09 [END]

 "Are you sick?" Jiang Nian opened his mouth and bit down on the tentacle wrapped around Lei's arm. Jiang Nian's teeth were incredibly sharp, and he quickly tore off a piece of flesh. To Jiang Nian's surprise, Lei's flesh wasn't as bad as he had imagined; instead, it was bouncy, crunchy, and even a little sweet.

Originally, Jiang Nian only wanted Lei to let him go, but he couldn't resist taking a few more bites.

Lei seemed to feel no pain, letting Jiang Nian eat his flesh, his countless eyes filled with tenderness.

"Wife, I'm very big. You can eat as much as you want, for a long time," Lei said.

Jiang Nian was full. Strangely, when eating other things, although he felt full, he always felt something was missing. Eating Lei was different; the continuous hunger in his heart was relieved.

Jiang Nian even had the thought of tasting Lei's heart.

Thinking this, he said it aloud.

"I want to eat your heart more. Can you give it to me?"

"Of course, it's what I should do." After saying this, Lei

released Jiang Nian. This time, Jiang Nian didn't run away, but stayed where she was, waiting for Lei's heart.

Lei's body continued to shrink, eventually becoming a creature with the upper body of a tall, strong man and the lower body of black tentacles. His face was covered by large patches of black hair, revealing only a high nose bridge and a sharp jawline. Without hesitation, he aimed at the heart and pulled it out with his bare hands.

Thick black blood filled the seawater, but Lei showed no reaction and did not lose his life. He handed the heart to Jiang Nian, saying as she was about to take it: "When I give you my heart, you must tell me, 'Husband, I love you.'"

"...Husband, I love you." This was probably similar to thank you? Although Jiang Nian, who had no memories, didn't know what thank you meant.

"Yes, I love you too, wife."

Jiang Nian ignored Lei, who was taking advantage of her, took the heart, looked at it curiously for a few moments, and finally gently put it to her lips and swallowed it.

Jiang Nian had never tasted anything so delicious. It melted in his mouth, delicate and smooth, like a firework exploding in his mind, dazzling and brilliant.

Jiang Nian fell in love with this feeling.

He no longer resisted being with Lei; he wanted to eat Lei's heart forever.

Lei's heart could regenerate.

When Jiang Nian asked for it, he would sweetly say, "Husband, I love you," believing that as long as he said those words, someone would willingly offer their heart.

And indeed, it did.

Lei doted on Jiang Nian, taking him to catch schools of tuna, play with tiger sharks, and search for human-lost jewels in shipwrecks in the deep sea.

Jiang Nian was very interested in these things, wearing all the shiny, glowing things on his person. It was clearly a nouveau riche act, but in the dim seawater, against the backdrop of the rotting, dilapidated luxury cruise ship, Jiang Nian seemed like a stunning siren who would tempt sailors to offer themselves to him.

Then, Jiang Nian entered his heat.

This was the first time he had ever been in heat in this world.

Lei wasn't lying. From the moment he was born, he knew his mission: to save his lover from a future tragedy and

rewrite her destiny .

Day and night, Lei watched his lover's future unfold. His lover, Jiang Nian, was a clumsy mermaid who needed to consume the heart of someone who shared her mating season to survive.

However, Jiang Nian was unaware of this; she only clumsily lured passing humans and then attacked them. This attracted the attention of the locals.

Captured, Jiang Nian screamed and struggled in terror in her cage.

Her melodious yet trembling voice was heartbreaking.

Finally, unable to consume a suitable heart, Jiang Nian fell into a deep sleep, unawakened, until her essence turned into pearls and rolled to the ground.

Lei watched her again and again, falling in love with the Jiang Nian he had never met. He didn't want her to go through what she had endured, so Lei whispered: "Wife, don't be afraid, this is normal. You just need to be with me." "

I will find the remaining heart for you. Your husband will do anything for you." However

, Lei was unaware that after consuming the fifth heart, Jiang Nian would turn to foam. He simply thought that as long as he satisfied his wife, she wouldn't fall into a coma, she would live, and they would be together forever.

