After listening to Song Chao's account of his "romance," the first four words that popped into Qibao's head were: human and demon walk different paths.
But then she immediately thought of the Venerable Fahai from the movie Green Snake, who was disliked by the masses for tearing apart White Snake and Xu Xian.
Qibao was no eminent monk, and based on what she had seen as a Magic Treasure on the Cultivation Continent, she didn't believe the Heavenly Dao truly cared to meddle in so many mortal affairs. Otherwise, why wouldn't it punish the corrupt officials who preyed on the people, or the bloodthirsty Demonic Cultivators? In terms of harm to ordinary folk, those two were clearly far worse. White Snake was just having a romance with a man—who did that hurt?
So Qibao didn't care whether the love between Song Chao and Tu Jian was real or fake. She only cared whether Song Chao had genuinely turned from evil to good, because all seven of these Great Demons who had once plagued the mortal world had been brought to this world by her. If Qibao had the ability to supervise them but chose to slack off, and the Great Demons continued their evil deeds, Qibao would bear a share of the Karma.
Finally, Qibao sent Song Chao a Telepathy: "Since you love her, you shouldn't deceive her. Saying you're a demonic beast is too absurd. You can say you were a carp in this world, and when the apocalypse arrived, you underwent a special mutation that allowed you to take human form. The bad things you did were just killing some people who tried to hunt carp."
To humans, demonic beasts and Aberrant Beasts weren't much different—both were outsiders.
Song Chao was unwilling. He feared Tu Jian couldn't accept his true identity.
Qibao looked at Tu Jian, clearly having made a decision.
Tu Jian had already waited several minutes. If Qibao delayed any longer, she too would lose patience from being kept in the dark.
Qibao: "He…"
She'd barely said one word when Song Chao, his handsome face flushing alternately pale and red with anxiety, suddenly produced a large glass fish tank filled with water. With a splash, he leaped in, naturally transforming into a golden carp about 40–50 centimeters long as he hit the water. He swam all the way to the corner of the tank farthest from Tu Jian, then sank motionless to the bottom.
Qibao was very familiar with the true forms of all seven Great Demons, because demonic beasts preferred to maintain their original forms when idle—including Song Chao the Carp Demon, who used his Innate Divine Ability to fill half his floor of the tower with water and listlessly swam around in it.
Seeing Song Chao's carp form again now, Qibao felt no admiration whatsoever. She only asked via Telepathy: "What's the meaning of this?"
Song Chao: "It means you can explain it to her however you like. If she doesn't want me anymore, just put the tank back into the tower. I just wanted her to see what I really look like."
What else could he do but accept his fate? Yin Mo was clearly only behaving because he couldn't defeat the Tower Spirit. Song Chao's strength was inferior to Yin Mo's, so besides obeying, he had no other choice.
Qibao relayed to Tu Jian the explanation she'd crafted—the one closest to the truth.
Even as Qibao was explaining, Tu Jian's gaze had already fallen on the golden carp in the tank.
When Qibao finished, Tu Jian asked, "Song Chao, is everything she said true?"
Before the apocalypse, if anyone had told Tu Jian that a carp could turn into a human, she'd have thought they were insane. But this was the apocalypse, where people could transform into Beast Form through their Spiritual Entities, so Tu Jian found the possibility easier to accept—and was even inclined to believe it given Song Chao's behavior.
Song Chao flicked his tail, turned around, and said to Tu Jian, "It's true. But I didn't directly kill those people—I just stirred up waves and capsized their boats. After Qibao captured and imprisoned me, I was defiant at first, but I came to understand that if I kept opposing humans, I'd eventually be discovered again. After I escaped, I never actively harmed anyone. I kept it from you because I was afraid you'd drive me away."
Tu Jian lowered her gaze. After a moment of composure, she looked at Qibao and asked, "You said you imprisoned seven people. All seven are in this situation?"
Qibao nodded.
