Pancheng District, where Su Ling lived, was an old, dilapidated, and small neighborhood.
The commotion from the thugs earlier had been loud, but not a single person had come out to help.
After all, such situations were common in the Lower City.
The neighbors, who had been secretly spying from the shadows, felt a twinge of regret.
They had expected Shao Nian You to gain another family package today.
For those living in this quagmire, their greatest joy was comparing who was worse off.
‘It doesn’t matter if I’m trash, as long as you’re worse than me.’
Ji Lingyuan walked into the bedroom and cast a sharp glance toward the door.
The prying eyes in the hallway immediately vanished.
“Tch, the Lower City.”
“I’m leaving. I’ll have S pick you up tomorrow.”
Ji Lingyuan stood with her hands in her pockets, leaving Su Ling’s family with nothing but the view of her cool, retreating back.
The door closed, and the chaos finally came to an end.
Su Ling stared at the spot where Ji Lingyuan had disappeared, feeling a sense of loss.
Her heart fluttered slightly.
Ji Lingyuan had saved her family like a descending deity; how could she not feel something?
But…
She gave a bitter smile.
‘I already said it. I’m not worthy.’
In Su Ling’s arms, Miao Miao bit her lip hard.
‘Ji Lingyuan…’
The name of that Witch and the cold, elegant fragrance clinging to her had been deeply engraved into the young girl’s mind.
Su Ling did not notice Miao Miao’s strange behavior.
Looking at the mess scattered across the floor, she simply felt lucky.
On the sofa, Su Yao had dropped her usual dazed expression.
Her gaze remained fixed on Su Ling, her eyes filled with complexity.
As a mother, how could she not notice the changes in her daughter?
“Ling Ling…”
Hearing Su Yao’s call, Su Ling reflexively looked over.
Unexpectedly, a warm, fragrant breeze enveloped her as she was pulled into a long-forgotten embrace.
“Ling Ling… I won’t drink anymore…”
“…”
“I’m sorry… I’m a failure of a mother…”
‘What’s the point of saying this now?’
Su Ling thought, her voice muffled against her mother’s chest.
“I don’t ask for your forgiveness. I just… I want to help share the burden…”
Su Ling felt a cold moisture on the top of her head.
Su Yao’s voice was choked with sobs.
She knew exactly what Su Ling had been doing.
As a mother, her daughter had done *that* sort of thing for the sake of the family, while she had spent her time numbing herself with alcohol.
Whether it was the old Su Ling or the current one, they were both her daughter.
The events that had just transpired acted like a heavy hammer, finally smashing her awake.
Her wife, Bai Wei, had disappeared without a trace, but that was no reason for her to fall into depravity.
If it hadn’t been for that Boss Ji Lingyuan, their entire family would have been turned into a family package for Shao Nian You.
Su Yao’s tears left Su Ling in silence.
She slowly pulled away from the embrace, holding Miao Miao as she looked at Su Yao with a complicated expression.
Su Yao was weeping piteously.
Years of alcoholism had already wrecked her body. Her delicate face was pale, her lips lacked any color, and strands of white hair clung to her face.
She looked every bit the sickly beauty.
Seeing her like this, the biting words Su Ling had prepared died in her throat.
Her eyes dimmed.
“It’s too late…”
She had already taken that step.
“Ling Ling…”
“If you really want to change, then quit drinking. Just stay home and take care of Miao Miao.”
“Don’t worry about anything else… I’ll handle it.”
Su Ling turned away, ignoring Su Yao as she began to clean up the mess on the floor.
‘What’s the point of pretty words? If Su Yao hadn’t let herself go, would the Original Owner have felt so much despair? Would she have sought out that Forbidden Curse to swap lives with me?’
Sometimes, it wasn’t about what was said, but what was done.
It took some time to clean the apartment.
By the time she finished, it was already noon.
Su Ling pinched Miao Miao’s cute cheek and then went into the kitchen to start making lunch.
Meanwhile, Su Yao sat in the living room, staring blankly at the cabinet full of empty liquor bottles.
As Su Ling was washing vegetables, her phone vibrated. It was Sister Jing.
“Hey, little Ling, why weren’t you here this morning? Did you take another leave of absence?”
Sister Jing didn’t know about the morning’s events.
She was calling out of genuine concern.
Today was Monday, a school day.
