I got out of bed and tiptoed toward the bedroom door, slowly pushing it open.

A thick stench of blood and energy rushed toward me, almost pushing me back into the room.

In the middle of the living room, there was a pot of pinkish raw pork.

Jaden was holding a piece of the meat, his eyes closed as he prayed sincerely at the shrine. My mother-in-law stood to the side, watching him with a grim expression, but there was also a crazed look of love in her eyes as she gazed at her son.

I was too far away to hear what Jaden was saying. After a moment, he finished mumbling and took a small knife from his pocket. Without hesitation, he slit his wrist.

Blood poured from the wound, and he wiped it onto the raw piece of pork. Then, he placed the meat on the shrine.

My mother-in-law approached him, and they hugged tightly. Jaden patted her back, seemingly trying to console her.

He looked up and saw me standing there.

If I wasn’t mistaken, I saw murder in his eyes the moment he looked at me.

However, he quickly adjusted his emotions. He pushed my mother-in-law away and came running up to me with a worried expression.

“Why are you awake? Did you have another nightmare?”

I clenched my chattering teeth and pointed to the pot of raw meat with blood on it.

“Wha… What are you doing? What kind of deity is this? Why does she need such offerings?”

Jaden followed my gaze, staring at the meat for a while before sighing deeply.

“I guess I can’t hide it from you any longer.”

That was when he told me the truth. My mother-in-law was sick—she had advanced pancreatic cancer.

The doctors said she didn’t have much time left, and she wanted to spend her final days with her son.

Before leaving her hometown, she had learned about Lady Nefarious.

“What you saw was me offering my flesh and blood. Lady Nefarious needs the blood of the closest relative to show our sincerity.”

Jaden’s words convinced me. In fact, after hearing that, I even felt guilty for being harsh with my mother-in-law.

How could I treat her like that, knowing she was so close to the end?

My mother-in-law rubbed my head. “It’s fine, Nadine. I don’t blame you.”

I hugged her tightly and cried.

She pulled out a red cloth bag from her pocket, her hands trembling.

“This bracelet has been passed down through generations. It’s only given to the daughter-in-law of the Cloves family. It’s yours now.”

Tears continued to fall as I put the green bracelet she gave me on my wrist.

For the next few days, I drove to work, and that’s why I didn’t see the old blind man again.

It wasn’t until today that he stopped me outside my office building.

“You! Were you tricked?!”

I rubbed the bracelet on my wrist.

“You were right. That deity was Lady Nefarious. But my mother-in-law has cancer. She was just trying to get a blessing from Lady Nefarious.”

He slammed his cane hard on the ground. If not for the fact that he might accidentally kill me, I’m sure he would have struck me with it.

“Get a blessing? Then why would you need to put on that life-draining bracelet?!”

What? A life-draining bracelet?

That bracelet had been passed down through generations in the family.

The old blind man laughed coldly.

“Do you really think raw pork is enough for an evil being that has existed for thousands of years? Look closely at that bracelet. Didn’t you notice anything unusual?”

My heart chilled at his words. I quickly took off the bracelet and examined it closely.

If I remember correctly, there had been a blood-red mark on the bracelet.

Now, that mark had grown larger, taking up almost half of the bracelet.

“That bracelet is absorbing your blood essence! The day you die will be the day Lady Nefarious receives her real offering. It will be the day she grants the wish of her worshippers!”

The previous offerings were nothing.

The real offering—the one that would seal the deal—was the final piece of flesh and blood.

And it had to come from a human being.