Chapter 2

Zhang Jingzhu woke up from her dream and couldn’t fall back asleep.

The high-rise building overlooked the scenery of the entire city. A touch of orange in the eastern sky painted half the sky, and the sky slowly brightened.

She stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, recalling a report she had seen a few years ago.

A strange creature appeared at the Qingcheng City Zoo. It had a human-like face and limbs, but its skin was flesh-colored, somewhat similar to a hairless cat, with loose skin and a long tail. Strangely, it was not hostile to humans, but rather exuded an unusual intimacy. The appearance of this creature almost sparked a nationwide craze for the study of extraterrestrial life, and the Qingcheng City Zoo became an instant internet sensation.

It was soon sent to the research institute, and just as everyone was eagerly awaiting news about it, a reporter infiltrated the institute and discovered that it had died tragically in the laboratory. Its body was covered in needle marks of various sizes.

It was literally researched to death.

If she told the relevant authorities about the merman, the outcome would likely be the same.

But would everyone just keep their mouths shut, knowing that he was being cruelly abused, and stand by and watch?

Zhang Jingzhu leaned against the wall, feeling powerless.

She could do nothing but feel a bit of ridiculous pity.

Zhang Jingzhu arrived at the company on time. Lianzhu is a local company in Qingcheng City. Qingcheng City is a coastal city, and its western side is a vast ocean, this beautiful ocean is named “Nightlight Sea”.

The ownership of the Nightlight Sea belongs to Lianzhu Company.

Lianzhu Company’s pearl necklaces are priceless.

She pushed open the office door and found it empty. Besides her, few people came to the company on time. At this time of day, everyone was still in bed.

“Jingzhu, can you do me a favor?” Zhang Ning is an old employee of Lianzhu Company, and she got into the company based on her own merits. These old employees have always been at odds with the lazy and incompetent relatives who came in through back doors.

But Zhang Jingzhu was an exception.

Zhang Ning liked to interact with Zhang Jingzhu, who was easygoing and beautiful, and her aversion to the relatives was reduced as a result.

“Sister Zhang, what’s up?” Zhang Jingzhu walked over.

Zhang Ning took Zhang Jingzhu to her desk, opened the computer screen and showed her: “It’s about our company’s new products for this season. These are the sample drawings and actual pictures I designed.”

Zhang Jingzhu leaned closer: “They’re very beautiful…ah.”

Zhang Ning looked at her meaningfully: “What do you think?”

Zhang Jingzhu scrolled the pictures to the sample drawings and said honestly: “The sample drawings are very beautiful, the design of the little flower support just sets off the luster of the inlaid pearls, but the problem is…the pearls in the actual pictures don’t seem to be as dazzling, or is it because of the photos?”

Zhang Ning shook her head: “You have the same opinion as me. I asked other people in the company, they just flattered me, I couldn’t say what I really thought, otherwise they would think I was narcissistic. The sample drawings were finalized after a long time, but…have you noticed that the quality of the company’s pearls has been declining in recent years, they are completely incomparable to the pearls from a few years ago.”

Zhang Ning pulled up a few pictures of the new products from previous years.

The pearls were lustrous and plump, with a faint pink glow.

Zhang Jingzhu thoughtfully said: “Could it be due to environmental pollution? Not only are the pearls not as bright as before, but the taste of seafood has also changed. I haven’t eaten seafood for a long time. I heard that several bodies have been found in the Nightlight Sea…”

Zhang Ning laughed: “What kind of nonsense are you reading again?”

Zhang Jingzhu: “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I read some local ghost stories.”

Zhang Jingzhu was wearing a milky white suit and black ankle boots, her curly black hair flowed smoothly down her back, like a gentle and lovely girl next door, her voice was soft and gentle. Zhang Ning noticed the dark circles under her eyes. People with white skin have this problem, any skin problems are immediately visible.

“What happened recently? You look distracted.”

Zhang Ning knew about Zhang Jingzhu’s participation in the pet rescue group. She was also in the group, but she didn’t participate in the rescue activities, she just participated in the monthly donations.

