboat away from the luxury yacht as fast as possible.

Water Spider stood tall on the yacht’s rail, watching from above.

The party had been half-expecting the venomous woman to raise the alarm the moment they were clear. She did not. Water Spider stood there in ice-cold silence, watching Qingping’s boat pull away. Compared to a few human prisoners escaping, what Water Spider actually cared about was Fuping — her longtime rival, and a favorite of the leadership. If she raised the alarm, Fuping would very easily be recovered. And if recovered, Fuping would not be killed.

The leadership would spare her life.

So — to guarantee this rival never returned — Water Spider had decided to let her go.

Let her go far, far away…

Once an hour was up, if she wasn’t neutralized with cursed-blood from the Unchanged Fishman, Fuping would dissolve into a puddle of blood. And during that hour she absolutely could not remain aboard. Otherwise the leadership could change their minds any moment, forgive her, and pull her back from the brink.

“Farewell.” Water Spider gave her cold little sneering laugh.

Without Fuping in the way, White River City would be hers.

The next mistress of the White River City lord’s wife. The mother of the next city lord. That position was hers by right.

Water Spider watched the lifeboat disappear into darkness, all the way until it was too far to see. Only then, satisfied that her plan had gone through, did she indulge a silent, triumphant smile. She stood there another five minutes before slipping quietly away. And after she was gone, in the darkness, another shadow crept up to the stern and peered out toward where the lifeboat had vanished.

Above, the moon punched through the layer of clouds. In a few seconds, its light picked out the shadow clearly.

The shadow’s true face was that of a bull-muscled gorilla.

Water Ape — the one who had been Qingping’s rival earlier.

“Meat right in my mouth — thinks it’s going to run? Not a chance!” The gorilla-like Water Ape had lust in his eyes. His face was contorted with a warped hunger. Verifying that no one was around, he silently released a lifeboat, sprang lightly aboard, and with a paddle-stroke shot the boat forward like an arrow off the string, chasing after Yue Yang’s lifeboat.

“Sigh…” From somewhere in the darkness of the ship, a soft breath sounded.

Barely there.

Then gone.

Yue Yang’s lifeboat had been running ten minutes when the ancient curse in Qingping fully bloomed. She could not hold it in any longer. Fresh blood burst up out of her cherry-red lips.

The group gathered around her. Qingping shook her head and waved them off — indicating she needed them to be quiet and listen for a moment.

Qingping wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and pulled a small mirror from her breast pocket.

She used what moonlight there was, and — carefully — combed her long hair straight with a comb. She tidied her appearance, as though she wanted, at the last moment, to leave the group with her best impression. Her happiest memory. A smile bloomed on her face and she asked, in a bright voice: “How is it? A little touch-up — do I still look all right?”

Sea Fatty threw an unstinting thumbs-up: “Beautiful. You’re the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen in White River City!”

He said White River City. Not the whole Heavenly Realm.

But Qingping didn’t mind. Being the prettiest woman in White River City was enough.

She smiled and nodded to Sea Fatty repeatedly, thanking him aloud: “Fatty — thank you. Aside from thank you, I also want to say sorry. I never had a good impression of you. But at this last moment, my opinion of you has completely changed. However much of a punchable big fat man you look on the outside, once someone actually knows you, they discover you’re a truly rare friend.”

Sea Fatty sweated: “That’s the first time anyone’s paid me that compliment. Fine, I’ll take it, all of it.”

“Ye Kong.” Qingping turned. “You’re like a block of wood. Of course, even worse blocks of wood than you are the Liqie brothers. The three of you — a girl would find it hard to want any of you. Any girl who fell in love with you would deserve pity. You’re all utterly bad lovers. But — being bad lovers, you’ll all make the very best husbands. Any girl who marries you will be happy for life. From the first moment I saw you, I could feel that. I know: you will one day make a very good husband.”

“Thank you. I only just now learned I’ll be a good husband.” Ye Kong laughed loud.

“Have you fallen for that monkey Ye Kong? What kind of taste is that? A monkey just crawled out from under Five-Finger Mountain — skin barely holding his bones together — no looks and no use. Not a patch on this Young Master Hai. Pick me instead!” Sea Fatty nominated himself.

