Watching the sleazy man try to run away after calling her a monster, Yan Qi, who was in a pretty bad mood, wasn’t about to let him get off that easily.
So, transformed into the Mermaid Princess and possessing a master-level affinity for water elements, Yan Qi manipulated the lake water, coalescing it into a several-meter-wide sphere, and hurled it straight at the fleeing man.
Too focused on escaping to look back and see what Yan Qi was doing, the man hadn’t gotten more than a few steps away before the water ball she controlled smashed directly into him.
Soaked instantly and turned into a drenched rat, he then slipped on the wet ground, his head accidentally hitting a rock, and he fell unconscious on the spot.
“Huh, settled that easily? Well, I guess that makes sense since he’s just an ordinary person.”
Seeing the sleazy man knocked out cold by the water ball she’d thrown, Yan Qi was momentarily surprised. But then she remembered she was a superhuman now and didn’t dwell on it further.
She then shifted her gaze from the unconscious man to the woman he had nearly kidnapped.
“Are you okay?”
Hearing Yan Qi’s voice, the terrified woman—who also thought Yan Qi was an Abyssal Beast from the深渊 (shēnyuān) and was too scared to even stand—quickly pleaded, “Don’t eat me, don’t eat me! I’m just an old woman, my meat wouldn’t taste good at all!”
Hearing this, Yan Qi, who had saved her out of kindness, couldn’t help but feel a wave of exasperation (metaphorical black lines appearing on her forehead).
But knowing her current mermaid princess form did look more like an Abyssal Beast compared to a normal person, Yan Qi didn’t blame the woman. Instead, she quickly moved closer, bent down to look at her, and explained, “Miss, I’m not a monster. I’m a superhuman. I have no intention of eating you.”
Hearing Yan Qi claim to be a superhuman, the woman, who had been lying on the ground with her eyes shut, trembling, suddenly opened them. Gathering her courage, she asked, “You’re a superhuman?”
“I am a superhuman,” Yan Qi confirmed.
Hearing this, but still not entirely convinced, the woman looked at the fish tail where Yan Qi’s legs should be and asked uncertainly, “If you really are a superhuman, then why do you have a fish’s tail?”
Ready for this question, Yan Qi answered, “It’s because I acquired supernatural powers related to fish, so I ended up looking like this.”
“Do all humans grow strange things like you after getting powers?” the woman asked.
“No,” Yan Qi replied. “Unless a superhuman dies from their powers backfiring, their bodies usually remain largely unchanged. They don’t typically grow odd appendages like I have.”
“Really? But… I still find it a little hard to believe you.”
“Ma’am,” Yan Qi said, taking a deep breath, seeing the woman she’d rescued still doubted her, “if I were really the monster you think I am, do you think I’d be floating here calmly, having a rational conversation with you face-to-face?”
Hearing this, the woman recalled the official information about Abyssal Beasts—that they were mostly mindless monsters incapable of holding a dialogue with humans. Finally, she seemed to believe Yan Qi. “You’re right… if you were really a monster, I’d have been eaten already. I wouldn’t have a chance to sit here talking to you.”
“I’m glad you understand,” Yan Qi said, a faint smile appearing on her lips now that the woman seemed to accept she wasn’t an Abyssal Beast.
But at that moment, staring at the woman’s face, Yan Qi felt a strong sense of familiarity, as if she’d seen her somewhere before. She frowned slightly and looked at the woman curiously. “Hey, have we met somewhere before?”
Hearing Yan Qi’s question, and now relatively sure she wasn’t an Abyssal beast and that she was safe, the woman looked surprised. She then stared intently at Yan Qi’s mermaid-transformed face for a long moment but found no match in her memory.
“I’m sorry, I don’t recall meeting you anywhere,” she finally answered.
“Never met? How is that possible?” Yan Qi said, somewhat taken aback. “I have this really strong feeling of familiarity, like I’ve known you for a long time.”
Puzzled by the woman’s answer, Yan Qi began searching her memories, trying to find the source of this inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Then, a lightbulb went off. A look of realization mixed with surprise crossed Yan Qi’s face. She looked at the woman before her and asked, “You’re Xu Caiyi, right? The wife of the second brother of the Daheng Real Estate company’s boss?”
“How do you know my name and who I am?” Xu Caiyi asked, startled that this stranger could accurately state her identity and name. She wondered where Yan Qi had gotten this information.
Hearing Xu Caiyi’s question, Yan Qi was now certain. This was that Xu Caiyi—the woman known for frequently cheating on her husband with his younger brother, the very boss of Daheng Real Estate. A look of sudden understanding dawned on Yan Qi’s face as she thought to herself:
No wonder this woman looks so familiar! So this is the infamous Xu Caiyi with her messy personal life.
Keeping her internal monologue to herself and having no intention of explaining how she knew, Yan Qi looked at Xu Caiyi and simply said, “Don’t worry about how I know.”
Hearing this, Xu Caiyi seemed like she wanted to say more, but then she remembered Yan Qi’s status as a superhuman. Thinking better of it, she wisely closed her mouth, afraid that saying the wrong thing might anger Yan Qi and bring unnecessary trouble.
Not concerned with Xu Caiyi’s internal turmoil, and eager to get home for dinner, Yan Qi said to her, “Alright then. The creep who tried to kidnap you has been dealt with. You should call the police to come protect you. I have things to do, so I’ll be leaving now. Maybe we’ll see each other again someday.”