"If I rob you of ten Copper Soul Coins and you give me one Gold Soul Coin, is that fair?" Deng Tianxin retorted righteously. "One Gold Soul Coin is worth a hundred Copper Soul Coins. You're paying over the odds. If that's not ulterior motives, then what is?"
Bibi Dong was struck speechless.
How did this little brat's logic sound so reasonable? No, what the hell was reasonable about it!
"And you just said I was cute and wanted to hold me in your arms and squeeze me," Deng Tianxin continued, his little face full of solemnity. "If that's not perverted, then what is?"
Bibi Dong felt her sanity crumbling at a speed visible to the naked eye.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and silently repeated to herself three times, I'm the Saintess of Spirit Hall. I can't stoop to a child's level. Only then did she open her eyes again.
"L-little friend," Bibi Dong said, doing her best to maintain her smile, though it looked downright terrifying. "Your big sister just thought you were cute and wanted to tease you, that's all. If you keep saying all that nonsense, I really will get angry."
Deng Tianxin felt the fragment inside Bibi Dong reacting more and more strongly. He looked at her expression, which seemed to promise a spanking.
He wisely decided to let her off the hook.
It definitely wasn't because he was afraid she'd spank him. He just thought that would be incredibly embarrassing.
Deng Tianxin cleared his throat a few times and said, "Well, I'm the bigger person here, so I'll let you off this time. Goodbye."
"Goodbye?"
Bibi Dong was taken aback, then narrowed her eyes.
This little brat had driven her blood pressure through the roof and nearly made the veins at her temples throb. And now he thought he could just dust himself off and leave?
As if she'd let him get away that easily!
"Stop."
Bibi Dong's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.
She was still crouching on the ground, but her entire presence had changed.
She was no longer the eighteen-year-old girl who'd been thoroughly riled up just moments ago. She was now Her Highness the Saintess, second to none in Spirit Hall.
Deng Tianxin's little leg, already stepping forward, froze in midair.
A chill shot from his tailbone up to the back of his head. He slowly turned around and saw Bibi Dong staring at him with a half-smile.
"W-what? I already said I wouldn't rob you. What else do you want?" Deng Tianxin held the wooden stick in front of him, trying to use it to bolster his courage.
Bibi Dong stood up and looked down at the tiny boy, wearing a smile that made Deng Tianxin's scalp tingle. "You called me Auntie so many times, said I was a pervert who liked children, and now you think you can just leave after saying you're the bigger person?"
She leaned toward Deng Tianxin and pinched his chubby cheek, giving it a little tug.
"Ow, ow, ow—" Deng Tianxin flailed his little hands, trying to break free.
But Bibi Dong had just the right touch. She wasn't hurting him, but she wasn't letting him escape, either.
"Little brat, weren't you so good with your words just now? Why'd you go quiet all of a sudden?" Bibi Dong asked cheerfully, kneading his cheeks as she spoke.
Just as soft and tender as she'd imagined, like kneading a freshly steamed bun.
Deng Tianxin glared at her with watery eyes and protested through his squished cheeks, "L-let go of me!"
"Call me big sister and I'll let go."
"No!"
"Then I'll keep pinching."
"You're abusing a child!"
"I'm upholding justice on behalf of Heaven," Bibi Dong said without batting an eye.
Deng Tianxin was bitterly forced to admit that he, a mighty transmigrator and heir to the God of Love, was being pinched and kneaded by an eighteen-year-old girl without the slightest ability to fight back.
At that thought, he released his level-22 Soul Grandmaster cultivation, hoping to shock Bibi Dong and make his escape.
There was no way he could beat her, but he should at least be able to startle her and run.
A surge of Soul Power belonging to a Soul Grandmaster spread from Deng Tianxin.
Feeling the surge of Soul Power, Bibi Dong couldn't help freezing for a moment.
Deng Tianxin looked only about six years old. How had he reached level 22?
Even if he was a genius, there was no way he could be this monstrous.
While Bibi Dong was distracted, Deng Tianxin hurriedly wriggled free of her grip.
"Bye-bye, Auntie."
Deng Tianxin spun around and bolted, his short little legs pumping furiously.
With his level-22 Soul Power at full force, he was indeed pretty fast.
But he'd barely taken three steps when a slender hand reached from behind and caught him by the collar.
"Uh—"
His feet kicked in the air twice before he was lifted clean off the ground, dangling like a kitten held by the scruff of its neck.
Bibi Dong held him up with one hand and turned him to face her, wearing a smile that made Deng Tianxin's scalp tingle.
"Level twenty-two?" Bibi Dong said, her voice tinged with amusement. "A little genius at the Soul Grandmaster level, and you're running away?"
Deng Tianxin stiffly turned his head and forced out a smile uglier than crying. "W-well, big sister, I just remembered I have something to take care of at home. I'll be going now..."
"Home?" Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say you came from a village? Where's your home? Big sister will take you back."
"N-no, thanks. I know the way..."
"That won't do. It's too dangerous for a child so young to travel alone," Bibi Dong said with a bright smile. "What if you run into a bad person?"
Deng Tianxin thought for a moment, then looked at Bibi Dong. "There haven't been any bad people around here for decades, but one showed up today."
"Oh?" Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow with interest, but kept a steady grip on the back of Deng Tianxin's collar, leaving him dangling in the air. "Where's the bad person? Big sister will deal with them for you."
Dangling from the collar, Deng Tianxin looked like a little kitten held by the scruff of its neck. His limbs flailed helplessly in the air twice, then he gave up struggling and stared at Bibi Dong with the dead-eyed look of a fish.
"I'm talking about you."
Bibi Dong blinked, her smile growing even brighter. "Me? How am I a bad person?"
"Grabbing a child and refusing to let go. What else would you call that?" Deng Tianxin accused her righteously.
"You called me Auntie first."
"That's a fact."
Bibi Dong's eye twitched. She took a deep breath. "You also said I liked children."
"That was a reasonable deduction."
"You also said I was a pervert."
"Well..." Deng Tianxin's eyes darted aside, and he muttered, "That was also a reasonable judgment based on your behavior."
"Oh?" Bibi Dong drawled, her voice full of danger. "And now? What kind of person do you think big sister is?"
Deng Tianxin thought seriously for a moment, then cautiously spoke. "Someone who got angry and is taking revenge because I hit a nerve—mmph—"
Before he could finish, Bibi Dong pinched his mouth shut. The rest of his words dissolved into indistinct, muffled sounds.
Before you continue