Chapter 24

“What exactly is going on here?” a middle-aged man asked with a frown.

“Uncle, that wretched woman is seducing Song Zhuanguo!” Zhao Meihua shoved away Song Zhuanguo, who had been trying to support her, and pointed at Xue Miaoyun as she spat her words with venom.

Cang Ling’s icy gaze swept over, and Zhao Meihua happened to meet his eyes. She shuddered in fear.

Of course, she knew who Cang Ling was. She had even considered marrying him—he was handsome, came from a good family, was capable, and had boundless prospects. What woman wouldn’t be drawn to that?

Unfortunately, his life had been cut short. In her previous life, this very Commander Cang had died during a mission not long afterward. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen Song Zhuanguo instead.

Zhao Meihua was clearly shaken by Cang Ling’s cold stare, but women were often very sensitive to certain things. As a result, the way she looked at Xue Miaoyun grew increasingly vicious.

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Xiao Zixuan looked at Zhao Meihua with clear disgust. Why was this woman’s mouth so foul?

“Enough! Stop arguing!” Xue Miaoyun’s voice carried a hint of impatience, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

As a proud and noble race from the depths of the sea, merfolk possessed a natural air of authority. Her presence alone made it hard for others to look away.

“I’m only here to retrieve what belongs to my family. Captain Song, shall we?” Xue Miaoyun’s gaze had already spotted the jade pendant hanging around Zhao Meihua’s neck.

Song Zhuanguo had noticed it as well.

“Meihua, take off the jade pendant I gave you and hand it over.”

“Why? Based on what?” Zhao Meihua crossed her arms over her chest protectively. That jade pendant was a valuable item—it would be worth a lot in the future.

“Based on the fact that the pendant was a token of engagement, given to Captain Song by the bride’s side. What, you break off the engagement with no sense of shame, and now you want to cling to a family heirloom that doesn’t belong to you? That’s just shameless.” Xiao Zixuan’s tone was dripping with sarcasm.

At that moment, Xue Miaoyun felt that bringing Xiao Zixuan along had definitely been the right call—his words really hit where it hurt.

“How is that possible? Just because you say it’s yours doesn’t make it true. This is mine!” Zhao Meihua clutched the jade pendant tightly, refusing to let go.

That one sentence made everyone around look at her with nothing but disdain. Even a fool could tell that the pendant clearly belonged to the woman’s family. The engagement had already been broken off, yet she held onto the token and even wore it as the current partner? Captain Song’s behavior was utterly disgraceful. As for Zhao Meihua, her greed was downright sickening to watch.

“Captain Song, do I need to prove that this pendant belongs to my family? If necessary, I can show you some proof,” Xue Miaoyun said, preparing to pull something out of her bag.

Her photograph from when she was a baby was still in there.

“No need,” Song Zhuanguo said, his face turning red with embarrassment. He felt a deep regret that he couldn’t suppress.

“Give it to me, Meihua.”

“You gave it to me, so it’s mine now. She wants it back? That’s your problem to deal with.” Zhao Meihua had endured enough years of hardship—now that something valuable had landed in her hands, there was no way she would give it up.

“Zhao Meihua!” A sharp, thunderous shout rang out from the side. It was Zhao Meihua’s uncle, Commander Zhao.

Commander Zhao had been silently watching the farce unfold, witnessing his niece’s shameful behavior. She had utterly disgraced him. At that moment, he deeply regretted ever agreeing to bring this niece into his household.

“U-Uncle,” Zhao Meihua stammered.

“Return it. Who gave you permission to accept a gift like that from someone else?” Commander Zhao’s patience was wearing thin.

“But, Uncle—”

“Give it back now. I don’t want to repeat myself.” Commander Zhao’s patience had almost run out.

Zhao Meihua was afraid of her uncle—or rather, she was afraid of being sent back to the countryside, where she would end up, just like in her previous life, married to a weak, unremarkable man and forced to live a hard, bitter life.

