Chapter 4

Cheng Shui’nan curled up in the corner, his hands clasped over his abdomen, the new wound was still oozing blood, the movement of his hands pulled on the iron chain piercing his wrist. He gritted his teeth in pain, his pale face had no trace of blood.

The merman’s body had the ability to heal itself. New wounds would slowly heal overnight. It was supposed to be a gift to the merman, but for Cheng Shui’nan, it became a perpetual nightmare.

Since the wounds could heal, there was no need to be too careful when inflicting them. As long as he was still breathing, no matter how serious the injury, it would heal in a few days.

However, the excruciating pain had become numb after years of torment. He couldn’t describe his current feelings, he only knew that he had been abandoned again.

Those who walk in darkness can never reach the bright sunlight. They haven’t seen it, so they won’t have expectations or desires. Yet the stone cracked open, and light seeped in. He was once so close to it, he could have reached out and touched it.

Cheng Shui’nan lowered his eyes and looked at his scarred fish tail with dejection.

He hadn’t seen Zhang Jingzhu since she left.

Perhaps she had given up.

The words she said that day, that she would come back to see him again, were actually lies.

He didn’t know Zhang Jingzhu, and he even bit her.

She shouldn’t have come back, and she wouldn’t come back. This place was so dangerous, and there was a dying freak here.

Cheng Shui’nan hugged himself tightly. The stench of fish and shrimp filled the air, and he sniffled sadly. He vaguely smelled Zhang Jingzhu’s scent.

It was a faint, iris-like fragrance.

Cheng Shui’nan heard footsteps, his body stiffened. He slowly raised his head, his wide eyes filled with surprise.

Zhang Jingzhu was wearing a black tracksuit, and her sneakers were also black. She ran into the warehouse from the night, almost blending in with the dim surroundings.

Cheng Shui’nan forgot his movements and stared straight at her.

Zhang Jingzhu took out the bread from her pocket and handed it to him. She didn’t hesitate for a moment, squatting down beside him, her head tilted up, and she unexpectedly collided with the merman’s moist eyes, filled with shock.

Zhang Jingzhu smiled slightly: “You don’t believe I’ll come back?”

Cheng Shui’nan didn’t speak, his expression said it all.

Zhang Jingzhu picked up the steel saw and explained: “I said I’d come back. I’ve been around these past few days. Go ahead and eat some bread. You look a lot thinner than when I first saw you.”

Cheng Shui’nan blinked, picked up the bread she placed beside him, his gaze still fixed on Zhang Jingzhu’s face. He slowly sat up straight and noticed the steel saw in her hand. An incredible thought popped into his head.

His pupils suddenly lit up, as if a warm current flowed into his icy chest.

Zhang Jingzhu carefully examined the chain fastened to his wrist. The chain was about as thick as her thumb, and two strands were intertwined, passing through his wrist. His wrist was thin and fragile, the chain that touched the wound was rusty and black, forming a stark contrast to his fair skin.

Zhang Jingzhu: “Next, I’m going to try to saw it off. You…”

Because of the long contact, the chain was almost fused with the flesh of his wrist. Sawing the chain would inevitably pull on his wound.

Zhang Jingzhu couldn’t bear to look at the merman’s expression. She was afraid to see his moist eyes and pleading expression. She couldn’t stand it when people or animals looked at her with that kind of expression. But the gaze that fell on her face was gentle and soft, and she slowly raised her head.

Cheng Shui’nan leaned his back against the wall. His face and body were covered in mud and blood, but strangely, he didn’t look messy. It was as if a circle of gentle and clear water enveloped him. There was no despair in his eyes, and he looked at her quietly with gratitude and gentleness.

He raised his wrist, and the chain made a rattling sound. The flesh was pulled by the suddenly shaking chain, oozing thick blood, but a smile bloomed on his face: “I can, endure it, thank you…Zhang Jingzhu.”

