LSDWTWHA chapter 73

Chapter 72

Su Su hadn’t finished sharing before the professor forcibly interrupted him, looking somewhat regretful.

“But teacher, I just mentioned the main points, and there are still many details left to discuss.”

When the elderly professor heard the word “details,” the corner of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch: “I’m sorry, but the evening class is over; you all should get some sleep.”

Su Su nodded regretfully and then looked at the professor earnestly: “Can I continue to share tomorrow night?”

The professor practically fled the classroom, leaving only a sentence behind: “Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

“Ha.” Su Su let out a sarcastic laugh, knowing that tomorrow, the professor would surely not allow him to appear in class again.

However, he didn’t intend to stay in this dull place for another day.

Since he had already cast out his bait, he thought the person who needed to take action would appear soon.

After a simple wash, Su Su was locked back in his small room. The lights in the room were off, leaving only a small window on the door illuminated by the light from the corridor.

Su Su originally planned to take a little nap to restore his energy, but lying on the musty, hard bed, he tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Su Su lamented to himself that just a day ago, he had been lying on the spacious bed at home, with only Qi Hanyi’s steady breathing in his ears.

Qi Hanyi seemed very tired last night; he fell into a deep sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. When Su Su quietly moved closer, he did not wake.

At the time, Su Su didn’t want to disturb his sleep; he just wanted to be a bit closer. So he secretly crept from his quilt into Qi Hanyi’s quilt, pulling closer one of Qi Hanyi’s arms and resting it under his neck.

But Qi Hanyi woke up from his small movement; however, he may have been too tired or not really awake, as he did not retract his hand but instead turned towards Su Su, pulling him into his embrace with the other arm.

…

Recalling the touch and temperature of Qi Hanyi’s body, Su Su rolled irritably on the narrow, hard bed and sat up completely, unable to sleep at all.

A commotion of footsteps came from outside the door. Su Su got up and walked to the door, peeking through the small window. The girl who had been taken away during the evening class had returned, her body was unscathed, but her face was pale, her eyes glazed over as she was being carried back.

There were four people carrying the mermaid girl, the one leading the group was number 06, a woman who appeared to be in her thirties. Her outfit was different from the others; Su Su had only seen similar clothing on Xiang Chen, so he initially judged that she must be a doctor.

Noticing Su Su’s peeking, number 06 paused, signaling the others to continue forward, while she walked over to Su Su’s door.

Su Su was not afraid at all and just stood there waiting.

Unexpectedly, she first cautiously looked at the departing group and then spoke in a voice only they could hear: “Don’t be alarmed; I’m here to help you escape.”

Su Su’s gaze shifted slightly, realizing that the fish he wanted to catch was now hooked.

“Who said I wanted to leave? I don’t know you; who are you?” Su Su put on a completely distrustful expression.

“It was Yan Bai who sent me.” 06 said, “You can completely trust me. Rest assured, we have made full plans to rescue you; all you have to do is obediently follow my hints tomorrow, and I guarantee I can take you out of here safely.”

“Yan Bai sent you? Your number is 06, which is a single-digit ranking; you must have considerable qualifications, having worked here for several years. How could Yan Bai command you? Did he know years ago that I would be brought here and have you wait to rescue me?” Su Su pretended to be completely unaware of Yan Bai’s background to pry for information.

“Not at all; I’m just an undercover agent planted by the organization here… You don’t need to worry about that. You just need to leave with me.” 06 didn’t want to reveal too much to Su Su. She only wanted to persuade him to cooperate; she couldn’t stay too long near him, fearing it would draw suspicion, and was becoming somewhat impatient.

Su Su, however, still wouldn’t buy it: “I’m doing just fine here, why would I want to leave? I’m not going anywhere. Didn’t your organization pretend to want me dead before? What if you take me out and quietly get rid of me, leaving my body in the wilderness? Wouldn’t that make me look foolish?”

06 quickly explained: “The organization did want to kill you, but I listen to Yan Bai, and this time it’s his order to rescue you.”

After she spoke, 06 was momentarily stunned. Upon seeing the “so it is” look from Su Su, she realized she had said too much.

“So Yan Bai is indeed part of that Dark Tide organization. He seems to have a high status.” Su Su said: “Contrary to the organization’s will, secretly sending someone to save me? Hmm, it sounds like something he would do. But I appreciate the good intentions; I feel quite safe here, and there’s no need to go out.”

“How could this place possibly be safe? Do you really not understand, or are you pretending not to know!” 06 was almost going mad with anxiety.

At that moment, the group that had been transporting mermaids began to return: “06, let’s go back.”

“Oh no, my stomach hurts.” Su Su suddenly squatted on the ground, pretending to moan: “Ugh, it hurts so bad. Am I going to die? You can’t leave; hurry and get me a doctor.”

“Are you really in pain, or are you just trying to play tricks?” 06 found a reason to stay and immediately decided to send the others away: “You guys go back first; I’m the doctor; I’ll stay and watch him.”

“Be careful, 06; I’ve heard this mermaid is very ruthless. He put 03 in the hospital today. With such disregard for rules, if it weren’t for the second young master’s order, he would have been taught a lesson.” The remaining staff members expressed some concern.

06 waved her hand: “It can’t be helped; after all, he’s the partner of General Qi. We can’t lay a hand on him before his sentencing. I’ll be careful; you all go rest.”

Once the others walked away, Su Su straightened up and continued the previous topic: “Now that there’s time, you can slowly tell me why you have to take me out.”

Since 06 had already let something slip, she decided to stop hiding: “You are temporarily detained here, but the Dark Tide will certainly release evidence next, proving you are a member of Dark Tide, a piece set up to approach Qi Hanyi. The evidence is readily available; after all, when you replaced Yi Qing for marriage, you just happened to get there before us.”

