Inside a rented room.
Bottles and cigarette butts littered the floor, while a black-haired girl, covered in bruises, sat on the ground with eyes as lifeless as a stagnant pool.
Meanwhile, in the room, a man was smashing things while cursing at the girl.
"You're just like that bitch, following her ways, living off others. I supported you and raised you, what's wrong with asking you to earn money in return?!"
"You even had the nerve to call the cops on me, your own father! You're really filial, huh?!"
The man pulled out his belt, "If I knew, I shouldn't have kept you around in the first place!"
Snap!
The belt struck the girl, but she remained silent, neither cowed nor defiant.
Seeing this, the man's anger flared even more, and he increased the force of his blows!
"Cat got your tongue?!"
"Didn't you have plenty to say in front of the police earlier? Speak up!"
Snap!
"I'll make you talk!"
The man struck again with the belt, but just then, a large bird suddenly crashed through the window into the room!
Crash!
"What the... where did this stupid bird come from?!"
The man swung his belt at the bird, but the bird unexpectedly spoke in human language, "You're still such a failure, Du Chun."
"Living like a dog, groveling outside, only daring to vent your anger indoors."
Hearing the bird's words, the man froze.
The voice of the bird was that of a woman, one he was very familiar with – it was his ex-wife's voice!
Not only the voice, but even the tone and content of her speech were exactly like his ex-wife's!
"Bitch, it's... you again!"
"You won't leave me alone even in death!"
Watching the man grit his teeth in frustration, the bird suddenly transformed into a middle-aged woman.
However, the middle-aged woman's eyes were extremely strange; she had no whites in her eyes, both of them were entirely black.
"You always said that as long as I died, you would live better, all my fault."
"Now that I've fulfilled your wish, why do you end up like this?"
"Why?"
"Because you're just raging in impotence, making excuses for your cowardice, venting all your anger on me, blaming me for everything, saying all the things you dare not say to those people to me."
"Heh, how pitiful."
"You..."
The man kept retreating, his heart pounding as he watched the eerie woman before him. "Who... who are you, a ghost?"
Seeing the man backing away, the woman gave a chilling smile.
She turned to the black-haired girl. "You, are you in pain?"
The girl, dazedly, lifted her head. "Are you... here to take me, Mother?"
The woman smiled and stroked her head. "Yes, that man is really annoying, why don't we just kill him?"
"Kill... him?"
The girl murmured to herself.
"Yes, kill him."
The woman said, then suddenly vanished before her, turning into a sharp knife that fell to the ground.
The girl picked up the knife dazedly, then looked at the man before her.
The man staggered backward and fell to the ground. "Wait, wait... Du Ying, no, Ying'er, I'm your father!"
"You can't, you can't... you can't!"
The girl tremblingly approached the man, gripping the knife handle with both hands, then plunged it down fiercely!
Squelch!
"Ahhhh—!!"
...
Night fell, dark clouds obscured the moon, and rain fell pitter-patter.
The girl walked dazedly on the street, like a walking corpse.
Her hands and clothes were stained with blood, the rain soaked her clothes and hair.
A raven followed behind her, watching her with eyes devoid of any emotion.
"Where are you going?"
Hearing the raven's voice, the girl turned dazedly.
"You are... Mother."
Mother?
The raven spread its wings; of course, it wasn't the girl's mother.
The appearance it had previously taken on, as well as the voice it had emitted, were all extracted from the man's memories.
This was a secret hidden deep in the man's mind.
This was a new ability the raven had acquired. It could steal secrets from the depths of people's hearts and mimic things from their memories perfectly.
Whether it was a person or an object, it could mimic them perfectly.
Additionally, it could also hear faint whispers originating from the shadows.
And the thing the girl feared the most in her heart was the man from earlier, and the thing she loved the most was the woman the raven had previously transformed into.
The girl sat down dazedly. "Can you... eat me, please?"
The raven blinked its eyes, and its pure black pupils seemed to have understood something. "Is living painful for you?"
"Alright, then give me your body."
With that, the raven suddenly lowered its head and bit into the girl's shadow.
Immediately, the girl's shadow was sucked into the raven's abdomen, and the girl lost consciousness as a result.
In just the blink of an eye, the girl's body dissipated.
And the raven gained all of the girl's memories.
And with it, a permanent body.
The raven's form began to distort, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into the likeness of the girl.
This was a shapeshifting ability without a time limit; she could maintain this form indefinitely, until eternity.
After becoming the girl, the raven suddenly tilted her head to one side.
"Humans... are truly complex beings."
This girl's name was Du Ying, a high school student. Her mother passed away from illness when she was eleven.
Her father had a history of domestic violence and, after her mother's death, she became the target of his abuse.
Her father smoked and drank all day, and in recent years, he had also fallen into gambling. Due to debts, he forced the girl to sell herself for money.
Her resistance was futile, and she eventually chose to report him to the authorities.
But because this matter involved someone in power, it was dismissed.
After becoming the girl, the raven's strongest emotion was hatred.
"Want revenge?"
"Alright, I'll help you."
With that, the raven girl's hands suddenly sprouted deep green scales.
Her ten fingers turned into sharp claws, lightly scratching the wall. The stones were easily cut open like tofu.
Just how powerful was the mimicry ability?
She could mimic any known life form.
Whether it was a fish-man or anything else, as long as it had a sufficient understanding of the life being mimicked, it could perfectly replicate the opponent's abilities.
From fish-men to invisible people, from bee queens to those who face the wall, it could replicate the abilities of all these people.
Following the memories, the raven found a secluded alleyway.
There were several burly men in the alley. They looked at the girl. "Hey, this time she's quite proactive."
"Everything has a process. We'll get used to it sooner or later."
"Go in, the client is already waiting inside."
The girl silently walked past the men. She raised her claws, and a flash of blood burst forth, several men's necks all had a bloodline appear.
Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!!
Several heads fell to the ground.
Even in death, those men didn't realize what happened. Their heads had already separated from their bodies.