Zhang Jingzhu was moved by the trust and dependence in his tone, and a belief to protect him surged through her chest. She put on gloves, grabbed the steel saw, aimed the teeth at a spot farther from his wrist, stepped on the chain, and began to saw back and forth with all her might.

The store owner’s guarantee wasn’t empty words. The steel saw was indeed effective. The chain that bound the merman was far less sturdy than Zhang Jingzhu had imagined. It was just an ordinary chain, and even a substandard one.

As she sawed, she spoke, trying to distract the merman: “How did they catch you?”

Cheng Shui’nan bit his lip, silent for a long time.

Zhang Jingzhu said understandingly: “It’s okay, you don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. I was just asking casually.”

Cheng Shui’nan leaned against the wall weakly, slightly raising his head. His gaze passed over the small window and fell on the dark night sky. His eyes were misty. He bit his lower lip hard, forcing the tears back. As the shadows of the trees were blown by the wind, he saw a star emitting a faint glow. Then his gaze shifted to Zhang Jingzhu. His fish tail uncontrollably fell to her side, the muddy fins touched her clean shoes, then quickly retracted.

Cheng Shui’nan lowered his eyes: “Sorry, I, I…”

Zhang Jingzhu could actually understand his feelings. Those past events must have been painful for him. It was normal for him to not want to tear open his wounds. She was just asking casually, but she didn’t expect him to react so strongly. He stammered, wanting to explain but didn’t know how to open his mouth. He was both wronged and pitiful.

Although they hadn’t spent a few days together, Zhang Jingzhu could almost deduce his personality from the merman’s occasional reactions. He was timid, cowardly, and even a little naive. Perhaps he was lured away by malicious humans while playing by the sea and imprisoned in a dark, sunless warehouse to be abused.

Thinking of this possibility, Zhang Jingzhu’s heart was instantly enveloped by pity.

Just as she was about to say something comforting, a car engine suddenly roared outside the warehouse.

Zhang Jingzhu made eye contact with the merman.

The glimmer in his eyes seemed to shatter instantly.

“…You, go quickly.”

The chain on the merman’s wrist was only half left. Just a little bit more. Zhang Jingzhu squatted beside him, motionless for a long time, reaching for the medicine bottle in her pocket. She was thinking about the odds of a head-on confrontation.

The two men guarding the warehouse were tall and strong, but they had the arrogance and self-satisfaction of most men. When they suddenly saw Zhang Jingzhu, they wouldn’t think “it’s over”, but would see her as a weak woman who was overreaching herself. This was Zhang Jingzhu’s chance to throw the smoke ball.

Zhang Jingzhu suddenly felt a push on her ankle. She looked down and found that the merman’s fish tail had fallen on her ankle, pushing her towards the stacked boxes beside her.

“They, won’t come over, you, hide inside, don’t make a sound.”

Zhang Jingzhu crouched down and hid in the gap behind the boxes. She held the steel saw in one hand and the smoke ball in the other.

Suddenly, her gaze froze.

Besides the two familiar men who entered the warehouse, three other tall and strong men followed in!

The effective range of the smoke ball was half a meter, and it only lasted for a few minutes. The method of use was to throw the smoke ball at the target, and it would take effect when it was inhaled through the nose during the release of the smoke.

Zhang Jingzhu only had four, if she wanted to succeed, she had to make sure they were clustered together and she could hit the target.

She felt unprecedented tension and fear. Her squatting posture, which she had maintained for a long time, quickly caused her legs to go numb. Her gaze uncontrollably fell on the merman’s unbound wrist, the broken chain beside him.

If they discovered the neatly cut chain, not only would the merman be harmed, but she would also be found hiding behind the boxes.

Her tense emotions prevented her from noticing the merman’s gentle and comforting gaze.

“The boss has been urging us for days, how come you can’t even do this little thing right!”

“Brother Huang, we want to finish the task quickly too, but you know, this thing, it doesn’t cry at all! We’ve tried our best, no matter how we beat him, he doesn’t cry. What can we do?”

