When Xiao Cheng arrived, the fight next door was in full swing. Broken glasses littered the floor, red and yellow drinks splashed everywhere. Some people tried to break it up, others panicked and called for help. Standing at the back of the crowd, Xiao Cheng still clung to a sliver of hope—maybe that guy got it wrong. Mei Yanlan? His wife? No way.

Then he stepped inside and saw her.

Mei Yanlan held a glass of red wine, leaning lazily against a table, watching the chaos as if it had nothing to do with her.

Tonight, she wasn’t wearing glasses. She had on a black dress. Her long black hair fell in loose waves down her back. When she lowered her eyes to drink, there was a quiet allure to her, the tear mole at the corner of her eye almost hypnotic.

She drained her glass, set it aside, and walked forward. Pushing past the people who tried—but failed—to intervene, she grabbed one man in each hand and hauled the two fighters apart.

“That’s enough. If you want to fight, take it outside,” she said, pressing her temple.

“Yanlan, they’re just flings, right? I’m the one you really love!” One of them immediately threw himself into her arms, clinging to her waist. He was taller and stronger than her, yet acted like a clingy girlfriend, leaving the onlookers with complicated expressions.

The other two looked even worse and reached in to pull him away. The three of them started dragging Mei Yanlan back and forth.

“Let go—that’s my girlfriend—”

“My girlfriend!”

“Mine—!”

“Stop!!”

A furious shout cracked through the room like thunder, drawing everyone’s attention.

Mei Yanlan turned and saw Xiao Cheng striding over, his face dark. While the three men were still stunned, he shoved them aside one by one and pulled her behind him.

“Stay away from her!”

“…Who are you?”

“Yanlan, who is he?!”

“Mei Yanlan, did you pick up another one?!”

Xiao Cheng cut in, “Mei Yanlan, explain what the hell is going on!”

The moment he said it, all three turned on him. “Who the hell are you?!”

“I’m her husband!”

The classmates who had followed him in to watch froze, eyes wide. What?

Fang Bihe’s expression darkened at once.

The three men blanked out—then immediately scoffed. “Husband? Where’s your proof? You don’t even have a wedding ring, and you’ve got the nerve? See this?” One of them raised his hand. “This is a matching couple ring. Yanlan gave it to me!”

Only then did Xiao Cheng realize—he wasn’t wearing his ring. He’d tossed it into some drawer after the wedding. And Mei Yanlan… she wasn’t wearing hers either.

He stared at her in disbelief.

Mei Yanlan’s temples throbbed. She turned to the three men. “Sorry. I’m married. That’s all in the past. Don’t come looking for me again. Let’s go.”

She turned and left. Xiao Cheng followed, fuming. The three men seemed stunned by what she’d said and just stood there.

“A-Cheng…” Fang Bihe called from the hallway.

But Xiao Cheng didn’t even seem to hear her. He stormed after Mei Yanlan without looking back.

Fang Bihe’s face turned even worse. Surrounded by classmates on all sides, their knowing looks made her feel like she might lose her mind.

Xiao Cheng had a storm of anger and questions bottled up inside. To avoid making a scene, he kept a tight hold on himself all the way home. The second they stepped inside, he grabbed Mei Yanlan’s arm.

“What was that? Explain it to me!”

The force meant nothing to her. She pulled her arm free easily. “Husband, why are you so upset? That’s all in the past. I only have you now.”

“I didn’t know you had this kind of ‘past’!”

“You never asked. What, am I not allowed to have exes? Didn’t you like Bihe before?” Mei Yanlan said lightly, already heading over to the liquor cabinet.

“How is that the same?”

“How isn’t it?”

Xiao Cheng opened his mouth—then found he had nothing to say.

Right. How wasn’t it the same? Why was it fine for him to have a “first love,” but she couldn’t have ex-boyfriends? The only difference was that he had one, while she had several.

In the end, the problem was how their marriage started. He’d married her with ulterior motives. Because of that, he had no ground to stand on now—no right to question her, no moral high ground to demand answers.

He’d brought this on himself.

“Alright, calm down. Don’t get so worked up. You’ll hurt yourself… and the baby,” Mei Yanlan said.

All the anger in him had nowhere to go. His expression twisted. “Are you worried about me—or the baby I’m carrying?”

“You, of course,” said without looking up.

“What kind of attitude is that? So you don’t care about our child at all?” he snapped.

Mei Yanlan fell silent for a moment. “…Go to bed.”

(Why won’t he just bring up divorce? His ‘first love’ is right there, and he’s got a child too. Don’t tell me I’m supposed to be the one to say it?)

Once again, Xiao Cheng ended up pinned to the bed. This time, the more he thought, the angrier he got. Why wasn’t she wearing their wedding ring? But damn it—he wasn’t wearing his either. He couldn’t even ask! He nearly turned red with frustration.

