At a time when things looked so chaotic and everyone was running around nonstop, the person responsible for all of it—Jing Pei—ended up going nowhere at all. She attended classes at the Twelve Zodiac Academy as usual and went straight home after school.

“She really didn’t do anything?” The man twisted a strand of hair at his temple over and over, looking so anxious it seemed like he wanted to rip it out.

“She really didn’t do anything. She also didn’t have any unusual contact with her classmates. Our people have been watching her the whole time. There’s no mistake.”

“Then what exactly is she planning to do? How is she supposed to convince those atavist families, who value their bloodlines more than anything, to keep Zhang Simiao alive? Damn it, why is this little girl so hard to deal with? What kind of crazy idea made her think of sending Zhang Simiao up to the heavens?!” the man cursed.

If not for Jing Pei, they would have forgotten about Lou Ting, that terrifying trump card. The Lou family had declined for years because of Lou Ting’s birth. They stayed quiet, never joined any gatherings between the atavist families, and were practically invisible.

“Tell our mole in the Long family to keep a close eye on her. Report anything strange immediately. Damn it, why can’t Qiu Fa be transferred away? He’s blocking the place like some killing god. How are we supposed to get Zhang Simiao like this? Damn it, damn it, damn it…”

No matter what, they could not take this risk. They had to get Zhang Simiao before that meeting began.

Meanwhile, Jing Pei—the one causing all these people to stay awake in anxiety deep into the night—watched the events of the day unfold with an unreadable smile on her lips and slept very soundly.

…

Mei Yanlan did not return until after three in the morning. Her sports car rolled into the garage, and her fluffy red curls turned back into plain long black hair. The crisp jingling bells disappeared, and her black-rimmed glasses returned to her nose.

Today had truly been satisfying.

Humming a tune, she opened the door and saw Xiao Cheng sitting on the living room sofa with his head in his hands like a statue.

“Hubby, why are you still awake? Waiting for me?” Mei Yanlan asked with a smile as she set down her keys and bag.

Xiao Cheng slowly raised his head. “What were you doing out so late?”

“Work. Didn’t I tell you already? I’m an atavist, so sometimes I have special work to deal with.” Mei Yanlan spoke as though Xiao Cheng had long known she was an atavist. Before he could interrupt, she added, “But you’re a pregnant husband now, hubby. You shouldn’t stay up late. Get more rest. When I have time, I’ll make you some nourishing soup.”

Pregnant… my husband…

Xiao Cheng stared at Mei Yanlan in disbelief, completely breaking down. He stood up, swept all the pregnancy tests off the table onto the floor, and demanded through reddened eyes, “Mei Yanlan! You never told me before we got married that you were a sea horse atavist. Did you do this on purpose?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s because I love you so much. I fell in love with you at first sight the very day Bihe introduced us. If I’d revealed my true identity, you definitely wouldn’t have married me.” Mei Yanlan looked at him with regret. “But didn’t you say you liked me too? If that’s the case, it makes no difference whether you give birth or I do—it’s our child either way.”

“How is there no difference? I’m a man! A man!” Xiao Cheng imagined himself with a huge belly in the future; the image was so horrifying he couldn’t bear to look. He’d gotten too worked up and stood up too quickly, and suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded, forcing him to grab the sofa for support.

“Honey, you’re pregnant. You need to control your emotions.”

“Mei Yanlan! You’re tricking—”

“Tricking you of what?” Mei Yanlan leaned in close to him. She wanted to see if he had the nerve to say those two words.

He’d tried to trick her into marriage and having a child, only to end up being tricked into marriage and having a child himself. How the hell was he supposed to explain that? It was the kind of situation that would leave a judge dizzy and at a loss for how to rule.

“…Forget it!” Xiao Cheng turned his face away as if giving up; he still had some pride left. It was just so frustrating—he had nowhere to vent his anger over his own despicable motives from the start, so he had to bottle it all up, which made it even more infuriating.

“How can you take it so lightly?” Mei Yanlan leaned against the table with a cup in hand, her expression calm. “You said you loved me, but you won’t even have a child for me. Were you lying to me?”

Mei Yanlan was an ordinary elementary school teacher nearing thirty, with no house, no car, average looks, and a timid personality that made her seem easy to bully. In front of a wealthy young master like Xiao Cheng, she looked like the kind of match who could barely lift her head.

Xiao Cheng had indeed felt some superiority because of that. But even though he was screaming inside that he wanted her to give birth instead of himself, for some reason, seeing Mei Yanlan’s expression made him lose his nerve a little. Maybe it was the trauma from all his failed resistance after marriage under Mei Yanlan’s overwhelming strength. Or maybe something else.

Still, he found it impossible to accept the fact that he was pregnant.

“Since the choice is yours, if you really don’t want it, then get rid of it,” Mei Yanlan said. “But you’ll have to go to an atavist hospital. Ordinary hospitals can’t do it.”

For some reason, Xiao Cheng got even angrier when he heard that. “What did you say? How can you just casually suggest aborting our child?”

“I already said, it’s up to you.”

“So why are you being so casual about this?!”

Mei Yanlan drank water while watching him, wondering if his volatile temper and fluctuating emotions were due to pregnancy hormones. Should she take this opportunity to file for divorce? He and Fang Bihe probably still had feelings for each other, right? But if she brought it up now, he’d probably explode even more, and who knew how long this would drag on.

Forget it, she was tired after a long day; getting some rest was the best thing to do.

“All right, stop making a fuss and go to sleep. Don’t you still have work tomorrow?” Mei Yanlan grabbed his hand and dragged him upstairs.

