06

 actually only has one heart left.

No one knows this except the system in the space.

The first heart Jiang Nian ate wasn't Xi Long's or Xing Minzheng's, but that "octopus." The

"octopus" that died but whose spirit wouldn't leave.

The Punishment World should have been left to the host's discretion, but the system couldn't remain indifferent. It secretly intervened, pushing things along.

It couldn't bear to see Jiang Nian suffer.

It just couldn't do too many things against its superior, which is why Xing Minzheng couldn't know the correct course of action. But it doesn't matter; what Xing Minzheng couldn't do, someone else would do for Jiang Nian.

Lu Zhangjiang was that person.

[He needs a human heart.]

Just like when communicating with Xing Minzheng, the system calmly told Lu Zhangjiang.

[But not just a human heart, don't make the same mistake as Xing Minzheng.]

Under this premise, there are other conditions.

Deeply love Jiang Nian and spend time with her during her heat cycle.

Only four people meet these conditions: the "octopus," Xi Long, Xing Minzheng, and Xing Hongyi.

The others failed mainly because they couldn't spend their mating season together, as Xing Minzheng intercepted them.

This caused Jiang Nian to fall into a deep sleep because she couldn't fulfill the punishment conditions. This can't continue.

Speaking of which, Jiang Nian's act of eating her lover's heart is like a praying mantis, have you heard? To replenish her nutrients and fill her hungry stomach, the female praying mantis will eat the male after mating to ensure better reproduction. Of course, Jiang Nian's

reproduction

after eating isn't offspring.

The system thought indifferently.

Eating a heart only prolongs Jiang Nian's waking time slightly.

It continued to Lu Zhangjiang:

【Dig out Xing Minzheng's heart and feed it to Jiang Nian, she will wake up. This is my chance for you.】

This was, of course, a backdoor the system secretly opened for Jiang Nian. The effects of the eaten heart are one-time only; a second time, besides triggering Jiang Nian's transformation into a human and entering mating season, it has no other use.

Waking Jiang Nian mainly relies on the system.

The system isn't afraid that Lu Zhangjiang won't do it. Looking at the way Lu Zhangjiang looks at Jiang Nian, it knows he's already fallen for her.

The moment the system voice rang out, Lu Zhangjiang subtly surveyed his surroundings. His underlings' expressions remained unchanged, still gazing intently at Jiang Nian.

Then Lu Zhangjiang understood.

Just like the mermaid. The voice in his mind didn't belong to the normal world; it was prompting him.

Lu Zhangjiang wasn't stupid; he instantly understood why Xing Minzheng had gone mad and why his brother had lost his heart. Mermaids need a heart to regain their senses.

How wicked.

Lu Zhangjiang's fingers were calloused. He lowered his handsome face, looking at Jiang Nian's pure and innocent face.

Clearly a mermaid from a fairy tale, her beauty as captivating as a rose.

Yet she needed the nourishment of human blood?

...So cute.

Lu Zhangjiang's fingers slightly curled, tucking a strand of the mermaid's dark hair, bringing it close to his nose, his face filled with ecstasy.

But Lu Zhangjiang didn't understand what the voice meant by more than just a heart.

Xing Minzheng hadn't been infiltrated, so he went mad.

But Lu Zhangjiang felt he was going mad too. Driven mad by the mermaid he'd only met once, he was no longer his rational self.

He tried to ignore his dead brother, the strange voice, and the bizarre conditions that caused

the mermaid to regain consciousness. He only wanted to see what the mermaid would look like when she awoke. Would she fawn over him, or would she, like in those dark films, be left only with the instinct to eat people?

Lu Zhangjiang instructed his underling to dig out the heart. Unlike Xing Hongyi, he wasn't as meticulous. With a slight squeeze of his thumb, Jiang Nian's mouth opened slightly, her lips bulging, revealing a bright red tongue and abnormal sharp teeth.

Lu Zhangjiang's eyes darkened. He rubbed his thumb against the tip of his tongue a few times before pressing the bloody heart into the mermaid's mouth.

As if by instinct, the drowsy mermaid, like a kitten, slowly sucked the blood and flesh from the heart. The blood flowed continuously, soiling the mermaid's snow-white skin. Lu Zhangjiang wiped away the blood while feeding her, saying, "...Good girl...so good."

After finishing the heart, a hint of pink finally appeared on the mermaid's pale face, making her already eerie allure even more captivating.

When Lu Zhangjiang uncontrollably kissed Jiang Nian's lips, he met a pair of suddenly opened green eyes.

Lu Zhangjiang smiled, a smile a thousand times more beautiful than he had imagined.

"Your name is Jiang Nian, what a beautiful name...how about I call you Nian Nian?"

...

Unlike Xing Min, who hated all men who had seen Jiang Nian, Lu Zhangjiang almost boasted about Jiang Nian,

showing her off as her legally and publicly acknowledged husband.

That night, after witnessing Jiang Nian transform from a mermaid into a human, he had harbored bloodlust and dark thoughts towards his underlings who had also seen Jiang Nian naked, but Lu Zhangjiang restrained himself.

Lu Zhangjiang pampered Jiang Nian like a princess, never letting her walk more than a few steps on her own. Yet, Jiang Nian treated him the same way she treated everyone else.

Lu Zhangjiang didn't care, because others couldn't have Jiang Nian, but he could. He forged an identity for her, and the moment he got it, he took her to the civil affairs bureau to get married.

