Huh? What do you mean your mother is one of the seven deadly sins?!

Tears, without warning, surged from Liu Ruyan's blood-red, alluring eyes, like pearls from a broken string, sliding down her flawless cheeks.

Liu Ruyan even forgot to raise her hand to wipe her tears, but instead used her tear-filled eyes to greedily trace Lin Xia's face, as if she wanted to fill in all the blanks of the past ten years.

"Xiao...Xiaoxia...?"

Her voice trembled with disbelief, as soft as a dream, as if she were afraid that if she spoke any louder, the figure in front of her would vanish like a bubble.

"mom!"

Lin Xia could no longer control herself and rushed forward, hugging Liu Ruyan with all her might. She buried her face in her mother's neck, which had a familiar fragrance, and burst into tears!

"Waaah... Mom!"

"I miss you so much!"

Liu Ruyan was held tightly by her son, feeling the grown-up body in her arms, still trembling helplessly, and listening to his sobs. Her heart felt as if it were being repeatedly cut by countless sharp blades.

Liu Ruyan raised her slightly trembling hand, hesitated for a moment, and then hugged Lin Xia back with utmost gentleness and unwavering determination, as if she were holding a rare treasure that she had lost and found again.

Her arms tightened, as if she wanted to merge her son into her very bones.

"Xia...my child...my Xia..."

Liu Ruyan murmured Lin Xia's name over and over again, her voice choked with sobs, tears streaming silently down her face and dripping into Lin Xia's hair.

She lowered her head and gently stroked her son's head with her cheek, feeling the real warmth of his touch.

It's been ten years!

When she left, the child in her arms was still so small and soft, needing her to hold his hand to cross the street and to coax him to sleep.

Now, he has grown into a tall and upright young man with broad shoulders, yet he still cries in her arms like a helpless child.

This enormous change, this long period of emptiness, tore at her heart, yet filled her with immense relief at having regained what she had lost.

Inside the palace, only Lin Xia's suppressed sobs and Liu Ruyan's silent tears remained.

That throbbing feeling, originating from the deepest part of her blood, was like the warmest tide, washing away all the coldness, exhaustion, and loneliness that Liu Ruyan had accumulated over the past ten years of fighting, struggling, and climbing to the top in the abyss.

Holding her son, whom she had been separated from for many years, and feeling the warmth of this blood connection, her long-wandering soul seemed to have finally found its home.

Lilith had quietly retreated to the palace entrance at some point. Looking at the mother and son embracing and weeping, a hint of emotion flashed in her blood-red eyes.

She gave a wink to the other succubus guards standing in the palace, and all the succubi understood and silently withdrew.

And gently closed the huge crystal door, leaving this space, filled with blood, tears, and reunion, to the mother and son who were reunited.

Time slowly passed in tears.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Xia's crying gradually turned into suppressed sobs, and the trembling in her shoulders slowly subsided.

Lin Xia still held her mother tightly, as if she would disappear again if she let go.

Liu Ruyan sensed that her son's emotions were gradually stabilizing. She gently patted Lin Xia's back, her movements so careful and tender, filled with the preciousness of something lost and then regained.

Liu Ruyan stepped back slightly, cupped Lin Xia's tear-streaked face in her hands, and gently wiped away his tears with her fingertips.

Finally, Liu Ruyan took a deep breath, raised the corners of her mouth, and revealed an incredibly gentle smile.

"Xia...Mom...I'm so glad to see you!"

"From now on, Mom will never let you suffer any more grievances!"

Lin Xia took a deep breath after hearing this.

"mom……"

Lin Xia's voice was a little hoarse, but it carried an unprecedented seriousness.

"I want to know... I want to know why, ten years ago, you, Dad, sister, grandparents, uncles, aunts... all of you just vanished like that?"

"They all disappeared overnight!"

Are you all in this world?

Lin Xia asked the question that had plagued him for ten years and had almost become a nightmare.

However, Liu Ruyan's reaction completely exceeded Lin Xia's expectations.

"You're saying...your father disappeared too?!"

The gentle and loving smile on Liu Ruyan's face froze instantly, as if struck by an invisible lightning bolt.

Her captivating, blood-red eyes widened suddenly, a surge of shock and disbelief welling up deep within them, even overshadowing the joy of their reunion.

"It's not just Dad..."

Lin Xia's heart sank at his mother's reaction, but he suppressed his unease and added, word by word:

"My sister, grandparents, uncles, aunts... they all disappeared that night!"

"I'm all alone at home now."

Boom!

Liu Ruyan felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in her mind!

The color drained from her face in an instant!

"Everything... has disappeared... leaving only you, Xia..."

"Eight years old!"

Liu Ruyan's eyes were filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry, Xia..."

"Mom...Mom didn't mean to leave you. Really, I didn't..."

Liu Ruyan paused for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts, recalling that unbearable moment.

"That night ten years ago... everything happened so suddenly."

Liu Ruyan's gaze became somewhat distant, as if piercing through the crystal walls of the palace and returning to that point in time that changed everything.

"Without any warning, without any sound... I only felt an irresistible and incomprehensible force, like an invisible giant hand, that instantly grabbed me!"

"I didn't even have time to utter a cry, to take another look at you as you slept... before that force forcibly dragged me from Earth, from our home, from beside you!"

"When I regained consciousness and control of my body... I was already in this world... and I had become... the lowest of the low, a succubus."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xia froze on the spot.

What fear and despair a mother must feel when she is forcibly abducted without any warning.

And thus, she became the lowest form of succubus...

In such a dog-eat-dog world, what hellish struggles and battles did my mother go through over the past ten years to get to where she is today?

Upon seeing Lin Xia's expression, Liu Ruyan, fearing that Lin Xia might misunderstand, immediately offered an explanation.

"Xia, don't worry, Mom didn't do anything reckless."

"Even the succubi under my command have had some of their habits altered by me..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xia nodded, naturally trusting her mother.

After seeing Lin Xia nod, Liu Ruyan breathed a slight sigh of relief, since her identity was somewhat inappropriate for a mother.

Fortunately, my son understands.