“I don’t choose you…” At that, Sea Fatty deflated and went to the stern of the boat to draw sad little circles.

Qingping looked at Ye Kong and suddenly smiled: “Ye Kong — relax, I’m not choosing you either…” Ye Kong felt a wave of relief immediately. When she’d said he’d make a good husband, his back had gone cold-sweaty. Qingping saw the look on him and laughed: “You’ll be a good husband. But I’ve thought about it — I admire your character, I don’t love you. Someone as reliable as you doesn’t fit me. So don’t worry.”

Ye Kong thought about that for a second, then also, defeated, went and squatted next to Sea Fatty and joined the sad-circle drawing.

Sometimes life was like that.

If a beautiful woman announced she wanted to marry you, and you weren’t interested — freedom, single life, all that — that was fine. But if she said she wasn’t actually going to marry you, that she only admired your character — you were definitely going to sulk.

Being passed over — how could that be nice?

Sea Fatty warmly welcomed Ye Kong’s arrival. Brothers in adversity!

“Prince.” Qingping looked at Tianra Prince. Everyone assumed she’d actually been eyeing this handsome, gentle prince who never once got angry at a woman. Tianra Prince didn’t wear Ye Kong’s sour look; his elegant smile stayed on, and he waited patiently for Qingping’s next line. Qingping looked at him for a long time, then turned to look at ice-cold Xue Tanglang, and laughed: “Of all of you, Fatty would be the best lover. Ye Kong and the Liqie brothers would be the best husbands. Ice Block — you’d be the opposite. Not a good lover, not a good husband. You’re just a person-freezing block of ice. Until you meet the woman who can melt you, no woman is going to be able to put up with you… The prince is the opposite. He’d be a very good lover and a very good husband. If a woman had to choose, you could say — the prince would be the best pick of any of you.”

“You pick him?” Xue Tanglang asked.

“I’m slightly better than you — that’s a fact, if a bit immodest of me to say.” Tianra Prince saw Xue Tanglang’s crestfallen expression and laughed cheerfully.

“The prince genuinely is better than the ice-block, and better than Ye Kong and Fatty. An ideal choice.” Qingping nodded firmly. Just as everyone thought the outcome had been settled, her tone flipped: “But — Prince — I don’t choose you either.”

Tianra Prince went momentarily blank.

Everyone else was equally confused. All eyes turned to Qingping.

Qingping smiled, and as she laughed she shook her head: “I don’t know why either. These past few days, I’ve done a great many things I’ve never done before in my life. Like — betraying the White River City clan that raised me, for you people I met only days ago. A completely realistic spy, a cursed fishwoman — actually longing for freedom, longing to be human. Knowing that being with you would kill me, and still, foolishly, coming along, as if my brain had gone on vacation. Knowing this had no hope — and I still wanted to do it… You ask my reason? I can’t give you one!”

“Another foolish thing. I know — the best choice is the Prince. He’d make a very good lover and a very good husband. He should be the natural pick. But I’ve thought about it for a long, long time, using every reason I could summon to convince myself. And I couldn’t. If I have to choose without lying to my own heart, no matter how many times I choose again, I would not choose the Prince!”

“Prince, I’m sorry. Everyone might think you should be the one I choose. But I can’t. Because the one I actually love — is not you…”

“Who is it you love?” Tianra Prince, not offended in the slightest, asked her as gently as a brother would ask his little sister.

“The person I actually love — is a bastard. He’s a lecher. He’s someone extremely dislikeable, someone you’d want to bite a chunk out of.” Qingping said this, and everyone turned to look at Yue Yang. Yue Yang — who had been dozing — instantly raised both hands to signal that even lying down he’d taken a bullet. Someone loved him? Innocent as a lamb! Even setting aside Yue Yang, Ye Kong and Sea Fatty and the rest were bewildered too. By rights, Yue Yang was the person Qingping was supposed to hate the most. How had she come to love him?

“Was it because he touched your chest?” Sea Fatty guessed maliciously.

“No.” Qingping blushed hotly.

“Was it because he’s the worst? Bad men are always more appealing.” Ye Kong wondered.

“No.” Qingping shook her head.

