Chapter 13

As Shen Xiaodi listened, he suddenly felt an overwhelming sadness.

Wiping away tears, he spoke up, “Mom, if you bought fewer shoes, my sister could work a year less.”

Thinking of it that way, his sister seemed quite pitiful.

But, having his homework mysteriously torn up, he felt even more miserable…

Upon hearing Yue Yin’s straightforward words, Bai Xiulian’s face turned red with embarrassment, and she stammered, “It’s not the same.”

As the lady of the Shen family, she had to maintain a certain standard of appearance when going out, otherwise, she would be ridiculed.

Looking at her daughter, Bai Xiulian quickly put on a hurt expression, “And how could you say that about your own mother?”

Yue Yin glanced at her, wondering if this woman was really her biological mother.

How could she not act like it at all?

When her daughter was kidnapped, she hadn’t shown any concern, and upon returning home, she was filled with disdain. Despite her daughter’s change, she hadn’t even noticed.

Instead, Bai Xiulian endlessly complained about how her daughter’s part-time job brought her nothing but trouble, completely unaware that her negligence had led to her daughter’s death in that kidnapping incident.

Was this what humans considered motherhood?

Utterly ridiculous.

At this thought, Yue Yin narrowed her eyes and suddenly asked, “Mom, you still have the inheritance Dad left for me, right?”

Bai Xiulian’s face changed, and she replied evasively, “What inheritance?”

Yue Yin looked directly at her, “When Dad passed away, the company’s lawyer showed us the will, and I know he left assets for both of us.”

She remembered that even though she was young back then, she had retained some memories.

Her father had built his wealth from scratch and had been a figure on the rich list, with a net worth in the billions. When he passed away unexpectedly, though most company shares were lost, their fixed assets remained substantial.

Even without mentioning anything else, the mansion where the three of them had lived was worth over a hundred million.

As the only daughter of Yue Shaoqiang, Yue Yin’s portion of the inheritance had been held by her guardian, her mother.

After all these years of hardship, she’d often been called a burden at the Shen household. Surely, Bai Xiulian wouldn’t have kept those funds from her for so long, right?

After a brief pause, Bai Xiulian responded vaguely, “I’m your mother; I wouldn’t deny you what’s yours. But why would a child like you need so much money?”

Yue Yin smiled, “Well, who knows? Considering you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed, what if you’re scammed and lose all of Dad’s money?”

After a brief, shocked silence, Bai Xiulian’s eyes welled with tears. “How could you talk to me like that, Yue Yin? I’m so disappointed in you!”

With reddened eyes, she continued, “Your Uncle Shen was right. You’ve been spoiled by outsiders!”

She stood up angrily, stormed out of the room, and slammed the door behind her.

Yue Yin stared in disbelief. “…Wait, shouldn’t you at least transfer the money to me first?”

She had planned on using that money to buy manga!

Just as she was about to chase after her mother, Shen Xiaodi cried out, “What are you standing around for, Yue Yin? Help me fix my homework!”

Yue Yin: …

What a mess this all is!

She looked at the tearful Shen Xiaodi holding his torn homework and sighed deeply.

In the end, she was partly to blame, after all, she had been the one to tear up his homework. Reluctantly, she crouched down to help him tape it back together.

As the two of them carefully pieced the pages back, Shen Xiaodi suddenly apologized, “I’m sorry, Yue Yin.”

With his head down, he said softly, “I didn’t want you to fight with Mom.” He liked Yue Yin and loved his mother. He couldn’t understand why they would use such harsh words against each other when they were supposed to be family.

He didn’t want his mother to scold Yue Yin, nor did he want to see Yue Yin make their mother cry.

After apologizing, he hugged his homework and stayed silent, looking down.

He feared that Yue Yin would be angry and yell at him or perhaps refuse to play games with him again.

But she didn’t.

Yue Yin wasn’t even surprised. It was as if she had anticipated his thoughts.

She squatted beside him, carefully spreading glue on the torn pages, trying to repair the damaged workbook.

“I know,” she said indifferently.

Shen Xiaodi’s acting was too poor; he had turned pale when she was arguing with Bai Xiulian, and when he stopped her from going after their mother, his hands had been shaking.

Shen Xiaodi was stunned that she’d guessed. He blinked, then said dejectedly, “You can scold me, Yue Yin.”

Big tears rolled down his cheeks, and he didn’t dare to lift his head.

He had just realized that his own shoes were probably very expensive too. His mother had taken him shopping once, buying him flashy light-up sneakers, saying he was her handsome little prince. But Yue Yin had received nothing.

Focused on mending the workbook, Yue Yin replied casually, “Why should I scold you? You did nothing wrong.”

