Chapter 3: Mommy Dearest’s Wicked Humor

For a time, Lingling Lan doubted who she truly was.

“You must be so confused. Then let your dearest, dearest, dearest Mommy tell you the answer~ As my little daughter, all you need to do is perform on this stage called the world. Make Mommy happy, make Mommy proud of you—that’s all!”

She still vaguely remembered, just before her consciousness dissolved completely into darkness, the sound of a lullaby whispered in her ears.

She had never known what it felt like to have a mother. Her birth parents had disappeared when she was too young to even remember them.

Perhaps… being loved felt like this.

How wonderful.

When she next regained awareness, she had no idea how much time had passed. A soft, airy, and overly cheerful female voice drew her consciousness back into reality.

“Good morning! My beloved little daughter, wake up and come meet your cute and forever-young Mommy!”

“My daughters, all of you, come here! Bear witness to the birth of your little sister—and see how happy your Mommy looks, ahahaha!”

Seated upon a white throne was a girl with snow-white hair and emerald eyes. Her face looked as if sculpted by the hand of a god—【*Ahahaha, because I am a god!】.

Her silvery hair was neatly tied behind her shoulders, her yellow-green irises carrying a strange trihedral gleam, her skin pale as untouched snow. And when she looked down at the newborn daughter in her arms, her loving gaze seemed to spill with moonlight.

“Before you meet your sisters, you must understand Mommy first! My name is Nyara, the Messenger of Chaos. I have many names, but I love it most when you call me Nyarko or Mommy Dearest. Come on, say it, darling.”

The very first impression this “Nyara” gave Lingling Lan was warmth. Comfort. An instinctive desire to treat her as a mother, to seek an embrace.

Her young self naturally let out a tender, weak call:

“Mommy Dearest~”

“Good girl, ahahahahaha! I adore this little cutie so much! Let Mommy squeeze your chubby cheeks~ My daughters, did you hear that? She called me Mommy Dearest! Being a mom is just too fun, ahahahaha!”

Though the girl’s demeanor and smile carried a touch of madness, she loved her—that alone was enough.

Nestled in Mommy’s embrace, Lingling Lan closed her eyes again, slipping into blissful slumber.

And when she grew older, she swore she would make Mommy proud. She would perform the most magnificent show upon this world’s stage.

That was her mission—
to delight the one who loved her,
and to bring out the most dazzling smile upon Mommy’s face.

“You…”

Lingling Lan loosened her grip without thinking. It wasn’t that she no longer cared about fighting over concert tickets, but seeing Xinghui grimace in pain made her soften a little.

“It’s not that bad, but don’t you know the two worst places to hit someone are the face and an old wound?!”

She kept up her strong front, but the little bead of liquid at the corner of her eye betrayed her.

As she adjusted her clothes, Lingling Lan caught a proper look—nearly all of Xinghui’s left arm was covered in grotesque crystalline growths, black-purple and swollen, embedded with reddish-purple crystal clusters.

“What’s with all those weird… crystals on your arm?” Lingling Lan asked cautiously.

No doubt it had to do with her fun-loving, sadistic “Mommy Dearest.” That woman who had once caught Lingling Lan and tried every bizarre, inhumane experiment imaginable. Among them, she had used these very “chaos crystals.”

Fortunately, Lingling Lan was no longer human. She hadn’t suffered any severe side effects—just a few days of itching.

“Who knows? They’ve been there as long as I can remember. Honestly, I think I’m cursed by Heaven’s twisted sense of humor!”

Xinghui clenched her fists angrily, as if ready to tear the culprit limb from limb. The expression was so fierce that Lingling Lan almost laughed.

Why did she suddenly feel a twinge of schadenfreude? Could it be… the madness in Mommy’s blood had already seeped into her own way of thinking?

All in all, this girl was rather amusing.

Lingling Lan tentatively stretched out a hand to touch Xinghui’s corrupted arm. No adverse reaction came.

So after that “transformation,” she’d apparently gained immunity to such corruption.

Which meant—she was completely safe for her.

“It could be contagious!” Xinghui quickly pulled back.

Lingling Lan rolled her eyes.

“You already know I’m a daughter of an Outer God, and you still think I’d catch something as small as this?”

The moment she said it, Xinghui’s expression lit up with desperate hope.

She had been tormented by this strange disease for fifteen years. Ever since she could remember, her peers had treated her like a freak, a monster. Even at the orphanage, she’d been shunned, left only to whisper secrets to her dolls in the corner.

If Lingling Lan said that… it meant she must have a cure!

All her weeks of tailing her had finally paid off.

She really owed Captain Verena for pointing her this way!

“Then—you can cure me? Here! Take your bag back! I don’t need that petty cash anymore!”

Lingling Lan instantly snatched the bag back and checked.

Not a single green bill missing.

Mua!
Her beloved wallet—her future glamorous life depended on it!

But right, back to the cure.

“Let’s go back to my place. No rush—we’ll take our time.”

“To your place? You’re not planning to… do things with me, are you? Can I not go?”

“Huh? Do what? Stop your weird imagination already! In my current state, I couldn’t even if I wanted to!”

Xinghui perked up and eagerly pushed her all the way back to her hidden treehouse on the outskirts of town.

The last place was for interrogations, not living.

Once inside, Lingling Lan was stunned.

Every piece of furniture was coated in a thin layer of purple-red crystals. Even the bed had sprouted crystalline clusters, shimmering in rainbow light like priceless gemstones.

If I sold these… I’d be rich!

Ha! This girl was practically a walking treasure vault! Lingling Lan even considered whether curing her was worth it.

But no—she shook off the thought.

As a once-proud cleric-ranger, saving the suffering was her duty. She couldn’t let a sudden greedy impulse corrupt the responsibilities of a former hero.

“These things keep spreading on their own. I just cleaned the place two days ago, and it’s already unlivable again…” Xinghui sighed bitterly.

She was never the diligent type, and now the disease was spreading so badly it disrupted her daily life. What a mess.

If this curse was to be resolved, Lingling Lan knew she couldn’t do it herself.

She would need Mommy Dearest.

After all, only the one who tied the knot could untie it.
And if Mommy made this mess— then Mommy ought to clean it up.

Linglinglan’s mother: Naya