“Uh, something came up this morning. I’ll be there this afternoon.”
The Lower City still belonged to the Witch Empire, so the benefits of compulsory education still existed.
Su Ling knew that the easiest way to completely change her social class was to take the College Entrance Examination and get into a Witch Academy.
In the Witch World, there were paths to Transcendent advancement.
Su Ling didn’t know much about them, but she knew that getting into an academy meant a total transformation of one’s status.
Of course, a Witch Academy was no ordinary university.
It was specifically for training Transcendent Witches. Not just any Witch could get in.
Beyond social classes, Witches were divided by their Magic power into four realms: Ordinary Witch, Transcendent Witch, Great Witch, and Sequence Witch.
An Ordinary Witch was no different from a mortal.
Only by stepping onto a Transcendent sequence could one become a Transcendent Witch.
As for Great Witches, they were figures of legend.
Su Ling only knew a little bit about them; even the weakest Great Witch supposedly had the power to ignite an entire star system.
As for Sequence Witches… those were beings far beyond the reach of a village girl from the Lower City.
Naturally, getting into a Witch Academy was almost impossible for her.
Su Ling’s only hope was to get into a normal university and enter the scientific research system.
But even then, any of those paths were far better than her current life.
She was currently at the very bottom of the barrel; getting into any school would be a life-changing event.
“Did something happen?”
Sister Jing’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“It’s nothing. I’ll bring a makeup excuse slip this afternoon.”
Su Ling sighed.
“Alright then. See you this afternoon. Bye~”
The call ended.
Su Ling felt a mix of emotions.
She knew that to change her current situation, her best bet was the College Entrance Examination.
That meant she had to go to school.
The Original Owner had already been on hiatus for a few years, and the school had been more than patient. If she missed any more classes, she would definitely be expelled.
However…
Su Ling bit her lip.
‘My days at school… don’t seem like they were very pleasant…’
—
“Master, do you really want to do that?”
S couldn’t help but ask.
“Aiyaya, the one I want is the current Su Ling. I didn’t like that old crazy woman at all.”
Ji Lingyuan waved her hand dismissively.
She was currently reaching out to someone—a former classmate from her days at the Witch Academy. That person would definitely have a way.
What Ji Lingyuan wanted was simple: she wanted to kill off Su Ling’s primary personality so that the current Su Ling would become the dominant one. Of course, this was technically considered murder.
According to the laws of the Witch Empire, she could be sent to the Witch Court if she were caught.
After all, the original Su Ling was the “real” one, no matter how nasty her personality had been.
Therefore, Ji Lingyuan needed someone professional and reliable.
“I know you two have already analyzed what I’m planning. Here’s some advice: you’d better delete those logs. The less trouble, the better.”
Ji Lingyuan glanced indifferently at her two Automaton Maids.
S and Z exchanged a look and sighed in unison.
‘Well, forget it. Even if we uploaded the analysis to The Company’s terminal, they probably wouldn’t care.’
At the end of the day, Su Ling was just a Fuli Ji from the Lower City.
Someone like her wasn’t even qualified to be used as a consumable by The Company.
Moreover, whether Ji Lingyuan’s plan actually constituted murder was still a matter of debate.
The Company had no reason to meddle in such trivialities.
Ji Lingyuan was their master, and they were just working drones.
It truly was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Seeing how cooperative S and Z were, Ji Lingyuan nodded with satisfaction.
“Don’t worry, it’s just an idea for now. Whether it can actually be done is still uncertain.”
Ji Lingyuan looked at her phone screen.
Upon receiving a positive reply, the corners of her mouth curled upward.
She wanted more than just a simple fix.
She wanted a toy that belonged exclusively and completely to her.
Ji Lingyuan put her phone away and hummed a little tune as she led S and Z outside.
She failed to notice a pair of obscure eyes watching them from a dark corner.
“The Empress… has awakened?”
The figure was small and shrouded in a black robe, appearing human-like.
However, as the hem of the robe fluttered, a glimpse of a white, segmented limb—resembling a spider’s leg—was revealed.
“What an unexpected surprise…”
“As for that Witch…”
The figure stared at Ji Lingyuan’s retreating back and fell into thought.
“Heh, let her live for now. The Empress will need nourishment once she fully awakens.”
“But this Shao Nian You… Hmph.”
The black-robed figure let out a cold laugh before vanishing completely into the darkness.