At the end of July, Hai City officially entered the peak of summer. The scorching heat wave rolled in relentlessly, and the air temperature seemed high enough to roast someone alive.
In a narrow alley not far away, five or six little beggars scrambled like hungry wolves over discarded food on the ground. They fought and scuffled, forming a chaotic tangle of limbs.
In contrast—
Leaning quietly against the wall beside them was a little girl just as ragged and dirty, yet she seemed much calmer and more well-behaved.
In truth, she had been stunned for quite a while.
Despite the fine sweat trickling down her forehead from the oppressive heat, she didn't bother to wipe it away.
Lu Li sat on the dusty ground, big eyes wide open. Her long, dark eyelashes drooped like delicate crow feathers as she stared dazedly at her small, grimy hand, her expression completely blank...
After a long pause, she hesitantly stretched out a finger from her left hand and cautiously poked at her right.
The skin under her touch was soft and plump, warm with the unmistakable temperature of a human body.
Warm… not cold and slippery like a fish…
Lu Li's pitch-black eyes suddenly lit up with a swish, as if she couldn't quite believe it. She quickly covered her small mouth with her hands in shock.
"My God! I—I—I really became Daddy's daughter again!"
"I reincarnated successfully!"
Finally, she wasn't a salted fish anymore!!
Lu Li's mother was the ruler of the Koi Tribe in the heavens, which made Lu Li the tribe's pampered little princess from birth.
She had always been impossibly lucky.
But she was also a complete salted fish—doing nothing all day long and spending most of her time sleeping on her father, the Wolf King's, back.
One day, she scoured the entire heavens searching for her father, only to be told by her mother that he had gone to another world on urgent business and wouldn't return for a few years.
But how could Lu Li, a devoted Daddy's girl, bear to wait that long?
Even worse, she heard rumors that her father was in great danger in that world! She immediately became restless and anxious.
So, without telling her mother, she searched through every forbidden spell in the heavens and tried every possible method of reincarnation—all to become her father, Lu Junhan's, daughter again.
But every time she reincarnated, she became a fish! A fish again and again!
She had cast almost twenty-five reincarnation spells, and not once had she become human!
Lu Li nearly cried from frustration.
It wasn't until later that she discovered the problem: her father didn't have a wife in this world. Naturally, he had no children, which meant she couldn't be born as his daughter.
On top of that, her father buried himself in work every day. He was cold and indifferent to women and children, completely devoid of human warmth or affection.
But Lu Li wasn't discouraged.
She waited patiently for several years, and finally—finally!—her chance came!
It was a shame, though. The moment she successfully reincarnated as her father's biological daughter, she wanted to see what her mother looked like in this world.
But she didn't have enough mana.
Not only could she not see her mother's face, but for the first two to three years after being born, she was no different from an ordinary baby—blank-minded and with the intelligence of white paper.
Only now, as her mana slowly recovered, did her memories begin returning bit by bit.
"It's so hard!"
"Being Daddy's daughter is so hard!"
Remembering the hardships and sadness of reincarnating, Lu Li angrily pounded her little fist on the ground.
—But now wasn't the time to dwell on all that.
The little girl pushed herself up from the ground with stubborn determination. Without wasting another second thinking about why she was here, she immediately turned and ran out of the alley on her two short legs.
She had to find her father!
She knew this world was actually the one inside a book.
She had read the entire story—and her father was the villain. The baddest, most infamous, and most tragically killed villain in the whole story!
Almost no one understood him, and danger constantly lurked around him.
So—
She had to hurry and protect her father!
No one was allowed to bully Daddy!
The little girl's resolve was fierce and her momentum unstoppable.
However, just as she stepped out of the dark, damp alley, the blazing sunlight struck her skin without mercy.
Lu Li flinched, shrinking back as if she had been scalded. Her unstoppable momentum instantly plummeted from 1.8 meters to 1.4 meters...
No way, no way! Running out in the sun like this was way too cruel for a fish!
Making sure no one was around, Lu Li's black and white eyes darted around, then—plop!—she turned into a red carp and flopped her way into the nearby river.
---
7:00 p.m. — Lu Family Villa
Neatly dressed maids and bodyguards stood in two lines at the front gate, waiting for the young master's arrival.
Vroooom—
Soon, a sleek, extended luxury business car drove through the grand black wrought-iron gates and stopped smoothly at the entrance.
The butler in a tuxedo rushed down the steps and respectfully opened the car door:
"Young Master Lu—"
The first thing that caught the eye was a pair of long, slender legs in tailored suit pants, followed by pale, refined fingers with well-defined joints.
Then—
A face that nearly everyone in Hai City recognized.
The man stepped out of the car unhurriedly, tall and straight, his expression calm. His cold, handsome features were sharp and flawless, his demeanor composed and intimidating.
His dark eyes held no warmth, only an oppressive pressure that radiated from him like an emperor commanding his court.
Just one glance made people instinctively lower their heads, afraid to look again.
Throughout the entire process, no one dared speak. Everyone held their breath and bowed slightly.
"The banquet venue—has it been arranged?" Lu Junhan asked coolly, slowly removing his white gloves and handing them to the waiting butler.
"Yes, sir," the butler replied respectfully. "Everything has been prepared according to your instructions. Only the new batch of red carp still needs to be added to the pond."
In Hai City, red carp were seen as auspicious creatures—symbols of wealth and fortune.
Almost every wealthy family kept a koi pond with colorful red koi swimming gracefully, bringing luck and visual delight.
Lu Junhan, however, didn't believe in superstitions or feng shui. He raised koi for one reason only:
To eat.
The last batch of fish had already been served, so a new shipment had just arrived.
Seeing that Lu Junhan didn't seem displeased with his performance, the butler let out a sigh of relief and quickly instructed the staff to release the new batch of red carp into the pond.
Soon, the pond shimmered with bright red koi, vibrant and festive against the backdrop of lotus flowers.
But just then—
A crisp little voice rang out from somewhere nearby:
"Daddy!"
It was loud, sweet, and clear—startlingly so. It pierced straight through the air and into everyone's ears.
The butler's composed expression twisted into shock. He looked around but saw no one.
Which bodyguard was foolish enough to bring a child here while on duty?
Everyone in Hai City knew that Young Master Lu hated children. He found them even more annoying than women.
And now—someone had brought one here? To speak directly to him?
Was this person tired of living?
"Whose child is this?! Get her out of here, now!"
The villa was huge. The butler looked around several times but still couldn't find the source of the voice. He gave up searching and turned to scold the bodyguards.
At the same time, he glanced nervously at Lu Junhan, who remained expressionless.
"Young Master Lu, this incident was due to my poor oversight. I accept full responsibility and am willing to be punished—"
But the man didn't even glance his way. He remained indifferent and walked forward, calm and cold, as if nothing had happened.