The real heiress is a fortune teller; her divinations are worth a fortune, and the whole internet is

"Get away!" Uglydos slapped his hand away, her face contorted with malice. She braced herself on all fours, like a wild beast preparing to attack. "I'm not! You're the monster! You're not allowed to insult my master!"

Gu Qingfeng hid behind Chang Xi, using her position to intimidate her, and said, "You're a monster!"

"Gu Qingfeng!" Chang Xi turned his head and shouted sternly.

Gu Qingfeng had never been treated so harshly before, and immediately felt wronged. His voice gradually lowered, "Was I wrong? He is a monster!"

"Still talking?" Chang Xi slapped his mouth, and the man couldn't utter a single word.

Uglydoe stared warily at them all. "You're all bad people!"

Chang Xi crouched down to look him in the eye. "Ugly Boy, do you remember your name?"

"Ugly Duckling is Ugly Duckling, that's my name," Ugly Duckling said without any hesitation, even towards the woman she had initially found somewhat agreeable.

Chang Xi didn't mind his rude attitude. She showed unprecedented patience towards this unrecognizable child. "Your surname is Li, and your name is Li Huaijin. Do you know what that means?"

Ugly Doll didn't answer, but his eyes showed curiosity.

Huo Dongjun continued, "It comes from 'Huai Sha' in the Chu Ci: 'Holding jade and precious stones, I am at a loss for what to do.'"

Realizing Li Huaijin didn't understand, he offered a simpler explanation: "It means having a beautiful jade hidden in your bosom. Have you ever seen jade?" He took off a fine jade pendant from his neck and handed it to Li Huaijin. "This is it. Beautiful jade represents fine character. Your parents wish you to have the finest qualities in the world."

Li Huaijin still couldn't understand what he was saying, but he could understand the meaning of "beautiful," just like the beautiful stone in front of him, which its owner had said was something he was never worthy of.

So, did he once possess it?

Chang Xi pointed to the silver bracelet on his wrist, "It has your name on it."

Li Huaijin raised his wrist; there were indeed words on the silver bracelet, but he couldn't understand them.

When Xixi saw his pleading look, she ran over and taught him to recognize the characters, "Li, Huai, Jin".

The aunties at the temple paid great attention to her studies, saying that she couldn't be an illiterate ghost. Although she was young, she already knew many characters and read them to him word by word.

"All evils are retreated, and you will be happy and healthy."

Li Huaijin was like a toddler learning to speak. He watched Xixi's mouth movements and uttered one word at a time, repeating the sentence until he stopped stammering and spoke more and more fluently and clearly.

He didn't need anyone to explain it to him; through repeated repetition, he seemed to have grasped the meaning of the sentence.

Why do my eyes feel so uncomfortable? What is he going to do?

How can I stop my eyes from hurting so much and just cry like everyone else? Would that make it better?

Li Huaijin suddenly felt like crying, but not a single tear fell from his dark eyes.

He wailed, but apart from the sound of a wild beast howling, there were no tears.

At that moment, he realized that he was somewhat different from these people.

Li Huaijin could not accept this difference and struggled fiercely. The thousand-thread copper coins on his ankles tightened more and more, to the point that it hurt him.

Chang Xi got up and collected the thousand-thread copper coins.

Li Huaijin didn't run away. He held Xixi's tear-streaked face in his hands, very close to her. In her brighter eyes than his, a strange body was reflected.

He's a monster.

Li Huaijin suddenly released his grip, and Xixi staggered backward but managed to regain her balance.

Slumped to the ground, Li Huaijin's hand involuntarily touched the jar on his body, and then he began to frantically pound the jar, each blow heavier than the last.

"Stop hitting him, stop hitting him!" Chang Xi grabbed his hand.

The jar had become one with him; beating the jar was no different from beating his own body, and in the end, only he himself would be hurt.

"Mmm!"

Li Huaijin pushed Chang Xi away and continued to hammer the jar on his body. When he couldn't break it, he tried to tear it off. How could he possibly tear it off?

His current actions are no different from tearing off his own skin.

His bare, fair legs slowly slid down a dark red line.

I can't bear to watch anymore.

This child is so pitiful.

[Little Deer's Mom: As a mother, I can't bear to see this. How did such a good child end up like this?]

[Li Huaijin, just from his name you can tell how much his parents loved him. One can only imagine how his parents, who lost their child, have lived all these years.]

Those damned human traffickers deserve to die!

Execution wouldn't be enough!

What's the point of executing him? He'll never be a normal person again.

The atmosphere at the Liu family's house was just like in the live broadcast room. Not only were the female staff members sobbing uncontrollably, but even the burly men couldn't bear to watch anymore and turned away to secretly wipe their tears.

Especially Hao Ren, who also has a daughter. If it were his child here today, what would he do?

Chang Xi pressed down on Li Huaijin's side, "Stop pulling! You can't pull anymore!"

Huo Dongjun helped hold down Li Huaijin's other side, saying, "This will only hurt you. Calm down, just a little bit, okay?"

Li Huaijin's unfocused eyes fell on the two of them, and seeing their unspeakable grievances gave him an outlet. He buried his face in their arms, lowered his head, and began to sob softly.

Chang Xi placed his hand on Li Huaijin's head, stroking his stiff hair. Huo Dongjun, on the other hand, seemed much more awkward, his hands and feet stiff and unsure of where to put them.

In the end, he hesitated and gently patted Li Huaijin's stiff shoulders twice to comfort this child who was probably older than his grandmother. Who knew that this would make Li Huaijin cry even more sadly.

Why does it seem like Xiao Huaijin considers these two people to be her parents?

[I also want to lie in my parents' arms and be pampered—a silent CP fan.]

No one knows how long Li Huaijin cried, but the rooster crowed, and the sound was loud.

This is a sign that dawn is approaching.

Whether it works or not depends on whether Li Huaijin is willing to help.

"There are still many children on the mountain," Li Huaijin replied, sobbing.

Chang Xi helped the person up. "Are they all like you?"

Li Huaijin shook his head. "No, they haven't gone through the ceremony yet. They're new arrivals this year, and Gouwa is in charge of guarding them. Their master was overjoyed to hear you've reappeared and wants to bring you up the mountain for the final ceremony."

"What is he trying to do?" Lu Wenli walked over.

"Becoming a god," Li Huaijin recalled the words of the Five Sacred Mountains Gods of Yunxiao. "My master always said that he was not a true god, even though he helped the villagers become rich and was worshipped by them, he was not a true god."

He wanted to become a god.

"Pah! What a piece of trash! Based on what he's done, it's no wonder he's in the deepest hell. And he wants to become a god?" Gu Qingfeng cursed under his breath.

"Huaijin, would you be willing to help us?" Xixi held his hand. "Sister Changxi is a good person and very powerful. She will definitely defeat your master and rescue you and the other children."

Just like how Sister Changxi rescued me back then!

Chang Xi was so embarrassed by the praise that she turned away and secretly grinned, trying to suppress her laughter.

"Fine, I'll help you!" Li Huaijin was furious when he thought about how he had been so devoted to his enemy all these years, only to find out that the enemy was the one who turned him into a monster.

Chang Xi leaned on Li Huaijin's shoulder, closed his eyes, and pretended to be unconscious.

Despite his small stature, Li Huaijin possessed incredible strength. He lifted Chang Xi and leaped three feet away, his figure disappearing into the hazy night.

All we need to do now is wait for dawn.

Huo Dongjun kept glancing at his watch, then realized something was wrong. "It's six o'clock, why isn't it light yet?"