Reluctantly, she removed the jade pendant and handed it toward Song Zhuanguo. But just as the pendant was about to reach his hand, Zhao Meihua’s fingers suddenly shook, and the pendant looked like it was about to fall to the ground.

A flicker of smugness flashed across her face, but it froze the very next moment.

Cang Ling retracted his hand, now holding the jade pendant securely. The quality was indeed exquisite—worth a fortune.

“Keep it safe,” he said.

Xue Miaoyun took the jade pendant that was handed to her, saying, “Thank you.” Finally, it was in her possession again.

Looking at Zhao Meihua and Song Zhuanguo, Xue Miaoyun spoke with a smile, “The matter is settled. The engagement between the Song and Xue families is now completely nullified. I heard from Aunt Li that you two are getting close to something good. I’d like to wish you both a lifetime of happiness and everlasting unity.”

Xue Miaoyun felt genuinely pleased, and a small smile played on her lips. Though she couldn’t care less about Song Zhuanguo and Zhao Meihua, she still offered them a polite blessing.

“I’ll take my leave.”

With the matter resolved, Xue Miaoyun was ready to head back.

Seeing her walk away, Xiao Zixuan glanced at Cang Ling and followed after her.

“Commander Zhao, farewell,” Cang Ling nodded at him before taking a long stride to leave as well.

“Deputy Commander Cang, let me see you out. This matter… it was my fault for not handling things properly,” Commander Zhao hurried to catch up, clearly ashamed.

Back at the guesthouse, Xue Miaoyun immediately excused herself to her room, claiming she was tired.

She took the jade pendant in hand and carefully examined it. Aside from its smooth texture and exquisite carving, she couldn’t detect anything unusual about it.

Customer service, customer service.

[Ding! Hello dear.]

Is this the key you’re referring to?

[Please hold on while we begin scanning… Congratulations, this is the key to the Jiao Pearl Space.]

Since this is energy derived from a space partition, can it be reintegrated into it?

[Sorry, dear, concerning the special golden finger, we currently have no solution for that.]

Xue Miaoyun wasn’t disappointed. The fact that this key was stored within the space itself meant it was essentially integrated with it, making it quite secure.

With the bug in the golden finger resolved, Xue Miaoyun felt a lot lighter. She wasn’t planning on staying much longer.

Now, she needed to buy a train ticket to return. Since there was no online ticket purchase at the time, she had to go to the station to buy it.

Knock knock.

“Deputy Commander Cang,” Xue Miaoyun greeted calmly upon seeing him. She didn’t seem surprised by his arrival.

“You’re planning to head back?” Cang Ling’s tone was one of quiet certainty.

“Yes. Now that everything’s settled, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to stay longer,” Xue Miaoyun nodded, then thought about the train ticket. She might need to trouble him again; if she went on her own, she might not even be able to get a sleeper ticket.

“Deputy Commander Cang, please come in. I have something I’d like to ask of you.” She spoke with a polite tone, knowing she needed a favor.

Cang Ling glanced at her but said nothing, walking into the room with long strides.

Xue Miaoyun poured him a glass of water.

“I was wondering if you could help me buy a return train ticket?” She asked, feeling a bit awkward. “Also, I still owe you for the ticket from last time.”

Cang Ling didn’t respond immediately but took a sip of water.

“You saved me. These things are nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“It was what I should have done,” Xue Miaoyun replied simply, even if it hadn’t been him, she still would’ve helped.

“I know, but the fact is you saved me,” Cang Ling said, his tone serious.

Xue Miaoyun couldn’t help but smile lightly; hadn’t he been saving people too at the time?

“That’s right. Since I’ve saved Deputy Commander Cang’s life, how do you plan to repay me? Xue Miaoyun joked with a playful smile, “They say that a saved life should be repaid with one’s body.”

Cang Ling froze for a moment before his lips quirked upward slightly, though he didn’t respond directly to the joke.