“Because he’s the best-looking?” Even Xue Tanglang couldn’t hold back his question. Qingping shook her head again. Looks were not the reason.

“Could it be because of Liuye?” Tianra Prince, sharp-eyed as ever, offered. That did make sense to the others — because Liuye was in the picture, there was rivalry between the two women. The thing you couldn’t have was always the best. That would make Qingping pay more attention to Yue Yang.

“No. It has nothing to do with Liuye. I admit — seeing Liuye and him together made me a little jealous. But that isn’t the real reason I fell for him.” Qingping did not look at Yue Yang. But everyone understood. When a girl has a person in her heart, she doesn’t need to look at him to see him — quite the opposite; the one she keeps looking at is the one who isn’t in her heart. Qingping smiled a small, embarrassed smile: “Ordinarily, I would never dare say these things. But now that we’ve reached the last moment, if I don’t say them, there won’t be time. So I’m going to work up the nerve and say them… I love him. Even though Yue Yang is a big lecher, even though I find him deeply unlikeable, even though I find him unbearable to look at — sometimes I even want to bite a piece out of his body. Even so — I love him. There’s no special reason. There doesn’t have to be a reason… Now I finally understand. Loving someone doesn’t need a reason. Like is like. External conditions can be complicated. But they can’t touch the true love that lives at the bottom of the heart!”

“Ah — hold on, Classmate Qingping. You’ve been going on for a while about loving me. But have you considered what my feelings for you would be? Just because you love me, does that automatically mean I have to love you back? If you can bear the honest truth — I’ll say it. I’m sorry. I don’t love you.” Yue Yang, with no diplomatic hedging at all, rejected Qingping’s confession point-blank.

“You are terrible. How can you say that? You really are a bastard. Qingping — it’s fine. He doesn’t want you, you can choose me. Fatty’s broad chest and strong arms are always open for you.” Sea Fatty was doing his best romantic lead impression.

“Thanks. Even if Yue Yang doesn’t love me, I would not choose again. I’ve decided on him.” Qingping waved off Sea Fatty’s kindness with a small smile.

“I’m going to kill myself…” Sea Fatty was in tears.

“You are all fine boys. That I got to have friends like you — my life is complete.” Qingping suddenly coughed up a spray of blood and shaped it into a demonic-leaf form. The energy in her body detonated. Red light lanced skyward. The ancient curse erupted at a hundred times its previous rate. She flicked out the demonic leaf; when it hit Sea Fatty, it instantly became an enormous, arm-span-wide leaf of blood-lotus leaf: “Fatty, I hope you find the best possible partner. I have nothing to give you. All I can do is use the last of my power to send you out of this Wave-Mist Sea… This blood-lotus leaf will carry you skimming all the way back to White River City. Fighting hasn’t broken out there yet. Get out fast. Safe journey.”

Her hand swept out and Sea Fatty, no say in it, was carried away by the blood-lotus leaf, skimming across the water at high speed.

A second and third blood-lotus shot out and stuck to the Liqie brothers.

The Liqie brothers, too, were carried off against their will.

Because condensing this blood-lotus leaf massively overdrained Qingping’s energy, and the ancient curse was already tearing through her, her whole body was shaking with pain.

Ye Kong tried to protest. Qingping smiled bitterly and waved him down: “I don’t have time. Let me finish this last wish… You should now understand why I agreed to Water Spider’s plan. It’s because I have a secret technique she doesn’t know. If I couldn’t send you all out, I could not have closed my eyes on death. Ye Kong, Prince, Ice Block — you all have to live well. You must be happy…”

Three more blood-lotus leaf bloomed at once, nearly emptying every last bit of Qingping’s energy.

The ancient curse had already devoured most of the skin on her body.

Ye Kong, Xue Tanglang, and Tianra Prince were carried off across the water, and a series of small detonations went off in Qingping’s hands. Where she could ordinarily launch only one Blood-Leaf without paying a serious price, she had launched six in a row. That much overdraw triggered energy-backlash.

But even without the backlash, with the ancient curse fully unleashed inside her, she wasn’t going to make it another ten minutes.

Qingping swallowed a mouthful of blood.

