Tidal Engagement - Chapter 7

The Old Steward’s face was deathly pale.

“Young Master, she’ll get you killed.”

Pei Tinglan seemed not to hear.

His gaze fell on my wrist, confirming there was no Silver Ring, then moved to my face.

“Does it hurt?”

I shook my head.

“I didn’t put it on.”

He let out a very light breath.

The next second, the Old Steward was swept off his feet by a surge of water and slammed against the wall.

I immediately called out, “Pei Tinglan.”

He stopped.

His rationality probably hadn’t returned yet.

But my voice had an effect on him.

This realization made my chest tighten.

I walked over and stood between him and the Old Steward.

“Don’t kill him.”

Pei Tinglan looked at me.

His eyes were unfocused, as if struggling to make out each word I said.

“He touched you.”

“He didn’t succeed.”

“He tried to lock you.”

“I know.”

“I’m going to tear him apart.”

He said it very calmly. No anger, no threat, just an instinctive judgment.

I reached out, stopping half an inch from his cheek. “What would happen if I touched you now?”

Pei Tinglan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Don’t try it.”

“Would it pull you back, or make you lose control more?”

“Both.”

I smiled slightly. “Then listen carefully. I’m not your Anchor.”

The silver light in his eyes trembled. I said, “I’m Lin Wu. To cooperate, to negotiate terms, to save you, and to save myself.”

He stared at me, not moving for a long time.

I continued, “If you kill him now, the Pei Family will pin all the evidence on you. If you still want to destroy the Old Code, hold back.”

Pei Tinglan closed his eyes. The veins on his temple bulged, as if fighting another entity inside him.

After a long time, he asked, “And after I hold back?”

“Then listen to me from now on.”

He opened his eyes. The silver hadn’t receded. “Miss Lin, you’re negotiating while I’m not in a clear state of mind.”

“You’ve schemed against me plenty when you were clear-headed.”

He actually laughed a little. Soft, brief. “Alright.”

We didn’t go through the north pier.

I used the archive room computer to send the Old Anchor Archives, the Return-to-Sea Protocol, and the Pei Family Sanatorium records to three people.

One was my university mentor, specializing in research on abnormal marine life.

One was an investigative reporter from Nangang.

And the last was Lin Corporation’s largest creditor at the moment.

This last person was very pragmatic. He didn’t care about Sea Monsters or the Old Code. But he cared about the Pei Family using an illegal sanatorium to launder assets.

After I sent the emails, Pei Tinglan stood by the window watching me.

The scales on his body had receded somewhat, but his face was even paler.

“You prepared thoroughly.”

“I started preparing the day of my engagement.”

“Including me?”

“Especially you.”

He fell silent for a few seconds. “What did you find out?”

I tossed my phone to him. On the screen was the itinerary of Pei Tinglan I had compiled.

Over the past six years, he would go to the seaside every year on the Nangang Shipwreck Memorial Day. No flowers, no meeting anyone, just sitting for an hour.

And he had anonymously funded every family of a former Old Anchor.

After reading it, Pei Tinglan said nothing.

I said, “You’re not a good person, but you’re not the monster the Pei Family wants you to be either.”

He looked up. “Are you comforting me?”

“No, assessing a collaboration partner.”

“And the result?”

I looked at him. “Extremely high risk, but exploitable value.”

Pei Tinglan laughed. This time more genuine than before. “Doesn’t sound very romantic.”

“Mr. Pei, we are currently being hunted by a group of Sea Monster old nobility. Isn’t it a bit early for romance?”

The sound of cars came from downstairs. The Pei Family’s bodyguards had arrived.

Pei Tinglan turned his head toward the corridor, and the silver in his pupils began to light up again.

I pressed down on the back of his hand. The scales were ice-cold, so jagged they made my palm ache.

He stiffened all over.

I said, “Don’t bite, follow legal procedure.”

Pei Tinglan looked down at my hand. “Lin Wu.”

“What?”

“You’d better take your hand away.”

I immediately withdrew my hand.

He turned his face away, breathing very low. “Remind me next time.”

“Remind you of what?”

His voice was extremely hoarse. “Remind me that you’re not inviting me.”