Zhang Jingzhu: “Nothing.”

“If you say that, there must be something, something you can’t even tell me? Is it related to the pet group?”

Zhang Jingzhu nodded and shook her head: “…It’s kind of.”

Zhang Ning rarely saw Zhang Jingzhu so embarrassed, she guessed: “…Is an animal sick and didn’t get better treatment? You look very sad.”

Zhang Jingzhu had already made up her mind not to meddle in other people’s business, she just vaguely said: “It’s not that it didn’t get better treatment, it’s just that I encountered a…well…animal that was very badly injured, it’s very tricky, maybe there’s no way to help it.”

Zhang Ning automatically understood her words as: Zhang Jingzhu picked up a very badly injured animal, took it to the pet hospital, and it didn’t get better treatment.

Zhang Ning comforted her: “At least you tried, didn’t you? For those homeless stray animals, your existence is their only hope. No matter what the outcome, you tried your best at that moment, and they will be grateful to you.”

Zhang Jingzhu opened her eyes wide in silence.

Zhang Ning smiled: “Don’t worry, you’ve been great.”

No, she’s not great.

Zhang Jingzhu retorted in her heart.

Zhang Jingzhu spent the entire morning refreshing the stray animal rescue group.

She couldn’t tell what was going on in her heart. On the one hand, she hoped that someone in the group would discover the abandoned warehouse and then organize the group to rescue it. On the other hand, she didn’t want anyone to discover it. If the merman was discovered, it would inevitably cause a sensation, and the final outcome would most likely be that he would be sent to a research institute for research, instead of being released back into the sea.

There were several more small animals discovered in the group, most of them were abandoned because of their illnesses, and there was also a little earth dog whose legs had been broken by someone. The group leader was launching a donation drive. Zhang Jingzhu looked at the amount raised, it needed six thousand yuan, and the group had already raised three thousand yuan. She directly opened the group leader’s chat box and made up the remaining funds.

The group leader sent her a message of gratitude.

Zhang Jingzhu replied with a picture of a dancing teddy bear.

Group leader: Jingzhu, I thank you on behalf of the animals in the shelter. Rescuing stray animals is a very difficult thing. I know many rescue groups have been forced to stop because they couldn’t raise enough funds. Since I met you, you’ve really helped me a lot. I won’t say anything else. Let’s work together to rescue more small animals and create a free and happy home for them.

It was almost time to get off work, and the group leader sent a video of the little earth dog lying in the pet hospital. The little earth dog’s eyes were bright, filled with gratitude and affection that were about to overflow. Zhang Jingzhu couldn’t help but smile.

The words Zhang Ning said suddenly popped into her mind: “For them, you are their only hope.”

Zhang Jingzhu didn’t go home, she went to the supermarket and bought a lot of food. Raw meat, cooked meat, vegetables, fruits, snacks, everything, as well as a few cans of meat and nutritional paste.

Leaving the supermarket, she drove to her friend’s house.

Gu Lin’was passionate about adventure travel, and his house was filled with all sorts of strange things, including items that couldn’t be circulated on the market. He had collected them all during his adventures abroad.

“What do you want the anesthetic for?”

“Well…I joined the rescue group, right? Some animals are very aggressive towards humans, and they need the help of anesthetics, otherwise it’s very difficult to catch them…Do you have any?”

“I do. I’ll give it to you. It’s too dangerous for a girl like you to do this.”

“Isn’t what you do dangerous?”

Gu Lin’ glanced at her: “True.”

Zhang Jingzhu successfully got the anesthetic: “What else do you have?”

Gu Lin’ crossed his arms: “What are you trying to do?”

Zhang Jingzhu shrugged, her eyes bright with a smile: “You know, I’m so beautiful, I have to be careful.”

Gu Lin’ looked at her fondly, reached out and ruffled her hair, messing up her smooth black hair. Zhang Jingzhu swatted his hand away, and he held up his reddened hand to her face: “Jingzhu, how can you be so cruel to me!”

