Chapter 43

Yue Yin felt miserable, but someone else was having an even harder time—Bai Xiulian, whose life had recently spiraled out of control.

Her once obedient daughter had suddenly become rebellious, her young son had started defying her, her accomplished stepdaughter had disappeared, and now, her beloved husband lay in a coma. After investigating, the Metaphysical Society found no trace of malevolent influence on Shen Hao Ping and, given their current workload, had declined further involvement with the Shen family’s case.

Standing by Shen Hao Ping’s unresponsive form in the hospital bed, Bai Xiulian began to accept that he might never wake up.

With this vulnerability, business predators quickly moved in on Shen’s company. Within just a month, much of the company’s business had been seized by competitors. Bai Xiulian, who had lived a sheltered life as a wealthy housewife, had no idea how to protect their interests. Helpless, she could only watch as the company’s assets were devoured.

Fortunately, Shen Hao Ping’s shares and savings remained, enough to sustain her and her children in luxury.

But just as she began to feel a shred of relief, lawyers from the Jiang family arrived at her door.

“Are you saying you’re here on behalf of Yue Yin to revoke my guardianship over her?” Bai Xiulian’s tone was incredulous. “This is absurd! Isn’t there any law left? Yue Yin is my daughter! How dare you try to strip me of custody?”

The Jiang family’s legal team, calm and professional, remained unfazed. “Please, Mrs. Bai, don’t be agitated. We are here at the request of Miss Yue Yin to proceed with the application.”

Bai Xiulian was stunned. “Yue Yin? How could she do this to me?”

She had always known that Yue Yin, who’d been missing for ten years, felt distant from her and had not invested much effort into their relationship. But she was still Yue Yin’s mother; Bai Xiulian never imagined her daughter would be so heartless.

Her voice grew tense, her chest heaving as her eyes reddened. “Is she trying to sever our mother-daughter relationship? I don’t believe it—it must be you people manipulating her! Let her come tell me herself.”

The lawyer remained composed. “Miss Yue Yin has given us full authorization to act on her behalf.”

Bai Xiulian’s frustration mounted as she snapped, “I won’t agree to it. Yue Yin is my child.”

The lawyer nodded courteously. “Certainly, Mrs. Bai.”

Whether Bai Xiulian agreed or not was irrelevant; the matter would be settled by law. Custody battles with birth parents are rarely straightforward, especially when property claims are involved, but the legal team was well-prepared.

The lawyer’s assistant then placed several documents on the table. “In addition, we intend to file a lawsuit regarding the misappropriation of Yue Yin’s inheritance, left by her biological father.”

Bai Xiulian’s face turned pale, jolted from her sadness and anger over her daughter’s actions.

Suddenly, she recalled the day Shen Hao Ping had fallen ill. That day, Yue Yin had also brought up the inheritance from Yue Shaoqiang…

However, young as she was, Yue Yin had no chance against Hao Ping, who had spent years in the business world. With just a few words, he had almost driven her out of the Shen family.

After Shen’s accident, Bai Xiulian had been preoccupied with seeking help, and Yue Yin hadn’t pressed further about the money, leading her to assume Hao Ping’s words had intimidated her.

But now, without a word, Yue Yin had hired a legal team, using Hao Ping’s absence to demand what was rightfully hers.

This time, Yue Yin was clearly serious.

The Jiang family’s lawyer produced more documents and said sternly, “According to the division of property left by Mr. Yue Shaoqiang, the West City villa in which you once lived belongs to Miss Yue Yin after his passing. As her guardian, it was your responsibility to protect her property.”

“However, our investigation shows that the villa in West City was transferred five years ago to Miss Shen Baozhu, Mr. Shen Hao Ping’s eldest daughter, without our client’s knowledge.”

Hearing this, Bai Xiulian was no longer focused on her daughter’s betrayal. Fear and panic now filled her heart.

She instinctively looked around, hoping to find her once-reliable husband who had always shielded her. But this time, Shen Hao Ping wasn’t there—she was on her own.

With tears welling in her eyes, she stammered, “You’re investigating me? What right do you have?”

The lawyer responded with professional detachment, “We are fully authorized by our client.”

“We have also filed a report with law enforcement regarding Miss Yue Yin’s ten-year disappearance as a potential case of child abandonment, which could implicate both you and Mr. Shen Hao Ping.”

“Let Yue Yin come herself!” Bai Xiulian was still in disbelief, unable to accept the truth.

She quickly dialed Yue Yin’s number, only to discover she had been blocked.

The Jiang family’s legal team ignored her breakdown, calmly stating, “We have prepared a list of assets Miss Yue Yin is legally entitled to. This includes a parcel of land developed by the Shen Group, which, according to our records, was originally gifted to her as a birthday present by Mr. Yue Shaoqiang when she was six.”

At this, Bai Xiulian nearly jumped out of her seat.

Taking a deep breath and pressing her hand to her head, she muttered, “I don’t understand what you’re saying. I have to go home and sort this out.”

She desperately wanted to find Yue Yin and clarify everything!

The lawyer did not stop her but instead rose to allow her passage, stating calmly, “We have also contacted the lawyer who executed Mr. Yue Shaoqiang’s will. Both you and Mr. Shen Hao Ping are in clear violation of Yue Yin’s rights under the law.”

“So, whether you leave now or not, the summons will still reach you tomorrow.”

Hesitating, Bai Xiulian looked back at the lawyer, her eyes brimming with tears. “This is a family matter between me and Yue Yin. I don’t understand why you have to interfere.”

