IRM Chapter 65

The innkeeper had been silently watching the situation at Ji Chi’s table. For some unknown reason, from the moment he entered, the innkeeper’s heart had been contracting with unease, and this ominous premonition was deepening with time.

The innkeeper was secretly counting his gold coins with joy while hiding behind the counter to observe.

Then he saw a huge cannon barrel pointing at his familiar returning customers and the inn’s front door that he had painfully spent twenty gold coins to specially customize.

The innkeeper froze, the gold coins in his hand slipped and fell, clanging on the ground.

The crisp sound of gold coins hitting the floor rang out in the dead-silent inn. The stunned guests in the hall awakened as if from a dream, screaming and shoving as they squeezed out of the inn.

Not to mention the merchant directly facing the cannon and the inn’s people, even Ji Chi was frightened. He had always thought Chloe had a gentle personality, but he never expected she could be so fierce when angry!

He quickly grabbed her before Chloe could fire.

Chloe was puzzled, the red light in her eyes hadn’t diminished at all. “Why? Aren’t they bad people? Bad people should be punished.” She had her own set of logic.

The merchant had long been scared witless, cold sweat pouring out, his legs shaking so much he couldn’t stand. He had been in the Weiss Sea for so many years, familiar with every sea area, and had seen all kinds of strange creatures… but had never encountered something so terrifying!

No, wait, there was one sea area he hadn’t dared to venture into.

At this life-or-death moment, the merchant’s mind suddenly became sharp. He instantly realized why this year’s “sacrifice” was sitting here safe and sound—because that guardian monster had spared the sacrifice, and might have even followed the sacrifice out…

The merchant almost screamed. His panicked gaze swept around, looking for something that could save his life, but finally settled on Ji Chi, the pleading look in his eyes quite obvious.

Ji Chi was also troubled, not knowing how to explain such a complicated matter to Chloe… He suddenly felt that being human was really exhausting.

Ji Chi sighed and said, “Killing him here would indeed be the simplest method, but also the most ineffective one.”

Chloe persisted in asking, “Why?”

Ji Chi: “Because others will only remember that you killed him, and rarely will they investigate why he deserved to die.”

Hearing this, Chloe turned to look around. Wherever her gaze fell, everyone fearfully averted their eyes, afraid of being noticed by her.

Chloe fell silent, but still didn’t lower the cannon, asking, “Then should we just let him continue living? Won’t the bad people receive any punishment at all?”

Commotion came from the inn’s entrance. Ji Chi looked up and smiled. “Of course those who do wrong will be punished, but the power of one person alone cannot eliminate all the bad people. Do you know how to make bad people not dare to do bad things anymore?”

Receiving Chloe’s confusion, Ji Chi said word by word, “Humans have a weapon more powerful than your cannonballs—it’s called law.”

“Who dares cause trouble in Mouvira! This is the Grand Prince’s territory!” Several loud, stern shouts came from the chaotic inn entrance.

A squad of well-equipped merman patrol guards entered. They were robust with sharp eyes, and the lead guard was even a level 30 advanced warrior.

His sharp gaze swept across Ji Chi’s face, first showing a trace of disbelief. He had seen this black mermaid from afar during the sacrifice ceremony and had felt sorry about it for a long time. How could she possibly appear before him again now?

The lead guard murmured, “How could this be… Is this another black mermaid?”

While he was distracted, a guard behind him fearfully poked his back. “Captain! Look what that is!”

The lead guard turned to look and was startled by Chloe, who was lowering her cannon. He immediately drew the twin swords at his waist. “What kind of monster are you! What’s your purpose here? Are you here to destroy Mouvira!”

Chloe realized she was being treated as a bad person and was unhappy. “Chloe doesn’t want to destroy this place. Chloe only wants to punish bad people.”

She turned and stared silently at Ji Chi, probably complaining to him about the other party’s prejudice.

Ji Chi coughed guiltily and turned to explain to the lead guard. “Guard sir, this person has been doing business selling merfolk. He mistook me for a mermaid and wanted to capture me, but was stopped by my friend.”

He obscured many key details, such as the merchant knowing he was the mermaid who returned from the sacrifice, such as Chloe raising a cannon to “stop” (?)… He firmly placed the hatred on the merchant.

Indeed, the lead guard was only startled by Ji Chi’s voice for an instant, then quickly focused his attention on the mermaid trading.

