Chapter 41
“Did you open your scales?” Xia Ni suddenly smelled a fragrance unique to mermaids. He released Xia Yi and asked urgently.
Opening scales meant that Xia Yi had done that kind of intimate thing with a man. Xia Ni had a vague premonition of something bad.
Xia Yi lowered his head guiltily.
“Was it that man named Ouyang?” Xia Ni clenched his fists, suppressing his anger.
Xia Yi said dejectedly, “Mm. He got another little mermaid, so he sold Xia Yi.” There was nothing he couldn’t say about this.
His brother was his closest family.
His brother wouldn’t hurt him.
Xia Ni took a sharp intake of cold breath. “You’re saying you were sold by him?”
“Mm.”
Xia Ni’s heart ached for his brother, yet he also wished he could crack open his skull to see what was inside. Of course, he also wished he could tear that Ouyang into ten thousand pieces and feed his bones to the dogs!
He dared to abduct and deceive his brother!
On the other side, Ouyang Xiaoli had just returned to the Underground City. His heart suddenly felt a bit panicked, a profound feeling he had never experienced before.
He walked quickly back to his residence.
The living room was very quiet. There was no sign of Xia Yi. Ouyang Xiaoli hurriedly walked into the bedroom—nothing. The bathroom—nothing…
Ouyang Xiaoli forced himself to calm down.
Right, he might be with Ke Da. He had clearly asked Ke Da to take care of Xia Yi.
Ke Da was sweating profusely from anxiety. He had sent countless signals to the Boss, but there had been no response from the other side.
He wasn’t stupid. After learning that Zuo Yinwan had used a diversion tactic, he rushed back, but Xia Yi was already gone!
He didn’t know what Zuo Yinwan had done, but he couldn’t reach the Boss.
Ke Da could only search blindly.
It wasn’t until his light brain lit up and he saw the Boss’s familiar signal that Ke Da was so excited he almost cried. Indeed, he started choking up!
“Boss!” he shouted.
Ouyang Xiaoli’s voice was still relatively calm. “Where are you and Xia Yi right now?”
“Xia Yi is missing!”
“I received a communication from Zuo Yinwan earlier. She said you were injured by Hu Lao’er at the Star Stone Market. I panicked as soon as I heard it…”
Ke Da explained incoherently.
Ouyang Xiaoli’s brain buzzed, going blank for a moment.
He thought he had heard wrong.
“What did you say?”
Choking back tears, Ke Da recounted the sequence of events. He regretted it deeply in his heart; he blamed himself for easily trusting Zuo Yinwan.
He knew exactly what kind of person Zuo Yinwan was!
Ouyang Xiaoli’s eyes were bloodshot. He gripped his light brain tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand. “Why worry about me? Ten Hu Lao’ers aren’t my match. You believed such a clumsy lie?!”
Ke Da burst into tears.
He felt terrible too.
Ouyang Xiaoli didn’t have time to waste with Ke Da. He immediately sent a communication request to Zuo Yinwan.
He stood in the center of the living room, appearing calm and rational on the surface, but his fingers trembled slightly as he dialed, almost hitting the wrong numbers.
He took a deep breath.
It would be fine. It would definitely be fine.
However, for some reason, Zuo Yinwan didn’t pick up his signal. This caused Ouyang Xiaoli’s patience to gradually wear thin.
He began to pace back and forth in the living room.
Ouyang Xiaoli couldn’t wait anymore. He opened the door and left in a hurry!
As soon as he thought of his little mermaid being hungry and cold, his mind couldn’t think straight.
Xia Yi was so squeamish.
He must be terrified right now.
Hunger and cold were the least of it.
What he feared was that Xia Yi would be abused.
How could he not know what kind of person Zuo Yinwan was? The sudden disappearance of a black mermaid who had pestered him before was Zuo Yinwan’s doing! And hadn’t he known about the things Zuo Yinwan did against Xia Yi several times before? He thought Zuo Yinwan would at least restrain herself a little. Who knew…
It was all because he had been careless.
A violent emotion faintly surfaced in Ouyang Xiaoli’s eyes. If anything happened to Xia Yi, he would absolutely not let Zuo Yinwan off.
Zuo Yinwan seemed to have anticipated all of this. Sitting at home, her wrist light brain had been lighting up for over ten minutes. She just glanced at it indifferently, a mocking smile on her lips.
It was just a mermaid. Even if his tail was golden, he wasn’t necessarily that precious. She didn’t understand why she was dispensable in Ouyang’s eyes, while a mermaid made him care so much. Fortunately, Xia Yi had probably already been auctioned off by now. Thinking of this, Zuo Yinwan felt very gratified.
A vicious light flashed in her eyes.
If she couldn’t have Ouyang, she wouldn’t let anyone else have him either!
Only when the person on the other end of the light brain was about to lose patience did Zuo Yinwan leisurely intend to answer.
However, the other side suddenly hung up.
Zuo Yinwan was stunned.
After hanging up, the light brain returned to silence, and no more signals came from the other side.
On the other side, Ouyang Xiaoli was rushing towards Zuo Yinwan’s residence. While sending communication requests, he accelerated without stopping…
There were quite a few people walking on the street.
Sounds of laughter and chatter faintly drifted into his ears. Ouyang Xiaoli stopped in his tracks, subconsciously looking in that direction.
“Made a fortune!”
“The spirit stones from this one deal are more than we saved in several years. If you ask me, it really is a treasure; even the Silver Sea Empire coveted it!”
“It’s just a bit of a pity that us brothers didn’t get a taste. You know, a golden mermaid only appears once every few hundred years.”
“And a natural one at that!”
“It is a bit of a pity. I regret it a little too. Actually, even if we had a taste, those people wouldn’t know, and we could have sold it for a high price all the same!”