“Don’t you find it strange why you’ve been masquerading as Yi Qing for so long, and no one suspected your identity? You probably don’t know that originally, Yan Bai was meant to impersonate Yi Qing to marry Qi Hanyi, so we modified the documents related to Yi Qing. The text seen by humans was altered based on Yan Bai. You have a blood relation with him, and you resemble him, which is why no flaws were exposed. But now this is the best evidence of your collusion with Dark Tide.”

“That evidence has probably already reached the First Prince’s hands. Once it’s revealed before the Emperor tomorrow morning, no matter how much Qi Hanyi wants to protect you, you will undoubtedly die.”

This was something Su Su hadn’t anticipated; he didn’t know he had seen Yan Bai a long time ago. Therefore, Yan Bai, Mr. Bai; he realized this now; it was no wonder that when that person first saw his appearance, he looked stunned for a moment.

“Are you really one of Yan Bai’s people? How can I trust you?” Su Su showed a hint of wanting to leave with her.

“I am certainly one of Yan Bai’s people; otherwise, why would I tell you all this?” 06 continued to persuade: “You must trust me; Yan Bai has done all this just to save you. As long as you leave the Imperial Capital with us and wait for the storm to pass, no matter the outcome, you will be safe.”

Su Su didn’t agree. There were many flaws in what 06 said; could his identity really tarnish Qi Hanyi? Qi Hanyi had previously hated mermaids so much, and his experiences in the noble circle weren’t a secret; would others believe that he, the mermaid organization that caused his father’s death, actually colluded with them?

Moreover, the person in front of him exhibited too obvious animosity towards him, and his words revealed a lack of recognition of Yan Bai’s desire to save him, but he was very eager to take him away; his behavior was contradictory.

Su Su thought, maybe this time, Yan Bai really wanted to save him, but the person in front of him probably just wanted to take him away, so they could completely frame him as a member of the Dark Tide.

Of course, they did not plan to attack Qi Hanyi as if they were members of the Dark Tide; they merely wanted to put the blame on him. As for the reason, it was easy to guess; the only threat he posed to them was his decent performance with starships, and he could potentially become the next heir to the Bai Ze.

Their goal was the Bai Ze, so they needed to ensure that he was out of the game before the finals.

That’s fine, Su Su thought, there was still some time until the finals, and the original purpose of this trip was to understand what the internal Dark Tide organization looked like.

“Okay, then I’ll go with you. What should I do?” After some thought, Su Su pretended to be persuaded by her.

06 didn’t say much more: “Just rest assured, I will give you a signal tomorrow, and just be obedient and cooperate with our actions.”

After 06 left, Su Su thought tomorrow would be very busy, and he fell asleep.

After breakfast the next day, Su Su was preparing to go to morning class but was suddenly called to stop. The person calling him was number 01, a handsome man: “Su Su, right? Come with me; the second young master wants to see you.”

This time, they pressed the elevator for the seventh floor. The seventh floor was small, containing only one room filled with the heavy scent of ink. It was an art studio. The studio’s three walls were hung with various paintings, some already framed, others with paint still wet, each depicting a different mermaid.

Near the south window was a huge water tank. The tank was half-filled with water, decorated at the bottom with white sand, shells, corals, and water plants.

In the middle of the room, Mo Lin was focused on painting on a board, some paint still visible on him. The figure on the canvas was none other than Su Su himself, depicted with two contrasting colors in the background, one side adorned with a crown, looking down arrogantly at the figures below the painting, his face full of pride, half of his body cloaked in black shadows, radiating a unique, seductive menace.

This was the first time Su Su saw someone painting, and it was a portrait of himself. He patiently watched for more than ten minutes until Mo Lin finished the last stroke.

When Mo Lin turned around and saw Su Su, he was momentarily startled, as if just then remembering he had invited someone over. He smiled apologetically: “Did you wait long? Sorry, I just got too engrossed.”

“You were painting me?” Compared to watching him act, Su Su found the painting in front of him much more interesting. Su Su had to admit that while Mo Lin might be lacking in other areas, his painting skills were quite impressive; he captured a person’s spirit well.

“Yeah, when I saw you fighting yesterday, I suddenly found it very inspiring.” Mo Lin glanced at his recently completed artwork: “But I feel that this painting is still lacking something.”

“I don’t think so; I think it’s quite good. Of course, if possible, I believe you could have a double portrait of Qi Hanyi and me next time.” Su Su unceremoniously made a request.

“Sorry, I only paint mermaids.” Mo Lin politely declined, but then it seemed he thought of something: “I know what this painting is missing; it’s the tail! Mermaids are a gift from the goddess of beauty; they are most beautiful only when they have a human body and a fish tail!”

He loved mermaids and believed that this human-shaped Su Su would not satisfy him.

“Can you turn into a mermaid and let me paint another one?” Mo Lin politely requested.

Su Su looked at the water tank not far away and realized what it was for. It seemed that every mermaid portrait that had existed here had once been asked for the same.

Su Su didn’t mind letting him paint another picture, but unfortunately, he couldn’t turn into a mermaid: “I’m very sorry; as you know, I am a mermaid hybrid and maintain a human body through medication. I don’t know how to turn into a mermaid.”

“I have a way.” Mo Lin issued a command on the terminal, and soon number 06 appeared at the door with a cup that looked very much like juice.

“What is this?” Su Su asked.

06 walked over and handed him the cup: “This is a potion that allows you to temporarily turn into mermaid form; it has no side effects. You can drink it with peace of mind.”

“Alright.” Su Su received 06’s hint and raised the cup to drink it all in one go.