Even if his wife had to make love to four other men, it would only be temporary; he was her permanent home.

However, after Lei carefully selected a human for Jiang Nian and informed him of this,

his brain suddenly throbbed with intense pain, and a terrifying truth surfaced.

Without feeding Jiang Nian a heart, she would die slowly.

Feeding her a heart would cause her to die quickly.

Upon realizing this, Lei collapsed. What was he then? What were all those days and nights he had waited for? Was his existence merely to watch helplessly as his wife died?

Lei went mad.

His unvented grief and anger caused his powers to leak out. The sea was plunged into a storm, and no ship dared to enter that area.

Jiang Nian was terrified by the frenzied creature. At the same time, he felt exhausted and weary. His instincts drove him to leave the creature and find another… preferably a male human.

Jiang Nian used some means to abandon the creature. Without hesitation, he left the sea and arrived elsewhere, where he saw Xing Minzheng, who was on a business trip.

Xing Minzheng was instantly captivated by Jiang Nian.

He was on a private cruise ship, giving the two a chance to meet.

Before anything could happen, the creature found him and took Jiang Nian away. Xing Minzheng immediately ordered an attack on the creature. In the chaos, Xing Minzheng died, but unexpectedly merged with fragments of the creature.

He was washed ashore and taken in by the people of a fishing village.

The creature that caused the world's upheaval and harm was discovered by the world's laws. The world began to reject the creature. He became weaker, but also more insane. He took Jiang Nian back to his underwater nest, wanting Jiang Nian to remember him before he died.

However, Jiang Nian showed signs of falling into a deep sleep first, so Lei had no choice but to feed her his last heart. This time, he couldn't regenerate; he would die soon. Before he died completely, Lei sent Jiang Nian to a cave on the coast.

He severed one of his tentacles, leaving it to accompany her.

After doing this, Lei stopped breathing.

"Wife, I love you."

"Wife."

His words were filled with endless tenderness and longing.

As the sun rose and set, the tide receded. Jiang Nian, half-awake and half-asleep, was accidentally cut by a reef. Her tentacles frantically spun around, helpless, finally guiding a school of fish to attract a human.

It was Xi Long.

From then on, fate began to turn.

...

The words Jiang Nian spoke to Lu Zhangjiang were all sincere. Lu Zhangjiang was thus bewitched, his blood boiling, forgetting even the pain, and stood up to walk towards Jiang Nian.

But Xing Minzheng slapped him hard, a blow fueled by personal grudge. Xing Minzheng's handsome face was contorted with rage. He said, "Don't go over there! You can't go over there!"

Xing Minzheng was both terrified that Jiang Nian would turn into foam after eating Lu Zhangjiang, and jealous that Lu Zhangjiang would be loved by Jiang Nian because of it.

Why? Why did Lu Zhangjiang get Jiang Nian's confession so easily, while he never received even one? Xing Minzheng's heart ached, but now was not the time for jealousy. After waking Lu Zhangjiang up, he looked at Jiang Nian and pleaded, "Baby, wait a little longer. I'll find a way to satisfy both."

Then he asked Xi Long, "How do you know all this? I'm more capable than you. I'll continue searching."

"With that octopus, no matter how powerful you are, you can't do anything," Xi Long replied.

"...There can't be no way," Xing Minzheng still didn't believe it. He walked to Jiang Nian, knelt down, and rested his head on her legs. Tears streamed down his face, fleeting and unnoticed except by Jiang Nian, who had been slightly burned.

Jiang Nian gently ran her fingers through Xing Minzheng's hair, asking with a hint of confusion, "Aren't you happy?"

"But this is the best outcome for me."

Jiang Nian didn't know the mission or the punishment; she only vaguely sensed it.

Jiang Nian pushed Xing Minzheng away, ignoring Xi Long, and walked step by step towards Lu Zhangjiang, throwing herself into his arms. Her voice was deliberately low, soft and sweet as she coaxed, "Husband, I love you."