“Why does the boss have to hang on to this one tree? We found other mermen too, those who can’t cry pearl tears, we just killed them and threw them away. Why can’t we kill this one? I think it’s just a pretty face, there’s nothing special about it!”

Brother Huang glared fiercely at the man who spoke: “You kid, what do you know.”

“Brother Huang, little brother wants to ask you something. I heard that the boss’s wife died ten years ago. This merman was locked up here right after his wife died. Could it be that he killed the boss’s wife? The boss locked it up here for revenge?”

Brother Huang pushed him away: “Don’t ask about the boss’s business. Just do the task assigned to you! This place is hidden, there are no villages nearby, and it’s sparsely populated. Do whatever you want, don’t worry too much, even if he screams, no one will hear him. If he still can’t cry, then increase the methods, electric shocks, fire roasting, spiked clubs, whatever hurts, use it!”

Zhang Jingzhu gritted her teeth, her chest filled with a suffocating feeling.

The man who was pushed away by Brother Huang laughed viciously.

“Zhang Zheng, what are you laughing at? So creepy!”

Zhang Zheng walked towards the merman: “I’ve been wanting to do something for a long time. It’s not bad looking, and it has long hair, it looks no different from a woman. We brothers are stuck in this bird-dropping place all day long, we haven’t seen a beautiful woman in a long time. Isn’t it prettier than a woman?”

Brother Huang scanned Zhang Zheng with his eyes, didn’t stop him, and walked to the other side of the warehouse. The lights suddenly came on, and a computer screen appeared on a cardboard box. The screen was playing the scene inside the warehouse.

Zhang Jingzhu’s eyes widened, her heart jumped into her throat.

It was all her fault for being so careless, she hadn’t noticed that the warehouse had surveillance cameras.

Brother Huang scrolled through the past recordings.

The screen changed to show the merman, who was forced to be injected with sedatives and had a muzzle on, lying in a pool of blood, barely alive, as Zhang Zheng and the others punched and kicked him. His eyes were fixed on the camera, without hatred or fear, only numb and confused, making people feel sorry for him.

Zhang Jingzhu made eye contact with the merman in the recording through the screen.

Her heart felt a dull knife cutting pain again.

This pain was almost covering her fear for her own safety.

At this point, she didn’t seem to regret running into the warehouse.

Sure enough, Brother Huang suddenly shouted as he scanned the recordings: “Someone came in!”

Zhang Zheng immediately retorted: “Impossible!”

Brother Huang suddenly walked to Zhang Zheng, grabbed him by the collar, and angrily scolded: “I told you to stay close by and guard it! Tell me the truth, did you sneak off to drink? A woman came in a few days ago! No, she’s here now. Check the surveillance!”

Zhang Jingzhu’s hand holding the steel saw trembled slightly, sweat soaked her palm. She pressed tightly against the wall, her whole body almost shrinking into a ball. Through the cracks in the cardboard box, she could clearly see her figure hiding behind the stacked cardboard boxes on the screen.

She swallowed hard, clutching the smoke ball, her gaze fixed unblinkingly on Brother Huang, who was striding towards where she was hiding.

“If you want to live, come out quickly! Otherwise, I’ll…ah!”

Brother Huang felt a sharp pain in his leg bone. He suddenly knelt on the ground, his hands clasped over his knees. Just now, when he approached the box, a strong force suddenly hit him, hitting his knee bend hard.

Brother Huang felt like his leg was broken.

Zhang Zheng opened his eyes wide: “…Help…how did his chains come off!”

Zhang Jingzhu looked through the gap.

The light from the computer screen illuminated the corner of the warehouse. Cheng Shui’nan sat up against the wall, one of his wrists had a chain that had been completely cut through. The chain hung on his wound, making a rattling sound as he got up. His other hand, the chain that Zhang Jingzhu hadn’t had time to cut, fell completely to the ground.

Zhang Jingzhu was suddenly seized by a nameless grief, and large tears rolled down from her wide-open eyes.

He had actually broken free from the shackles of the chains, even tearing his hand bones.

