Honkai's Thousand Laws, Kidnapping Kiana at the Start

Hearing her grandson cry out in hunger, the old woman's heart nearly broke. She quickly brought the prepared dishes to the dining table. "Xiao Bao, hurry and eat. Don't starve yourself. You're growing now, eat more so you can grow tall and strong."

"Look, Grandma made your favorite shrimp. I queued at the market since this morning..."

Her face beaming with happiness, the wrinkles on the old woman's face nearly creased enough to catch a mosquito when she smiled. She pushed all the dishes in front of Xiao Bao, constantly adding food to his bowl.

Xiao Bao shoveled a piece of chicken into his mouth. Looking at his grandmother who was chattering beside him, he quickly pushed her old face away with one hand. "You're so annoying."

"..." Her lips twitched slightly, her face frozen in a stiff expression. A flicker of dimness appeared in the old woman's cloudy eyes, but she quickly put on a smile again.

"Then Grandma won't talk anymore. Grandma will peel shrimp for you." She sat next to Xiao Bao, her dirt-stained fingernails cracking open the shell of a prawn, carefully removing the head.

"Oh." Xiao Bao replied, shoveling a couple more bites of rice. He then took out his game console from his pocket and started pressing buttons with a click-clack.

"Grandma, are you done peeling? Hurry up." The buttons on the game console were clicking loudly as he pressed them. He didn't even look away from the screen, but he was barking orders.

Hearing her grandson's complaint, the old woman couldn't afford to care anymore and quickly helped him peel shrimp.

Hiss.

Suddenly, a sharp pain, a smear of crimson bloomed from her fingertip. The shrimp's sharp spine had pricked her finger, drawing blood.

Seeing that she was bleeding, she quickly put her finger in her mouth to stop the bleeding the traditional way – with spit.

"Grandma, you're eating my shrimp!" Xiao Bao suddenly shouted, halfway through his game. He had inadvertently caught a glimpse of his grandmother's actions.

His mother, standing nearby, couldn't watch anymore. She quickly squeezed the old woman aside and comforted Xiao Bao.

With nimble hands and feet, she easily removed the shrimp shell.

After peeling shrimp for a while, the woman also seemed a bit hungry. "Mom, let's eat first."

Who knew this simple sentence would draw the old woman's furious glare? She ignored sucking on her finger and cursed, "The men of the house aren't back yet, what are you eating for!"

The woman, who had just choked on her words, was furious. She stood up, wanting to take her anger out on her useless daughter, but a quick look around revealed no sign of Su Jue.

"That damn girl, where has she run off to now?" she cursed loudly, unleashing all her pent-up resentment without reservation.

Su Jue, standing outside the door, looked at the moon in the sky, a wave of sadness and despair washing over him.

A man gradually approached in the distance. Father, who had been working overtime until seven or eight o'clock, had finally returned.

Chapter Eleven: A Happy Family 3

"Xia- Xiao Lei." The man's face was etched with fatigue. Seeing Su Jue standing outside the door, a hint of pity appeared on his face. "Did your mother and the others not open the door for you again?"

Shaking her head, Su Jue sized up the middle-aged man. His hair had a touch of gray, and he wore a slightly ill-fitting suit, but his tie was neatly tied. Even though he was sweating profusely from the heat, he only slightly loosened his collar with his fingers, as if it wasn't a tie but some kind of leash.

"She's really too much. Come, Dad will open the door for you. I need to have a good talk with them." Su Jue moved aside, watching as the man slowly fumbled for his keys.

Father seemed to notice Su Jue's gaze and opened his mouth hesitantly, but said nothing.

This reaction didn't seem like someone who would stand up for his daughter.

"I'm back."

The door was pushed open. The dining table was already piled high with shrimp shells. The man glanced at his wife, who was peeling shrimp for Xiao Bao, and then at his daughter, who followed him in.

Ultimately, he chose to feign ignorance. Without a word, he simply placed the shoulder bag he was carrying neatly on the shelf in the room.

Unfortunately, while he remained silent, his mother, who was full of anger, had no intention of letting Su Jue off the hook.

She gently patted Xiao Bao's back, letting him eat by himself. Then she stood up and quickly walked in front of Su Jue.

Slap.

A resounding slap landed squarely on Su Jue's face.

He didn't dodge.

This was everything the girl was enduring in this family. To understand her, one had to feel this pain.