Trading merfolk was considered a disgrace to the mermaid race. They both hated these merchants and desperately needed beautiful merfolk. Although there were no clear regulations constraining these merchants, merfolk never had good attitudes toward them when encountered, and sometimes would even beat them up in secret.

The merchant couldn’t and didn’t dare to refute. That monster was still staring at him ominously, so he could only tearfully nod to the guards.

The merman guards looked coldly at the merchant. They exchanged glances and were about to beat up the merchant before letting him go, when they heard Ji Chi’s calm voice clearly. “I suggest you arrest him.”

The merchant’s eyes widened. He definitely didn’t want to be arrested for mermaid trading and thrown among a bunch of merfolk—he didn’t need to think about what that outcome would be. “What are you saying? There was no such regulation before!”

Ji Chi said lightly, “There will be one soon. Otherwise, you can ask His Highness the Grand Prince right now—he just hasn’t had time to announce it in advance.”

The merchant stubbornly said, “Impossible! I don’t even know about such a regulation. Where did you hear about it? Besides, without us merchants who work so hard to find sacrifices, could merfolk find good-looking sacrifices themselves?”

The lead guard was hit where it hurt and couldn’t help kicking him. He gripped his sword hilt tightly and said to Ji Chi with restrained anger. “Are you certain the news is true? Spreading false orders from His Highness is also punishable.”

Ji Chi smiled casually. “Of course, you can ask right now. I would also like to have the honor of hearing His Highness announce it personally.”

The lead guard looked at him dubiously and opened a communication magic circle.

With the lead guard’s status, he couldn’t directly contact the Grand Prince, but could only communicate with the guards beside the prince.

The lead guard turned aside and quietly asked a few questions. Soon, loud angry shouting came from the other side. “When did His Highness ever issue such an order? Who exactly is spreading such rumors? Arrest them immediately!”

The lead guard looked unfavorably at Ji Chi and explained quietly to the communication circle. “Sorry, sir. He looks very much like the previous black mermaid, so I thought he was… Sorry, I’ll arrest him.”

The merchant crouched on the ground secretly listening. His panic gradually faded, and he sneered coldly, looking up at Ji Chi with some smugness and malice.

However, after hearing the lead guard’s explanation, the other side of the communication circle suddenly fell into dead silence. After several hurried, panicked sounds, the Grand Prince’s trembling voice rang out. “You said who?!”

Hearing His Highness’s voice, the lead guard couldn’t bother with arresting the “criminal” and hurriedly described Ji Chi and his companion in detail.

“Arrest! Why wouldn’t we arrest!” the Grand Prince roared. “Relay my command! The sacrifice ceremony is permanently canceled! Any merchants involved in mermaid trading shall be executed by hanging! Start investigating now! Don’t let those scum leave the Weiss Sea alive!”

The lead guard was startled and quickly agreed.

The people around obviously also heard the Grand Prince’s voice and looked at each other in amazement. Everyone heard about canceling the sacrifice ceremony, and light gradually brightened in every merman’s eyes. They had a premonition that the era of merfolk had changed!

Some merchants who saw the situation turning bad quietly left the crowd and began walking toward the coast with their heads down. Unfortunately, they were blocked halfway by a group of merfolk who had harbored resentment for a long time. The sinister gazes made them personally experience the despair of having their lives controlled by others.

Chloe watched this chaotic scene for a long time, then turned to Ji Chi and said, “Chloe still doesn’t understand what weapon law is, but it’s very powerful.”

Ji Chi smiled. “Yes, thinking and wisdom always create miracles.”

Chloe nodded as if understanding but not quite understanding.

After the chaos, this inn was no longer habitable. The originally clean and tidy shop front was in shambles, with many tables, chairs, and utensils damaged. The few extra gold coins Ji Chi had given earlier were nowhere near enough to cover the renovation costs.

The innkeeper was on the verge of tears but didn’t dare ask Ji Chi for compensation. He could only swallow his blood and tears and vent his anger on the maid. “Are you some kind of young lady! Why didn’t you come out to stop them just now! Now look at this mess, what do you say we should do! Hurry up and take out all your previous wages! You won’t get a penny from now on either!”

Anna looked at him coldly, pulled off the apron around her waist and flung it at the innkeeper’s face. “Get lost, don’t let me see you again!”

The innkeeper stared at her with wide eyes. No matter how much he had oppressed her before, Anna had always been submissive. This was the first time she had defied him. For a moment, surprise outweighed anger. “You! You want to violate the slave contract?!”

Anna sneered. “What counts as violation? Read it to me!”