…

At the Zhou family estate—

With Zhou Yongzi back, many members of the Zhou family gathered in the hall after dinner.

Zhou Yongzi sat beside her mother like a pampered princess surrounded by admirers. Girls her age either looked at her with quiet jealousy or silent contempt. Some wanted to leave, only to have their mothers pinch their thighs and glare them into staying.

“Where’s my second brother? Did he run off on purpose because he doesn’t want to see me?” Zhou Yongzi asked, pouting.

“Why would he not want to see you? He’s probably out with friends.”

“Every time I come back, he just happens to be out with friends. I’m not a kid—you can’t fool me that easily!” she snapped. “Fifth Uncle didn’t even say anything, and he even got him a new wife. He’s my own brother—what does he want?”

The Fifth Uncle she mentioned, Zhou Yikai, sat in a corner. His face had already looked bad; now it turned even paler.

The matriarch coaxed her gently. Then Zhou Yongzi added, “If he keeps treating me like this, what happens when he becomes head of the family? How am I supposed to live then?”

The next heir hadn’t been decided yet, but Zhou Qian’s atavist purity was the highest, giving him the best chance. Zhou Yongzi was also an atavist, though less pure—but she still harbored ambitions of becoming head herself. Leaning on her favored status, quietly turning people against her brother.

Several family members rolled their eyes behind her back. If she became head, the Atavist Court might not even need to intervene—the Tribunal Division would come knocking first. They would never support her. Yet she seemed completely blind to how dangerous she was, just as she shamelessly appeared in public with a face, eyes, and even a voice that weren’t hers, playing the role of a celebrity.

Zhou Yikai had already excused himself with a work call and left. Some looked at him with pity, others with disdain. He was weak—that was true—but if it were them, could they bear that kind of pressure?

Zhou Yikai was a pushover, one of the many half-brothers of the current family head.

He was refined, well-educated, already a university professor at a young age. Yet two years ago, he fell in love at first sight with a bakery owner—just a high school graduate.

“Hello, I’d like to pay,” he said to the figure busy behind the glass. It was a small bakery tucked into an alley, recently gaining popularity for its quality and low prices. He had passed by and decided to try it.

“Coming!” The baker stepped out from behind the curtain—she had been working in the kitchen while the shop owner used the restroom—and the moment he saw her, it hit him like Cupid’s arrow.

She was stunning. Not only that, she had a striking eye—something rare. But what moved him even more was her kindness. Stray cats and dogs adored her. Elderly residents treated her like their granddaughter. She would even bake extra bread just to give to beggars nearby…

He pursued her passionately. A few months later, she gave in to his sincerity, and they began dating. After two years, Zhou Yikai brought her home to meet his family.

Atavist families didn’t care much about a partner’s background—whether they married in or out—as long as they were healthy and presentable. What mattered was passing on the atavist genes.

And with beauty like hers, who wouldn’t approve?

The Zhou family received her without warmth but without offense. They checked her genes and confirmed she didn’t match any known atavist bloodlines. Most likely, she was just an ordinary human. The family agreed to the marriage.

“We’ll get going then,” Zhou Yikai said happily as he left with her.

She was just as happy. She called her younger brother back home to share the news. Instead of joy, he was uneasy and insisted on coming to see her fiancé and his family himself.

“You’re overthinking it. We’ve been together two years already—if something were wrong, it would’ve happened by now,” she said with a smile.

“If I don’t approve, you’re not getting married!” her high-school-aged brother declared.

Their parents had divorced early, each taking one child, but the siblings remained close.

“Alright, alright. There’s a long holiday in a few days, right? Come then. You can visit Yunjin Prefecture too,” she agreed.

But for some reason, before her brother could arrive, her boyfriend began to act strange. He stopped answering calls. When he did, he was evasive. He kept putting off meeting her.

“Did the Zhou family suddenly change their mind about me? I guess that’s understandable—I don’t have much education, just an ordinary person.” She felt both hurt and angry. If they wanted to break up, why not just say it?

She kneaded her dough harder, baking even better bread. No way was she going to lose her appetite or neglect her work over some man. She still had to show her brother around Yunjin—making money mattered more.

One day, when she finally couldn’t take it anymore and called to break up, he said in a strained voice, “Can you come to the Zhou house? If you’re busy, forget it… it’s nothing important…”

“Now? Fine. Wait for me,” she said, hanging up. She pulled off her apron, left the shop to her staff, and rushed over.

She just wanted answers. Whatever it was—breakup or not—she needed closure.

But she never imagined, on such a bright day, with sunlight pouring down and the city bustling, that something so filthy could happen in a place like the Zhou residence.

