The sound of the circulating water system hummed in their ears, accompanied by the visual impact of large fish gliding past the glass surfaces. It truly felt as though they were resting in an underwater world, bringing a unique sense of tranquility.
Li Meng and Qiu Qiqian were also enjoying the snacks they had received. There was quite a lot, and for two people, it was enough to serve as a light meal to stave off hunger.
“Excuse me… are you Miss Li Meng?”
Just as the two were immersed in this harmonious atmosphere, a woman in work attire walked over to their table and politely asked.
“Ah, yes, that’s me. What’s the matter?”
Li Meng turned to look at the female staff member, bits of popcorn still clinging to the corner of her mouth.
“It’s like this—our boss has something he’d like to discuss with you.”
“Discuss with me?”
Li Meng wiped her mouth and frowned slightly. She then glanced at Qiu Qiqian beside her, her eyes carrying a questioning look, clearly seeking her opinion.
“What exactly does he want to talk about?”
Qiu Qiqian asked.
“Well… I’m sorry, but it’s not convenient to discuss it here. It might cause unnecessary commotion. However, I can confirm that it’s related to the kind of work Miss Li Meng usually does.”
The kind of work she usually does? Does he mean purging Guiyi?
An aquarium owner who knows about these things…
No, thinking about it carefully, since the Association was able to buy those limited tickets from him, it meant he already had some connection with the Association. It wasn’t too strange that he would know about this.
“Xiao Qian, what do you think?”
Li Meng looked toward Qiu Qiqian again.
“Since it’s related to those things, let’s go hear him out,” Qiu Qiqian said. She patted off the snack crumbs that had accidentally stuck to her skirt and gave Li Meng a meaningful look. The two then stood up and followed the female staff member.
Qiu Qiqian also brought along her unfinished drink. It would be too wasteful to leave it behind.
After navigating through the winding paths inside the aquarium, Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng were finally led to a reception room.
As soon as they entered, they saw a middle-aged man who was already somewhat advanced in age. He wore a suit and glasses, appeared slightly plump, had a roundish head, and yellowish skin—like a potato.
He sat behind a desk, his face grim as he stared at something on the computer.
In his hand, he was fiddling with a wooden bracelet made of some unknown material. From its texture, it looked quite expensive.
“There he is—that’s the owner of our aquarium.”
Hearing the employee’s introduction, the middle-aged man quickly wiped the grim expression off his face and put on a standard customer-service smile. It was hard not to suspect he had worked in the service industry before.
“Oh my, you must be Miss Li Meng. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard about your deeds for a long time. Please, have a seat.”
The man spoke in a slightly hoarse voice and hurriedly got up to guide the two women to the sofa. He instructed the staff to serve them tea and water, then sat down on the opposite sofa facing them.
“Um… may I ask how I should address you?”
Li Meng asked softly.
“My name is Yu Sheng. You can just call me Mr. Yu. By the way, who is this young lady beside you?”
“Ah, this is Xiao Qian. She’s my partner and also my roommate.”
“To be precise, her name is Qiu Qiqian. You don’t need to add that last part,” Qiu Qiqian said as she placed her drink on the glass table in front of her, then crossed her legs. She somehow gave off the impression that she was the one in charge.
“So you’re Miss Qiu. Nice to meet you. Are you also part of the Association?”
“I guess… you could say I’m half in?”
“Half?”
A trace of doubt rose in Yu Sheng’s mind.
Usually, people would say either yes or no. Who says “half”? Could she be someone who got in through the back door? That shouldn’t be possible. Who would use connections to enter a place like the Association and suffer?
Still… since she came with Li Meng, her identity probably wasn’t an issue. He just didn’t know how capable she was in combat.
“By the way, since Miss Qiu is Miss Li Meng’s partner, you must have many outstanding abilities, right?”
Yu Sheng asked indirectly, trying to gauge Qiu Qiqian’s level.
After all, she was the partner of the youngest Youxun. She should at least be at the Lingxun level.
“Outstanding abilities?”
Qiu Qiqian raised an eyebrow. She thought about the days she had spent with Li Meng recently, and the corner of her mouth lifted slightly.
“Hmph, of course. In certain areas, I’m much more capable than this girl.”
As she spoke, Qiu Qiqian deliberately flipped her hair, striking a proud pose.
‘After all, without me, who knows what kind of mess this girl’s life would be in.’
“Yeah, Xiao Qian is really amazing. Ever since she moved in with me, she’s kept everything in perfect order,” Li Meng nodded without hesitation, praising her. Her eyes occasionally glanced toward Qiu Qiqian with an indescribable look.
Yu Sheng nodded, understanding what was going on.
Having lived for half his life, he had seen plenty of things. The dynamic between Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng—one handling the outside, one handling the inside—reminded him of only one kind of relationship.
“So… Miss Qiu is actually Miss Li Meng’s girlfriend? Wow, young people these days are really getting more and more open-minded. But I’m not some old fossil either—I can understand.”
Yu Sheng spoke these quite shocking words in a gentle tone and even gave the two women a thumbs-up, as if encouraging them to chase their dreams.
“Wh-what girlfriend?! What nonsense are you talking about?!”
Qiu Qiqian’s face instantly flushed red. Her voice shot up like a boiling kettle, and her previously proud demeanor vanished without a trace.
“Pfft… No, we’re not in that kind of relationship… Um… at least not right now, I think?”
Li Meng lightly tapped her fingers against her lips, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
‘What’s with that doubtful tone?! You’re not actually thinking of doing that kind of thing to me, are you?!’