Not for anything else, but for his own peace of mind.

Lu Zhangjiang was selfish; he knew perfectly well that countless people would fall in love with a mermaid, so what was wrong with him using some means to bind Jiang Nian because of his insecurity?

No matter how despicable he was, he was still Jiang Nian's only legitimate husband.

Lu Zhangjiang was very good at disguising himself, and was quite famous in his city. Previously, people followed his private account out of curiosity, like they were following a celebrity.

So he had quite a few followers.

But his posts always had an official tone, and few people paid attention.

Until this day.

He posted two pictures with the caption: "Married my wife."

One picture showed Jiang Nian looking curiously at the camera, while Lu Zhangjiang looked tenderly at her. Another photo shows a large, broad hand covering a small, delicate hand, both ring fingers adorned with emerald rings engraved with initials.

These two photos alone caused the app to freeze for a long time, requiring continuous maintenance before it could restart.

The trending topic remained unremoved for an extended period. The comments under the hashtag

#LuZhangjiang'sWife

#WasLuZhangjiang'sWifeForced

#LuZhangjiang'sDarkMaterial were

extremely heated, with countless people crowding the page.

One threatening comment read: "Lu Zhangjiang, heaven is watching what you do. You know in your heart whether your wife consented or not."

Some pleaded: "Please, bro, post another picture of your wife. I really want to see her again."

Others dreamed: "Honestly, now that your wife's famous, I think everyone's acting a bit irrationally. Your wife's nothing special. Why don't you give her to me, and I'll give her a critique?"

Even privately, Jiang Nian had gathered a bunch of twisted fans, including some very capable individuals, like obsessive fans of celebrities. They secretly monitored Lu Zhangjiang's movements, just to get a picture of Jiang Nian.

Many videos of Jiang Nian that were accidentally captured would top the trending charts.

They were all obsessed with Jiang Nian, unable to eat or sleep, cursing Lu Zhangjiang in their hearts. Yet, they also deeply envied her.

They longed... longed to be near Jiang Nian, even just for a moment.

Lu Zhangjiang grew impatient as he stopped another person who rushed over to hug Jiang Nian.

Publicly posting pictures of himself and his wife was satisfying, but it was followed by countless underhanded tactics and assassinations, all of which Lu Zhangjiang dealt with one by one. Lu Zhangjiang ignored Jiang Nian's advances, but he wasn't so easygoing when it came to her unwanted attention.

Even the magnanimous Lu Zhangjiang couldn't resist jealousy seeing Jiang Nian's attention drawn to someone else. He took Jiang Nian's hand, kissed her ear, and lowered his voice in a suggestive tone, "Nian Nian, look at your husband, don't look at anyone else."

"No one else is as handsome as my husband,"

Jiang Nian ignored him, her eyes fixed curiously on one spot.

Lu Zhangjiang followed her gaze and saw a grove of trees, nothing else.

After a while, a sparrow fluttered its wings and flew into the sky, and Jiang Nian finally looked away. Lu Zhangjiang's hidden jealousy was quickly soothed.

After Lu Zhangjiang had led the refusing-to-be-carried Jiang Nian away,

a tall, bronze-skinned man emerged from the grove. If Xing Min were there, he would probably recognize him as Xi Long, the man he had killed.

Unlike six months ago, Xi Long no longer seemed like the silent yet innocent young man he once was. He had become gloomy and unpredictable, his eyes fixed on Jiang Nian's retreating figure.

"Nian Nian,"

he called out, but his voice faded into the air, unheard by anyone.

Lu Zhangjiang was unaware of this turn of events. While he was with Jiang Nian, he hadn't been idle either. He had dispatched a large number of people to investigate Xing Minzheng's previous strange behavior and all clues about mermaids in the world.

In the end, everything pointed to the famous fishing village where Xi Long was located.

But no matter how much they investigated, they found nothing more.

Jiang Nian seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, the most perfect creation of heaven.

However, Lu Zhangjiang was deeply troubled by the hidden warning in that voice's words. He knew that if he didn't comply, he would lose the mermaid.

The current Jiang Nian was so lively and vibrant, and even her occasional temper tantrums captivated him.

He didn't want Jiang Nian to become the quiet person he was when they first met. He hadn't thought much of it then, but now, just thinking about it sent chills down Lu Zhangjiang's spine.

If Jiang Nian really fell into a deep sleep again, Lu Zhangjiang would be even more insane than Xing Minzheng. No… that's impossible; he would find a solution.

Before finding a solution, Lu Zhangjiang was grateful for every single moment he spent with Jiang Nian.

However, as time passed, Lu Zhangjiang could no longer maintain his composure.

Based on the rare results of his investigation, the time a mermaid could maintain consciousness after consuming a heart… was only one month.

Too short.

Too short!

Lu Zhangjiang couldn't grasp time, just as he couldn't grasp Jiang Nian. He stopped going out, unwilling to waste any extra time on anything other than Jiang Nian.

And so, Jiang Nian entered her heat again.

She felt hungry.

She needed to seduce the man before her and have sex with him before eating his heart.

As before, when Jiang Nian's heat erupted, she finally spoke to Lu Zhangjiang.

"Come on."

"Come and eat me."

And then… it would be time for me to eat you.

Jiang Nian revealed a sweet, childlike, innocent yet cruel smile.

It was so beautiful.

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