It rained heavily throughout the night.

Not once did Mother appear.

After dawn, Ci'an ran to her mother's bedroom and knocked relentlessly, pounding on the door with her knuckles.

The door opened.

The female ghost stood there.

Her long black hair hung loosely around her body. Her naked figure was made almost luminous against the stark black of her hair, while bluish-purple bite marks and cigarette-burn scars marred her skin, as frightening as ever.

The female ghost seemed completely oblivious to the pain. Still half-asleep, she leaned against the doorframe, irritation evident at having been awakened.

"Little Ci’an, go away. Your mother doesn't have time to help you reincarnate right now."

Through the narrow opening, Ci'an could see the room that had become the female ghost's lair. Her mother's body was hidden beneath the bedding, while ropes and chains lay scattered across the disordered floor.

Ci'an called out,

"Mom."

There was no response.

A possessive smile spread across the female ghost's face. Her eyes were filled with a predatory sense of ownership as she slowly mouthed several words:

She's mine now.

The bedroom door closed.

With that lofty gesture, the female ghost announced that ownership had changed hands.

The one who had been swallowed by that lightless lair was Ci'an's mother.

Ci'an was filled with confusion.

She couldn't understand why it was her mother who had been dragged into the lair.

She had thought she had made a bargain with the female ghost.

Why, then, had her mother been taken away?

Unless...

The female ghost had only ever been targeting her mother.

She stood outside the door.

A gust of wind suddenly swept through her, driving away the fog that had clouded her mind for years. Countless sounds flooded into her ears, and the world suddenly became crowded, dizzying, and overwhelming.

Everything before her had never seemed so real—and so nauseating.

No.

She had experienced all of this long ago, in that dream.

A blood-soaked umbilical cord connected mother and placenta.

As long as their bloodline remained unbroken, they would never be separated.

Ci'an pressed her palm against the bedroom door and silently swore:

I will save you.

I swear.

I'm the only one who can save you now, Mom.

─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───

Kai Xin fell ill.

Mother was being devoured.

Once again, the world became a world belonging only to Ci'an.

Lonely, noisy, and cold.

She locked herself in her room and stood motionless before the enormous window.

The flower garden was losing its vitality beneath the assault of the wind and rain. One flower after another was brutally cut down.

Ci'an's hands and feet were freezing.

She stood there from day until night, not knowing what she was waiting for.

Then she saw the sunflower seedlings she and Kai Xin had planted with their own hands being snapped apart, their bodies covered in mud.

She opened the door.

A woman stood silently outside, just as she had on countless nights before.

"Miss Ci'an, did you need something?"

She had worked in this household for most of her life. She treated everyone she encountered with impeccable courtesy, yet had never grown close to anyone.

On this night of thunder and lightning, she had come as she always did.

But the person Ci'an needed was already gone.

Ci'an no longer needed help.

"Don't follow me, Auntie Yu."

The wind and rain continued outside.

The cold was like a beast, rampaging through the human body.

Ci'an crouched down and lifted the sunflower seedlings from the ground.

Her fingers supported their stems and leaves. They felt wet and sticky, like snakes or vines—cold, clinging, and twisting around her fingers.

They were still too young.

They could survive only with outside support.

Ci'an had no intention of pulling them out by the roots.

She sincerely hoped they could grow up without worry.

Or simply die here.

Water gradually pooled around her feet.

Her hair became soaked, dripping with rain. Her vision blurred.

She blinked, and two streams of tears fell like broken strings.

Soon, she realized that it wasn't only her vision that was becoming blurred.

Ci'an suddenly felt a violent palpitation.

Her heart trembled fiercely, producing a dizzying roar that made her consciousness grow hazy.

Just before she lost consciousness completely, a pair of large hands lifted her up and placed her into Auntie Yu's warm embrace.

She turned her head.

In the black-and-white world, a strange figure was walking away.

Eventually, the figure stopped before the two seedlings, opened an umbrella, and sheltered them from the wind and rain.

─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───

One more patient.

Ci'an had developed a fever.

Her dreams were bizarre and dazzling.

She had never dreamed in such vivid colors before.

When she woke, her father was sitting beside her bed, resting his forehead against one hand with his eyes closed.

Ci'an silently watched him, her gaze calm and indifferent.

Her father's long eyelashes trembled slightly.

He woke as though from a nightmare.

In the dim room, with the curtains drawn, something seemed ready to burst from his eyes—only to be concealed behind his glasses.

His gaze met Ci'an's.

His eyes curved into a smile like a crescent moon after the rain.

"You're awake. Does your head still hurt? Do you want something to eat?"

Ci'an asked,

"Where's Mom?"

Her father's gaze unconsciously shifted slightly.

"She's resting."

Liar.

Nothing but lies, hiding ulterior motives.

Father and daughter really were two of a kind, too similar.

Ci'an closed her eyes, feeling exhausted and weary.

Two days later, the sky cleared.

Father and Mother appeared together at the breakfast table.

The female ghost arrived late.

She never ate in the morning, but this time was an exception.

She wore a nightgown, its neckline carelessly covered. Much of her chest was exposed, while the smooth, luxurious satin revealed every curve of her body.

She didn't care in the slightest.

Only when her gaze deliberately or inadvertently swept toward Mother did a faint, mocking wildness appear in her eyes.

The new maid stared at her in a daze, taking a moment before remembering to set another place at the table.

Ci'an watched the maid awkwardly lower her head, her ears reddening.

She understood why the female ghost was being so blatantly provocative.

She was declaring her ownership to Father.

Father merely glanced at her before continuing his inconsequential conversation with Mother.

He seemed unconcerned—or perhaps he simply hadn't noticed that the nightgown had once hung in Mother's wardrobe.

Mother's attention remained focused entirely on Father.

After being ignored for so long, the smile disappeared completely from the female ghost's face.

Without warning, she spoke:

"Smiling so happily. Do your legs not hurt anymore?"

Her cold gaze fixed on Mother's expression, searching for discomfort or embarrassment.

But she failed.

Father asked Mother,

"Are you feeling unwell? You look rather pale."

His words were like pouring oil onto a fire.

The female ghost gave a cold laugh and was about to mock her again when Mother turned and looked at her.

Just that one glance.

The female ghost fell silent.

Mother turned back and smiled faintly.

Her voice was gentle, yet cool and detached, as though she were discussing something completely insignificant.

"I missed a step while coming downstairs last night. It's nothing serious, so don't worry."

The bruising around her ankle had not yet faded completely.

The traces of violence were still faintly visible, like a chain tightly binding the two people who shared this secret.

When Kai Xin learned that Madam would be staying home to recover from her injury, her happiness was immediately obvious.

Then, realizing that her friend might misunderstand, she hurriedly put on a sorrowful expression.

"I'm really worried that Madam got hurt, too. When I heard the news, I was so frightened that my illness immediately disappeared."

"I heard you were sick too. Looks like you've recovered nicely. That's great! Now you'll have a chance to see Madam—ah, no, Ci'an, you heard me wrong. I mean, now I'll have a chance to take care of Madam. Ha... haha."

Although she frowned, the corners of her mouth stubbornly refused to stop rising.

Ci'an understood how she felt.

Just as she understood the female ghost's insatiable greed.

Once desire is satisfied, it only wants more.

One day, the female ghost, whose hunger could never be filled, would become a monster that could never be satisfied—and drag Mother into the grave.

This time, she had pushed Mother down the stairs and claimed her leg as her own.

What about next time?

Would next time be the taking of her life?