The Enlightened Bibi Dong

At first, she had thought she couldn't go on living without Yu Xiaogang.

But after the fragment disappeared, Bibi Dong felt that there was nothing wrong with leaving Yu Xiaogang. She even thought it was a good thing he had left.

A hard-to-describe sense of relief welled up inside her, and Bibi Dong froze.

The feeling had come too suddenly, and it was too strange.

Just a second ago, her heart had felt as if someone were squeezing it, the pain unbearable. Then, in the next second, the suffocating agony ebbed away like a tide, leaving not the slightest trace.

She even felt that the way she had lost her composure over Yu Xiaogang just now was utterly ridiculous.

Bibi Dong lowered her head and glanced at Deng Tianxin, whom she was holding suspended in the air.

The little rascal gazed up at her with round, bright eyes. A faint smile played on his lips, making him look just like a little fox that had just stolen a chicken.

"What are you looking at?" Bibi Dong asked crossly.

"A beautiful woman," Deng Tianxin replied, entirely unapologetic. "Auntie, you're really pretty. Prettier than every other auntie I've ever seen."

Bibi Dong's mouth twitched.

She had seen for herself how this little rascal said one thing to your face and another behind your back.

But for some reason, when she looked at his punchable little face now, she wasn't nearly as angry.

Perhaps it was because the huge stone that had weighed on her heart for so long had suddenly vanished, leaving her feeling light all over.

On the way back to Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong stopped holding Deng Tianxin up in the air and let him walk on his own.

Deng Tianxin looked at Bibi Dong, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Um, could you let me go back to my village first?"

Bibi Dong folded her arms and looked at Deng Tianxin. "What do you need to do?"

Deng Tianxin scratched his head. "You're taking me to Spirit Hall, right? I want to go say goodbye to the village chief. He's looked after me for a year. It wouldn't be right to leave without telling him."

Bibi Dong stared at Deng Tianxin for a while, as if weighing how much of what he'd said was true and how much was a lie.

Her gaze made Deng Tianxin feel a little uneasy. He was about to say that it was fine if it was inconvenient, when she calmly uttered two words.

"Lead the way."

"Huh?" Deng Tianxin froze.

"I said, lead the way." Bibi Dong's tone barely changed. "You want to go back to the village and say goodbye, don't you? I'll go with you."

Deng Tianxin hurriedly nodded and led Bibi Dong toward Iron Ox Village.

On the way to Iron Ox Village, Bibi Dong couldn't help beginning to reminisce.

She thought back over all the moments she and Yu Xiaogang had shared.

The more she recalled, the more deeply her brows furrowed.

She had met Yu Xiaogang three years ago.

Yu Xiaogang was a year younger than her and came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Although his Martial Soul Mutation had left him weak, he was widely read and could speak fluently on Soul Master theory. Among the many Soul Masters who knew nothing but fighting, he seemed particularly different.

In her youth, that difference had drawn her to him.

She had thought Yu Xiaogang was unlike anyone else. He was gentle and refined, well-read and talented. He was always quoting the classics, making her feel as if she were gazing up at a lofty mountain.

But now, as she looked back and thought it over carefully...

Bibi Dong's steps suddenly halted.

Deng Tianxin stopped too and looked up at her. "Auntie, what's wrong?"

Bibi Dong didn't answer, because she was turning Yu Xiaogang over and over in her mind.

Well-read?

Yes, Yu Xiaogang had certainly read plenty of books and knew a lot about Soul Master theory.

But what then?

What theories had he proposed? None.

What discoveries had he made? None.

What practical use had he made of all that knowledge? Still none.

He had simply memorized other people's ideas inside and out, then brought them out to hold forth in front of her.

Those theories sounded impressive, but when she thought about them carefully, they all belonged to other people. Not one was his own.

He was like someone who had stuffed an entire library into his head, yet had never opened a blank notebook and written down even a single line.

Call it "well-read" if you wanted to be polite. Put less kindly...

The corners of Bibi Dong's mouth dipped slightly.

Wasn't he just a walking bookshelf who knew how to recite?

And then there was how he dealt with people.

It was true that Yu Xiaogang was shunned in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan because of his Martial Soul Mutation.

But what had he done about it?

He didn't socialize, cultivate connections, or fight for resources.

Whenever trouble came, he backed away. Whenever he faced hardship, he hid.

When they were together, she had been the one to seek him out, the one to arrange their meetings, the one who always thought of him.

And what had Yu Xiaogang done?

He had quietly read books under her protection, accepted her kindness as his due, and couldn't even bring himself to give her a clear promise.

The more Bibi Dong thought about it, the more she felt she must have been blind back then.

She was the Saintess of Spirit Hall, extraordinarily talented and beautiful. There were countless people lining up to court her.

And yet she had fallen for a good-for-nothing who could do nothing but recite books?

No, "good-for-nothing" was too harsh.

Bibi Dong silently revised her description to something more accurate.

Yu Xiaogang was a mediocre man with grand ambitions but little ability, who overestimated himself and did nothing but talk big.

What could someone like him possibly amount to once he left her, Bibi Dong?

Would he use all that theory stuffed in his belly to become a walking encyclopedia for someone else?

At that thought, Bibi Dong suddenly laughed out loud.

There was no bitterness in her laughter, only the exhilaration of finally being free.

Seeing this, Deng Tianxin's mind short-circuited and he blurted out, "Auntie, you're laughing like a creep."

Bibi Dong's smile instantly froze on her face.

She lowered her head and looked at the little thing beside her feet, who wasn't even as tall as her waist. The killing intent in her eyes nearly took on physical form.

"Say that again?"

Deng Tianxin immediately realized he'd chosen the wrong word and hurried to make amends. "I said you're laughing so beautifully, Auntie, like a flower!"

"That's not what you said just now."

"That's exactly what I said!"

"You think I'm deaf?"

"You misheard, Auntie." Deng Tianxin kept a straight face, blinking his big eyes with utmost sincerity. "I said you were laughing beautifully, not creepily. You heard me wrong."

Bibi Dong took a deep breath.

She counted from one to ten in her head, then counted back down to one before she managed to suppress the urge to strangle him on the spot.

She suddenly realized she had taken more deep breaths today than she had in all her nineteen years combined.

"Deng Tianxin," Bibi Dong said calmly, "have you ever heard a saying?"

"What saying?" Deng Tianxin tilted his head, his expression perfectly innocent.

"Loose lips sink ships."

Deng Tianxin thought about it seriously, then said, "I haven't. But, Auntie, I have something I want to ask you, too."

"Go ahead."

"You and that uncle broke up, so can you marry me now?"

Bibi Dong stumbled and nearly fell on the spot.

Bibi Dong steadied herself and looked at Deng Tianxin in disbelief. "What did you say?"