The lawyer gave a faint smile and replied, “Mrs. Bai, perhaps it’s time to accept reality. You did enjoy that money for many years, didn’t you? If I were you, I’d move quickly to gather funds and settle privately with Miss Yue Yin.”

This lawsuit would be a hard battle, but Miss Yue Yin had the powerful Jiang family supporting her. If Bai Xiulian was smart, she would immediately gather funds to cover the shortfall and avoid jail time.

Otherwise, she might not just lose her wealth—she could even lose her life.

Even after the Jiang family lawyers left and a professional finance team arrived to audit Shen Hao Ping’s potentially illegal assets, Bai Xiulian remained in shock.

Frantically calling her company’s lawyers and assistants, she received responses similar to those from the Jiang family’s lawyers.

It seemed that everything she had built over the years was on the verge of crumbling.

Meanwhile, Yue Yin was being reprimanded by her teacher for not memorizing her textbook passage and was assigned to copy it five times.

Upon hearing this punishment, Yue Yin’s expression remained calm, as though it wasn’t directed at her. However, nearby, Jiang Suliu raised an eyebrow.

The teacher continued, “All you do is read novels. Yue Yin, go home tonight and memorize this thoroughly. I’ll quiz you myself tomorrow. You can’t leave school until you finish!”

Yue Yin had planned to play games that evening, and this news disappointed her greatly.

Memorizing wasn’t difficult for her; she could remember passages after a single glance. The problem was that she didn’t enjoy reading! With countless languages across countless species in the universe, even as an ancient god, her time was better spent playing games than studying every language of every race that could disappear any day.

And besides, gods aren’t omnipotent. If she were, she could make a machine that would solve test papers for her or even play games in her stead.

As her teacher walked away, Yue Yin felt a pang of regret, briefly wondering what to eat tonight: grilled cold noodles, spiced potato wedges, or maybe a yogurt with sticky rice cake?

The more she thought about food, the hungrier she felt, so she took out her phone to watch some food videos.

Out of the 12 hours she had each day, she spent half in school, doing homework, and waking up at seven for her early morning classes. This limited her time for destroying planets or wreaking havoc on galaxies… But the other 12 hours made life as a human quite enjoyable.

Being human meant she could indulge in good food, read comics, and play the latest video games, all of which were far more fun than haunting the void or listening to the pleas of her followers.

Meanwhile, as the clock ticked closer to the end of the school day, a heightened sense of tension spread among the ability users stationed inside and outside the school, all keeping a close eye on Yue Yin.

Even before being assigned to monitor her, their superiors had hinted that she might be an S-ranked ability user. This assumption was all but confirmed when they saw numerous other S-rank operatives from different organizations stationed outside.

The realization thrilled everyone.

An S-ranked ability user!

Only eight S-ranked users existed worldwide, with just three in the country. The birth of a new one could completely shift the nation’s power dynamics!

They were especially curious to learn which god Yue Yin might worship.

A new S-ranked ability user would elevate the standing of their patron god’s organization. And if Yue Yin’s god wasn’t one of the four mainstream gods, she might even herald the rise of a fifth major god.

The dismissal bell rang.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Yue Yin grabbed her backpack and darted toward the school gates.

She was running so fast, her eyes bright with excitement as she sped toward the exit.

Stunned, several of the ability users murmured, “Why is she in such a hurry? Is something chasing her?”

“Could it be that a powerful evil entity or ability user urgently needs her intervention?”

In the midst of their conspiracy theories, a teenage boy sighed. “Aren’t you overthinking this? She’s just eager to leave school, like any student would be.”

The crowd sneered at his naivety. “Naïve! Do you know what you’re talking about? We’re dealing with an S-ranked ability user!”

“Do you really think an S-rank’s actions can be explained with a regular student’s mindset?”

“I heard she wiped out an entire Life Association base in City A last night. Could she be on another mission today?”

Hearing this, the boy reconsidered his words. Listening to discussions about last night’s terrifying battle between the ability users and the evil spirits, he couldn’t help but gasp, “Did she really do all that? That’s terrifying!”

“Apparently, the evil entities and false-god cults near City A are lying low lately, likely afraid she’ll come for them, too.”

Someone else grew anxious, asking, “Could she have spotted us? Maybe she’s speeding up to shake us off?”

The theories flew, and some even took out their phones to report in.

Meanwhile, Yue Yin charged through the school gates, made a sharp turn, and headed straight for the food street, stopping in front of a stall selling spiced potato wedges.

Everyone watching: “…”

“No way…”

“What is she doing?”

“It’s an S-rank, so her actions must have a reason! We can’t be sure yet. Let’s keep watching.”

As the crowd hesitated, still observing, Yue Yin leisurely strolled from stall to stall, starting with a bowl of spiced potato wedges and ending with a plate of grilled cold noodles.

She took her time savoring her last bite of ice cream, picked up the latest issue of a girls’ manga, and left the food street with a satisfied smile.

Sigh, being human is so exhausting.

The fools nearby kept muttering—”It can’t be” this, “Is this what an S-rank does?” that… She felt exhausted just listening to it.

After her meal, Yue Yin returned home. As soon as she stepped through the door, she saw Bai Xiulian waiting on the sofa.

The moment Bai Xiulian saw her, she sprang to her feet, her voice trembling with emotion. “Yue Yin, have you lost your mind?”

“I’m your mother, and yet you called in outsiders to discuss severing our relationship?”