This was something Ye Tianxiang had never anticipated.
Before coming here, he’d expected the owner of this fishing boat might refuse him. But what he absolutely didn’t expect was to find Ye Shu on board as well.
She—she actually deserved to be on this very fishing boat?
Catching the astonishment—along with a flicker of barely concealed disdain—in Ye Tianxiang’s eyes, Ye Shu immediately understood what this despicable man was thinking. Her smile widened at the corners of her mouth. “Long time no see, my dear big brother from the Ye family.”
Upon hearing Ye Shu’s words, Pang Pangzi, who was standing nearby, panicked outright.
This shifty, rat-eyed, ugly man… was actually the heroine Ye’s brother? Was it too late to apologize now?
But… the siblings didn’t seem to have a good relationship.
Maybe, just maybe, he’d better keep watching for now.
Staring at Ye Shu’s unblemished, fair face and the clean clothes she wore, Ye Tianxiang’s brows knit in visible disgust. His voice turned sharp: “Don’t call me big brother. There’s no shameless sister like you in the Ye family.”
To him, the only possible way Ye Shu could live so well was by selling her body for supplies.
Ye Shu stood her ground, her smile stretching even wider.
She was no one’s doormat. She hadn’t endured so much just to let strangers show up on her turf and bark orders at her… In Ye Shu’s eyes, Ye Tianxiang was already condemned to death.
“As long as you let us board, big brother will let bygones be bygones. Go get us some proper food and drinks—my brothers can’t stomach those trashy biscuits and instant noodles. There’s a stove on your ship, so cook for us…”
Pang Pangzi stared at Ye Tianxiang in disbelief, doubting this man’s mental faculties.
He actually dared speak like this to his boss? The last person who raised their voice to Ye the Heroine—well, their corpse was long gone cold.
A mere first-tier fire-ability user. At best, he was a walking lighter, unable even to spark off a proper fireball spell.
Where on earth did he get this sort of bravado—did he listen to Liang Jingru for inspiration?!
“Big brother Ye certainly has no shortage of demands!”
Ye Shu, in a surprisingly good-natured tone, looked across at the man ordering her about, quietly weighing whether to snap Ye Tianxiang’s neck on the spot or simply shoot him.
Ye Tianxiang paid no mind to the chill in Ye Shu’s gaze.
To him, Ye Shu had always been his little slave since childhood. Even now, he treated her as nothing in his eyes; with her thirst for familial warmth, just a few comforting words would make her happy for days.
Eyeing Ye Shu, who was still rooted to the spot, he frowned disapprovingly and barked an order: “Get moving, now!”
Down below, the men on the small fishing boat looked up at the woman on deck with equal contempt.
They were Ye Tianxiang’s friends, and, without doubt, they’d met Ye Shu before.
In the eyes of a pack of rich young masters, a woman who slept her way to the top was the ruin of all good names and utterly without shame. Were it not for their dwindling supplies, none of them would lower themselves to accept a single thing from Ye Shu.
Ye Shu caught every trace of their disdain, letting out a cold laugh. “Give you a bit of respect, and you all think you’re something special. Not to mention food—there won’t be even a single drop of water for you. Now, are you getting off yourselves, or do I have to help you… off?”
The more Ye Tianxiang listened, the worse he felt. Even several meters apart, he could see the savage, almost hungry grin on Ye Shu’s face, as if she meant to devour him.
He was chilled and shivering in the rain, while Ye Shu lived in comfort on the fishing boat—eating and drinking well. Now she was openly throwing him off? The eldest master of the Ye family, used to calling all the shots, simply couldn’t tolerate this.
“Ye Shu… I am your elder brother…”
But when his eyes met those black pupils, Ye Tianxiang’s heart hammered madly—a sense of foreboding gnawed at him. This was not the timid, frightened Ye Shu of old, the one who hadn’t even dared meet his gaze.
“...Uh, you… what…” What are you doing?
A neat gash split open Ye Tianxiang’s arm, blood gushing everywhere.
The blinding pain wrenched a howl from his lips.
