1.
I have no memories from before I was six. By the time I can remember anything, I’m already in an orphanage. I don’t know who I am, much less where I came from.
The children at the orphanage didn’t like playing with me, because I’d scared more than one of them into tears. They saw me talking to empty air all by myself. They couldn’t see my friends. Only I could. Because my friends were ghosts.
….
When I was ten, I was finally adopted.
They were a kind elderly couple. They treated me like their own child, collecting scrap from morning till night to earn the little money they needed to send me to school.
One afternoon, they came home with a puppy a few months old. My adoptive father seemed a little awkward as he placed the puppy in my arms. “A Uyên, you get lonely at home by yourself. We found you a friend.”
My adoptive mother asked hesitantly, “A Uyên, do you like it?”
I looked up at them and awkwardly tugged at the corners of my mouth, putting on the smile everyone liked. “I do. Thank you, Mom and Dad.”
“That’s good. That’s good.”
I named the puppy A Hoàng. He became my first friend in this world. A friend who was alive.
I thought life would just go on like that. But when I was twelve, my adoptive parents were run over by a big truck while collecting scrap. They died on the spot. I went to the police station to take care of the paperwork, signed the forms at the hospital, and had them cremated.
I didn’t shed a single tear the whole time.
I heard the neighbors whispering. “That Khương Uyên girl is so cold. The Khươngs treated her so well, and now they’re dead, but she hasn’t cried once.”
“She really is a demon. The Khươngs must have been killed because of her!”
I shut the door, cutting off the noise outside.
2.
After I graduated from middle school, a prestigious high school contacted me.
They wanted to admit me as a special case.
First, I had excellent grades. Second, my circumstances were tragic enough for them to publicize widely, showing off the school's efforts to promote social equity in education.
I stroked A Hoàng’s soft fur while the voices of my old friends rang in my ears.
“Aaaah! I died in a car accident at the gate of Anh Hoa High School!”
“Give it a rest. My son goes to nearby Nguyên An High School. It’s no big deal.”
“A Uyên, A Uyên, say yes! I want to see what that prestigious high school is like, too!”
I glanced around, focusing on a point in the invisible space.
“You all want to see it?”
“We do!”
I nodded. “Then I’ll go take a look.”
It was raining on my first day at Anh Hoa High School.
A line of luxury cars was parked in front of the school gate. Bodyguards got out to hold umbrellas over the boys and girls in the back seats. They wore elegant uniforms and looked thoroughly arrogant.
I stood out of the way at the gate, holding an old black umbrella and wearing ragged clothes.
Even though we attended the same high school, I didn’t fit in here at all.
“Young Master Du is here!”
“Move! Get out of the way!”
The commotion drew closer. Someone ran frantically into the school, brushed past me, and shoved me without a second thought. “What’s a tramp doing here? Move!”
I was knocked to the ground. My arm scraped hard against the pavement, stinging with pain.
As I was about to get up, a pair of expensive-looking leather shoes appeared in front of me. I looked up.
An arrogant-looking teenage boy suddenly let out an “Huh?”
“Since when does our school admit tramps?”
“Hey, this isn’t a place you belong.”
He sneered and turned to walk into the school, his leather shoe pressing down on my hand as casually as if it were resting on a rock.
I was out of luck. On my first day, I’d crossed the person no one at Anh Hoa High School should ever mess with.
Du Minh Sinh, the boy everyone recognized as the school bully. He was the son of Hải Thành’s richest man, and his uncle was a politician. His family was extremely influential.
Even among all the rich kids at school, he was especially domineering. As for me, I’d gotten in on my grades alone, so naturally I became their entertainment whenever they were bored.
That afternoon, a shy-looking girl came up to me.
She said softly, “Khương Uyên, I lost my wallet. Could you help me look for it?”
I glanced at her and stayed silent. Like me, she was a special-admit student. At my side, my old friends had already started shouting.
“A Uyên, don’t go! She’s trying to hurt you!”
“That’s right! She’s awful!”
I shook my head at her. “I’m not going.”
She froze, panic flashing in her eyes. I put on my backpack, walked past her, and headed out of the classroom.
But right afterward, a pair of hands reached from behind and clamped over my mouth…
Some girls dragged me up to the rooftop. Someone was already waiting there. The girls hurriedly said, “Young Master Du, we brought her. Can we… go now?”
Du Minh Sinh had a cigarette in his mouth. He waved lazily. “Go on.”
“Thank you, Young Master Du!”
They hurried off the rooftop. I looked at the rich kids in front of me and backed away one step at a time.
“Come on. Shut her up first.”
I was kicked to the ground, and they beat me without holding back.
I covered my head with my hands, a fire burning inside me. My heart pounded faster and faster, and a voice in my mind was screaming.
‘Fight back! Why aren’t you fighting back!’
Dimly, I could also hear the voices of my old friends.
