Chapter 53: Drawing a Circle to Curse You

“Am I not as beautiful as Sun Erniang?”
“Neither one!”
Lin Qiu shook his head quickly. “A forced relationship won’t last.”
“Since I’ve made a promise to Erniang, I will never go back on my word for the rest of my life.”
“Even if you possess my body, you’ll never have my heart.”
“My heart?”
Biqi let out a delicate laugh. “What I desire is your appearance; your heart doesn’t interest me.”
“As long as you stay and serve me well, I can pardon your crime of seducing my chef and spare her life.”
“No!”
Sun Erniang’s expression changed. She dropped to her knees. “Madam, I beg you, please spare him. He’s innocent. I am the one who coveted his beauty.”
“If you let him go, I can be your food instead.”
“My food?”
Biqi sneered. “I have no taste for plain fish. Even if you threw yourself at me, I wouldn’t eat you.”
“If you keep talking, you’ll die, and he’ll still become my mate.”
“Erniang!”
Lin Qiu’s expression darkened; he shook his head at her. “Heaven and earth can bear witness to my feelings for you. Don’t beg her—live well.”
“Even if she takes my body, my heart will always belong to you.”
“How touching,” Biqi sneered coldly. Her hair unbound, Lin Qiu was released, but his face was ashen.
There was no imminent danger to trigger the summoning of the ancient city.
Was this the fate of a beautiful merman, to be tormented by this woman?
If it had happened earlier, he might have even wished for it.
But Lin Qiu was a peculiar man.
Once he made up his mind, not even eight great white sharks could drag him back.
That was why, in his previous life, to save money, he ate instant noodles every day, rose early, returned late, and endured twenty-three stops across half a city.
Stubbornness—some might call it a sickness.
Obsessive-compulsive, truly!
Whatever he decided, he would never change.
For Erniang, he’d abandoned his old ways and rebuilt his character—could there be greater obstinacy?
“Don’t be so dejected. I’ll treat you well,” Biqi said with a coquettish laugh, pulling Lin Qiu up.

As she walked out, she issued a commanding order, “Prepare a lavish feast. I wish to drink with His Excellency from the Other Shore.”
Behind her, Erniang closed her eyes in pain, her slender body trembling. Still, she answered in a quavering voice, “As you command.”
A proclamation was issued from the City Lord’s Mansion, and soon all the fish in the ancient city knew:
Their beautiful City Lord was to be wed—one month from now.
The message was broadcast from the ancient city, reaching every underwater city in an instant.
Whether the other cities would send representatives was not Biqi’s concern.
Not only the aquatic clans, but also the beasts of the land and the fowl of the air received the news.
Whether they attended or not was equally irrelevant to Biqi.
Delivering the message was enough.
The news that the mermaid princess was to be married spread quickly among all three clans.

Meanwhile, Lin Qiu, the groom-to-be, lay on his cloud-bed, legs sprawled, eyes closed, resigned to his fate.
“Come then—torment me if you must! I will never yield.”
Biqi giggled, her cheeks tinged with pink.
“City Lord, you are destined to be mine. There’s no need to rush.”
“Besides, we mermaids have rules. If, before marriage, a female has relations with a male, she will be punished by the elders with the harshest penalty.”
Lin Qiu breathed a sigh of relief, a faint smile appearing as he sat up.
“You should have said so earlier! You nearly scared me to death—my poor heart was pounding!”
He was completely at ease now.
His virtue was intact.
And with a month until the wedding, he was sure he’d find a chance to escape.
Once free, he’d lie low and evolve quietly.
When he’d reached a certain level, he’d return for revenge.
He was stubborn and vengeful.
Anyone who had wronged him was kept in a little ledger in his heart.
If he had the strength, he’d repay them in full; if not, he’d hide away and curse them until he did.
Now, a lecherous grin spread across Lin Qiu’s face.
“How can two men with the same face be so different?”
Watching his shameless expression, Biqi shook her head and murmured, “The ancient lord from the Other Shore was truly a romantic.”
“All the violet-haired beauties of the aquatic clans were his confidantes.”

“Just look at him—unrestrained and peerless in might!
Now look at you, sharing his face, yet so far beneath him.”
“What do you know?”
Lin Qiu scoffed. “He was just a philanderer, a promiscuous fish.”
“But look at me—utterly devoted!”
“Are you mad?”
Biqi rolled her eyes. “Are you even an aquatic creature? Male fish only exist to help females reproduce.”
“Only the strongest males are allowed to sire superior offspring.
The weak are simply food.”
Lin Qiu shuddered inside.
This was the law of the food chain—brutal and real.

“However...”
Biqi smiled again. “Once we inherited memories, we became an intelligent, advanced race, with our own civilization and customs.”
“We’re no longer ignorant, lowly creatures.”
“As City Lord, you know: if a male forces himself on a female, he’ll be executed.
If a male wishes to pair with a female, it must be through formal marriage.”
“Excellent! Excellent!”
Lin Qiu’s eyes lit up. “In that case, why don’t you let me go? We can be friends!”
“The Other Shore... No, you don’t deserve that title. It’s an insult to the ancient Lord.”
Biqi’s eyes flashed with mockery, and Lin Qiu’s face grew long.
He silently added another mark to her account in his heart.
“The Other Shore is also a flower, so I’ll just call you Lord Hua, or City Lord Hua.”
Biqi gave him no chance to refuse and continued, “Lord Hua, did you not understand what I just said?”
“I meant that while males cannot force females, if a female takes a fancy to a male, she can act first.”
“I...”
Lin Qiu was speechless.
Curse his ancestors—of all things, why had they chosen to be gatekeepers?
In life, they’d never left the city gates by a hundred miles.
How pitiful!