Ruan Xing was so close that he could see every fine wrinkle on the middle-aged woman’s face. Her teeth were yellowed, and her tongue was coated thickly. As she questioned him loudly, saliva sprayed from her mouth, and few droplets even landed on Ruan Xing’s face.

His pupils trembled.

Thankfully, this wasn’t his real body, so that spit hadn’t actually landed on his face—otherwise, he wasn’t sure if he would have just shot this thing into a sieve right then and there.

"You two went out to play, and now you’re the only one back. Tell me, where is your little brother?"

Ruan Xing couldn't speak or move. He could only listen as the original owner of this body weakly responded, "Mom, little brother said he was coming home first and told me not to follow him. I had no choice but to come back after him..."

"Bullshit!" the middle-aged woman cursed. "Your little brother is so young, and you just let him go off alone? What were you thinking?! I’m going out to look for him right now. If anything happens to him, you just wait and see!"

She slammed the door hard, forming a gust of wind that sent strands of hair flying around the body’s face.

The original owner of the body just stood there at the door, lost and helpless.

Ruan Xing lowered his gaze. Hmm, a little girl—around seven or eight years old, with slender legs peeking out from under a pleated skirt. Also small in stature.

He couldn’t break free from this body or move independently. All he could do was stand at the door alongside her, quietly observing the surroundings.

After a quick look, he realized something surprising—he had been here before.

Ruan Xing clearly remembered that if he walked down this hallway to the very last room, he would see a whole wall filled with shoes. Back then, he had been in that very room, urging the mercenary, Lao San, to push his companion’s body out.

He had already been here when he first arrived in this world.

About two hours later, just as Ruan Xing felt that this body had reached its physical limit, an impatient voice rang out.

"Don’t touch me! You’re so annoying!"

"Mom is just worried about you!" The middle-aged woman’s voice came from behind, her tone now ingratiating.

"I was just out with my classmates."

A boy forcefully pulled the door open, walking straight past the girl at the entrance without even acknowledging her. He changed his shoes and walked straight into the living room.

Ruan Xing noticed the longevity locket hanging around the boy’s neck.

"Why didn’t you tell Mom beforehand? I was so worried!"

"I’ve told you so many times already—just buy me a phone! You refused to get me one, and now you're asking why I didn’t call? You even went to my classmate’s house looking for me. What is wrong with you?" The boy’s tone was rude and blunt.

"Okay, okay, Mom will talk to Dad today to buy you a phone."

"Really?" The boy’s face lit up with surprise. "Thanks, Mom!"

"Mom..." The weak voice of this body sounded, barely louder than a mosquito. "I want—" to eat.

"What are you thinking? Your brother was out playing with his classmates—it’s dangerous for him! You should come straight home after school. Playing? What nonsense!"

The girl silently watched the affectionate mother and son in the living room. She opened her mouth slightly but said nothing in the end.

Ruan Xing was extremely dissatisfied. He had no control over this body, yet he felt all its exhaustion and hunger as if they were his own.

Later that evening, the middle-aged man returned home.

Seeing his daughter standing at the door, he frowned. "What are you doing standing there? If a guest saw this, they’d think we were mistreating you. Go back to your room."

Then, turning to the boy, he laughed heartily. "Look what I bought you!"

He pulled out a brand-new package, revealing the latest model of a certain fruit-branded smartphone.

The girl didn’t listen to the commotion in the living room. She took slow, stiff steps, finally retreating into her own room.

"Meow~" A soft cat’s cry rang out.

A black-and-white cat rubbed against the girl’s legs as if trying to comfort her.

"Mimi." She placed the cat on her lap and gently stroked it.

Ruan Xing felt something wet slide down her cheek and drip onto the cat’s fur.

His vision blurred for a moment. When it cleared, the girl had grown a little older.

The middle-aged woman’s face had more wrinkles, and her expression was not as stern as before.

"Your father just invested in an amusement park recently. How could he spend money at a time like this? We already sent you to a private school—don’t push your luck."

The girl hurriedly said, "I had no choice, Mom. I need—" to protect myself.

"Your brother needs money to secure his future. Do you even know what kind of people attend that school? If he builds good connections there, his life will be set! But you? The friends you hang out with are nothing but troublemakers. You act like a delinquent. This is the last time I’m giving you money. If you keep this up, there won’t be any allowance for you in the future."

The girl wrapped her arms around herself, using her sleeves to hide the bruises and wounds on her body.

The black-and-white cat licked her hair, trying to comfort her.

"Why can’t you just behave yourself?!"

The scene shifted again, and this time, the man’s voice rang out, filled with blame.

"But I’m the victim here, Dad! They bullied me—why aren’t you standing up for me?!" The girl’s tears blurred her vision.

Her father’s expression darkened. "You’re embarrassing me! What do you want me to do? Go to the school and tell the teachers you’re being bullied, so they can all laugh at me? Do you know who I am now, Zhenzhen? I’m a businessman—I have an image to maintain!"

The girl looked at him in disbelief. "So you’re just going to pretend nothing happened?"

The man responded coldly, "Those are the connections I want to build. How could I possibly go and cause trouble for them? Just endure it. I’m doing this for your sake too.

Besides, as long as our family stays well off, you can marry into a good household and live happily ever after. Why make a fuss?"

"I don’t want that! I refuse!"

For the first time, the girl voiced her rejection.

But it was immediately followed by a slap across her face, which sent her sprawling onto the floor.

