Someone was assembling a gun.
Behind this wall was the living room, not the master bedroom.
Meng Chao's gaze turned dangerous. He picked up the emergency flashlight and drifted silently out of the room like a ghost.
His footwork was exceedingly strange. Whenever his toes touched down, they slid lightly forward, like a stalking cheetah, without making the slightest sound.
Even breathing came from one corner of the living room.
Bai Jiacao appeared to have fallen asleep.
Meng Chao smiled, then suddenly switched on the flashlight and shone it over.
He happened to catch the little girl's sparkling eyes. She was not asleep at all, but was instead fiddling with an oddly shaped firearm.
Bai Jiacao wore pink pajamas covered in little dog patterns.
The strong beam left her face as dazed as one of those puppies.
Half a second later, she hurriedly tried to hide the gun behind her back.
But she was not faster than Meng Chao.
Before the little girl's eyes could blink, the gun had fallen into her brother's hands.
"Where did this gun come from?"
Meng Chao examined it and suddenly found it strangely familiar.
The firearm turned into a red-hot branding iron. Pain shot from all ten fingertips to his brow, and memories of his previous life fluttered like dancing butterflies as the nightmare replayed once more.
Firelight, screams, a mysterious monster.
Bai Jiacao, dressed in puppy pajamas, gripped this gun tightly in both hands and fired while trembling.
Firelight scattered in all directions, smoke filled the air, and the recoil knocked her over.
Burning, collapse, their father's furious roar, their mother's shriek, his own howl, and his sister's remorseful crying.
This was the gun!
Meng Chao suddenly realized that, when the mist had descended in his previous life, Bai Jiacao had been as fearless as a newborn calf before a tiger and fired this gun at a mysterious monster.
That was what drew the monster's attention and made it charge straight at their home.
His mother, whose legs were inconvenient, had suffered severe injuries.
After such a drastic upheaval, his heart had been restless and agitated. Once he got to school, he could no longer endure the class monitor's mockery and finally had a vicious fight with Zuo Haoran.
How could he have been Zuo Haoran's match back then?
The class monitor injured him with an extremely sinister method. He had not noticed it at the time, but several days before the National College Entrance Examination, breathing began to hurt faintly, and his Limit Fist Strength plummeted by 30%.
In the end, he missed even vocational college by only a few points.
Bai Jiacao blamed herself deeply, believing that both their mother's severe injury and her brother's failure in the National College Entrance Examination had been caused by her recklessness.
Perhaps this was what became her Heart Demon, the beginning of her... falling into the demonic path.
"Brother, what's wrong? Don't scare me, Brother!" The little girl's voice rang in his ears.
Meng Chao jolted and returned to his senses. "Mm."
Bai Jiacao let out a breath of relief. "We made this in handicrafts class. I secretly brought it home to play with for a while. Brother, give it back quickly. If Dad, that old stick-in-the-mud, finds out, I'll get scolded!"
The little girl wore a thoroughly ingratiating smile, just short of wagging her tail.
She reached out to snatch it, only to grab empty air.
"Confiscated."
Click, click. Meng Chao dismantled the gun into parts with one hand.
"Ah, my gun!"
Her fawning smile instantly turned furious. The little girl leaped from the camp bed, baring her teeth and claws. "I worked so hard to make that! The Survival Committee issued a law—when the mist descends, all citizens over fourteen in the city may legally possess blades, swords, and firearms to defend their lives and homes. I have the right to fight!"
"Go play somewhere else."
"Why?"
"Because the gun you assembled is trash. The parts haven't even been polished properly, yet you dared pursue maximum power. This pile of scrap metal will erupt with thick smoke and firelight when it fires. It'll be more eye-catching than setting off firecrackers, and the monsters will definitely spot it."
"Who says so? My gun is the best in the class. I even got ninety-nine points on the midterm exam."
Bai Jiacao was beside herself with rage. Waving her little fists threateningly, she said, "Bad brother, stinky brother, rotten brother, give it back now, or I'll take it by force!"
"Take it?"
Meng Chao felt as though he had heard a joke.
"That's right. Don't force this young lady to act. You have no idea how powerful I am now."
Bai Jiacao rolled up her sleeves and said with no small amount of pride, "Brother, I'm not lying to you. You really aren't my match. It's not too late to surrender now."
"You?" Meng Chao crooked a finger at her.
The future Black Night Witch was enraged.
Like a starving tiger pouncing on a sheep, she lunged at her brother.
Ever since she had taught seven or eight hooligans a lesson in the school's back alley last time, the little girl had become extremely confident in her ever-growing monstrous strength.
She kept reminding herself in her heart.
Easy. Take it easy. Don't hurt that stinky brother.
Otherwise, if he lets out one scream and goes tattling to Dad, that would be bad.
Who would have thought that this thought had only just flashed through her mind—
Bai Jiacao felt the world spin around her. She was tossed back with neither too much nor too little force, and all the strength in her body scattered like monkeys fleeing a fallen tree.
