"Tch… tch… so you don't care what I do to your mother? You are such a filial child."

"Hehe, I already know that Mother has sealed herself inside a crystal," Gumiho giggled. "You dare dream of becoming a god, but you can't even destroy a crystal made by my mother."

After a brief pause, Gumiho declared in a loud and firm voice, "You are nothing but a mosquito barely living off my blood."

Several veins bulged on the old man's head, the eerie calm expression on his face was replaced by the one filled with fury.

He ran towards the exit with gritted teeth and shut the door with a loud slam as he left the room.

I should be feeling relieved now that he was gone, but something was making me restless. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster in my physical body, which I had left in the Forest of Gumiho.

The Ancestor was an utterly disgusting person, but still, my instincts were screaming only one thing at that time:

"Gumiho shouldn't have provoked this sadistic devil."

And the very next moment, my restless feeling came true as the Ancestor entered again, holding a burning log in his hand.

"I wanted to be respectful to you because of your status as a potential goddess, but you brought this upon yourself," he muttered, his disgusting face glowing behind the flames.

"If slicing won't work on these petals, then how about burning them?"

With an aroused smile on his face, he brought the burning log closer to the petals.

The petals remained unfazed, but Gumiho's skin around them began to burn. She screamed in agony as her skin turned red from the heat.

Seeing that the petals couldn't be burnt, the Ancestor changed his strategy and used the flames to torture Gumiho until she lost consciousness again.

The vision blackened, and after a moment, the door opened once more.

"Have you awakened, Ume?" the Ancestor asked, holding a tub of water in his hand. "You were unconscious for a whole month, so I decided to play a different game this time."

...

It was one hundred and eighty-two — the number of times the Ancestor had visited Gumiho over the past fifteen years. Every time he entered through the stone door, he carried different methods to torture Gumiho — burning her limbs, drowning her face, putting her in boiling water, choking her throat, smashing her head, feeding her to insects, or burying her in the ground. Each time the torment continued until Gumiho passed out.

The methods were different, but one thing remained the same: the sadistic smile on his face as he entered with the same phrase each time —

"Have you awakened, Ume?"

Gumiho had grown into an adult, spending her whole childhood on a stone slab. Her limbs had grown past the size of the slab, so that bastard had pierced her forearms to keep her stuck.

Gumiho had tried countless times to remove those nails, but she helplessly failed each time. During her last attempt, that old fiend told her it was useless to try to break through, as the nails were made from the claws of the previous goddess. So she had given up that hope as well.

There wasn't a spot left on Gumiho's body that wasn't covered in scars, except her privates, which were protected by petals.

Her ethereal eyes had turned dry, as there were no tears left to shed. For the last three torture attempts, forget about screaming— even her expressions didn't change. It was a miracle in itself that she hadn't died yet.

Slowly, the vision of the bloody room returned as Gumiho woke up again.

"Mother... for how long... do I have to stay strong? I... I don't want to... suffer anymore. Can't I just rest now?" Gumiho whispered as her half-dead eyes stared at the lantern hanging from the roof.

Her soft whispers pierced my heart like a dagger.

In twenty-one years of my life, as long as I could remember, I had never hated anybody. I did loathe my father for abandoning us, but still, I wished he would find his happiness wherever it was.

"All living creatures have their own destiny and purpose in life, so we don't have the right to snatch it away by stopping or killing them. Some might get lost on their way to find their purpose, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve a second chance. Everyone deserves it."

Atleast that's what I used to think. But no. Not anymore.

This world, or the world I came from, did not need motherfucking rotten bastards like this Ancestor. I hated him. I despised him. I abhorred him. Every time he opened the door I wished I could tear him limb from limb. I wished that when I returned from these memories, this bastard would still be alive so I could kill him in the most painful way possible. I wished that there were thousands of him so I could kill him thousands of times.

As soon as Gumiho woke up, the door opened, and a figure entered again.

"Mother... I think... I won't be able to hold on this time."

"Ume, is it really you?" A male voice laced with concern echoed in the room.

The person ran toward Ume, and as he reached closer, the light from the lantern fell on his face.

A young fox-man stood before Gumiho. His eyes were filled with tears, and his expression was full of guilt.

"Who... are... you?"

"It's me, Ume. Yuta. I came to rescue you," the young man replied, sobbing, and began pulling the nails from Gumiho's arms.

"What about... your grandfather?"

"He isn't my grandfather," Yuta replied firmly. "He's just a monster and nothing more. Moreover, he can't come right now."

Yuta pulled out the nails from her arms, followed by a splash of blood.

"I'm sorry, just bear with the pain."

"No... don't be... this much doesn't even sting."

Yuta pulled the nails from her legs as well, and the moment he did, Gumiho slipped from the crimson stone slab and fell to the ground.

Yuta tried to pull her up, but she unexpectedly resisted him.

"You... you should go away. If your grandfather finds out... he will kill you."

"Rest assured, he doesn't have time to worry about us. Your father has returned and waged a war on the fox clan."

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