The tea in my cup had already lost its warmth.

  "I've said everything," Cang Tongkai said, his brow tightly furrowed. "That day, I woke up at an abandoned construction site outside the vil area, covered in blood, but none of it was mine. TuTu was lying beside me. She had a deep wound on her fins, and no matter what medicine I used or how many doctors I sought, her wound couldn't heal. And she grew smaller and smaller, no longer speaking, like a completely ordinary fish, not even recognizing me anymore. This has been going on for a month. And...," he paused, his voice becoming heavier, "Xuan has been missing for a month. I′ve sent thousands of people to search, but no one can find any trace of him."

  "Have you had that feeling where you get drowsy right before midnight?" I asked, posing a strange question.

  "No," Cang Tongkai replied, somewhat dissatisfied with my off-topic question. "Since that morning, I've been staying by TuTu's side every night."

  "After that, no more intruders have come to disturb you, right?" I pced my cup down confidently, certain of my words.

  "How do you know that?" He looked at me, confused by my confident demeanor.

  "Do you really want to save TuTu?" I ignored his question, as I always do. I only ask questions, never giving others the chance to ask me anything.

  "Of course!" Cang Tongkai's voice rose by an octave. "Otherwise, why would I come here and waste so much time talking to you?"

  "Stretch out your cws." I sat up straight, suddenly becoming very serious.

  Cang Tongkai stared at me in a daze, not moving.

  "I said, Stretch out your hand!" I shot him an irritated gre.

  He hesitated for a moment before stretching his right hand out in front of me.

  I grabbed a marker and quickly scribbled a character onto his palm.

  Cang Tongkai pulled his hand back, looking at it with suspicion. "Let go?!"

  "Many things in this world, their mystery lies in the word 'let go." I said as I stood up and stretched zily. "Kid, what you need is growth. Only then will you understand the meaning of this word."

  "I don't understand what you're talking about! What I need is the purest water!" Cang Tongkai stood up angrily, as if he felt mocked.

  "Do you love TuTu?" I asked again, completely ignoring his frustration.

  "Of course!" he replied firmly.

  "How do you define love?" I pressed on.

  "Keep her by my side, protect her, and make sure she doesn't get hurt," he answered immediately.

  I smiled. "Is that all?"

  "What else could there be?" Cang Tongkai's voice was ced with anger.

  I sighed deeply and shook my head. "Cang Tongkai, you're just lonely. You're afraid of losing her. You think you're giving love, but in reality, that's just your own selfish desire."

  "You don't know anything! You're just talking nonsense!" Cang Tongkai retorted, his handsome face flushed with anger.

  "Actually, someone has already shown you the best example of what love really is," I said, preparing to end the conversation. As I turned to leave, I gave him a smile. "The purest water has always existed in your memory. Think carefully. Perhaps there was a year, by some seaside, when a simple child was so moved by a birthday gift that he cried. And that child, at that time, understood the true meaning of the word 'let go' better than the person he has become now."

  I took one st gnce at the white fish in the fish tank, blowing bubbles, thinking to myself that it should survive. Cang Tongkai shouldn't be such a clueless fool.

  "Yaokai, aren't you afraid I'll tear down your shop?!" Cang Tongkai shouted from behind me.

  "If you dare tear down my shop, I'll tear your cat bones apart," I replied, turning back with a charming smile. "So what if your family is the richest in the country? So what if you're the King of the Cat Yaokais? Your grandfather's grandfather's grandfather once helped me catch mice!"