Chapter 153 – Love in a Fallen City: You Are My Eternal, Unfading Starlight – Counterattack (16)
Le Mengqi lay on her hospital bed, watching as public opinion online began to shift in favor of the merfolk and herself. She thought to herself that this move had been the right one—just a bit of bloodshed to resolve everything. Perfect.
At the same time, news began to spread that Bai Tang and Turs might be holding a grand wedding. Le Mengqi knew exactly how her incident had been suppressed, which only made her crave the power of the Walker family even more. “‘Might be getting married’? So they’re not married yet, huh?”
A scheme formed in her mind. Using a secondary account, she posted congratulations to Bai Tang and Turs, while casually bringing up Turs’ visit to the merfolk base to choose a partner, expressing envy at Bai Tang’s good fortune.
[Bai Tang and Admiral Walker are getting married, congratulations, congratulations~ Speaking of which, Admiral Walker really is a rare kind of good man—an ideal partner. Back when he visited the merfolk base to select a mermaid, Le Mengqi nearly slipped because of the wet floor, and it was Admiral Walker who caught her. Later, he even saved her on the street and sent her back to the base. When the video clips of them together were posted, I honestly thought they were a couple. I never imagined Admiral Walker would be getting married so soon…]
Everything Le Mengqi said online was technically true, and all in praise of Turs Walker. But no matter how one looked at it, it seemed to imply that Bai Tang was a homewrecker.
Many of Le Mengqi’s fans reached out to her for confirmation. When she admitted that the events had indeed happened, the internet exploded with people attacking Bai Tang.
[He’s such a fake—got ahead by being a homewrecker, and still pretends to be so dignified.]
[Le Mengqi just posted a clip—she never said anything about shipping herself with Turs, it was just the netizens who thought they looked good together. But then in the afternoon, Bai Tang hurriedly uploaded a video of himself and Admiral Walker acting all lovey-dovey. So desperate—afraid Admiral Walker might go back to Le Mengqi, huh?]
[Admiral Walker is handsome, rich, and capable—but his taste in merfolk is questionable.]
Watching the uproar rise again, Le Mengqi smiled with satisfaction. Powerful families cared deeply about reputation. Let’s see how Bai Tang could still manage to marry into a prestigious family now.
What she didn’t know was that Bai Tang had already met the parents—and Madam Walker was extremely pleased with him.
With the new wave of public opinion, the Stuls (Tuls × Bai Tang shippers) fans were no longer staying silent.
[What do you mean our Tang Tang isn’t worthy, but Le Mengqi is? At least our Tang Tang is clean and innocent. Le Mengqi, on the other hand, has already been caught in compromising photos. As for whether there are even worse things that haven’t been made public yet—who knows?]
[Oh please, jealous much? Admiral Walker is a good man—high quality, always ready to help others. So what if he lent a hand when he saw someone in trouble? That means something? Last time Admiral Walker returned victorious from a battle, he even waved at me. Does that mean he has feelings for me too…]
[What a perfect little white lotus. Those photos were very revealing. So instead of choosing Bai Tang, you’d rather go with someone who’s clearly been ‘slept into’ the spotlight?]
[‘Fake innocence’ vs. ‘real innocence’—even a fool knows which to choose. And stealing someone else’s man? Have you watched too many brain-dead dramas? Admiral Walker has never once mentioned Le Mengqi’s name, but he and Bai Tang have clearly gone on trips together. Everyone saw it.]
[From what I know, Le Mengqi snuck out of the merfolk base on May 20th. Her legs turned back into a tail while she was out. At that time, Admiral Walker had already chosen Bai Tang as his merfolk partner. On his way home, he saw a mermaid transforming on the street and told the driver to notify the base. He never even got out of the car. Don’t ask me how I know—I was there. I thought it was a rare sight and even recorded a video.]
The online arguments became heated. But with video evidence to back it up, many people even called the merfolk base to confirm the story—and the facts matched the video exactly.
Still, none of this affected Bai Tang and Turs. They weren’t even online.
Feeling bad for Turs, Bai Tang indulged his every wish, doing whatever he could to make him happy. As for Turs—his life couldn’t be more blissful. Travel might have been inconvenient, but once they were home, he was back in his own territory and had nothing to worry about. After fooling around all night, Trls was now cuddled up with Bai Tang, catching up on sleep.
With Turs around, Bai Tang didn’t need to worry about food—Turs took care of everything. Auntie Li, with nothing left to do, had been reassigned to the main house to help Madam Walker.
Auntie Li knew the inside story and kept close watch on anything related to Le Mengqi. When the new wave of online gossip broke out, she immediately reported it to Madam Walker. The two fiercely protective women were outraged by the slander and responded at once. They launched a public relations campaign and officially announced Bai Tang and Turs’ wedding—with the date already set.
Soon after, the Walker family also released a statement:
[Bai Tang has excellent character and is the officially recognized young master of the Walker family. Anyone spreading baseless rumors online will face legal consequences if identified by the Walker family.]
When netizens saw the official statement, they stopped arguing—what was the point now? The authorities had already stepped in to clear things up.
The Stuls x Tang (Tuls × Bai Tang) fans were triumphant, while the Stuls x Qi (Tuls × Le Mengqi) fans slunk away, defeated and quiet.
Then, another bombshell dropped: [Marlon Bruce had escaped from prison.] A group had broken into the detention center and taken him by force. His current whereabouts were unknown.
When the news broke, Le Mengqi was on her way back to her agency. She was scrolling through online comments when an explosion suddenly came from the front of the car.