The innkeeper began to get angry. He bent down and crawled under the counter, rummaging for a long time before pulling out a yellowed paper from a hidden corner. He looked at Anna with a grim expression and read aloud word by word, “Name Anna, race human, from February 8th voluntarily becomes….If there is any disobedience to orders, the master may dispose of all property including life at will.”

The innkeeper held the contract with two fingers and shook it in front of her. “This is a soul contract!”

Anna smiled dismissively. “Too bad, what effect can a contract with even the wrong race have?”

The innkeeper was stunned. “What?”

Anna’s human potion was finally about to expire. She no longer had to painfully conceal her mermaid bloodline. A sea-like coolness replaced the scorching hot human blood.

Anna’s exposed skin became pale, with blue blood vessels faintly visible. On her palms, light blue webbing connected between each finger, and her ears also raised a piece of translucent fin.

Having changed back to a mermaid, Anna wiped away the coral ash covering her face, gradually revealing a beautiful and enchanting face. She slammed the table hard, and her natural beastly strength instantly shattered the mahogany table into pieces.

“I’ll say it again, don’t let me see you again.” Anna stared intently at the innkeeper, whose face was ashen and who was shaking like a sieve. The bloody scent between the beast’s lips and teeth couldn’t be erased even after years of disguising as a human.

He fled in terror, completely forgetting that this was his own inn.

Ji Chi watched scene after scene of exciting drama unfold, then took Chloe outside, planning to change to another inn for dinner. As he passed Anna, he smiled and offered a blessing. “Congratulations, from now on live openly and honestly.”

Anna clenched her hands tightly at her sides. All her fiery anger disappeared, leaving only a thick sense of unreality. She barely held back the tears about to flow and said in a trembling voice. “Wait before you go. I’ve prepared some food for you.”

She wiped her face and went to the inn’s back kitchen, bringing out dish after dish of sumptuous food, and also cut herself a plate of fat and fresh fish fillets.

Anna efficiently cleaned up a table, arranging napkins, knives, forks, and plates with care and refinement—things she had never known how to do before.

She raised her eyes and forced a smile. “After observing humans for so long, I’ve discovered that you like to use food to celebrate good things happening. Unfortunately, I can’t find any companions I know anymore. Would you accompany me in celebrating?”

Ji Chi hesitated for a moment but still sat across from Anna.

The two silently enjoyed the meal before them. Chloe watched their eating manner for a long time, then also learned to grab a small piece of bread and hold it up to her eyes, seemingly thinking about where to put it.

After thinking, she finally simply opened her belly and stuffed the bread inside.

Anna kept her head down, silently eating the raw fish fillets. She hadn’t eaten food belonging to merfolk for far too long. Pearls clinked as they fell onto the plate.

She forced herself to eat a few bites but finally couldn’t help it. She covered her face and burst into tears. “Thank you, really thank you… I never dared to imagine this day could come. I, I can finally be free, I can finally return to the ocean…”

Anna ate while crying intermittently, as if wanting to cry out all the grievances and fears of these years. It wasn’t until the sun set in the west that Bard and Tang entered the inn carrying the scent of sea spray.

They saw the messy hall and were stunned. “What happened here?”

Ji Chi scooped the last spoonful of cream soup into his mouth and picked up his napkin to wipe the corners of his mouth. “It’s a long story. It looks like we’ll need to change inns tonight. I asked around—Mouvira’s teleportation array only goes to the Saint Trilley Empire at ten in the morning.”

Bard looked at the wrecked inn. He had been very tired these past few days and really wanted a good night’s rest. He was about to nod when Anna stopped him.

“Please stay here tonight. Don’t worry, with me here, no one will come to disturb you.” Anna had already regained her composure. She stood up and cleaned the table a bit, then straightened up with the plates, smiling sincerely with red eyes. “I’m really grateful to all of you. Just let me do what I can.”

That night, the inn was unusually quiet, with only the distant sound of waves lapping echoing.

Bard lay with his eyes open. His spirit and body were already very tired, but too many things had accumulated in his mind, making him toss and turn unable to sleep.

Just as he sighed and was about to keep his eyes open to get through the night, an unprecedented beautiful singing voice came from below the inn.

The song was ethereal and elusive. When it entered the ears, it made one feel as if placed on a small boat drifting and swaying with the waves on the azure sea, brewing waves of sleepiness.

That night, everyone had a peaceful and serene dream, and even Chloe tried to empty her thoughts and immerse herself in the ocean-like tenderness.