“Khương Uyên’s malice is growing…”
“Is she about to remember?”
“Minh Vương sealed her memories. She won’t remember…”
I was kicked in the head, and blood ran from my nose. Seeing me covered in blood, the bullies finally lost interest. After they left, I slowly recovered, then limped down from the rooftop.
I rented a small room in an alley not far from the school. It wasn’t very big, but there was enough room for A Hoàng and me.
When he heard my footsteps, A Hoàng got up from the doorway and wagged his tail to welcome me.
The strange feeling that had clung to me finally faded. I knelt down and let A Hoàng leap into my arms.
“A Hoàng, be a good boy.”
3.
What happened on the rooftop that day was only the beginning of the bullying I would suffer.
With Du Minh Sinh leading the way, I became someone anyone at Anh Hoa High School could bully.
It was their unspoken rule.
The teachers turned a blind eye, with no intention of intervening.
While I was being bullied, my friends started acting very strangely.
“A Uyên, don’t be angry, don’t be angry. They’ll get what’s coming to them.”
“A Uyên, take a deep breath. Calm down.”
They seemed… very afraid of making me angry.
That afternoon, I came home covered in injuries, with the vague feeling that someone was watching me.
I quickened my pace, wanting to lose whoever was following me as soon as possible.
But the man made no attempt to hide. He ran up and dragged me into an alley.
“Damn it! Brother Du really doesn’t know what he’s got. A pretty face like that, and he doesn’t even use it.
Well, more for me, ha ha ha.”
He cursed and pinned me to the ground.
“Woof! Woof!”
A dog barked. The punk froze, then turned to see a fierce yellow dog charging at him.
He fled in terror.
A Hoàng came over and affectionately rubbed against my neck.
“A Hoàng…”
I reached out to stroke his head and murmured, “If you hadn’t come, I might have killed him…”
It was a powerful urge hidden deep inside me, impossible to control.
The next afternoon, I sat in class. The dismissal bell had rung long ago, but Du Minh Sinh and his gang still hadn’t come looking for me.
What was going on?
Could they be tired today, and feeling merciful enough to let me off?
I had a bad feeling, so I immediately stood up, grabbed my schoolbag, and ran home.
Before, A Hoàng would come running to greet me as soon as I reached the entrance to the alley. But today, the alley was eerily quiet.
I walked slowly into the alley.
Someone was leaning against the wall smoking. When he saw me, he raised an eyebrow.
“Young Master Du, she’s back.”
I looked ahead and saw Du Minh Sinh squatting on the ground, with A Hoàng lying before him, barely alive.
A Hoàng’s mouth and legs were tightly bound.
His dark eyes looked at me, full of pity.
“You’re back?” Du Minh Sinh laughed.
“I heard this dog of yours was fierce. Didn’t expect him to be this weak.”
As he spoke, he pressed the lit end of his cigarette against A Hoàng.
A Hoàng’s body trembled with pain, and a whimper came from his throat.
I said hoarsely, “Give him back to me.”
“Sure.” Du Minh Sinh lifted his chin slightly.
“Get down on your knees and beg me.”
I stared at him without saying a word.
“What? Too embarrassed with all these people around?”
Du Minh Sinh waved at the boys and girls watching. They laughed and left the alley.
When I still didn’t move, the smile disappeared from his face.
Du Minh Sinh stepped in front of me and slapped me across the face. “You’re really stubborn.”
He picked A Hoàng up in disgust and, before my horrified eyes, slammed him hard against the ground.
I fell to the ground, at a loss for what to do.
As I watched A Hoàng’s trembling body slowly lose its life, I raised a hand to my eyes.
A warm, unfamiliar liquid streamed over my fingertips.
A piercing shout rang beside my ear. “She’s crying! She’s crying! Khương Uyên is crying!”
“It’s over, it’s over—the malice value is full!”
“Does she remember now?”
“Yes.”
I looked into empty space and smiled. “I remember now.”
I have no memories from before I was six because I don’t belong to this world.
I come from the Minh clan. I’m the daughter of Minh Vương.
Because I made a mistake, I was punished by being sent to this world to reflect. Now that my malice value is full, the seal Minh Vương placed on me has been broken.
Watching me talk to myself, Du Minh Sinh frowned.
“Who are you talking to?”
I pointed at the old woman fleeing through the air. “Her. Can’t you see her?”
“Playing tricks!” Du Minh Sinh felt mocked by me. His irritation suddenly flared, and he strode toward me in anger.
His hand grabbed my collar. In that instant, he had been about to shove me against the wall. But his movement stopped.
I took hold of his wrist and slowly pried his fingers apart, one by one.
Du Minh Sinh looked at me, pain keeping him from controlling his expression.
I motioned for him to look down at the empty ground. My gaze softened a little, and even my voice grew gentler.
“My A Hoàng is biting you.”