When Le Mengqi regained consciousness, she found herself tied up tightly on a bed. Sitting beside her was none other than Marlon Bruce, who was supposed to still be in custody.
“Long time no see, Le Mengqi,” Marlon Bruce rasped. His voice was rough and unpleasant, like the creaking of a broken bellows.
“Y-you—what are you doing? Let me go!”
When she saw the barbed whip in his hand, her fear escalated into terror.
“Help! Somebody help me—!”
“Don’t bother screaming,” he sneered. “This place is surrounded by my people. No one’s coming. Surprised I made it out? I’m more capable than you think…”
Marlon Bruce grabbed her chin and whipped her across the face.
Le Mengqi screamed, but just as he said—no one came to save her.
Le Mengqi disappeared. She had been abducted.
The abduction of a mermaid was a serious matter. The Merfolk Base and the military mobilized immediately. Their top suspect was the escaped Marlon Bruce—Le Mengqi had no other known enemies. The timing was also suspicious: Bruce vanished, and Le Mengqi was taken shortly after. It was too close to be a coincidence.
But the problem was, not only was Marlon Bruce missing, there were almost no useful clues left at the scene of Le Mengqi’s abduction. The perpetrators showed a high level of counter-surveillance skills.
This was a major incident—there was no time to delay.
At that moment, Lieutenant General Sade was playing a game of Pictionary with Meg, the mermaid.
“Understood, I’ll be right there.”
After hanging up, Lieutenant General Sade turned to Meg.
“Meg, I’ve got an urgent mission—I need to leave.”
“Mm-hmm, go ahead.” Meg was a reasonable mermaid—if Aida had an emergency, the important thing was to take care of it.
Sade scratched his head, looking a little conflicted.
“It’s about Le Mengqi… Hey—don’t get worked up! Put that fork down—it’s dangerous.”
He quickly grabbed the fork out of Meg’s hand, and under Meg’s furious glare, explained,
“Le Mengqi’s missing. We suspect it’s the work of Marlon Bruce, who just escaped…”
Meg knew about the Bruce family. It had been all over the news.
They were scum.
“Alright, go ahead then.”
Even though Lieutenant General Sade was going to rescue Le Mengqi, Meg still felt uncomfortable about it. But in the end, life came first. How could she stop Sade from saving someone just because of Le Mengqi’s past misdeeds?
Lieutenant General Sade kissed Meg on the cheek.
“Meg, you’re the best.”
Worried that Meg might run into trouble while alone at home, Sade took him to the merfolk base so he could spend time with friends, and then headed to the military headquarters.
…
Turs received the news while he was helping Bai Tang wash up. He gently wiped Bai Tang’s face and helped him get dressed, all while calmly explaining that Le Mengqi had been abducted.
The moment Bai Tang heard this, he snapped fully awake. He grabbed Turs’ sleeve.
“I want to go too.”
Turs kissed the corner of Bai Tang’s lips.
“Tang Tang, be good. The scene is dangerous. I’ll take you to Mom’s first, then pick you up tonight.”
The system also chimed in to persuade him:
“Tang Tang, the mission has already been successfully completed. The male and female leads of this world will never end up together. You can rest easy now.”
“Alright then…”
Bai Tang didn’t insist further, but reminded Turs again and again, “You must be careful, okay?”
“Got it, little housekeeper.”
“I’m managing you! So you better listen to me~”
Turs took Bai Tang back to the main residence and entrusted him to Madam Walker’s care before heading off to the military base.
As he watched Turs’ car drive away, Bai Tang turned around and took Madam Walker’s arm on his own initiative—causing her to nearly burst into tears.
My daughter-in-law is close to me. My daughter-in-law is willingly close to me!
“Mom, tell me more stories about Tuls when he was little…”
“Ah, yes! I’ve got plenty!” Madam Walker, overwhelmed with excitement, completely forgot her husband’s instructions to leave Turs some dignity, and eagerly pulled Bai Tang close, rambling on non-stop.
“Ah, I did my best…”
Looking at the two on the balcony so absorbed in Turs’ childhood stories, Mr. Walker could only shake his head and gaze toward the sky.
…
The people who had broken Marlon Bruce out of prison were indeed skilled—but the military of the Allied Forces was even more capable. Under the joint leadership and strategy of Turs and Sade, they quickly located Marlon Bruce’s hideout.
Le Mengqi had already been tortured into an unrecognizable state by the time they found her. Her fish tail was covered in wounds, the flesh torn and bloody.
“I know I can’t escape, but I have to get revenge, don’t I? This woman—your precious little mermaid—she’s such a sl*t…” Marlon Bruce laughed maniacally at the people who had burst into the room.
He was a man with twisted fetishes and knew plenty of cruel techniques—skilled and experienced.
In just a few hours, Le Mengqi felt as if centuries had passed, all hope drained from her. She no longer thought of anything else, only praying for death as a release.
Her legs had reverted to a mermaid’s tail under the repeated beatings.
Marlon Bruce had ripped her scales out one by one, then took a knife soaked in saltwater to slice the tender skin beneath.
He was trying every cruel method he could think of on her.
“Kill… kill him…” When Le Mengqi saw Turs and Sade, it was as if she had seen salvation. She pointed at her abuser and screamed the words.
“You b*tch! You want to kill me?” Marlon Bruce grabbed Le Mengqi by the hair and slammed her head against the wall, over and over until blood streamed down her face.
He had already gone completely mad.
To rot in prison for the rest of his life was worse than death—so if he was going down, he’d take someone with him.
Author’s Note:
The female lead is finally about to “receive her boxed lunch” (a Chinese slang meaning death).
You’ve hated her for more than ten chapters—thanks for your patience~