"You cannot ask me to stay away from my own sister—"
"Sister?" Elder Zhi turned her fat waist to look behind the rest of the elders. She said to them, "Did you hear what he said? He called the vessel of the beast goddess his sister."
The elders chortled upon hearing her remark; they all looked at Ruan Zeqiu as if he were a fool, and that only made him grit his teeth in hatred. Clenching his fists on his lap, he exclaimed loudly, "My sister is not a vessel. She is a human being—"
"Silence. You do not have the right to defend yourself when you have clearly failed the vessel." Elder Zhi waved her hand dismissively. She didn't take the words spoken by Ruan Zeqiu seriously; in fact, she believed that the mer was overstepping the boundaries by questioning her. Elder Zhi then raised her head and glanced at the two mers. "Even if you are unwilling to accept the punishment, you have to admit that you have failed Ruan Chanchan."
