Bibi Dong's Irritation

"Pop!"

His right cheek wasn't spared, either.

Deng Tianxin's cheeks were plump and soft, with a springy give to them. After kissing him, Liu Erlong smacked her lips, still savoring it, as if she'd just tasted something delicious.

"Pop!"

"..."

Deng Tianxin gave up resisting without hesitation.

After Liu Erlong kissed him a third time, she finally stopped, looking down at the little one in her arms with satisfaction.

Deng Tianxin had completely given up fighting back. He lay sprawled across her lap like a salted fish, staring blankly at the carriage roof. Faint lip prints marked both cheeks, and paired with his utterly hopeless expression, he looked both pitiful and funny.

"Have you given up and decided to just let it happen?" Liu Erlong couldn't resist poking his cheek.

"Quit poking me," Deng Tianxin said weakly. "It's not like I can beat you, so kiss me all you want. But I'm warning you: if you tell anyone about this, when I grow up, I'll make you pay every last bit back—with interest."

He delivered this with a perfectly serious little face, but with those lip prints on his cheeks, he wasn't intimidating in the slightest.

Liu Erlong burst out laughing at the sight and hugged him even tighter.

Deng Tianxin rolled his eyes and stopped struggling. That woman's arms were like iron bands; fighting back was pointless.

Still, Liu Erlong's arms were pretty comfortable—warm, with a faint, fresh scent of plants and trees. They were much more relaxing than Bibi Dong's rose-scented embrace.

More importantly, Bibi Dong was a lot older.

Thinking of Bibi Dong's age, Deng Tianxin considered Liu Erlong's, too, and privately marveled at how comparing people really could make you sick with envy.

Forget it. He'd just found himself a free human sofa.

Deng Tianxin gave up on life and thought, burying his head in the crook of Liu Erlong's shoulder. He closed his eyes and played dead.

He'd gotten up early, traveled for most of the day, and then been put through all that just now. He was a little sleepy.

Liu Erlong's warm presence wrapped around him, making his whole body feel lazy. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Liu Erlong felt the little one in her arms breathing more and more slowly and evenly. She looked down and saw he'd fallen asleep.

"Pfft—"

Bibi Dong's sword pierced the would-be assailant.

She really hadn't expected the Slaughter City to be such a chaotic place.

Bibi Dong pulled out her sword. The dark red blood on its tip hadn't even finished dripping when she heard another flurry of hurried footsteps behind her.

Without turning around, she swung her sword backhanded. The blade swept precisely across the second attacker's throat.

The man clutched his neck and fell, eyes wide. He died without ever understanding why this seemingly delicate woman had eyes in the back of her head.

She'd only been in the Slaughter City for two days, and she'd already lost count of how many times people had tried to ambush her.

People stabbed you in the back while you walked down the street. They poisoned your drink while you rested in a corner.

Everyone here was a desperate outlaw. Anyone who could survive in the Slaughter City had blood on their hands.

There were no rules and no order. The only law was that the survivors had the right to speak.

But Bibi Dong didn't care about any of that.

She'd come to the Slaughter City to test herself. These ambushes posed no real threat to her.

With her current strength, ordinary thugs could come by the dozen and still only be marching to their deaths.

What truly annoyed her was the inexplicable restlessness churning inside her.

It had surged up without warning a little while ago.

It was as if a tiny needle had pricked the softest place in her heart, leaving her feeling deeply unsettled.

Bibi Dong stopped and thought it through. She wasn't injured, she hadn't been poisoned, her Soul Power was circulating normally, and there were no hidden experts nearby.

She'd checked everything, but the restlessness wouldn't go away.

It was as if... someone had stolen something important from her.

The moment that thought surfaced, Bibi Dong herself froze.

Something important?

What could she possibly have that was important in a hellhole like the Slaughter City?

The Soul Tool she carried with her was still there, and nothing inside was missing.

She hadn't lost anything. Nothing was gone. And yet she felt as though there were a hole in her heart, as if someone had planted a flag on her territory and she didn't know who had planted it, or where.

Bibi Dong frowned, her fingers tightening around her sword.

This groundless irritation made her extremely uncomfortable—more uncomfortable than all the dozen or so attackers just now combined.

"What on earth is it..." Bibi Dong murmured, Deng Tianxin's face appearing in her mind without her meaning to.

That infuriating little face, the two smooth, rounded dragon horns on his head, and his nonstop chatter. On the day she left, he'd stood at the entrance to the Saintess Palace and waved at her, claiming he'd miss her, while the corners of his mouth nearly curled up to the sky. He'd thought she hadn't noticed.

Could that little brat have done something behind her back?

Bibi Dong wondered to herself.

But she dismissed the thought as soon as it arose.

The little brat might be a pain, but he'd never dropped the ball when it mattered.

Over the past year, he'd argued with her every day, but he'd never slacked off in his cultivation or caused trouble for her when they were out.

Besides, he was at Spirit Hall now. He had a teacher watching over him, a cook taking care of him, and a school keeping him in line. What could possibly happen?

Bibi Dong shook her head, clearing all those nonsensical thoughts away.

It wasn't as if Deng Tianxin had sneaked out to have fun while she was gone and run into a pretty young girl.

And that girl had whisked her Deng Tianxin away?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

How could a little guy like Deng Tianxin ever be whisked away by someone else?

Bibi Dong shook her head, clearing all those nonsensical thoughts away.

She figured she'd probably killed too many people in the Slaughter City over the past two days and had been under too much strain. That was why such an absurd thought had occurred to her.

The little brat might have a sharp tongue and thick skin, and he might argue with her all day long, but he was still the disciple she'd raised herself.

Before she left, she'd even given him a thick book of cultivation plans. Knowing him, he'd definitely slack off, but he wouldn't sneak out.

After all, he was afraid she'd spank him when she came back to settle accounts.

Thinking of Deng Tianxin clutching his backside after each spanking, his little face flushed as he glared at her, Bibi Dong's lips curled up without her noticing.

The inexplicable restlessness seemed to fade a little, too.

If Deng Tianxin really had snuck out to play, she'd give him a thorough spanking when she got back.

"Ugh..."

Deng Tianxin suddenly woke up and instinctively covered his backside.

For some reason, it felt a little sore, and he couldn't help thinking of that old hag, Bibi Dong.

Only Bibi Dong would spank him.