CHAPTER 57: CHAPTER 57; BUYING FREEDOM 4

He couldn’t keep the desperation from creeping into his voice. At this point, he would try anything. Anything that might work.

"Ooohhh... That’s all?" Shuyin tilted her head, considering. "My services are very expensive, you know."

Her tone was light, almost playful, but the coldness in it never left her eyes.

"Name anything," Lu Yuze said immediately. "So long as it has a price, I can give it. Money. Property. Influence. Whatever you need."

"Ooohhh?" She smiled that strange smile again. "I have a few requests. First, I need to get out of this place, along with my three friends. Second, I will need a husband." She paused, watching his reaction. "And third, enough money to sustain myself comfortably."

She didn’t ask for much else, just the essentials, identity, money to move freely in human society, and most importantly, freedom.

Lu Yuze frowned slightly. "But you know you all committed crimes. The legal system...."

"Just forget it then. I’ll go back to my cell." Shuyin shrugged nonchalantly and stood, walking toward the door as if the conversation had never interested her in the first place.

Before she could reach it, two shadow guards materialized, blocking her path.

"Master, you don’t need to beg this criminal," one of them said coldly, glaring at Shuyin with undisguised disdain. "We can always do what we’ve been doing. There are other options."

It happened in less than a minute.

The guard who’d spoken suddenly stiffened. His eyes went wide with shock and pain. Then blood began trickling from his nose. His ears. The corners of his eyes. His mouth.

He collapsed, his body hitting the floor with a heavy thud. Within seconds, he was convulsing, every orifice bleeding, his skin turning a sickly pale as his body temperature dropped rapidly.

The other guard stumbled backward, his face going white with terror.

Sixth Master Lu watched with narrowed eyes but said nothing. He’d survived in the cutthroat world of business and underground politics by knowing when to observe rather than react. He didn’t know what this woman was, but he knew enough not to underestimate her.

Two more guards rushed in, quickly dragging the body away. No one asked questions. When the master stayed silent, they stayed silent.

A different man entered, younger, physically fit, with sharp intelligent eyes. He could be Lu Yuze’s secretary and most trusted guard. "Master, I’ve already handled the preliminary papers," he reported quietly.

"Hmm," Lu Yuze acknowledged, his attention still on Shuyin.

With her conditions laid out, he didn’t seem to have many options at hand. And she clearly didn’t care either way. He was the one feeling the pressure. Time was running out for his daughter.

"All right," he said finally. "I’ll arrange everything. By tomorrow mid-morning, you and your three companions will be released. As for marriage, we can have a contract marriage. After my wife’s death, I never planned to remarry. We can divorce after a few years. And money... I don’t know exactly how much you’ll need, but...."

"Since we’re on the same page, we can discuss money later," Shuyin interrupted, moving closer to him again. She reached up and gently caressed his face, her touch light but somehow possessive.

The secretary tensed, ready to intervene, but Lu Yuze raised a hand to stop him.

"You are handsome and beautiful at the same time," she murmured, studying his features with that unblinking jade eye. "The only downside, you’re human. All humans must bow to me eventually. Love can never exist between us."

She roughly pushed his chin away and turned toward the door.

Did she care about love or men? This was the least of her worries. Mankind and mermaids could never coexist. It was a fundamental truth of her existence.

Both Lu Yuze and his secretary assumed the hatred stemmed from her recent betrayals, her family abandoning her, and her fiancé framing her. They had no idea how deep that hatred truly ran, or how deep it had festered.

"Ah-Ling," Lu Yuze said to his secretary, "get the names of the other three inmates. Work on their cases immediately. Find evidence, manufacture it if necessary. I want them released by 9 AM. I don’t care what you have to do, bribe the judge, threaten him, whatever it takes. Just make it happen with no complications."

He moved toward Shuyin and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back against him. Her body was small but he could feel an unusual energy emanating from her, something that made him feel strangely reinvigorated, as if her mere presence was restorative.

"Are you not human?" he murmured against her hair, genuinely curious now.

"Hahaha..."

Her laughter rang out, loud and unrestrained, echoing through the room. But there was nothing warm or joyful about it. The sound carried a chill that made everyone within earshot feel their bodies tremble involuntarily, as if the temperature had plummeted. Even the seasoned guards shifted uncomfortably, their training warring with a primal instinct that screamed danger.

Shuyin nudged his hands away from her waist just as the door opened, a guard appearing to escort her back.

"If I’m not human," she said over her shoulder, her jade eyes glowing brighter for just a moment, "then what am I?"

She didn’t wait for an answer, walking out with the guard as the door closed behind her.

The room fell into heavy silence.

"Master, can she really..." Ah-Ling hesitated, his normally composed face showing rare uncertainty. "Your desperation is making you consider... unthinkable options. What if she’s just....."

"I can do anything," Sixth Master Lu cut him off, his voice hard with determination. "Absolutely anything. I don’t care what it costs, what laws I break, what deals I make. So long as there’s even the smallest chance..."

He didn’t finish the sentence, because he didn’t need to. Anyone with ears could hear him.

Ah-Ling had served him for fifteen years and he immediately understood. There was no turning back, they had to handle everything.