Children weren’t responsible for right or wrong. They naively tried to mend family bonds in their own innocent ways.

Shen Xiaodi was a good kid.

Yue Yin looked at him, then gently patted his head.

Her touch was warm, like the moonlight, inviting a sense of peace.

“But you know, debts always have to be paid back.”

She had shown kindness to Shen Xiaodi this time, but all debts would need to be settled.

Shen Xiaodi stared at her in confusion. “Do they all need to be paid?”

“Yes,” she replied.

She pointed to the sky. “Look, that’s the Thousand-Faced Moon, bearing the pain of the departed.”

She added, “The one you call Yue Yin is in pain. I came because I can feel it.”

“Someone has to pay the price for that, and someone must suffer as she has.”

Forgiveness? Impossible.

Letting go? Not a chance—after all, she was a dark deity.

Shen Xiaodi couldn’t understand. “Why do you say Yue Yin is in pain? Aren’t you Yue Yin?”

She patted his head and said gently, “Go and play.”

To tell a six-year-old that his beloved sister was no more would be too cruel.

Though she was a stern and ruthless goddess, adept at deception and manipulation, she could show some kindness to a cherished follower.

…

The thrill of arguing had been satisfying, but later, Yue Yin realized that her allowance had been cut off.

Bai Xiulian even declared that she would no longer give Yue Yin any money until she admitted her wrongdoings.

Yue Yin scoffed. What wrongs? Her only fault was not setting the Earth ablaze and burning those idiotic humans and their homework to ashes!

Faced with Bai Xiulian’s tearful threats, Yue Yin was completely unmoved. She sneered and loudly recited a line from the novel she had stayed up reading the night before: “If this place won’t have me, there are plenty of others that will!”

No allowance? Fine, she could earn her own money!

The next day, Yue Yin approached the richest kid in class and said, “Jiang Suliu, send me a hundred so I can buy a KFC family bucket!”

Jiang Suliu choked: …And this is supposed to be the goddess of destruction?

He had never felt so reassured about the safety of Earth.

Taking a deep breath, he ignored the absurdity of his goddess’s potential foolishness and brought up a more serious matter.

Pulling out some documents, he said, “You asked me before about any organizations related to eyes. There’s not much information domestically…”

He had assigned someone to gather intel and identified several groups known for worshipping eye symbols.

Jiang Suliu said, “I believe the Life Association might be involved in your case.”

He explained, “According to the files, they worship an ancient god whose form is that of a giant eye, granting longevity to its followers.”

Yue Yin looked at the documents and photos Jiang Suliu had provided, listening as he continued, “The Life Association believes in human sacrifice to their deity to achieve extended life. They exploit its power to maintain their own.”

“Due to their use of live sacrifices, they’re regarded as inhumane and are often labeled a pseudo-deity organization.”

Yue Yin grew increasingly familiar with what he was describing until she suddenly realized—

Wasn’t this Saiguya?

Known as the Dark One and the Eye of Destruction, Saiguya granted its followers life and longevity. It despised all things and reveled in their despair…

Its drifting star was practically a neighbor to Yue Yin’s residence.

Back then, Saiguya and Dagon had fought a fierce battle over sacrificial offerings, and she had even pulled up a chair to watch. She hadn’t expected that when she next woke up, she would be in this body.

So she was a victim of Saiguya’s followers!

Furious, Yue Yin slammed her fist on the table, letting out a wrathful cry. She was ready to fight them at once.

But the next moment, she reconsidered.

She heard Jiang Suliu say, “The deity they worship is called Doroket…”

Yue Yin’s expression immediately went blank. She slowly withdrew her clenched fists and sat back down.

In sacrificial rituals, the name of the deity is crucial. Calling out the deity’s name is a vital part of the offering process. Any mistake in the name could lead to catastrophic failure—whether it invites an unknown false god or angers the true deity, bringing severe punishment upon the followers.

Thus, the deity worshipped by the Life Society could not possibly be Saigeya.

It wasn’t Saigeya, yet it had similar powers, and even its appearance was reminiscent…

Could it be an imitation of Salas?

This world is filled with malevolent entities and monsters who, by exploiting the power of ancient gods, masquerade as divine beings, gathering worshippers and blood sacrifices to sustain themselves as false gods.

Yue Yin’s peers detested such beings and referred to them as thieves.

“The Life Society is obsessed with kidnapping people for sacrificial offerings, using them to gain life force. The ones who abducted you previously were from this organization.”

Yue Yin suddenly recalled a recent news bulletin. The individuals involved in her previous abduction had managed to escape police custody and were still at large. Shen Xiaodi had been so anxious, repeatedly urging her not to go out alone.

It seemed that, after all this time, these thieves still hadn’t given up and were once again targeting her.