Suddenly, he understood how the bruises on the girl's arm had appeared. They were likely the result of abuse from her mother.

"You damn girl, where did you disappear to just now?"

His face stung with a burning pain. Su Jue didn't speak, merely turning his head to look at the father who had claimed he would stand up for her.

Noticing the gaze fall upon him, Father shrunk back uncomfortably. But then, as if remembering his earlier words, he looked up and interrupted his wife's scolding.

"Wife, the child is young. Don't hit her at the slightest provocation. If there's a problem, we can talk it through rationally."

He stood as straight as he could, as if only then could he muster the courage to speak to his wife as an equal.

The woman glared at him fiercely, her voice showing no signs of weakening. "This has nothing to do with you. Wait, what's with your tie? It wasn't like this when I tied it for you this morning. And your bag, didn't I tell you to put it on the third shelf? Why did you forget again?"

"I was just a bit hot, so I loosened it a little..." After being glared at by his wife, the man, who had been full of spirit moments ago, immediately deflated. He looked around and found that the old woman was not in the living room.

Shrinking his neck and realizing his mother wasn't there, the spineless man could only lower his head, avoiding Su Jue's eyes, and retreated back into the bedroom.

A grandmother who favored sons over daughters, a domineering and forceful mother, a spineless father, a capricious younger brother...

It was like a nightmare. After merely experiencing half a day of the girl's life, Su Jue had already had the urge to send this family to "reunion" countless times.

Let alone the girl who had lived in this house for over 10 years.

He felt the girl's awakened consciousness within the Theater of Domination. But after losing control of her body, she seemed to be more at ease. Even if her consciousness was confined to a puppet, it was far better than living in reality.

A desire for self-destruction.

Craving domination.

Undoubtedly the best host body for the Theater of Domination.

But Su Jue wasn't a monster filled with resentment and hatred. He was once human, and even after being chosen as the Herrscher of a Thousand, he retained his human nature.

Resentment solved nothing; he had understood this truth long ago when his relatives had divided his parents' inheritance in his previous life.

However, just as Su Jue thought he finally understood the reason for the girl's suicide, he could still feel the deep-seated fear of her family hidden within her heart.

Seeing Su Jue, who remained unfazed even after being slapped, the woman grew even angrier.

As she raised her hand, preparing to strike again.

Su Jue fiercely gripped her wrist. The girl's strength wasn't great, but with the support of the Herrscher of a Thousand, there was no way a mere woman could resist.

With a forceful squeeze from Su Jue holding the woman's wrist, she stumbled to the ground like a stray dog whose hind legs had been pulled. Su Jue's eyes were filled with a chilling coldness, mixed with the girl's hatred.

For a moment, the woman didn't dare to speak, only pointing at Su Jue with her finger, mumbling.

"Useless trash..."

"Shut up!"

Slap—!

After forcefully returning the slap, the woman finally dared not point fingers anymore, her body slumping to the ground as she instinctively took two steps back.

The living room fell into an unnerving silence. Xiao Bao was still engrossed in his game console, seemingly unbothered by his sister tackling his mother to the ground.

To him, his sister, mother, and grandmother were all just his servants. He never had to worry about anything; someone would always prepare food for him, someone would pick him up from school every day, and he could play his game console to his heart's content when he got home. It was a life all his classmates envied.

Surprisingly, the old lady was also silent. It was unclear whether she had gone to the kitchen or the restroom.

Only the bedroom door was slightly ajar, and the Father poked half his head out from the doorway, quietly watching everything unfold in the living room.

Noticing that his wife was the one being hit this time, he quickly pushed the door open.

"Xiao Lei, how could you do this? How could you hit your own mother?" he said with a resounding voice, full of confidence, completely shedding his previously cowardly demeanor.

Unfortunately, Su Jue had no mood to pay attention to him now. He had seen through this man: a coward who only bullied the weak and feared the strong. He was meek and submissive to his wife's dominance, but puffed himself up when his daughter was being bullied, acting like a great father. And when he was incapable, his first thought was to rely on his aging mother.

Su Jue completely ignored him. After confirming that the woman wouldn't cause trouble again in the short term, he closed the door and returned to his own room.

Following this, the woman's curses, arguments, and cries soon echoed through the living room.

Like a madwoman who had lost her mind, she loudly denounced her daughter's actions while continuously insulting the man's incompetence, unable to even protect his wife.

