“Dad, come back soon. I still want you to teach me how to draw.”
Li Ziyang obediently said as he took the schoolbag.
Li Ran gave a short “Mm” in response, then sprinted toward the elevator.
Just then, a cold female voice echoed from inside the house.
“What could be more important than eating? Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
Li Ran’s steps came to an abrupt halt. His Adam's apple rolled involuntarily before he finally forced out a response from his throat.
“It’s… nothing really. Tomorrow’s fine. Yeah, tomorrow it is.”
Helpless, Li Ran turned back and walked into the house.
As soon as he entered, he saw takeaway boxes stacked neatly on the dining table like bricks.
Through the transparent plastic lids, he could see something squirming inside the food.
“Damn, it’s got bugs!” Li Ran felt his stomach churn.
Hell no—she doesn’t cook, and she’s feeding him bugs?
[Warning: Seeing Li Ziyang eating takeout again is making him very upset. If you don’t eat either, he’ll eat you instead.]
[Hint: Do your best to make Li Ziyang feel the warmth of a family. Do not let him notice you and your wife are already divorced.]
Li Ziyang began to crack open again, and something terrifying wriggled in the fissures.
Divorced?
Shit!
But then why are they still living together?
Maybe it’s just for the child’s sake…
After a long, exhausting day, coming home to a table of cold takeout meals—any man in charge of a family would feel a bit of despair. Let alone a growing child.
“Son, we’re not eating takeout today. Dad’s going to cook for you, alright?” Li Ran said gently with a wink.
“Yay! Dad’s cooking!”
Li Ziyang’s face slowly healed, returning to a look of pure innocence.
Li Ran gently pushed him toward his room. “Go do your homework. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”
As long as his son didn’t crack open, everything was manageable. In fact, he was even starting to look kind of cute.
Li Ran then turned toward the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room. There stood his wife in a silky spaghetti-strap nightdress, her arms behind her back. Her left hand rested gently on her delicate elbow. Her cascading black hair perfectly draped over her pale, jade-like waist, like a fairy untouched by the dust of the mortal world.
For a moment, Li Ran was completely mesmerized.
Even the neon lights of the city outside seemed dull in comparison to her silhouette.
She slowly turned around and spoke coldly.
“Cooking for real? That’s not like you.”
Her stunning face bore no emotion. Her beautiful eyes emitted a frosty chill.
Cool, elegant, and undeniably seductive.
Li Ran’s heart began to race uncontrollably, blood surging through his veins.
Before this, he had imagined that his wife might be quite plain looking. As long as she wasn’t Princess Qiao, it would be fine.
But upon seeing his ex-wife’s face, he reaffirmed his original belief.
If someone makes your heart race, then come hell or high water—you must sleep with them in this lifetime.
[Mission Complete: Picked Up Li Ziyang]
[Reward: Eerie Power +10, Points +100]
[New Mission Triggered: Repair the Broken Family – Time Limit: 7 Days]
[Reward: Eerie Power +50, Points +500]
[Failure Penalty: Death!]
The sound of the triggered mission snapped Li Ran out of his daze.
Everyone starts with zero eerie power.
Li Ran had gained: Eerie Power +10.
Eerie power is the force used to fight against spiritual infections in this world. The higher your eerie power, the stronger you are.
Though 10 Eerie Points wasn’t much, Li Ran could feel a faint warmth flowing through his limbs, making his body and mind stronger.
Points, on the other hand, could be exchanged for items and gear in the system shop.
But 100 points couldn’t buy anything decent.
Li Ran gave a bitter chuckle in his heart, silently protesting the stingy reward. “Heh, 10 eerie power? I probably still can’t even beat my son’s leg in a fight.”
To defeat a C-class infected like his son, Li Ran needed at least 60 eerie power, and then considered weapons, equipment, and tools.
Even a small gap in eerie power could be an unbridgeable chasm.
Just then, a status panel appeared above his ex-wife’s head.
[Name: Su Bingyao]
[B-Class Spiritual Infectee]
[Weird Power: 100]
[A lonely woman who no longer wishes to believe in her husband. She cannot forgive what he did to her. If not for the sake of their child having a ‘happy’ family, she could strip you of your lower-half’s happiness at any moment.]
[With OCD and a compulsion for perfection, she cannot tolerate even the tiniest mistake. Any flaw, no matter how minor, will be magnified in her eyes.]
[She’s hungry, but refuses to eat takeout. If you can cook well, you may slightly close the distance between you.]
[If you wish to regain her trust, don’t touch her bottom lines. Do everything a qualified husband should.]
Holy shit, a B-class spiritual infected with 100 eerie power!
What the hell did the original guy do to deserve this?
Li Ran instinctively felt a chill below his waist.
Did she… not want a physical relationship anymore?
Taking a deep breath, he had no choice but to accept reality.
He had no options—failure equals death.
Still, after seeing her panel, his sense of crisis slightly eased.
Say what you will, but when it comes to cooking…
Growing up poor, he’d been cooking since he was eight. In his past life, his dishes could make people cry with joy.
“Tonight’s dinner—I'll make sure you see me in a whole new light.” Li Ran said, full of confidence.
Su Bingyao sat elegantly on the sofa, resting her head on her hand, coldly staring at Li Ran.
She didn’t believe a word he said. Compared to the disgusting, cold takeout on the table, she would rather just eat her ex-husband.
In the kitchen.
Li Ran opened the fridge.
“What the hell—fresh veggies? And she still fed me bug food?”
With practiced ease, he took an apron off the wall and tied it on. Then he began taking out ingredients from the fridge, placing them one by one into a basket in an orderly fashion...
A flurry of chopping and clanging echoed from the kitchen.
Su Bingyao narrowed her icy eyes. Her gaze landed on the knife rack—Li Ran had taken a knife, disrupting the perfect symmetry of the once-aligned set.
That small gap felt like a claw scratching at her heart. She grew increasingly agitated. She either needed to fix that little space or create a matching gap on the other side to restore the symmetry and find peace.
As murderous intent flickered in her eyes—
Li Ran grabbed the knife from the other side.
Now the rack was symmetrical again.
The killing intent in Su Bingyao’s eyes gradually dissipated. If her ex made that kind of mistake again, he was done for.
A little while later—
The rhythmic sound of chopping echoed from the kitchen.
It was Li Ran, holding two knives, finely mincing garlic.
Bits of garlic and skin flew off the chopping board, clearly scattering across the once-spotless floor.
Su Bingyao suddenly stood up. Her entire body tensed with discomfort. The sight of the messy floor made her feel like a thousand ants were crawling all over her.
She just couldn’t take this man anymore.
He hadn’t changed at all. Still the same—selfish, disgusting, completely inconsiderate of her feelings.
The thought of enduring this kind of torment every day made her want to scream.
Whatever shred of affection she still held for him—disintegrated completely in that moment.
Her flawless face frosted over, her eyes burning with killing intent.
Her pale neck stretched forward, exquisite features sharpening. Her slender waist began to twist unnaturally, the tight nightdress slipping off as her body elongated and transformed.
White, palm-sized scales erupted across her skin. Her arms melted into her torso, and her legs fused together, giving way to a monstrous, pale, shredded-looking tail.
In the kitchen, Li Ran joyfully chopped garlic with rhythmic precision, whistling cheerfully—
Completely unaware of the terrifying white creature that had appeared silently behind him!
(End of Chapter)