Lu Yao slowly let out a breath and tried to communicate.
"Why did you bring me here?"
The shark-folk woman replied,
"The box. You smell like the box."
Lu Yao relaxed her brows. So it really was about that box.
She curled her finger and took the box out from her storage.
"This one?"
The shark-woman's eyes lit up the moment she saw it.
"I knew it was with you. That's my treasure—no one else can have it."
Lu Yao said,
"I'll return the box, but I want to keep the rouge and powders."
The shark-woman looked at her with a half-smile.
"Those were gifts from that man, weren't they?"
Lu Yao: "…"
The shark-woman pulled out a box of lip color from the makeup case, opened it, dabbed some on her finger, and smeared it across the back of her hand.
"I saw everything. You two, standing by the window… just a little closer and you would've kissed."
"…" Lu Yao looked down. What a creep.
Seeing Lu Yao show no reaction, the shark-woman lost interest and stopped teasing her. She scooped out all the cosmetics from the box and dumped them at Lu Yao's feet.
"I get how you feel. That box was a gift from someone I loved deeply too, made for me by his own hands. But men's hearts… they're like the mud by the shore—worthless."
Lu Yao: "…If I give you the box back, can I go now?"
The shark-woman leaned in.
"Do you not believe me?"
Lu Yao: "…I believe you."
Suddenly, the shark-woman got emotional.
"You're lying! You're just like the others—laughing at me!"
Lu Yao: "…I'm not."
The shark-woman was convinced Lu Yao was lying and didn't want to talk to her anymore. She took the box and left, not even glancing at the old Madam Xie lying on the bed.
The room fell quiet again.
Lu Yao took out her crystal-core spring knife and swiftly cut through the seaweed binding her hands and feet.
She stood up, shook off the seaweed, crouched down, and began gathering the small porcelain jars scattered on the floor, putting them back into her storage one by one.
Madam Xie had been about to sleep, but the noise woke her. She opened her eyes and saw Lu Yao moving smoothly and efficiently.
"You're a cultivator?"
Lu Yao shook her head.
"No, just an ordinary person."
This time, Madam Xie didn't believe her. She braced herself on the bed and sat up.
Lu Yao knew the "better not talk about it" backstory was about to come out.
Madam Xie looked at her and said,
"I'm old, and I don't have much time left. Being locked up here doesn't matter much. But my grandson—he's only seventeen, with excellent spiritual roots. He shouldn't be wasting his life in this place. Young lady, if you can find a way out, I beg you—whatever it takes, please take my grandson with you."
Lu Yao was surprised.
"Xie-gongzi is here too?"
The young master of the Xie family, Xie Zili, had been taken by a shark-folk six months ago. People in the outside world believed he was already dead, and most had accepted he was lost to the sea.
Madam Xie gave a vague nod.
"Mm."
Lu Yao asked,
"Why exactly did the shark-woman take both you and Xie-gongzi?"
---
The shark-woman's name was Jiaoniang.
About twenty years ago, she was washed ashore by the waves and lost her memory. A nearby fishing village took her in.
Her real form was shark-folk, but once she came ashore, her tail turned into human legs.
She was stunningly beautiful. Men from all the nearby towns would stop in their tracks when they saw her.
The village women didn't like her. One day, while the men were out fishing, they secretly drove Jiaoniang away.
A beautiful, amnesiac woman like her couldn't survive alone outside.
Unsurprisingly, she was tricked and sold into a brothel.
Jiaoniang's beauty was extraordinary. The brothel madam treated her as a rare and exotic commodity.
The eldest son of the Xie family was once dragged there drunk by friends—and fell in love with Jiaoniang at first sight.
Not long after, he brought her into the Xie residence as a concubine.
At that time, he wasn't yet married and was determined to make Jiaoniang his wife, no matter what it cost him—even if it meant ruining his future.
He truly loved her. For three years, they lived like a couple deeply in love.
Then Jiaoniang became pregnant.
It should have been a happy event, but as her belly grew, her body began to change—scales would occasionally appear behind her ears and under her jaw, and small fin-like protrusions began growing on her arms.
Then one day, while bathing, her legs turned back into a full fish tail, filling the entire bathtub. The maid who saw it screamed in terror.
Xie-gongzi took one look… and fainted on the spot.
She was a demon.
No matter how beautiful, gentle, or well-behaved she was—he couldn't accept that truth.
He locked himself in his room for three days. When he finally came out, his face was cold and emotionless. He gave orders to have Jiaoniang moved out of the main residence.
The night she gave birth… he married his official wife.
Madam Xie's face darkened.
"Jiaoniang gave birth to a baby boy. He was pale and fair, with not a scale on him. We thought he didn't inherit her bloodline."
But as expected… the half-demon bloodline eventually awakened.
Lu Yao couldn't help but say,
"…Honestly, Jiaoniang didn't do anything wrong."
Madam Xie shook her head.
"She's a demon. If it were your own lover, wouldn't you be afraid?"
Lu Yao thought about it seriously, then shook her head.
"If it was someone I chose, then no matter what they were like, I think I'd accept them."
Madam Xie: "…"