"Who are you?!"
"How did you find this place?"
Brother Six, as if realizing something belatedly, questioned Xu An, "Were you tracking us from behind?"
Zhou Haimei nodded and looked at the man, "Not too stupid after all."
At this moment, the landlady looked at Xu An and Zhou Haimei, thought for a moment, and seemed to recall something.
"You're those two troublemakers," she exclaimed, "You two did this on purpose!"
"Who exactly are you?"
Xu An ignored their exclamations and walked towards the direction of the mermaid.
As Xu An approached, Brother Six drew the gun holstered at his waist and aimed it at Xu An.
"Stop! What do you want to do!"
Before Xu An could answer, Zhou Haimei swiftly applied a joint lock, disarming Brother Six.
She then looked at the man who had fallen to the ground with a mocking expression.
In Brother Six's shocked gaze, Zhou Haimei teased, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You... you are from the military?"
Brother Six was a skilled martial artist before the apocalypse. Anyone who could disarm him so easily could not be ordinary.
Coupled with Zhou Haimei's impeccable movements, every action seemed honed by years of training.
Zhou Haimei looked at the man on the ground with a hint of disdain, as if to say, it's not that you're too weak, but that I'm too strong.
As Xu An got closer, the heavy feeling of sadness intensified.
It was as if someone was crying.
A deeply sorrowful cry.
The landlady watched as Zhou Haimei effortlessly subdued Brother Six, who had been holding her hostage the entire way.
As if suddenly finding a protector, she cried out,
"Save me, please save me."
"If you promise to save me and my daughter, I'll give you this mermaid."
The landlady knelt on the ground, pleading incessantly.
Seeing Xu An's lack of reaction, she seemed to recall something else and continued, "If you're not satisfied, my husband and I can work for you. As long as you can save my daughter, I'll work for you. All the income from selling roasted meat will be yours."
"Just give us a bite to eat, please."
"You are women too, you can understand me, right? Please save my daughter."
Her pleas were endless, her posture utterly submissive. Half an hour ago, she had been arrogant and overbearing.
Now, for her daughter's life, she was begging like a dog.
But Xu An felt no sympathy for this woman.
"I have no obligation to save your daughter. This mermaid does not belong to you, and you have no right to exchange it for any conditions with me."
Xu An now deeply understood what it meant to say that those who deserve pity are often hateful.
This mermaid was an ownerless creature. Even if this woman had accidentally discovered it,
The thought of cutting off its flesh for sale was enough to prove that this woman was no benevolent soul.
Upon hearing Xu An's words, the woman seemed provoked.
"How is it not mine? I found him. If it weren't for me, he would have died long ago."
"He's just a monster that can't die. What's wrong with me cutting off a little flesh? He won't die, and I can save my whole family."
The landlady's eyes were tinged with an abnormal red, like a precursor to madness.
"Is it really just about surviving? If it were just about survival, why would you open a roasted meat stall? It's nothing more than wanting to profit from this mermaid to satisfy your greed. Stop pretending to be innocent here."
There are no such good things in this world. To take advantage of a situation and then act like a victim.
Having profited immensely from this mermaid, she now washes her hands of it, claiming she only wanted to survive.
There are many ways to survive.
This landlady chose the most brutal one, yet she still claimed to be the most innocent.
Listening to Xu An's accusations, a cold glint suddenly appeared in the landlady's eyes.
She clutched a dagger she had hidden beforehand and, in the blink of an eye,
She charged towards the mermaid, intending to stab the dagger into its tail.
She knew the mermaid's weakness was its tail. If its tail was severed,
The mermaid would lose its regenerative ability and die.
Liu Jinhua's plan was well thought out. She assumed Xu An would not bear to see the mermaid die.
Then she could use the mermaid to control Xu An, threatening her to rescue her daughter.
After all, she didn't believe anyone could resist such a great temptation.
Otherwise, why would Xu An and Zhou Haimei have tracked them all the way here?
It could only be said that Liu Jinhua thought too much and too little.
She mistook everyone in the world for being driven by greed.
She overestimated herself and underestimated Xu An.
Just as the blade was about to pierce the mermaid's tail, Xu An sensed a trace of joy from the mermaid.
It was a faint, almost imperceptible anticipation.
"You're not stopping me?"
But at the last moment, it was shattered.
Liu Jinhua looked at Xu An in astonishment, her raised dagger frozen in place, making her look like a clown.
Xu An's expression was as cold as an unmelting glacier, devoid of any emotion.
"Continue."
Liu Jinhua's voice trembled, a tremor she herself hadn't noticed.
"What did you say?"
"I said, continue."
As Xu An finished speaking, she steadily walked towards Liu Jinhua.
She even drew out the long knife in her hand and offered it to her.
"Is your dagger not convenient? Here, use mine."
As Xu An approached, Liu Jinhua retreated in terror, her eyes on Xu An as if she were looking at a demon.
"Why aren't you stopping me from killing him!"
"Why should I stop you?"
Xu An's tone was casually questioning, "Even if you didn't kill him, I would have.
"Is it that I can't bear to kill him, or that you can't bear to kill your cash cow?"
"Don't you know in your heart?"
Liu Jinhua seemed to be terrified and slumped to the ground in despair.
She looked at the dagger in her hand, recalling the moment she couldn't bring herself to strike.
For a moment, Liu Jinhua herself couldn't distinguish.
Whether it was that she couldn't bring herself to act.
At this moment, in a turn of events no one expected,
The mermaid in the pool, which seemed on the verge of death, slowly raised its head.
It first looked at Liu Jinhua, who was lying on the ground, and softly said, "I don't blame you."
Amidst the woman's shock and regret, it then looked at Xu An.
A faint smile appeared.
On its already alluring and rich face, a hint of a hesitant smile emerged.
It was like the most alluring siren of the deep sea, yet it restrained its seductive demeanor, not dragging people into the abyss.
Its pink lips parted slightly, "You've arrived."