Qiu Qiqian subconsciously hugged herself and looked at Li Meng with slightly wary eyes. If this girl really made a move, she wouldn’t be able to resist at all.
It wasn’t that she particularly rejected the idea of Li Meng. She just felt that if she really got pushed down by this girl, it would be… too embarrassing.
Even if they really ended up in that kind of relationship, she should be the one on top!
Li Meng, however, maintained her smile. She turned her head and looked at Qiu Qiqian with her clear, bright eyes, blinking innocently as if she really had no such thoughts.
Probably.
“What? You two aren’t actually in that kind of relationship? Even I can misread things sometimes. Guess I’m really getting old…”
Yu Sheng sighed, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes, as if lamenting the passage of time—even though it had nothing to do with the situation.
“I said… can we please drop this topic right now?! Don’t you have something to discuss? Then let’s talk about that!”
Qiu Qiqian hurriedly steered the conversation back to business, afraid that if they continued, it would spiral into even more ridiculous territory.
“Oh, right! Well, here’s the situation. Over the past month, several bizarre incidents have occurred in my aquarium.”
“Bizarre incidents?”
Li Meng showed some curiosity.
“Yes. Several employees suddenly disappeared while cleaning at night. The next day, without exception, they were all found inside the water tanks.”
“And… how were they?”
“This is the strangest part. They had clearly been soaking in the water tanks all night, but when they were discovered and pulled out the next day, they only had mild drowning symptoms. It can almost be called a medical miracle.”
“Indeed… spending an entire night submerged and only suffering mild drowning. Without some other force interfering, that would be almost impossible,” Qiu Qiqian said after calming down.
She stroked her chin thoughtfully for a moment, then looked at Li Meng beside her.
“There must be a Guiyi involved. Otherwise, this kind of situation wouldn’t happen.”
“Where exactly did they get attacked?”
Li Meng asked.
“This…”
Yu Sheng paused, his mouth still half open as if thinking about how to answer. After a few seconds, he replied, “The locations where they were attacked were all different. I couldn’t find any pattern.”
“Then… didn’t you apply for help from the Youxun Sentry Post?”
“Of course I did. But that damn thing… I mean, that Guiyi used some kind of method. Every time I brought people over, it would disappear without a trace, leaving no clues behind.”
Yu Sheng spread his hands with a helpless expression.
“No clues at all? Not even Nether Breath?”
“Nether Breath? You mean the thing those people detect? Nope, not even that. That thing is really cunning—it doesn’t leave any traces at all. I really had no choice, so I asked Miss Li Meng to come and handle it.”
“Something like this happened, and you still didn’t suspend operations?”
Qiu Qiqian returned to her previous posture. Paired with her sharp tone, she seemed like a completely different person from before.
“How could I do that? Every day, tons of people are waiting to visit my aquarium! If I close it, I’d lose so much money. Just the monthly maintenance fees for this place start at a million!”
Yu Sheng raised his voice and even waved his hands a few times, as if he was already losing money.
“So you’re saying you can just ignore the lives of your employees?”
Qiu Qiqian’s eyes instantly turned several degrees colder, and her words became completely impolite.
Li Meng beside her also sensed that something was wrong. The smile on her face gradually stiffened, carrying a faint trace of displeasure.
“Well… they didn’t actually face any life-threatening danger, right? And I covered all the medical expenses!”
“Isn’t that the least you should do?”
Li Meng chimed in. Her usually pleasant, bell-like voice now felt as heavy as a massive hammer striking Yu Sheng’s heart.
Seeing the atmosphere turning sour, cold sweat broke out on Yu Sheng’s forehead.
He quickly begged for mercy:
“Oh dear, you two ladies, please stop scolding me. Let’s just focus on how to get rid of that Guiyi. Once the matter is resolved, I’ll give each of the affected employees triple—no, five times their salary. How about that? I’ll also add paid leave.”
“You should be saying that to the affected employees, not to us,” Qiu Qiqian raised her chin, her eyes dark as if she were looking at trash.
She had never expected that this seemingly humorous and witty boss would turn out to be such a… capitalist.
Having once been heavily exploited by bosses like this, she knew exactly what kind of people they were. And she absolutely despised them.
“We will help resolve this matter,” Li Meng said. She seemed unwilling to waste any more words on this scumbag and stood up quickly.
Her usually gentle and adorable face was now clouded with a layer of shadow.
“I’ll report the known information to the Association and the nearest Youxun Sentry Post later. Just in case, I’ll have them bring the Xianyi over in the evening. That shouldn’t affect your operations, right?”
“But… if it’s such a big scene, won’t it affect…”
The moment the words left his mouth, Yu Sheng felt the gazes of Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng turn ice-cold, as if they were about to tear him apart in the next second. He quickly swallowed the rest of his sentence and became polite again.
“Alright then. You two can handle it however you see fit. I’m just an outsider, so I won’t give any more opinions.”
Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng didn’t say anything more. They simply nodded, then walked out of the reception room, closing the door behind them.
As soon as the two left, Yu Sheng’s face instantly darkened. His black eyes stared fixedly at the door panel…
He didn’t utter any insults toward Li Meng and Qiu Qiqian. Instead, he turned around, walked to the window, and looked in the direction of a certain branch hall within his park.
“Damn beast. You didn’t manage to make money for me while you were alive, and now that you’re dead, you’re still causing trouble for me. Just wait… let’s see how much longer you can act arrogant…”