Why is his holy light red?

Inside the old, moldy, dilapidated house, Flora, still emaciated, was sorting through her mother's belongings.

She clutched a photo frame with chipped edges tightly in her hand, the glass reflecting a picture of her and her mother. Her vision blurred, and warm water droplets splashed onto the glass, leaving a puddle.

If I hadn't stolen things and been sent to jail, would my mother still be alive?

"Ignore this trash! The car is already parked downstairs, let's go."

A muddy leather shoe was kicked roughly at the cardboard box on the ground, scattering the worthless odds and ends inside. Flora hurriedly picked them up; they were all memories of her and her mother.

The man who kicked the box was a long-haired man. He grinned, revealing a set of yellowed teeth.

According to the relevant department's records, he is Flora's uncle, but the two had never met before.

When Flora returned, she only heard about her mother's passing from her landlord.

With no one to care for her and her illness severe, her mother passed away in great pain, leaving behind marks on the bed that Flora could not bear to look at.

The landlord discovered the body and then called the police.

Such deaths go uninvestigated, and the bodies are quickly taken away. When Flora returns, all she receives is a death certificate, and all that remains of her mother is a small jar of ashes.

Flora couldn't understand why her mother was cremated so quickly, and why there was only a small amount of ashes, barely enough to fill a paper cup.

But there was nothing she could do; no matter how she asked, that was the only answer she got.

The hospital morgue was full, and Flora was serving her sentence in prison, which is why her body was cremated.

Before the grief of losing her mother could subside, officials from the Bureau of Children and Families arrived at her door.

Flora had no idea that these people were so concerned about the health of minors. Why didn't anyone bring her bread when she was struggling to get enough to eat?

This time, they weren't there to deliver bread, but to give Flora away.

The disheveled man with yellow teeth in front of her was her uncle, her only remaining relative.

In other words, he has become Flora's legal guardian.

Flora disliked this uncle who had suddenly appeared because his arms were covered in needle marks, and the smell of cheap tobacco mixed with the sour stench of someone who hadn't bathed in a long time was even more pungent than the homeless man at the alley entrance.

This was an undisguised drug addict, and Flora knew very well that he could not possibly have a change of heart and come to help his niece out of conscience; he was only after the adoption allowance of a few hundred dollars a month.

Or, when he experiences a severe drug withdrawal and desperately needs money, he might sell her to raise funds.

Flora kept stalling for time, pretending to be packing up her mother's belongings and searching for the small amount of savings her mother had left behind. She dragged it out for two days.

Today, this uncle finally lost his patience.

My uncle, baring his yellow teeth, threatened, "Stop dawdling! I've been waiting for you for two days. Come home with me today!"

Flora said, "Uncle, I know you just want that few hundred dollars in welfare subsidies. How about this, you just let me stay here alone, and when they come to inspect, you can say I went on vacation. I'll leave you my phone number, and you can call me later. I'll lie for you, okay?"

This was the best solution Flora could think of.

"Shut up! Stop trying to pull any tricks on me, and come with me now."

The man rudely interrupted her. Too lazy to waste any more words, he strode forward, reaching out his large hand to forcibly grab her. Despite years of drug use leaving his body weakened, his strength still held an overwhelming advantage over the emaciated Flora due to their vastly different sizes.

Flora knew that once this man grabbed her, she probably wouldn't be able to break free.

Flora instinctively flinched, then abruptly ducked. She nimbly dodged the man's large hand reaching for her arm. Then, gritting her teeth, she charged desperately toward the apartment door.

Three steps, two steps... Just as her fingertips were about to touch the cold doorknob, her scalp was suddenly tugged.

The man grabbed her long hair from the back of her head.

"Ah!" Flora cried out in pain.

Before she could even struggle, she was thrown backward uncontrollably and was forcibly dragged back.

"You little bitch, trying to run away?!" The man moved closer, looking down at her, his eyes twitching violently with anger. "I came all this way to adopt you, you should be kneeling and thanking me. I think you just need some discipline! My deadbeat sister never taught you how to respect your elders, today I'll teach you a lesson on her behalf!"

He grabbed Flora and swung his thick arm high, his calloused hand whistling as it slapped the girl's pale face hard.

"Buzz—ring ring ring—"

At that very moment, the cell phone rang urgently.

The slap stopped abruptly in mid-air, the resulting gust of wind ruffling Flora's bangs.

The man's cloudy eyes flickered, revealing a look of apprehension. He thought of the welfare bureau specialists who made regular follow-up visits; if he were to inflict significant injuries on the girl now, it would definitely be a problem for his "long-term meal ticket."

"Answer the phone, you little bitch!" he threatened viciously. "You should know how to talk to me. If you try anything funny with me, I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"

The man reached directly into Flora's coat pocket, pulled out her old cell phone, and roughly pressed the speakerphone button.

However, the voice coming from the loudspeaker wasn't the businesslike tone of a welfare bureau investigator, but a gruff male voice: "Flora, have you sorted out your troubles? The boss and I are waiting for you to come over."

Flora gasped sharply, about to scream for help, when the man's thumb swiftly slammed into the red hang-up button.

The call abruptly ended.

The man grabbed Flora by the collar: "What boss? Who's on the other end of the phone?!"

Flora's heart pounded. She hadn't wanted to drag Mercury into her miserable life, but at this moment, Mercury's parting words echoed in her mind: "No matter what trouble you encounter, if you can't solve it, come to me. Remember that."

In desperation, Flora bit her chapped lips and said, half-jokingly, "It's the boss I met at 'Black Olive'... He paid to get me out of trouble and let me help him sell his goods."

"Live-streaming e-commerce?"

Those two words seemed to have touched some extremely sensitive nerve; the man's originally fierce gaze instantly changed, transforming into a morbid fanaticism: "What kind of goods are you bringing?"

"I don't know," Flora lowered her eyelids, her voice trembling slightly, "they were all pills packaged in sealed bags."

"Hiss—" The man's breathing suddenly became heavy, and a trace of saliva mixed with white foam even seeped from the corner of his mouth. Just hearing these suggestive words caused his body to have a conditioned reflex-like physiological reaction. His shoulders began to twitch involuntarily, and he inhaled deeply through his nose repeatedly.

The intense craving instantly shattered his reasoning. He shook the frail Flora, demanding, "Where's the goods?!"

"How was I supposed to know you just hung up on them?" Flora looked at him, trying to keep her tone calm. "I need to find out which street to pick up the goods on."

The man's agitation from the drug withdrawal completely clouded his judgment. He sniffed hard, shoved the phone into Flora's hand, his eyes bloodshot: "Call! Call now! Don't fucking try anything funny!"

Flora gripped the phone, which was damp with the man's sweaty hands, and dialed back.

He pressed the speakerphone button, and the call connected quickly. It was Black Egg's voice again: "Why did you hang up just now?"

Flora stared intently at her uncle, who was like a wild beast in a rage, swallowed hard, and whispered into the microphone, "The landlord came to kick me out just now, and I lost my grip... Where are you? I'm coming to find you now... uh... to get the goods."

"Get the goods?" Black Egg's voice was clearly bewildered.

But the silence lasted only a second before a faint static came from the other end of the line, indicating the phone had been handed to someone else. Immediately afterwards, a younger, calmer voice came through: "I understand. The goods are in the Tree Root District, the same place we met last time. Come and pick them up quickly."