Dongjun inexplicably felt a chill.
Jiu Xiao's previously dim eyes suddenly brightened, and he looked at Jiu Li hopefully. But the brat Jiu Li was still being stubborn: "So what? Even if you're worried, so what? I brought the fish back, I didn't intend for them to die here, that would be bad luck! What's so strange about being worried? This guy woke up and immediately started claiming kinship with me, is he out of his mind?"
Long Xun said calmly, "If you don't know him, why can you call him by name?"
“That wasn’t something he brought up himself…” Jiu Li suddenly remembered that Jiu Xiao had previously said his name was Xiao, but in his excitement, he had called out Jiu Xiao.
Jiu Li's ever-changing expression clearly showed that he truly knew and was worried about Jiu Xiao, and that they were brothers.
Jiu Xiao clenched his fist, took a deep breath, exhaled, and forced a smile as he softly asked, "Xiao Li, why don't you want to acknowledge me?"
Why should I acknowledge you? I hate you the most!
Just as Jiu Li yelled, Yin Chen scratched his cheek with his index finger in a cheeky manner and said, "Oh, I remember you said something like your brother is very handsome, very gentle, and definitely better than me, right..."
Embarrassing.
Jiu Li was furious after being repeatedly humiliated. What boss would have an employee like this? Always siding with outsiders and constantly exposing the boss's secrets! Who's paying your salary anyway?!
Yin Chen laughed mischievously from the side: Sorry, boss, I didn't want to get involved in your family's mess, but my wife couldn't stand it, so naturally she had to follow her husband's lead.
Jiuxiao's eyes were sparkling, rippling with gentle waves of light, and his face was practically splitting with laughter, looking so silly that it was hard to look directly at him.
Long Xun added insult to injury: "You hate your brother because you think he's better than you, which is why you were abandoned. But what if that's not the real reason?"
The other four fish's eyes immediately focused on Long Xun. Jiu Li and Jiu Xiao looked wary, while Jiu Xiao put on his signature gentle smile and asked, "What is this gentleman saying? I don't quite understand."
Dongjun's face remained as cold as ever, but he got out of bed and swam beside Jiuxiao, revealing a subtle protective posture, indicating that he was not as calm as he appeared.
Long Xun ignored the other fish's wariness and said coldly, "Do you know that your brother is actually a levitation mermaid? As the bar owner, you should know what this race represents. And you should still remember how your brother treated your so-called parents in the past, so... what is the truth? You just can't figure it out?"
Jiu Li's face suddenly turned pale.
He certainly couldn't not understand it.
Before he learned that his adoptive parents had died at Jiu Xiao's hands, Jiu Li had not yet plunged headlong into the abyss of hatred from which he could not escape. In his eyes, his brother made him feel envious, jealous and hateful, but at the same time, there was also an attachment and pride in him that he himself was unaware of.
Before hatred arose, Jiu Li's feelings for her brother were more like a child throwing a tantrum. He was a brat, but it was because I believed that he would forgive me no matter what I did that I trusted him so recklessly.
This behavior is certainly unacceptable, but it also reveals his complex emotions.
If his brother wasn't favored by their parents because he was better than him, as he imagined, but rather because he was a commodity that needed careful nurturing and education to fetch a good price, then this hidden emotion would surface and reverse Jiu Li's view of Jiu Xiao.
Guilt, heartache... and perhaps more.
Jiu Xiao's face also turned pale. He smiled at Long Xun, his hands hanging loosely at his sides, and slowly asked, "How did you figure out my identity?"
Meanwhile, he glanced around the room out of the corner of his eye, searching for a chance to escape.
However, Long Xun broke his fine tradition of being taciturn and continued calmly, "Your heart is racing, your battle readiness is about to be activated, and you've already adjusted to a posture of being ready to flee at any moment. You've glanced at the door no less than seven times and at the window thirteen times out of the corner of your eye. Your killing intent was directed at me four times and at A-Chen twice... In a very short time, you've already decided to escape. It seems that your identity as a floating mermaid has caused you a lot of trouble. And since you already have a considerable amount of killing intent, you've probably already killed a mermaid with your own hands."
What kind of life could turn Jiuxiao into this?
Although he was abandoned, he was picked up by Yin Chen not long after and opened a bar. Jiu Li, who was living a relatively peaceful and smooth life, never imagined that the perfect older brother he had envied and resented for so long would turn out like this.
Dongjun grabbed Jiuxiao's arm and pulled him behind him, saying slowly, "Not bad observation skills."
Seeing the two mermaids' wariness, Yin Chen suddenly chuckled, narrowed his eyes, and grinned, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth: "Don't be so tense. My Ah Xun wouldn't even look at your black-hearted fish."
However, Dongjun remained indifferent, standing in front of Jiuxiao.
He didn't see that Jiu Xiao's eyes became complicated the moment he blocked his way.
Jiu Li suddenly screamed, clutching his head. Then he abruptly raised his head. His eyes were a beautiful purple, but at that moment, his left eye began to tremble as if a stone had been thrown into calm water. The purple gradually faded, turning into a beautiful blue-green like the sky.
"You're talking nonsense! How could you possibly know? Impossible... My adoptive parents would never do such a thing!"
"You yourself have had your doubts." Long Xun's calm and confident tone gradually shattered Jiu Li's psychological defenses. His indifferent pale golden vertical pupils looked calmly at Jiu Li, as if his futile struggles in his heart could be seen through by those eyes.
“You also had a happy period, but your adoptive parents coaxed you into getting a racial test. Mermaids have very good memories, and even after so much time has passed, you should still remember what happened back then.”
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