I turned around. It was Wei. Or rather, Xiao Pan, the boy he was reincarnated as in this lifetime.

"I'm sorry. Don't be scared." I wasn't sure what was I more astonished about. The fact that I could still speak like human or how my voice had turned deep and brassy.

Xiao Pan froze entirely. Well, I couldn't blame him. That's an appropriate reaction when you've witnessed a weird beast speaking to you in your language.

I cautiously stalked towards him. "I'm-" I paused. I'm what? Your mother in your previous life? He wouldn't even remember of my existence. I sighed. "I'm here to help you."

Xiao Pan's eyes instantly brightened and he stood up, even going so far as to taking a few steps to close the distance between us. "Are you here to answer my prayers? I saw an abandoned shrine at the mountains the other day and just thought I'd pray but I didn't know who I was praying to because of how dilapidated the place was. So it was you!"

"Y-yes?" I answered questioningly. I was pretty sure that wasn't true.

Pearls of tears popped out from the edge of Xiao Pan's eyes. "Can you take me away from here? Far, far away."

I knotted my eyebrows in concern, taking in the new bruises that formed on his limbs. "Let's go. I'll take you far away from here. We'll go to somewhere you could be happy. Always happy. Healthy and happy."

Xiao Pan blinked his tears away in disbelief. "Really?"

I nodded. The weight on my head added to the regality of my movement. "Really."

Xiao Pan blinked once, twice. "But you need to help my friends too!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Your friends?"

"Yes! Their parents are also like my... Like my mama." Xiao Pan lowered his head at the end of his sentence.

Hearing Xiao Pan who was once my son call another person his mama was a stab in my heart but that ache was replaced with venom blood when I remembered how unworthy she was of that title. And to think that there were other parents who were like her and giving the same treatment to their children made my blood boil.

"Then we'll help them." I declared determinedly before taking a look at Xiao Pan. I observed him from the very tip of his head to the bare feet touching the ground and saw Wei's shadow. It felt as if a pin pricked at the weakest part of my heart. "Did you run away from home?"

Xiao Pan nodded.

"Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"I'm staying at the abandoned shrine that I told you about."

"Then could you lead the way and take me there?"

When Xiao Pan had told me about the shrine being in the mountains, I didn't know that he meant it was buried deep in the densest part of the mountain. No wonder it was abandoned. The trek was treacherous. It was a wonder how Xiao Pan was able to come across the shrine in the first place.

It was a simple building but it was made of stone, which was probably the reason why it was still  standing. The outside was painted red but the old paint was chapped at a lot of places. There was no door. But it was fine since it was summer. As long as there were four walls and a roof intact to keep the summer rain away, it was a decent place.

The shrine was on the smaller side, yet I could see how it would be able to house as much as twenty children within its walls.

I turned my head to Xiao Pan. "Do you think your friends would like to stay here?"

Xiao Pan surveyed the room. "Of course! We will eat whenever we wanted to, nap and sleep whenever and for however long we wanted to." He turned to face the doorless doorway and gestured at the outdoors. "And play as much as we wanted to."

I nodded as I smiled with my fangs. "Then, we'll bring the children here."

Over the course of a week, I had brought all of the children to the shrine. Stories about me kidnapping kids and eating them besides also stealing livestock and eating them started then and ran rampant. But did anyone witness anything or even see any bones or carcasses around before accusingly? No. Of course not. That was what many adults do best, turning a blind eye and start rumors that only benefited their take on events.

All of the children on the other hand were terrified when they first laid eyes on me, rightfully so, but every single one of them were more keen on leaving the hell they were experiencing that they followed willingly. Yes. Read that again. I didn't kidnap those kids. They came willingly. 

As the number of children who were staying at the shrine grew, I had to find ways to keep them fed. That was when I started stealing livestock. I didn't need to eat, never had the need once I had ascended to a deity and still didn't need it when I was transformed into a beast. But it was a different story for the children who were still growing. What was I supposed to do? Let them starve? No!

I was standing outside the shrine and feeling the warm summer breeze when I heard Xiao Pan's footsteps.

"Here, a potato for you." Xiao Pan offered a steaming potato wrapped carefully in a clean rag and placed it in front of my paws. He didn't know that I didn't need food. I don't think any of the children knew.

I could feel the dampness in my eyes as I stared at the potato. I turned to face Xiao Pan. Now that I'm finally looking at Xiao Pan properly, I realized that he has the same doe eyes that Wei used to have. 

"You remind me of someone." I blinked to pull the tear cradled at the edge of my eyes from falling.

Xiao Pan sat down, quietly listening as if he was an adult instead of a child.

"Someone I failed to protect. He was-" I heaved a choked sob.

Xiao Pan scooted over and patted me in the back and the gates of tears were broken by the free-falling tears. It was too similar. Too similar to how Wei had always comforted her.

Xiao Pan waited until the tears stopped. This too, was eerily similar to Wei. "I bet that you've tried your best. And he would've known that too." The boy paused. "And that's enough."