Zhang Jingzhu chuckled.

They had known each other since elementary school, and they were used to fighting.

Gu Lin’  took Zhang Jingzhu to his storage room: “I have a lot of things here that are not allowed in China, but I just recently got a new product from Zhihe Biological Company, a smoke ball they developed. It’s said that the mist released can temporarily paralyze nerves, similar to an anesthetic.”

The smoke ball was only the size of a thumb, four in a bottle.

Zhang Jingzhu got the things and was about to leave, Gu Lin’  smiled at her: “Just throw it away after you use it?”

Zhang Jingzhu waved to him: “I’ll contact you again!”

Arriving at Suhan District again, Zhang Jingzhu parked her car in a hidden location and put the food in her backpack.

People are all about self-interest.

Zhang Jingzhu was worried that before she could rescue the merman, she would be caught by the men guarding the warehouse door. This worry made her want to give up, but the merman’s desperate look that she saw that day made her sleepless and restless. She couldn’t bear to know that the merman was suffering and stand by and watch.

The smoke ball in her pocket calmed her racing heart.

If things went out of control, at least she had a way to defend herself.

This made Zhang Jingzhu feel a little relieved.

Zhang Jingzhu had only been here yesterday, luckily she wasn’t directionally challenged. Following the memory in her brain, she squatted down in the grass where she had hidden yesterday. As expected, the warehouse door was still open, there were no vehicles parked in front of the warehouse, and there were even no surveillance cameras.

Perhaps they didn’t want to expose the merman’s existence, they were even cautious enough not to install surveillance cameras.

The people who imprisoned the merman seemed to have not anticipated that the men guarding the warehouse were lazy and greedy. They didn’t seriously complete the task assigned to them to stay close by, and often went out to eat and drink at nearby restaurants, sometimes staying out all night.

This gave Zhang Jingzhu a chance.

Zhang Jingzhu walked into the warehouse. This warehouse was probably used to store seafood before, boxes of stinking and rotten fish and shrimp were piled in the corner, the smell of the warehouse was very unpleasant. There was a small window at the back, the window was not very big, and it didn’t have any effect on ventilation.

Zhang Jingzhu walked to the very back and saw the merman curled up in the corner.

She carefully stepped on the ground, the merman’s fish tail was very large, with wide pelvic fins spread out on the ground, like silk. His spine was curved to the maximum extent, his skin was unnaturally pale, and his body was weak, as if it had been temporarily pieced together.

He heard the sound of Zhang Jingzhu approaching, and his body instinctively wriggled towards the corner. Zhang Jingzhu only then noticed that his two wrists were pierced by iron chains, making a rattling sound with his movements. It was exactly the same as the scene in her dream.

The light in the warehouse was dim. But this didn’t prevent Zhang Jingzhu from observing the merman’s wounds all over his body. The hideous, torn flesh was visible everywhere on his body. The beautiful fish tail was no exception, from the abdomen to the tail, there was a deep, bloody whip mark. It was hard to imagine how painful it was for the merman to endure the whipping, and now he was like a puddle of mud lying in the blood.

The merman’s seaweed-like curly black hair was stuck together.

It looked dirty and smelly.

It was completely dark. The crescent moon hung high in the sky, and its clear light was blocked outside the warehouse.

Zhang Jingzhu’s eyes were moist, and she didn’t hesitate to put her backpack on the ground. The black and red hiking backpack was immediately stained by the blood on the ground. She took out the easy-to-digest bread and meat cans, slowly squatting down.

“Hello, my name is Zhang Jingzhu.”

Zhang Jingzhu didn’t ignore the merman’s sudden trembling when her voice sounded.

“…You look like you haven’t eaten in a long time, I brought a lot of food, is there anything you want to eat?”

Zhang Jingzhu had thought of many things to say before she came in, she even wanted to explain that she was different from those people, she wanted to gain the merman’s trust. But those words got stuck in her throat when she saw the merman’s weak body. She wanted him to eat some food more than anything else.