Xiao Cheng struggled angrily, but just like before, he could not pull even a single finger free from Mei Yanlan’s grip. Now he finally understood why she, as a woman, had such monstrous strength. It had been the most obvious sign all along, yet he never thought much about it and truly believed Mei Yanlan was an honest person.

Mei Yanlan dragged Xiao Cheng back to the bedroom and pressed him onto the bed. “You’re too emotional today, and I’m tired too. I’m sleeping in the guest room.”

Xiao Cheng stared at her in disbelief once again. What? At a time like this, all she wanted to do was sleep? And she was going to sleep in the guest room?

Mei Yanlan really left. The woman who used to follow him everywhere before today was now willingly sleeping elsewhere and giving him space, yet he did not feel happy at all.

Lying on the bed, Xiao Cheng felt like he needed oxygen.

…

Perhaps after realizing that causing trouble everywhere could not lure Qiu Fa away from Little Bubble, the Atavist Serum organization changed its strategy.

Qiu Fa began receiving many calls, including some from old acquaintances.

“I heard you have a rational mutant there? I know there’s no way my institute could actually obtain such a creature. I only want one tube of blood. You know I’ve always been trying to reverse the process. Innocent mutants may be able to become human again someday. This rational mutant could bring an unprecedented breakthrough,” a gentle voice said to Qiu Fa.

“That’s not something I can decide,” Qiu Fa said.

“Not even one tube of blood?”

“Stop saying things that violate human rights.”

The person on the other end paused in shock. Human rights? What human rights? A mutant’s human rights? Since when did mutants have human rights?

“She’s never eaten a human. She can control her hunger and keep her sanity and humanity. In some ways, she’s more human than humans themselves. Why shouldn’t she have human rights?” Qiu Fa said in a low voice.

Every one of those calls asked for this part or that part of Zhang Simiao as though she were some object that could be taken apart and used however they pleased.

Just because a human’s appearance had changed, her own kind no longer recognized her as one of them. They no longer saw her life as a life and even believed they had the right to decide her fate.

The assistant was washing muddy shoes by the pool. “Director, at this rate all the pressure’s falling on you. Holding out won’t be easy. Why can’t the Long family heir hold the meeting earlier? Why wait three whole days?”

Yesterday those people only wanted to lure the tiger away from the mountain. Now they were likely planning to use power and status to take Zhang Simiao by force. The problem was that news about her had already spread everywhere. Too many people wanted her now, so they had no way to tell who among them was a traitor.

No one besides Jing Pei herself knew why it had to be three days later. But when Qiu Fa said he would protect them for three days, he would not shorten it by even one minute.

Not long after, a research institute vehicle drove straight over. They even brought an iron cage and tranquilizer guns, clearly intending to take Zhang Simiao away by force.

“Qiu Fa, protecting mutants is not part of the Tribunal Division’s duties. On the contrary, your job is to capture and kill them. Today we’re taking this mutant away. Don’t interfere with our work.” The researcher leading the group had a sharp, unpleasant face, and his tone was equally unpleasant.

The assistant replied, “Oh dear, sorry about that. As you said, our job is to capture and kill mutants. There’s no rule saying we have to hand them over to you. Can’t we just choose to kill or capture her another day? As for you people, what exactly are you doing? Trying to snatch someone from the Tribunal Division? Are you obstructing the Tribunal Division’s judicial work?”

The people from the institute failed to take Zhang Simiao away.

“Qiu Fa, are you really going to stand with the atavists? Have you forgotten how they framed you, abandoned you, and trampled on you? Have you forgotten what they did to you in prison? Don’t help Long Jin. She only wants to use Zhang Simiao for some selfish purpose. In the end, the benefits will still belong to the atavists. But we’re doing this for society and for innocent civilians.”

“Qiu Fa, have you forgotten who cleared your name and brought you out of prison?”

“Qiu Fa…”

The wind rustled through the leaves, sounding unusually loud.

…

Jing Pei carried the turtle shell to the upper grades to find Wu Ying and ran into Jiang Qing, who was also on the way to see Wu Ying.

The two walked side by side. The boy with glasses pushed up the frames on his nose. “Something this huge happened, yet you’re still attending school normally. That’s honestly surprising.”

“Because there’s nothing for me to do besides going to school,” Jing Pei said with a smile.

Jiang Qing frowned slightly as he looked at her, unable to see through this girl at all. She claimed she would convince the atavist families to spare a rational mutant, yet she also claimed there was nothing for her to do.

“Really? The elders in my family were furious after hearing about this. They said they’ll make things difficult for you at the meeting. I assume you already have a plan to deal with them.”

When Long Yiming first contacted the major families about Jing Pei wanting to hold a meeting, many of them had only been confused. But after news spread like floating bubbles everywhere that Jing Pei and Qiu Fa had protected a rational mutant together, all the major families became enraged. Even those who originally had no intention of attending after hearing Long Yiming’s call now planned to go.

Every one of them was filled with anger, all directed at Jing Pei.

Yet Jing Pei didn’t seem bothered at all.

She spent another peaceful and relaxed day at school.

On the evening of the third day, members of the major atavist families boarded airships and headed for Yunjin Prefecture in a fury. They intended to make Jing Pei pay at tomorrow’s meeting and also planned to personally deal with Zhang Simiao once and for all.

At the same time, the Atavist Serum organization was forced to use its final method in order to obtain Zhang Simiao. Jing Pei’s impossible-to-read behavior only made them more convinced that she truly had a way to persuade the atavist families to send Zhang Simiao to Lou Ting, destroying their last hope. So in this final window of time, even if they had to pay a terrible price, they would still seize Zhang Simiao from Qiu Fa.

That night, they sent nearly a hundred fighters to surround and attack Qiu Fa. Since persuasion had failed, they decided to use force.