Ye Shu strode forward and, with an iron grip, clamped her hand around his throat like a chick—Ye Tianxiang’s face quickly purpled, his one hand desperately prying at her steel-like fingers. Gradually, his breaths grew weak, his wild flailing slowed until he barely moved at all…
“What are you doing? This is the Dragon Country Refuge! No violence allowed.”
Before the patrol could arrive, Ye Tianxiang was tossed aside like garbage. Ye Shu wiped the blood from her hands, calm and composed, as if the whole scene moments ago had been nothing but an illusion.
“Help! My brother’s hand is badly injured… Captain Chen, if Brother Ye isn’t treated, he’ll lose his hand—this crazy woman attacked him for no reason! She should be locked up!”
“Such a vicious woman—letting her loose is a danger to the public.”
Captain Chen glanced at Ye Tianxiang; sure enough, his arm was all but severed.
“Captain, it was them who started the fight—it had nothing to do with us!”
Pang Pangzi couldn’t hide his frustration at being wrongfully accused by villains bent on getting into the shelter. If these troublemakers succeeded in slandering them, it would make everything much harder.
Chen Jianjun wore a pained expression. Here it was again: these peculiar individuals, whom higher-ups had ordered preserved for further study; for now, their safety had to be ensured. After a long silence, he sighed and finally spoke: "So, what exactly do you want then?"
Hearing Captain Chen’s tone soften, Pang Pangzi’s internal alarms rang loud and clear.
“It’s just a small favor—since we can’t enter the shelter, we won’t make things difficult for Captain Chen. All we ask is that this fishing boat be allocated to our brothers instead.”
“Right, they injured Brother Ye, so handing over the fishing boat is only fair!”
Ye Tianxiang’s cronies echoed each other eagerly, their eyes flashing with greed at the sight of the boat.
“Officer, I didn’t hurt anyone… They started the fight—I only fought back.”
Ye Shu’s hostility faded; her large almond-shaped eyes brimmed with innocence.
The patrol captain, seeing only a well-behaved young girl, grew suspicious. Maybe there was more to the story than met the eye?
“They tried to steal supplies. I had no choice but to fight back. If that’s considered a crime, then I don’t mind being a criminal.”
Ye Shu’s bold response left no room for rebuttal.
Captain Chen was trapped. On one hand: state research subjects. On the other: a supposedly victimized girl… Which was the lesser evil?
Ye Shu fixed her gaze on Ye Tianxiang standing on the fishing boat, the faintest trace of a smile on her lips.
She calculated: even if it came to a head-to-head with the shelter, while she might not win outright, she’d have no trouble saving herself. If the boat were destroyed, she could always improve it later… To her surprise, Captain Chen said nothing more—simply dropped a few sentences and acted as if nothing had happened.
Higher-ups had only commanded them to protect these individuals' lives, never specifying anything else. Besides, those men had often bullied neighboring survivors thanks to their strange abilities. This time, they’d finally met their match.
As for Ye Shu—she looked frail, but her strength was easily the match of Chen Jianjun’s decade-long military experience.
Such a clean, even incision—not something even he himself could achieve now.
Also, this girl was the very one from the online rumors about the ‘End-Time Great Flood.’ The moment the shelter had gotten her info, several flash floods had occurred in the Tanchuan District, sending search teams scrambling. And now, by some twist of fate, here she was, right in front of him.
...
Chen Jianjun stepped off the boat and addressed Ye Tianxiang’s party sternly. “No more disturbances. As compensation, I’ll grant all of you slots in the shelter.”
The rain came down in torrents, icy cold—just like Ye Tianxiang’s heart.
Still, amidst the cold came one small comfort.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the submissive, replaceable ‘fake sister’ he'd bossed around for years would defy him, draw a gun, and nearly kill him—were it not for the timely arrival of the shelter’s troops, his life would surely have ended here.
He’d lost an arm—and could hardly accept it, even now.
But every time he thought of those predatory eyes, chills ran down his spine and fear crept into his heart.