Witch Little Sister

Tiger Forest District, where Tianfu Garden was located, had been placed on Level Three combat readiness this time.

After decades of slaughter, monster sieges had long become part of daily life.

The old men and women still practiced ancient martial arts absentmindedly in the Small Plaza.

Children waved polished monster bones and ran circles around their grandparents, playing Earthlings Fight Little Monsters.

Several middle school students who had gotten out early were idly shooting the breeze, arguing over whether Dragon City should pool all its resources to develop interdimensional travel technology and return to Earth.

"Brother!"

As Meng Chao went around the Small Plaza, someone suddenly called out to him.

Turning around, he saw a little girl in a middle school uniform dragging an enormous, heavy iron bucket, like a hardworking little ant hauling food several times larger than itself.

The little girl was adorable, like a flower bud about to bloom.

Her crescent eyes and curved brows held a touch of mischief.

Her uniform was a size too large, making her look even more petite and delicate.

She bounced and waved. "Come help me already! I'm exhausted!"

"Oh."

Meng Chao was somewhat dazed as he walked toward his little sister, Bai Jiacao.

As he looked at her pretty face, still not fully grown into its features, his brain throbbed with pain again.

It was as though a red-hot steel needle had pierced his temple, probing the deepest reaches of his mind and releasing glistening, translucent fragments of memory.

Her glossy black hair turned into blazing purple flames. Her gemlike black eyes shone with bewitching light. A pair of broad wings streaked with blood vessels spread from her back. Like a demon descending from the Blood Prison Abyss, she wore a mysterious, wicked smile. Her beauty was painted in colors bold and rich enough to make the hearts of half the Otherworld's living creatures burst from terror.

This was the Black Night Witch.

Wherever she went, she brought the endless darkness of eternal night.

"Brother? Heh heh..."

Meng Chao seemed to see his sister far in the future, transformed into the Black Night Witch, stepping on him beneath her feet and letting out a cryptic, chilling laugh.

Meng Chao: "Meow meow meow?"

So this was the kind of sister you were!

"Brother, what's wrong?"

Waving a small hand before his eyes, Bai Jiacao asked curiously, "Why do you look like a mouse that's seen a cat?"

"N-nothing. What's this? Why's it so heavy?"

"Isn't it because of Old Dad? He heard the army had taken down another Ironclad Rhinoceros nest, so he rushed to queue up at the supply cooperative. He really did manage to buy a huge bucket of beef, saying it was way cheaper than the market. But it's way too heavy!" The girl pouted.

"Where's Dad? Why did he make you carry it?"

"Dad's still lining up for a second round at the supply cooperative, hoping to see if they have any beef marrow. I dragged this all the way back myself. Hehe, impressive, right?"

The girl planted her hands on her hips, puffed out her little chest, and her brows and eyes were filled with proud light.

"Let go. I'll take it."

"Let's carry it together. You were injured. Dad and Mom told me not to let you do heavy work."

"How is this heavy work? Let go before it lands on your feet. Carry my schoolbag for me."

Meng Chao bent down, his shoulder sank, and he hoisted up the entire bucket of Ironclad Rhino Beef.

Bai Jiacao let out a breath of relief and kneaded her aching little arms and legs.

Yet she was also nervous, carefully watching her brother's gait and posture, afraid he would hurt himself again.

Meng Chao's eye twitched.

Being cared for so attentively by the Black Night Witch who would one day plague the entire Otherworld left him feeling somewhat flattered.

At that thought, he abruptly stopped.

"Ow!"

Unable to stop in time, Bai Jiacao bumped into her brother's back. Rubbing her nose, she let out an indignant cry.

Meng Chao turned around with a strange look in his eyes.

"Brother, what are you doing?" Bai Jiacao's scalp prickled.

"Let me ask you something. Do you have any grievances against me?"

"How could I? Brother, what could I possibly be unhappy about?" What nonsense. Of course I do, you rotten brother!

"Am I usually bad to you? Do I bully you all the time?"

"Not at all. Brother treats me best and never bullies me." Of course you're bad to me! You bully me every day. You're a great demon king, and you still have the nerve to ask that?

"If—if one day you gained power, would you step on me beneath your feet?"

"Heavens, dear elder brother, what on earth are you thinking? How could I step on you? Am I really that brutal?" Hehe, you guessed right! If I ever gain power, the first thing I'll do is step on you, you rotten brother. I'll stomp hard—stomp, stomp, stomp! Oh ho ho ho ho!

Bai Jiacao tried her best to control her expression.

But the moment she imagined turning the tables, stepping on her tyrant big brother's head and holding her head high at last, the little girl really... could not control herself!

Meng Chao narrowed his eyes.

He suddenly extended his demonic claws, covered his sister's head, and rubbed hard—rub, rub, rub.

