The puppy, carrying a twig, darted into the bushes, weaving left and right before peeking out. Upon seeing a face identical to its owner's, it excitedly pounced on it.

It was the first time the older sister had ever seen a dog. She was surprised for a moment, and then carefully took it into her arms.

The puppy smelled a scent different from its owner's and immediately became alert and tried to escape. The older sister, afraid that it would fall, instinctively held it even tighter.

The puppy struggled violently in her arms, its claws scratching her hand. She cried out in pain and let go. The puppy fell headfirst to the ground, twitched a few times, and then stopped moving.

When the nanny discovered that her sister was missing and rushed out to look for her, she saw her standing by the bushes, staring blankly at the dog's corpse.

After watching the entire process captured by the surveillance camera, the head of the family was instantly terrified when he recalled the image of Xu Ruyue, heavily pregnant, laughing maniacally while holding a dog corpse three years ago.

A demon! It really is a demon!

He summoned his trusted confidant and ordered him to secretly "deal with" his sister.

His confidant agreed, but when he saw his sister raise her innocent face to meet his gaze, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to do it.

This is a living, breathing life... But if she really is the reincarnation of some demon, wouldn't she be a huge calamity when she grows up?

This confidant was a cultivator. After much deliberation, he suddenly thought of the Dark Zone—a lawless area where all sorts of people mingled and no one would care about the true identity of a human girl.

So he abandoned her at the border between the human world and the dark zone, leaving her only a talisman to ward off evil spirits.

“Child, you shouldn’t be alive, but I can’t bear to… In that case, I’ll leave your life to God. If God lets you live, you can leave this forest unharmed. If God doesn’t let you live, then—go well! In your next life, may you be reborn into a better family!”

Perhaps it was divine intervention, or perhaps the amulet he gave her worked its magic, but the girl encountered no danger along the way. None of the ferocious beasts that often roamed the forest showed themselves this time.

But a five-year-old girl, who has grown up in luxury, has almost zero offensive power and no knowledge of wilderness survival. No matter how precocious she is, she could not possibly survive in the forest.

As she wandered aimlessly through the forest, starving, she suddenly caught a whiff of an aroma that nearly made her stomach rumble. And so she met the first benefactor of her life—

An old woman who "smuggled" herself into the border.

The old woman looked to be over seventy years old, with gray hair, a face full of wrinkles, a hunched back, and clothes patched upon patched.

At that time, Huo Shaoying had never even left her own home, so how could she have ever seen such a person? In her mind, this old woman was no different from the "beggar" that the nanny often talked about.

Beggars are bad; they'll kidnap children!

She doesn't want to be kidnapped!

So Huo Shaoying forced herself to suppress her drool and secretly hid behind the tree to peek.

The old woman sat with her back to her by a fire, where a chicken was roasting. She took out several bottles from the bundle on her back and poured some powder on the chicken.

The aroma suddenly became even stronger.

Huo Shaoying's stomach made a "rumbling" sound, and she quickly covered her stomach and tried to hide behind a tree.

You can't see me, you can't see me...

Beside the fire, the old woman paused almost imperceptibly, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

After a long while, Huo Shaoying cautiously peeked out.

Huh? When did this tent appear?

Beside the campfire, a tent had somehow appeared, just big enough to accommodate one person.

The old woman was gone, and only half of the chicken remained on the fire.

Huo Shaoying swallowed hard, her eyes fixed on the small half of the roasted chicken.

"Gurgle—gurgle—" Her stomach growled louder and louder, and she finally couldn't resist. She tiptoed toward the fire.

One step, two steps... getting closer!

Her eyes lit up as she reached out to grab the roast chicken, but before her fingers could even touch it, she felt a blur before her eyes and was suddenly "flying" into the air.

The old woman grabbed Huo Shaoying by the collar and lifted her up, roughly wiping the mud off her face from the fall. Seeing that although Huo Shaoying was scared, she didn't scream or shout, but instead stared at her with wide eyes in a show of bravado, a smile slowly bloomed on her wrinkled old face.

"Wow—she's quite the tough little girl!"