Ruan Xing felt the same burning pain on his own cheek.

"You really need to reflect on yourself. After all, we raised you all these years—not so you could act willfully. When the time comes, you won’t have a choice."

The man turned and walked away, leaving behind a cold and distant silhouette.

"Sister... I didn’t mean to..."

The boy rode his motorcycle, crushing the terrified cat that had darted out from the garden. The laughter of the boys beside him was sharp and piercing.

"Yo! So this is your sister? This cat is so ugly. Perfect excuse to ask your parents for a new one."

The girl held the lifeless cat in her arms, her expression unreadable.

Why does no one ever care about her feelings? Does she not deserve love?

If she had the chance, she wished to have the most love in the world—to be loved by everyone, to be cherished more than their own lives.

A voice whispered in her ear:

"I can grant your wish… for just a small price."

A blurry shadow appeared beside her.

The girl felt delighted. Because now, she was different. She believed this would surely bring her more love.

But when she returned home, she wasn’t greeted by warm, loving parents. Instead, she saw a middle-aged couple frozen in terror.

"What have you done?! You turned yourself into this monstrous thing!" she heard her mother scream.

The middle-aged man’s voice trembled. "Did you… get polluted? The TV reported those pollution diseases—do you have it?!"

The girl's face was hidden in the shadows, but the white scars spreading from the side of her neck to her cheek were clearly visible. She said nothing as if confirming their fears.

"You’re going to ruin this family!" the man shouted. "Your brother's career is just starting! Why would you do this now?!"

"Because I also wanted to—" be excellent!

"Why don’t you just die?! You're going to bring disaster upon us!" The woman broke down, grabbing her hair while sobbing hysterically.

The girl felt no pain. Her heart was already dead inside.

The tugging on her scalp reminded her of the time at school when they had dragged her into the bathroom and forced her to lick the toilet water.

Certainly not the best memory.

She lightly waved her hand, and then the woman’s wrinkled, graying head flew into the air like a balloon before crashing heavily onto the ground.

Warm red splattered across the girl’s face, and a strange, inexplicable fragrance lingered at the tip of her nose.

"Is this the smell of love?"

The girl licked the corner of her lips. "Mom, you smell so good."

The middle-aged man’s eyes bulged in horror. "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The girl tilted her head slightly. "Since Mom and Dad don’t love me, let me love you instead!"

And so, she expressed her love for her parents with her actions.

But where was her brother?

"Have you seen my brother?"

—

Ruan Xing was awakened by a sharp pain in his chest.

Fu Gui was clawing his mascot costume while frantically pecking at his chest. "Wake up! Damn it! WAKE UP! We're gonna die! Waaaahhh!"

His mascot headpiece had rolled to the side, and he was tightly wrapped inside a giant cocoon, entangled in white mycelium threads that bound him securely.

Outside, the buzzing sound never ceased.

"Oh? You woke up so quickly?" A pleasant female voice rang out.

The mycelium trembled. [Pain… pain…]

Ruan Xing wasn’t injured, but he could see that the once-resilient mycelium, impervious even to ant saliva, was now corroded in large patches.

Through the gaps, he could glimpse the outside. If he had woken up any later, the cocoon would have been completely breached.

Ruan Xing narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think you have the right to look at me that way? You’re just a lowly human—what gives you the right to gaze directly at a queen?!" The silver-haired girl’s initially cheerful voice became stern.

Fu Gui: "What kind of queen are you?! You might be suffering from a bad case of second-year syndrome! Pfft!"

The girl’s eyebrows twitched. "Watch your mouth, crow. If we weren’t of the same kind, I would have snapped your head off by now."

Fu Gui swallowed hard but still muttered, "Psycho woman."

"You’re an interesting human," the girl continued. "Just an ordinary person, yet you managed to break free from my illusion so quickly."

Ruan Xing remained expressionless, but a faint mist was already coiling around his fingertips.

"It’s been so long since someone could understand what I was saying," the girl sighed. "The ants I created are loyal but utterly brainless. They just scurry after me all day, buzzing ‘Your Majesty, Your Majesty’—so annoying."

She looked troubled, but her smugness was unmistakable.

The ants loved her. It came from their souls, from their instincts. They regarded her as their very life and were willing to die for her without hesitation.

"Is this what you wanted?"

"What are you talking about?" the girl giggled. "Though it's nice, it's not my ultimate goal."

"What I truly wanted was… a happy family. Now, I’d say I’ve partially achieved that."

The buzzing grew louder.

Ruan Xing looked up. The hole in the girl’s head was deep and dark, with several dim shadows floating within.

Those must have been the things that attacked the mycelium earlier.

"Mom and Dad are here to protect me!" The girl giggled, and then her face turned ice-cold. "You humans… you killed so many of my children. Now it’s time for you to join them."

From the hole above, two massive creatures descended. Ruan Xing recognized their graying hair and aged faces.

They were the girl’s parents.

Their bodies had sprouted wings, their limbs had turned into insect legs, and the exposed skin was covered in a hard exoskeleton.

As the familiar buzzing sound filled the air, Ruan Xing suddenly had a strange feeling—

As if he returned to the first day he arrived in this world.

"I don’t know why, but looking at you always makes me think of the Investigation Corps… Oh, I forgot to mention—my brother was in the Investigation Corps too."

Her grin stretched wider. "I’ve always hated the stench of filthy dogs."