The shimmering droplets seemed to turn into golden grains of sand in midair, a color that could captivate anyone with a single glance.
Paired with his pale blue eyes, they were even more dazzling. Half closed, his eyes resembled stars fallen to the mortal world; fully open, they shone like someone ascending through the clouds to an immortal terrace.
He was so extraordinary, so radiant.
Shen Yangge lifted his tail, then slowly lowered it, flicking up the water beneath him once more. Droplets wreathed in golden halos hovered beside everyone, lingering in the air without falling.
"I-it really is the river god..."
"B-boss, did you see that? The droplets are glowing, and they're floating beside us instead of falling!"
Faced with such a wondrous, dreamlike sight, everyone stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed, barely stopping themselves from shouting.
"You..."
Utterly dazzled, he could no longer refuse to believe it. This strange-looking person might really be the river god.
Having proved his "innocence," Shen Yangge drew his fish tail back into the water. The little koi that had been knocked unconscious in his hair blew a string of bubbles, apparently recovered, then foolishly wriggled out of his hair again.
Shen Yangge fell silent. "..."
Sure enough, a fish's memory lasted only seven seconds. It had taken such a beating, yet forgotten all about it a moment later.
Having fooled them all, Shen Yangge immediately began putting subversive ideas into their heads, warning them both openly and through hints just how deranged the master of their estate was in pursuing his goals.
He claimed that the man had dragged him from the depths of the river, thrown him into the pond, and even fed him a drug that rendered him temporarily unconscious. He had only awakened tonight because Heaven always left a way out.