When she was brought in, Zhou Yikai was already in the hall. Seeing her, his expression twisted with pain. He avoided her gaze, even stood up.

“That’s enough, right? Let me leave now.”

“Fifth Uncle, why the rush?” The voice was hoarse and unpleasant.

Only then did the baker notice the girl sitting beside the family head—Zhou Yikai’s elder brother. The sudden sight startled her.

Zhou Yikai had mentioned her before—the family’s little princess. Born with defects: missing an eye, a cleft lip and palate, and a large birthmark covering half her face. It was caused by atavism, a genetic condition modern medicine couldn’t fix.

This was the first time she’d seen her.

But why? Why call her here—and then have Zhou Yikai leave?

Confused, she saw the girl staring at her face—at her eyes—with a hungry, warped gaze.

“So beautiful. So beautiful. This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. Father, this is it—the one I’ve been waiting for. I fell in love at first sight. I have to have them!”

Her words and expression sent a chill through the baker. She stepped back unconsciously and looked to her boyfriend.

He avoided her gaze, pain written all over his face.

“Sorry… I have something to do. I should go,” she said, suddenly realizing something was terribly wrong.

She turned to leave—

—and was blocked.

“Let go! Let me out! What do you want? I told my employee—if I don’t call on time, she’ll call the police!” she said, forcing calm into her voice.

They didn’t care.

A thin, sinister-looking man stepped forward, staring at her face, then comparing it to Zhou Yongzi’s like a surgeon inspecting a patient.

“No problem. I can strip her face off with my ability. Eyes, vocal cords—no issue. As for the price…”

“Name it,” the family head said. “But don’t go too far.”

…

“‘Goddess’s Daughter’… disgusting,” Zhou Qian muttered, flicking away his cigarette.

Zhou Yongzi was the youngest, the only daughter among the siblings. Disabled from birth, she’d been spoiled by both parents. The rest followed suit, showering her with exaggerated affection. It shaped her into someone both insecure and arrogant.

The family indulged her. Other families didn’t.

As a child, she once tried to bully Tang Qiaoqiao—only to get beaten and humiliated instead. That was her first harsh lesson. She ran home crying and rarely went out after that.

Because of this, other families didn’t know her well. When she appeared on a talent show last year, people even asked Zhou Qian how her face had been fixed. He’d felt too ashamed to meet their eyes and dodged the question.

The atavist families weren’t clean—but what the Zhou family did would earn contempt even from them.

And yet he was one of them.

There was nothing he could do.

If he had been there that day… maybe he couldn’t have stopped it—but at least there would’ve been a chance.

Zhou Qian closed his eyes.

A nightmare.

He stopped mid-step and glanced back.

No one was there.

He frowned. Was it just his imagination?

He kept walking. The feeling returned—someone was following him. But every time he turned, there was nothing. He sent out his atavist power to probe—nothing.

What he didn’t know was that he had already left the main road and wandered into a deserted alley.

What he didn’t know was that his senses had been deceived.

Everything was an illusion.

He had quietly fallen into a King Insect’s domain.

Damn them all.

Everyone in the Zhou family deserved to die.

Chu Xusheng stood less than a few meters away. His dreamlike eyes resembled compound insect eyes—beautiful at first glance, horrifying the longer you looked. They burned with the intent to kill.

He recognized Zhou Qian. Back then, when he’d been near Long Ling, this man had been there. But Zhou Qian’s attention had been elsewhere—he had never noticed the hatred in Chu Xusheng’s eyes.

And now—distracted, lost in his thoughts—he still hadn’t realized he was trapped in another atavist’s illusion.

Hatred had taught Chu Xusheng, in a very short time, how to control his power—and how to kill.

A long, scorpion-like tail stinger extended behind him.

Just as it neared Zhou Qian—

he stopped.

Kill him… and then what?

The Zhou family all deserved death—but the two who deserved it most were Zhou Yikai and Zhou Yongzi. Zhou Yikai disgusted him even more. He wanted to tear him apart.

But if he killed Zhou Qian now, could he erase all traces? Would he still be able to reach the other two?

And killing them… wasn’t enough.

That woman’s advertisements still played on giant screens. The world praised her as the “Goddess’s Daughter.” No one knew the truth. Even if she died, people would mourn her—with those stolen features.

What could he do?

The Tribunal Division? It wouldn’t punish them enough.

The government? They had struggled for years against the atavist families under the Atavist Management Regulations.

That familiar helplessness surged back, crushing him.

Then why… didn’t you ever ask me for help?

That gentle voice echoed in his mind again.

He froze.

He remembered running down the road in despair, no car willing to stop for him—

and that one car door opening.

The girl leaning lazily by the window, chin propped on her hand, her eyes like a cat’s—

so clear now, as if he were seeing her again.