“Hahaha, exactly!”
“Don’t tell me, that mermaid’s skin was white and tender. I even touched it once.”
“I told you…”
One of the men stopped halfway through his sentence when he glimpsed Ouyang Xiaoli walking towards them. He shut his mouth and immediately bowed and lowered his head fawningly.
“Hello, Boss Ouyang.”
Ouyang Xiaoli’s face was dark as he stopped.
The man who said he touched the mermaid was just about to greet the Boss fawningly when suddenly a blur flashed past his eyes. A fierce wind swept by, and the man screamed, falling to his knees and prostrating on the ground in severe pain.
He heard the man ask, voice cold as an ice cellar, “Where is he?”
With that kick just now, he hadn’t held back at all. Thinking of the little mermaid being touched by this person’s filthy hands, he wished he could tear the person in front of him into pieces. What gall.
Violence rose in Ouyang Xiaoli’s heart, his eyes blood-red.
“W-What?”
“I asked you where he is!” The man didn’t know how he had offended the Boss and felt aggrieved. Just as he was about to look up and ask, a fist came down and smashed his nose bridge crooked directly.
Blood and tears smeared the man’s face.
He howled while crying, looking utterly miserable.
The other two men looked fearful and terrified, backing away in panic and kneeling directly to beg for mercy, not knowing how they had provoked the Boss.
“Boss Ouyang, spare us!”
“We brothers have always stuck to our duties; we don’t know how we offended you!”
“We beg Boss Ouyang to be lenient!”
Ouyang Xiaoli had no patience to deal with these people. “Where is that mermaid?”
The three men were stunned. One of them reacted first. Seeing Boss Ouyang so furious, he instantly understood something.
He swallowed. “Boss Ouyang, didn’t you ask us to sell that mermaid?”
Ouyang Xiaoli sneered. “I asked you to?”
“You can’t blame us for this. Sister Zuo said it was your idea, so we dared to do it.” Cold sweat streamed down the man’s face, knowing he couldn’t hide it from Boss Ouyang. “The mermaid… the mermaid was sold by us to the black market of the Silver Sea Empire. He’s probably been sold off already.”
The surrounding temperature dropped several degrees abruptly.
Ouyang Xiaoli clenched his fists.
He suddenly remembered seeing these men when he returned from the Silver Sea Empire to the Underground City. At that time, they were carrying a sack sneakily, and he had even taken a few extra glances because of it…
Ouyang Xiaoli’s footing was a bit unsteady.
So, what was in the sack at that time was actually Xia Yi… and he had missed him just like that.
Ouyang Xiaoli wished he could slap himself!
After reacting, Ouyang Xiaoli pursed his lips, turned, and ran towards the direction of the Silver Sea Empire. He had no extra energy to teach these scumbags a lesson. He had to hurry; Xia Yi was still waiting for him!
The wind whistled in his ears. The man could no longer hear any external sounds. His eyes and heart were filled with thoughts of his soft and waxy mermaid. He was so timid, so fond of acting spoiled; he must be terrified now.
When he arrived at the black market, something else was being auctioned on stage.
Ouyang Xiaoli grabbed someone. “Was a mermaid auctioned just now?”
The person he grabbed looked at him, baffled. “What?”
Ouyang Xiaoli’s throat was very dry and scratchy, his chest ached dully. He had no more patience, his temper becoming irritable. “I’m asking you, was a mermaid auctioned here just now? Golden tail, very white skin, very small…”
The person he grabbed was frightened. “S-Saw it… Wasn’t he just bought by someone for one hundred million spirit stones?”
Ouyang Xiaoli’s heart sank.
Someone nearby saw Ouyang Xiaoli’s harsh demeanor and thought he was upset about missing the mermaid, so they said kindly, “It’s my first time seeing such a beautiful golden mermaid too. Bro, you came for him as well?”
Ouyang Xiaoli turned to leave.
The person shook his head, thinking this brother was heartbroken, and couldn’t help saying, “Don’t think about it. That noble spent one hundred million spirit stones to buy him; it shows how much he likes him.”
“It’s my first time seeing someone spend so many spirit stones for a mermaid.”
“Us ordinary nobles shouldn’t think about it; just getting an eyeful is enough. Brother, listen to me, just let it go.”
The person comforted Ouyang Xiaoli.
“What did that noble look like?” Ouyang Xiaoli stared at that person.
The man thought for a moment. “Very ordinary looking.”
“Insiders know that noble was in disguise. Some nobles don’t want others to know they’ve been to the black market, so they disguise themselves.”
“Why, you want to find him?”
“Yeah.”
Ouyang Xiaoli had learned the general information; staying here longer was useless.
He left the black market, standing on the street, suddenly not knowing where to go.
He stood there in a daze.
With just this little information, where should he start looking? Finding a disguised person in the Silver Sea Empire was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
He remembered his coldness towards Xia Yi a while ago, and how he said he wanted to send Xia Yi away. He had hoped Xia Yi would return to the sea.
Not become a noble’s plaything.
Ouyang Xiaoli’s vision went black, and he almost fainted. He grabbed the wall beside him to steady himself. After a while, he seemed to sober up a bit and looked up blankly.
Xia Yi must be very scared. That little crybaby must be crying again, calling “Ouyang,” his voice soft, waxy, and pitiful.
As a man, Ouyang Xiaoli certainly knew how tempting Xia Yi looked like that.
Would that ordinary noble be rough and unpitying towards Xia Yi? Xia Yi was very afraid of pain. What if he was tortured by that noble?
What if he went hungry?
Ouyang Xiaoli closed his eyes. A heart-wrenching pain came from his chest. He never thought he liked Xia Yi so much.
How he wished he could take his place.
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