Her brother then shot out two fingers like lightning and pinched her nose.
His fingers were like iron pincers, utterly merciless.
"Mmph!"
The little girl could not breathe through her nose. The pain made tears spill from her eyes.
Her mind was an even greater mess. What was going on? She was a supernaturally strong beauty undefeated throughout junior high school!
Bai Jiacao squirmed desperately, trying to break free from the demon's grasp.
Her struggle only earned her further suppression. Meng Chao showed no sympathy. "Say it. You were wrong."
"Your sister was wrong!"
The future Black Night Witch had plenty of backbone.
"Indeed, my sister was wrong."
Meng Chao nodded, a smile surfacing in his eyes.
"You—"
Bai Jiacao took a deep breath, wanting to scream.
"Go ahead and scream. Call Dad and Mom out and let them see the fine gun you assembled." Meng Chao remained utterly calm.
That struck Bai Jiacao right in her vital spot. Her eyes widened, and she instantly deflated.
After several more seconds of deadlock, silver beads suddenly fell from her eye sockets. She muttered unwillingly, "Brother, I... I was wrong."
"That's more like it. Good girl." Meng Chao released her with satisfaction.
Bai Jiacao covered her nose and rubbed it for a long while.
Seeing the gun she had painstakingly modified become a pile of parts in her brother's hand, she nearly cried without tears.
"Help! My brother has turned into a great demon king! Somebody come save this innocent little sister suffering such torment!"
The future Black Night Witch covered her mouth and nose and screamed in the tiniest, tiniest voice, as thin as a mosquito's buzz.
In her heart, she raised a little fist and swore: Do not despise a poor young girl. One day, I'll defeat my brother, this great demon king, and stomp him beneath my feet!
"Hmm?"
Meng Chao narrowed his eyes, releasing a thread of killing intent. "What was that sound?"
"It was... a mosquito."
Bai Jiacao stammered in fright. "The mist is getting thicker and thicker. Even the mosquitoes have mutated. I just saw an enormous striped mosquito fly past."
"No problem. If I hear it again, I'll slap it to death."
Meng Chao was very satisfied as he watched his obedient sister.
With her homemade gun confiscated and the mysterious monster dealt with, the tragedy from the nightmare would not happen. His sister would not blame herself, so she would not become the Black Night Witch, right?
As he thought this, Strange Fire flashed before his eyes, and a message appeared:
Special Citizen Bai Jiacao (Black Night Witch): probability of turning dark decreased by 1%. Dragon City's future level of chaos has decreased. Congratulations on your outstanding contribution to civilization. Contribution Points +500
"Just as expected!"
Meng Chao was delighted. What a huge wave of Contribution Points.
He vaguely remembered that, in his previous life, after his sister became the Black Night Witch, she not only caused great trouble in Dragon City but also ran rampant throughout the Otherworld, forging countless grudges. The storms she stirred up even spread to Dragon City.
If he could stop his sister from turning dark—
It would absolutely be a great deed that promoted righteousness, fostered harmony, and made the future brighter.
Wait, why had the "probability of turning dark" only decreased by 1%?
Thinking carefully, his sister's probability of turning dark in his previous life had been at least 95%, perhaps even 100%.
A 100% probability of turning dark had only dropped by 1%.
Did that not mean this little brat was incorrigible, and there was an eighty or ninety percent chance she would still turn dark?
Meng Chao looked at his sister with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
Sensing danger spreading through the darkness, Bai Jiacao trembled like a little fox facing a great tiger.
"Brother, wh-what is it?"
She forced out a smile and said obediently, "I promise I'll never play with firearms carelessly again. I'll definitely listen to the words of the handsomest, best, greatest brother in the world."
"Is that so? Heh heh."
Meng Chao stretched his limbs, pondering how to deal with the future Black Night Witch.
Suddenly, a piercing alarm sounded outside the window.
After three urgent buzzes came a long siren blast. This was a Level One combat readiness signal.
The mist had descended. The monsters had appeared!
"A Chao, prepare for battle!"
Meng Yishan rushed out like a whirlwind. "Xiao Cao, get the medical kit and canned food ready. Watch your mother. I'm going next door to get Grandma Wang."
The moment he opened the door, the alarm became even louder.
Above and below, hurried but orderly footsteps echoed everywhere.
Regardless of gender or age, every resident sprang into action.
Among the young and middle-aged, cold-weapon experts skilled with blades and swords were assigned to the Bayonet Squad. They gathered downstairs, preparing for close combat.
Elite marksmen from the old military were stationed at their own windows and balconies, forming crossfire through firing holes.
The elderly, weak, women, and children also prepared emergency food and medical kits, then picked up daggers, bayonets, and Entrenching Tools.
Should monsters break into the residential building, they would mount their final resistance.
After being tempered by decades of storms and waves, the nerves of Dragon City's people had long grown extraordinarily thick.
Even if a monster appeared in the bathroom, people would not change expression as they wielded toilet plungers and fought it to the death.
Before you continue