Her wails were loud, as if deliberately making sure the neighbors could hear her indignation.

Listening to the sound, Su Jue only felt annoyed.

Chapter 12: Twins

This feeling of annoyance persisted until nightfall. Having not eaten all day, the girl's body was somewhat weak. Su Jue had no choice but to temporarily lie down in his room.

If he had enough puppets now, he could use the passage constructed by the Theater of Domination in the imaginary space to have a clone from the other side bring him some food.

Unfortunately, the Theater of Domination was far from complete. The hive mind's bonus was too weak. Its only advantage was helping him prolong his life.

He had died from his own curse in his previous life, and this curse had not disappeared after he came to this world. Even becoming the Herrscher of a Thousand had only improved his physical fitness; it couldn't solve his lifespan problem.

The only fortunate thing was that increasing the number of puppets could help him extend his life. Besides the puppet that was his main body, two other puppets and a cat puppet had provided him with half a year of lifespan, allowing him to hold on until Sky City.

He checked the status of his main body and found that nothing unexpected had happened. He shifted his attention back to his current situation.

It wasn't until after 12 AM that the arguments in the house finally subsided. Su Jue, feeling groggy, gradually fell asleep.

However, at midnight, a rustling sound echoed in the dim air. Su Jue, whose eyes were tightly shut, slowly narrowed them, guessing that his mother might have come to seek revenge.

Then, after waiting for a long time, he heard no sound of the door opening, yet the faint noise continued, even drawing closer.

The girl's consciousness within the Theater of Domination suddenly became chaotic, tinged with an indescribable fear. Su Jue roused himself, slowly mobilizing his power, and the dim surroundings gradually became clear.

However, when he saw who it was, he couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea.

The girl's younger brother was secretly rummaging through her closet, rubbing her clothes against his body.

Like a bolt of lightning striking his heart, Su Jue finally understood that the girl's deepest fear wasn't from her father's weakness or her mother's scolding, but from her growing younger brother.

Their rooms were separated only by a curtain. For a teenage boy, this level of obstruction was insufficient to curb the growing desires within his heart. Moreover, this was a twisted child whose actions were entirely unpredictable.

No wonder the girl had dressed so conservatively even when she was about to jump off the building. It wasn't because she didn't care about her appearance, but because she was afraid of being looked at with dirty eyes by those around her.

The deepest malice came from the people closest to her.

The most desperate cries could only be heard on an empty rooftop.

The most intense hatred played out in the Theater of Domination.

Click.

The gears of the theater turned, and time around them completely froze. Only on the ethereal judge's bench did a stiff puppet hunch over.

Behind it, an imprint hidden deep within the mist flickered, like a predatory beast, always ready to drag the girl's puppet into the abyss.

Lacking the courage to resist, the Herrscher of a Thousand grants you the courage of a thousand.

Lacking the strength to struggle, the Herrscher of a Thousand shares with you the strength of a thousand.

But ultimately, the choice is still yours.

If you choose to fall into the abyss, the black wolf will grant you the power of revenge.

However, after that, you will become a puppet entangled by strings, and your existence, your individuality, will be controlled by me.

But Su Jue is not a desperate villain, nor is he a god of the abyss. Compared to seeking revenge through bloody and terrifying means, he prefers to resolve issues with gentler methods.

Therefore, he gave the girl more choices.

If you choose the brilliance of humanity, the white lamb will take away your resentment.

You will still be able to maintain your existence. Your resentment and despair will transform into an unconscious puppet, performing the prelude in the Theater of Domination in your stead.

The judgment begins!

Two days later.

Woman A, who lives in this neighborhood, was in a terrible mood. Leaning against an outdoor seat at a milk tea shop, she irritably knocked over the milk tea in her hand, then deliberately pushed the table. Even so, she couldn't get her boyfriend, sitting opposite her, to look away.

Angrily, she stomped hard on his foot, finally regaining her boyfriend's attention through the pain.

"Is it good-looking?" Her tightly furrowed brow was full of rage.

"It's... ah, no, you're much prettier." Her boyfriend, driven by a strong survival instinct, realized what he was doing. He quickly averted his gaze and quietly coaxed his girlfriend.

However, while trying to appease his girlfriend, he still couldn't help but glance at the girl not far away from time to time.

She's so beautiful.

·

"I thought you would choose destruction."