Tu Jian: "How did you discover them? Are there other Aberrant Beasts outside that can turn human?"
Qibao: "…My Spiritual Entity is very special. If I get close enough to them, I can sense them. So far I've only found these seven. I felt their crimes didn't warrant death, so I locked them all up. But I'm a loner by nature—I don't want to draw the attention of any base's official authorities because of my special Ability. So I hope you'll keep this secret for me."
It would be best if Tu Jian agreed to keep it secret; if not, it would only cause Qibao some extra trouble. Qibao feared nothing anyway.
Tu Jian: "Thank you for letting me know the truth. I'll keep it confidential. As for Song Chao—what are your plans for him?"
Yin Mo promptly sent Qibao a Telepathy: "You're Song Chao's supervisor, and she's Song Chao's current girlfriend. If you don't want to be hunted down by General Tu after leaving Jiangcheng, you'd better first ask what her attitude toward Song Chao is."
Before finding Song Chao, Yin Mo had been gleefully scheming about how to boss Song Chao around. But now that he'd discovered Song Chao had both the shamelessness and the skill to seduce an S-rank female general for wealth and status, Yin Mo suddenly grew uneasy. What if Song Chao used those skills on Qibao—not only winning her favor but then using her affection to boss Yin Mo around in turn…
Yin Mo dared not take that risk.
Qibao was not afraid of being hunted by any human S-Rank Powerhouse, but she had learned from Song Chao that Tu Jian was a righteous general who took it upon herself to protect the residents of Jiangcheng, and because her strength was sufficient to give her real sway in the base's administration, even powerhouses who openly broke the law and bullied others within Jiangcheng would face punishment under base law. This made life for the lower-class residents here far better than in Tancheng.
Qibao did not want to come into armed conflict with Tu Jian over the Carp Demon and cause chaos within Jiangcheng.
"I want to take him with me, so I can personally supervise him and make sure he doesn't harm anyone again. I hope you can accept that." Qibao said as politely as she could.
Tu Jian did not question Qibao's right to do so. If Qibao hadn't acted in time, Song Chao the carp might still be attacking humans indiscriminately over their normal act of hunting for food. From that perspective, Qibao was eliminating a threat to the people.
But she had known Song Chao for four years. In her eyes, Song Chao was handsome and gentle-natured. At first he had been a bit timid, as if constantly worried someone was trying to kill him. Once he formally moved into her villa, Song Chao stopped being afraid. He also lost interest in the fighting and power struggles outside the villa. His eyes held only her. He would cook delicious meals for her following recipes, care for her with red-rimmed eyes when she was injured, sulk and feel upset when she was busy with work for long stretches, and openly express all his feelings in bed…
Tu Jian had occasionally wondered whether Song Chao was simply naive or deliberately putting on the persona of an innocent young man. Now that she knew he was a real carp, looking back on his behavior, it all made sense. How deep or complicated could the schemes of a carp—one that before the apocalypse only knew how to swim around in the water—possibly be?
Looking at the golden carp swimming up to her, Tu Jian asked expressionlessly, "Do you want to go with Qibao, or…"
Song Chao leaped out of the water at once, tears streaming from both fish eyes as he looked at her: "I don't want to go with her. I want to stay by your side. Even if I can only be an ornamental fish in a tank for the rest of my life, I don't want to leave you."
Tu Jian sneered: "Before, when you harmed people, Qibao would only imprison you. I'm harsher than Qibao. If I find out you're still harming people, I'll kill you directly."
Song Chao shook his head repeatedly: "I'll never harm anyone again. I'll be your ornamental fish in the tank for the rest of my life. I won't go anywhere."
Certain that he truly didn't want to leave, Tu Jian said solemnly to Qibao: "I swear on my character and all my honors that if you agree to let me supervise Song Chao on your behalf, I will guarantee he commits no further evil. If I fail in my duty due to unforeseen circumstances, I will personally hand him over to you for continued supervision, and from then on I will never interfere in matters between you and him again."