"Brother, what did I ever do to you? You're bullying me again!"

Bai Jiacao was both angry and flustered, her little face flushing red.

"Does an older brother need a reason to bully his younger sister?"

Meng Chao was in high spirits. Who told you to stomp on me so viciously after becoming the Black Night Witch?

While he could still beat her, he might as well enjoy himself first.

That said, now that he had returned from the nightmare, he would never allow even the slightest misfortune to befall his family again.

Little Sister, I won't let you become the Black Night Witch everyone fears. You should be the happiest, prettiest, most beloved little princess in the whole city—no, in the whole Otherworld!

As Meng Chao thought this, he rubbed the little princess's hair into an even greater mess.

Building Nineteen, Unit Three, Tianfu Garden.

Because of power shortages and monster attacks, few buildings in this era had elevators installed.

Adults were used to climbing walls like geckos and crawling directly in through their windows.

For teenagers, taking the stairs took little effort too.

Meng Chao and Bai Jiacao carried the Ironclad Rhino Beef to the door of Apartment 704, one pulling from the front and the other pushing from behind.

A "Five Good Family" plaque was nailed to the peeling alloy door.

Beneath the plaque were sixty-five spray-painted skulls with twisted, deformed horns, each marked with a red X.

They represented the sixty-five monsters this family had killed.

The scene, both familiar and unfamiliar, made Meng Chao's nose sting.

He had grown up in an ordinary family.

Seventeen years ago, after a monster siege, retired soldier Meng Yishan had heard an infant crying amid the ruins.

The brave Meng Yishan had not only rescued the infant, but also saved a young woman whose legs had been mangled into a bloody mess deep within the rubble.

The young woman was badly injured. Meng Yishan cared for her devotedly, and the two eventually married.

That infant had become their matchmaker. Hearing that the little guy had lost both parents during the monster siege, the two adopted him.

That infant was Meng Chao.

Though they shared no blood ties, his adoptive parents treated Meng Chao as their own son.

Even after their child of love, Bai Jiacao, was born, nothing changed.

In the nightmare, the ordinary, happy days of their family of four lasted twenty years before coming to an abrupt end amid chaos.

Having returned from the nightmare, Meng Chao resolved to protect everything forever.

"Mom, I'm back!"

Though he had keys in his pocket, Meng Chao could not help shouting.

The cramped yet tidy room was as stuffy as a steamer.

In the open kitchen squeezed together with the small living room, Bai Suxin, whose legs were not convenient, was sweating profusely before the stove.

Seeing her children return, the woman was filled with joy, and even the wrinkles on her face relaxed.

"You two have such sharp noses. You came back at exactly the right time."

Bai Suxin brought over a plate of golden food. "Hurry and eat the spring rolls while they're hot. They're filled with Nine-Eyed Fish Meat, a newly mutated variety. Nobody has seen it before, and no one really dares to eat it, so it was very cheap. I bought a lot. If it tastes good, I'll make more in the future."

"Mom!"

Meng Chao took a deep breath, trembling as he accepted the spring rolls his Old Mom had fried herself, then carefully took a bite.

It was delicious.

The meat was sweet.

It was as though he had not tasted such sweetness in many years.

"What's wrong with this child? Why are you crying over a spring roll?"

Bai Suxin looked at Meng Chao, then at Bai Jiacao.

Bai Jiacao made a tiny face and tapped her temple, signaling to her mother. "Brother's brain broke today!"

"Mom, Xiao Cao, go rest in the room. I'll make dinner." A thought stirred in Meng Chao's mind. The memory fragments flickered, and he was eager to try.

"You know how to cook?"

Both surprised and touched, Bai Suxin waved her hand. "Rest up. You two are tired from school. I only need to stir-fry some pork liver. Keep an ear out for the door—your dad just called and said he bought some beef marrow."

"It's fine. I'm tired from studying. Stir-frying a few dishes will clear my head."

Without further discussion, Meng Chao untied Bai Suxin's apron and tied it around himself. Then he picked up the kitchen knife and spun it in a flourish, looking quite practiced.

"Our Chao has really grown up." Bai Suxin smiled.

"Brother, can you really do it? Sword Halberd Demon Pig liver is hard to prepare. If you're not careful, it'll turn out fishy and stinking." Bai Jiacao did not believe him.

Usually, her foolish brother could at most cook instant noodles and dumplings. Frying a sunny-side-up egg was already the limit of his abilities.

Making Sword Halberd Demon Pig liver taste good required an extremely complicated process. Even ordinary housewives found it difficult to cook properly.

"I should do it instead. Move aside, foolish brother."

The little girl walked over out of habit.

Whenever their mother's legs hurt, she was usually the one who cooked.

But before she could take the kitchen knife from Meng Chao's hand—

The kitchen knife had already transformed into a streak of silver light.