His left wrist was limp, hanging helplessly by his side. Even from a distance, he could see the torn opening in his wrist.

Cheng Shui’nan slowly stood up, his wide fins pressed against the ground. He felt a dizziness in his head, but he endured it. The straightened fish tail tore open the wound, there was no part of his body that didn’t hurt. He used all his strength to pounce on Zhang Zheng, who was closest to him, and bit his neck with his sharp teeth.

Zhang Zheng let out a shrill scream.

Brother Huang knelt on the ground, shouting angrily: “What are you all standing there for? Go help quickly! Inject sedatives!”

“Brother Huang…it, it doesn’t have a muzzle on, its teeth are harder than steel, if we go forward, we’ll be bitten to death…I’m scared to go!”

Brother Huang: “Then put on protective suits quickly! Hurry up! If you’re any later, Zhang Zheng will be bitten to death!”

Cheng Shui’nan’s fish tail pressed heavily on Zhang Zheng.

Zhang Zheng’s neck had a hideous tooth mark. He lay on his back, his body convulsing uncontrollably from intense fear and panic.

Cheng Shui’nan looked at the place where Zhang Jingzhu was hiding. The fierce expression on his face softened instantly when he looked at her. Those eyes that had shown confusion and despair in the screen recording were as if they had been washed with water, clean and bright, faintly revealing a glimmer of light.

“Zhang…you, go quickly.”

Zhang Jingzhu didn’t know if she had cried a lot. She felt her face was cold. She pushed open the box and stood up, facing the merman’s gentle gaze, she quickly walked a few steps forward, and while the other men were putting on protective suits, she grabbed the smoke ball and threw it at them. The warehouse was very large, and her aim was not good, but luckily, the three men were clustered together. Zhang Jingzhu threw all four, and the smoke released from the smoke balls enveloped the three men.

“Damn it! What is this thing!”

“Why are my legs suddenly weak…”

“Me too.”

Zhang Jingzhu quickly ran to the merman’s side, holding his arm: “Can you stand up? Come with me quickly!”

The smoke released from the smoke ball could only maintain a range of half a meter. The three men who hadn’t put on protective suits were enveloped in white mist, paralyzed on the ground, struggling to grab Zhang Jingzhu but unable to muster the strength.

The heat released from the smoke made the temperature rise in the almost airtight warehouse.

Cheng Shui’nan tilted his head, looking at the hand that was tightly holding his arm. He shook his head and smiled: “I, am badly injured, it hurts, don’t mind me, you leave.”

Zhang Jingzhu: “You’re coming with me.”

Cheng Shui’nan turned his body, revealing his left hand.

His arm was thin and weak, a thin layer of flesh covered the bones of his arm, his excessively white skin showed blue veins, the veins extended to his wrist and suddenly stopped. His hand and arm were only connected by half a broken bone and flesh, and blood flowed from his fingers, pooling into a large puddle on the ground.

Zhang Jingzhu stared at the bloodstain. The shocking wound made her gasp deeply. Only by clenching her hand could she pull herself out of the nameless fear and heartache.

He’s in no shape to get up.

Zhang Jingzhu was just an ordinary woman, she couldn’t bear the weight of two people.

Zhang Jingzhu came to her senses, and said without hesitation: “You wait for me, I’ll be right back, we’ll leave together.”

The smoke from the smoke ball gradually began to dissipate, the mist filled the entire warehouse.

Zhang Jingzhu ran outside the warehouse. The men’s van was parked at the entrance of the warehouse, with the car keys in the ignition. Zhang Jingzhu started the van, just as she was about to adjust the direction, she suddenly heard a sound from inside the warehouse, as if something was thrown out and hit the wall.

She looked into the warehouse through the car window, and vaguely saw a tall man standing in the middle, limping.

Crap.

She forgot about Brother Huang.

She was only concerned about the three men in protective suits, completely forgetting about Brother Huang, who was only injured in the leg.

Zhang Jingzhu held the steering wheel, a crazy thought suddenly popped into her mind. She slowly released the