Qibao tapped the fish tank within her reach and frowned: "You actually believe him? This kind of material can't hold him."
Tu Jian: "The base has developed a protective glass capable of containing A-class prisoners. I'll order a fish tank made of that grade."
Qibao glanced at Yin Mo, who was sitting comfortably beside her with a strange look on his face, and sent a Telepathy to Song Chao: "Come with me. As long as you behave, you can move around with relative freedom like Yin Mo…"
Song Chao interrupted without hesitation: "What good is freedom? I'd rather be trapped in a fish tank as long as I can see her every day."
Qibao: "You say that like it's true. The moment I leave, you'll use every trick to seduce her into letting you out. And she's definitely reluctant to give up your company, which is why she's keeping you."
Song Chao was both touched and smug: "That just means she has feelings for me. I promise I won't do evil. Mind your own business about the rest."
Qibao looked at Tu Jian: "I just arrived in Jiangcheng and don't know you yet. I need time to confirm whether you can supervise him fairly."
Tu Jian smiled: "That's only reasonable. If you don't mind, why not stay at my place? It'll be convenient for us to get to know each other."
Qibao agreed.
Tu Jian then pointed at the golden carp in the tank: "It'll take time to make the tank. Until then, you can keep him in the tower."
Qibao didn't stand on ceremony. She controlled the tower to fly above the fish tank.
Song Chao was just wondering why the Suppression Restriction released by the pagoda was as weak as when he had escaped five years ago, when he heard Yin Mo's Telepathy: "Get in there now. If she actually finds out her Formation doesn't work on us, she might just kill us outright."
Song Chao was shocked. He looked up, leaped into the tower, and vanished.
Tu Jian glanced at the still-rippling water surface, then called for the housekeeper and told her to prepare two guest rooms on the second floor.
Yin Mo stepped closer to Qibao and said, "One room is enough. We always stay together."
Tu Jian's heart skipped a beat, though her expression was well concealed.
Inside the tower, Song Chao's eyes went wide. He sent a Telepathy to Yin Mo: "You and her…"
Yin Mo: "She's incredibly lazy. Every day she forces me to wash her clothes and blow-dry her hair. By the time I'm done, she's already gone back into the tower to rest."
Song Chao was half-convinced.
Tu Jian entertained Qibao in the living room for over half an hour. Once the guest rooms were ready, she escorted Qibao over and then went up to the third floor to sleep, leaving without the slightest reluctance.
Yin Mo sent a Telepathy mocking Song Chao: "Looks like she wasn't that reluctant to part with you after all."
Song Chao: "You're not even as clever as Qibao. With you two around, of course she has to pretend she doesn't care. After all, would a dignified general really be willing to take a Carp Demon as her boyfriend? Doesn't she have a reputation to uphold? Just wait and see—once you're gone, she'll treat me as her boyfriend again."
Song Chao wouldn't reveal his girlfriend's secret to other humans. He told Yin Mo because he knew Yin Mo was even more disdainful of gossiping with mortals.
To convince Yin Mo of his standing in his girlfriend's heart, while Qibao went to take a bath and Yin Mo actually released a row of cleaning machines to do the laundry, Song Chao chattered on endlessly about his loving exploits with Tu Jian.
The more Yin Mo listened, the darker his face grew—not that the Carp Demon in the tower could see it anyway.
Once Song Chao had finished showing off, Yin Mo said coldly, "The bystander sees clearly. She only likes your looks."
Song Chao: "Isn't that even better? I can stay young and handsome for thousands of years. With me around, no other pretty-faced human is getting a chance."
Yin Mo said venomously, "You live long, but she'll age. When she becomes an old lady, will you still be willing to serve her?"
Song Chao had a plan ready: "I'll give her half of my Demon Core. We'll both stay young forever, and live as long as we can."