Chapter 1670

The investigator frowns and warns Xia Lin that the weak cannot contend with the strong. She replies that she knows she was targeted because she has no one to rely on, and that she will neither retaliate nor file a complaint. She accepts the false accusation as repayment for Su Yi’s kindness. She wants no compensation and declares that she and Su Yi are now strangers. Unable to match her gaze, the surprised investigator lets her leave and says he hopes she upholds what she said. Several days later, the innkeeper tells her that public sentiment is too fierce for her to stay, and she packs and goes, calm under the pointing fingers of the Gu Masters in the hall. ^{ch. 1670}

On the main street, crowds hurry to the central square for the second last test of the Sea God Ceremony, and talk is of the spy by Su Yi’s side, whom they name as Xia Lin. Most do not recognize her. Even those who do are not absolutely certain in the extremely crowded Sacred City. She feels heavy and thinks she may never come back, and the tall buildings seem to press towards her. She slips into a dark alley, where her breathing eases, and her head droops as she begins to cry. ^{ch. 1670}

Three mermen step out, hooligans who are all rank two Gu Masters like her, and two more block her way behind. Backed against the wall, she says she will drag them down with her even if she dies. They laugh but slow their steps. A sixth merman Gu Master walks out of the melting wall and strikes her down. As she falls unconscious, she thinks that they got her, and the six order the place cleaned up. She wakes to a voice and finds the six lying motionless around a human Gu Master, and she cries out with joy that it is Master Chu. ^{ch. 1670}

Fang Yuan, whom she calls Master Chu, says he has watched the ceremony from the start, has heard of her matter, and judges that she is not that kind of person. She breaks down weeping, and he says he is slightly responsible, because the gather oil Gu he gave her led Su Yi to target her and her to enter the ceremony. He takes her away with him, and at the end of the alley he snaps his fingers and the whole street comes to a standstill. She walks through the frozen crowd, and its liveliness makes her forget her depression. When she bumps into a sturdy human Gu Master and he starts to tilt, Fang Yuan grabs her. ^{ch. 1670}

He gives her a mask and leads her before a lion dance team performing the sea lion winter spring opera without its two leads, a filial fisherman and a traveling mermaid princess. He says his method lasts only a short while and hurries her to wear the mask and move with the crowd. Wearing it, she calms, since no one would recognize her. Then she sees that he wears the mask of the filial fisherman, blushes, and wonders whether the two of them are now the main male and female characters. Her heart starts to race wildly. ^{ch. 1670}