At Mu Zibai's gaze, Wenren Qingyi timidly lowered her head. Her heart was already in a panic. She had no idea what Mu Zibai was trying to do! What was he doing this for?
"If you dare do anything to me, Big Brother definitely won't let you get away with it." Wenren Qingyi's voice had grown much weaker, and she sounded far less sure of herself.
She'd been pampered since childhood. She'd never been treated like this before. Her arm hurt, and her eyes were already turning red.
"What if I leave no survivors? No one saw anything here. Who would ever find out?" Mu Zibai's gaze was fierce, as if he truly meant to kill her.
Wenren Qingyi hurriedly said, "I was wrong, okay? I'll never do it again."
"You can admit when you're wrong?" Mu Zibai had no intention of letting Wenren Qingyi off. If he let her go just like this, she'd definitely trip him up in secret again next time.
He couldn't just let her off so carelessly.
"Don't push your luck! I already admitted I was wrong. What more do you want?" Wenren Qingyi said aggrievedly. In her mind, admitting fault meant being forgiven. That was how things always went when she dealt with her parents.
Admitting she was wrong was already the limit of what she could do.
Mu Zibai was getting fired up. He rolled his neck, and it cracked. If he didn't teach her a lesson today, it'd be hard to justify.
He flipped Wenren Qingyi over, found a pile of firewood to sit on, and laid her across his lap. Then he smacked her bottom with his palm.
He was giving her the complete childhood her parents and brothers had never given her. As her brother-in-law, Mu Zibai resolutely took on the responsibility.
When he thought back to the mistakes he'd made as a child, he'd always been dealt with using belts and slippers.
"Wah! Mu Zibai! You bastard! I'm going to kill you!"
Wenren Qingyi flew into a rage. She struggled to get up and pounded him nonstop, but she was no match for Mu Zibai's strength. He held her firmly in place.
Smack!
Another sharp, ringing slap.
[Clang! Points +21]
Mu Zibai took a deep breath. There was only one word for it: satisfying!
"Wahh! I'm telling Big Brother! I'll make Big Brother kill you! Mu Zibai, you just wait—"
Before Wenren Qingyi could finish, he slapped her again.
By now, the clangs rang endlessly in Mu Zibai's ears. He hadn't heard that sound in ages, and this one seemed to strike his very soul.
It left Mu Zibai feeling refreshed and invigorated. The more he spanked her, the more he got hooked.
Damn! This was a bad habit. He had to kick it. But who could resist the sound of clang, clang, clang?
"Help! I was wrong! Just let me go! I really was wrong, waaah—"
Wenren Qingyi screamed for all she was worth. All her earlier arrogance was gone as she struggled desperately, but every effort was futile.
Mu Zibai, meanwhile, paid no heed to Wenren Qingyi's cries. He only cared about the clangs ringing in his ears, as if he were bewitched.
If even one second passed without hearing a clang, his whole body felt uncomfortable.
He couldn't help sighing. What a bad habit!
Wenren Qingyi was now terrified of Mu Zibai and regretted everything. If only she hadn't offended him. Who would have thought that this little live-in son-in-law could be so tough and ruthless?
"Brother-in-law, I really was wrong. I'll never do it again. If you keep hitting me, my butt's going to break."
Wenren Qingyi sniffled a few times. She'd nearly cried herself dry.
Though her sobs were enough to move heaven and earth, only Mu Zibai, the culprit, could hear them.
[Clang! Points +22]
That earned him another point? Mu Zibai immediately got fired up. He rolled up his sleeves, then suddenly noticed that the shop seemed to have something unusual in it.
Seeing Mu Zibai stop, Wenren Qingyi came back to life. He'd finally stopped. Could it be that his conscience had gotten the better of him?
She clenched her little fists. Once she got out, she'd find a few cultivators, have them pin Mu Zibai to the ground, and then give him a good spanking!
She'd never rest until she got revenge!
She was just about to get up when Mu Zibai pressed her back down. Turning her head, she saw that he was holding something in his hand. It looked like a shoe.
Surely he wasn't going to—
Smack!
The next thing she heard was a heart-rending, pig-slaughtering scream.
"Are you going to do it again?" Mu Zibai let out a long breath. That felt good. This was probably the fastest way he knew of to earn points.
"No! I won't, I really won't! Please, stop hitting me. My butt's really going to break if you keep going."
Wenren Qingyi's eyes were nearly swollen shut from crying. She looked pitiful and aggrieved. She'd never cried like this before.
Even when she'd made mistakes in the past, her parents had only scolded her. They'd never laid a hand on her.
Mu Zibai looked at Wenren Qingyi's bottom, swollen to twice its usual size, and fell silent. Had he perhaps hit her too hard? He'd gotten carried away by the joy of Heartsteel. Still, it wasn't a big deal.
He put away the slipper in his hand.
Looking at Wenren Qingyi, who was still sniffling, Mu Zibai said apologetically and awkwardly, "All right, I did hit you a little too hard. I'm sorry. But I did it for your own good. That way, you'll remember the lesson."
"You've got some nerve saying that!" Wenren Qingyi glared at Mu Zibai reproachfully. He hadn't just hit her a little too hard—he'd beaten her within an inch of her life. The memory wasn't just vivid; it was downright traumatizing.
"None of this would've happened if not for you. All right, let's get going."
Mu Zibai had just started to get up and open the door when he realized he couldn't break through the formation.
"What's going on?" Mu Zibai asked Wenren Qingyi.
Wenren Qingyi wiped her tears as she sniffled. "This wild wolf hurt someone, so the monk locked it in here and subdued it. But it never lost its wild nature. A special token can control it, but they were afraid it might turn wild again, so they set up this formation to trap it for a while. You must have activated it fully just now.
"And I wasn't really going to let it bite you. I only wanted it to scare you..."
Mu Zibai: "..."
"Can we just break through it?"
"If you're strong enough, of course." Wenren Qingyi wiped her tears away. Thinking back on what had just happened, she felt even more aggrieved and nearly burst into tears again.
Mu Zibai punched the formation. It didn't budge at all. It was pretty sturdy.
Looks like he couldn't break through. Mu Zibai asked, "Is there any other way out?"
"You need someone who understands formations, or you can wait until the formation runs out of energy. Then it'll open on its own," Wenren Qingyi said.
"How long will that take?"
"I'm not sure, but the formation will grow weaker over time."
"All right. Looks like we'll just have to wait." Mu Zibai sat down on the floor, bored.
"This is all your fault,"
Wenren Qingyi grumbled. She'd wanted to kick Mu Zibai, but when she saw the look in his eyes and remembered what had just happened, she immediately pulled her foot back.
She was afraid Mu Zibai would pin her across his lap again and smack her butt over and over.
He couldn't hit her again. Just thinking about how she'd only just started developing—huh? Had they gotten bigger by two sizes?
Soon, night fell. The two of them stayed in the wooden hut without speaking. Wenren Qingyi shivered. It looked like she'd caught a chill.
The sunlight here had been bright during the day. Though it was winter, the low latitude kept it from getting cold. But at night, the wind picked up, and Wenren Qingyi was dressed rather lightly, so of course she was cold.
Mu Zibai held out his hand, inviting Wenren Qingyi to come closer.
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