He looked very weak. As if he could die at any time.

Zhang Jingzhu had experience rescuing stray animals. She poured the meat cans into the small plate she had prepared, tore open the bread packaging and placed it next to the meat cans. She gently pushed it in front of the merman, then slowly backed away, creating some distance.

“I won’t touch you, I’ll stay far away from you.”

Zhang Jingzhu thought that after all, the merman was different from humans, so she took out a clean small plate, put a fresh hairtail and raw meat on it, and pushed it in front of the merman.

After doing all this, she quietly squatted down next to the fish tail. On the one hand, she was eagerly waiting for the merman’s next move, and on the other hand, she was vigilantly observing the warehouse door.

Cheng Shui’ hugged himself tightly, his face was completely buried in the blood. The stench was challenging his sense of smell every day. There were a few rotten fish and shrimp in the blood, which were his food. He had swallowed them when he couldn’t bear the hunger, but he soon vomited them all up again.

He could feel the protruding bones and the skin hanging on his body. The wounds hadn’t healed before new ones were added, and he gradually became numb in the pain.

Why hasn’t he died yet?

He hated his body’s ability to heal itself.

The smell of food came.

It wasn’t the fish and shrimp that were used to disgust him, he smelled it when he was very young, it was the smell of bread that existed in his distant memory. But he also smelled the smell of humans, the smell of a human woman.

Cheng Shui’ struggled to prop himself up, his back leaned against the wall, he could barely sit up. His face was covered in blood, and his thin face made his two black eyes look terrifyingly bright.

Zhang Jingzhu squatted beside him, anxious. She was worried that he would tear open his wounds, and she was also afraid that his thin arms wouldn’t be able to support the weight of his upper body. Her hands unconsciously reached out to him, wanting to help him.

This was a very wrong decision. Although it was Zhang Jingzhu’s unconscious action.

She didn’t notice that every time the men guarding the warehouse entered the warehouse, even when facing the weak merman, they would arm themselves. They wore thick gloves and protective clothing. This equipment would protect them from being smashed by the merman’s powerful fish tail or bitten through by his sharp teeth when he attacked.

His wrist was bitten by the merman.

The pain came without any warning, and Zhang Jingzhu’s tears welled up in her eyes. She cried out in pain. Crimson blood dripped down her wrist onto the ground, and she smelled the blood from her body.

It was common to be bitten or scratched by stray animals when rescuing them. Zhang Jingzhu was used to it.

But this time it hurt too much.

She seemed to feel the dense, closely spaced sharp teeth, similar to those of a shark, and the feeling of being bitten on the wrist was imaginable.

Zhang Jingzhu didn’t dare to pull away rashly.

Fortunately, the merman soon released his grip.

Zhang Jingzhu held her bleeding wrist, looking helplessly at the merman who was shrinking back into the corner.

Even though she was the one who was injured, the merman’s expression was as if she had done something to him.

Luckily, Zhang Jingzhu had prepared bandages and disinfectant beforehand, these were originally intended for the merman. She simply treated the wound and wrapped it with a bandage. The merman was still shrinking in the corner, his huge fish tail was spread out beside him, his two thin arms were tightly wrapped around his head, and his stolen glances were full of fear and pleading.

As if…she would hit him because she was injured.

Zhang Jingzhu thought of his instinctive defensive actions and frightened eyes, and her expression gradually became serious. She probably guessed what the merman was afraid of. Those people beat him, and they would torture him even more brutally when he resisted.

What a bunch of perverts.

Zhang Jingzhu tried to soften her facial expression: “I don’t mean any harm, I know you don’t want to hurt me either, you just want to protect yourself, right? I’m fine.”

Cheng Shui’ looked at her.

Zhang Jingzhu glanced at the overturned plate on the ground, took out a small bag of bread from her backpack, tore open the packaging, broke it in half, and ate one half in front of the merman’s stolen gaze. She