For the first time she turned her face to Yue Yang and tried, hard, to give him a smile. Excessive pain kept her from fully forming it: “You — you’re going to yell at me, aren’t you? I know. You must be angry. I’m sorry. I don’t have any energy left to make another blood-lotus… I love you. By rights, I should have sent you out first. That was in my heart. But somehow — inexplicably — I ended up keeping you here. Just like the reason I love you, there is no reason for that. I can’t explain it…”

“By that reasoning, you are an awkward person. You may have some masochist attribute.” Yue Yang attempted an analysis of Qingping’s behavior.

“Wh — what’s a masochist?” Qingping had never heard the term before.

“Someone who especially enjoys being tormented. The more tormented, the more pleasure. A day without being tormented and their skin itches all over… Isn’t that you? If someone is nice to you, you feel weird all over. If someone slaps you a few times, you feel great?” Yue Yang was doing a bad impression of an investigative reporter, using a chicken leg as a microphone in front of Qingping.

“I am not. I am not that kind of person.” Qingping went scarlet with embarrassment. But then, thinking about it — a small horror crept in. Was she really that kind of person?

“You kept me around — subconsciously, you probably wanted to keep me, for one last thrill in your final moments.” Yue Yang could have passed as a specialist.

“That is absolutely not the case.” Qingping wished she could crawl into the sea. She couldn’t come up with a reason. She was terrified she really was that kind of person.

“Let’s run an experiment.” Yue Yang, but for the glasses, could have been a professor.

“You, don’t — ah — that’s too rough —” Qingping felt this lecher’s hand slip its way, without any sort of decency, straight into her blouse. His wolf-wolf claws pinched one particular little cherry and pressed it gently. A specific ache almost overwhelmed even the pain of the ancient curse’s devouring her. Qingping’s whole body was trembling with it.

“How does it feel? Pleasant, or painful?” Yue Yang had a notebook out, ready to take notes.

Gray Wolf, who had been dozing on the boat, saw an opportunity.

He ingratiatingly offered up a pen.

Yue Yang kicked him into the water. You dog — how dare you interrupt an experiment of this historical importance? Wanting to die?

As Gray Wolf went overboard, he flicked his tail to snatch away the chicken leg Yue Yang had been using as a microphone. His master’s experiment couldn’t be disturbed, of course — but the chicken leg had to be eaten. He’d been eyeing it for a while now. If the master hadn’t been running this critical experiment, he wouldn’t even have gotten the chance to sneak it.

With the last chaperone gone, Qingping — who had been pale from blood loss — flushed suddenly pink.

Her breathing quickened.

Her heartbeat sped up.

The devouring pain of the ancient curse seemed to shrink to nothing. Now all she could feel was the pain of that wolf-wolf hand doing its wicked work on her body… A very strange feeling. Along with the pain, there was an inexpressible, agonizing sort of overwhelm — and, faintly, was that a little bit of pleasure? Could it be that she really was the “masochist” thing he’d said?

“How does it feel?” Yue Yang was continuing the experiment with absolute rigor.

“Ah — this is so hard. Could we — I don’t want to leave a regret at the end — there’s no time — I want —” Qingping would have been happy to live her whole life like this — even if he “experimented” on her for the rest of her life she’d have accepted willingly. But there was no time. Ten minutes of life left, at most. If they didn’t that, it would be her greatest regret.

To die in his arms — she would have no regret.

If she had any regret at all, the only regret was that she had not had more time to spend with this man. She didn’t even have time to look at him a few more times.

Standing on a lifeboat some distance off, the gorilla-like Water Ape was watching. Fury boiled up in his chest. This damned little whore. She would rather be tortured than spare me a single glance. This piece of trash. I’d rather be dead than let her live!

Just as the gorilla was about to detonate his full power and lunge over, from underwater, Gray Wolf’s tail wrapped around his calf.

And dragged him straight down.

Interrupting the master’s critically important “experiment” — you could pay for that?

Gray Wolf, whose chicken leg hadn’t been enough to fill a tooth-crack, opened his blood-basin maw. He ignored the tenfold combat-boost the gorilla got the moment he hit the water — and swallowed him whole. Then, at the bottom of the sea, released a great many bubbles in a satisfied burp.

(End of Chapter 1024)