But this usually effective phrase now received no response. Jiang Nian frowned, clearly unhappy, making one want to cheer her up and smooth the wrinkles from her brow.

"Husband..."

"That voice, are you there?! Come out, answer me, tell me, how can I keep Jiang Nian?" Xing Minzheng, who had been keeping his head down since being pushed away, couldn't bear it any longer when Jiang Nian called Lu Zhangjiang "husband" for the second time, and began to plead for help from the sinister voice.

There was no reply for a long time. Jiang Nian's gaze fell vaguely on Xing Minzheng, like a raging fire, scorching his skin.

Xi Long wasn't immune to madness, but having merged with Lei, he also strangely absorbed Lei's darkest thoughts before death.

He would die, his wife would die, and they would ultimately be together.

Xi Long knew Lei had searched countless places but couldn't find a solution. If even a bizarre creature like Lei was helpless, what power did he, as a human, possess?

Xi Long came to terms with it, but he was too late; Jiang Nian had already reached the final heart.

He stopped Xing Minzheng for no other reason than that he would eventually kill Lu Zhangjiang himself, extracting his heart to feed Jiang Nian. Xi Long simply wanted more time with Jiang Nian.

Even just one more second would be enough.

They had always been separated, their love too short, leaving Xi Long with regret.

When Jiang Nian turned to foam, he would die alongside his beloved; thinking this way, he wouldn't feel so regretful.

Meeting Jiang Nian was a beautiful thing in itself.

Lu Zhangjiang knew the least, and his thoughts were the same as Xing Minzheng's.

He also had an idea, but hadn't had time to implement it.

Suddenly, the system spoke.

"Nian Nian turning into bubbles is simply returning to the world she was meant to exist in. Even if you find a way, the longer you stay here, the more uncomfortable Nian Nian will feel (due to the instincts the world bestowed upon her)."

"Are you willing to do that?"

No.

This thought flashed through the minds of all three simultaneously.

Xi Long remained calm; he had long been prepared to die. The other two,

however, turned ashen-faced. Every method was just another dead end. Standing idly by meant losing Jiang Nian completely, while forcibly reversing the situation would only cause her pain.

The two thought for a long time and finally understood.

The three talked privately several times, sharing their thoughts and discovering that they were of one mind.

In their final moments, the three stayed with Jiang Nian, unwilling to leave. They took her traveling everywhere, seeing mountains and seas, leaving behind countless images, finally gathering in a small seaside cottage.

Jiang Nian had fallen into a deep sleep.

It pained them, leaving them helpless yet filled with deep longing.

They couldn't bear to let Jiang Nian leave immediately, nor could they bear to keep her for too long. On the third day, Lu Zhangjiang cut out his own heart. Before losing consciousness, he collapsed beside Jiang Nian, his fingers trembling as he hooked them around her little finger.

Xing Minzheng silently picked up the heart and fed it to Jiang Nian. After she had completely swallowed it, Xing Minzheng had a premonition that with Jiang Nian's departure, he could never be resurrected, and he would die completely.

It's good. He had been troubled by this before, but now it was gone.

He hoped he could go to Jiang Nian's world with her.

Xi Long also sensed it.

His expression remained unchanged, but his eyes constantly traced every detail of Jiang Nian.

When dawn arrived, he was the only one still breathing in the cabin. He carefully picked up Jiang Nian, who was sleeping between them, opened the cabin door, and led her to greet the first rays of morning sunlight.

Xi Long, who hadn't slept all night, was stung by the warm sunlight, then surrounded by a large amount of colorful bubbles, beautiful and shimmering.

It was as if Jiang Nian was saying goodbye to him.

A memory Xi Long couldn't forget.

Just like Jiang Nian herself.

...

"Great!"

"Congratulations, Nian Nian! You've successfully and quickly cleared the punishment world and completed all the tasks. Now we'll return your memories to you."

"Nian Nian, are you ready?"

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