It Was a Dream After All

Bibi Dong kicked the blanket hard, sending it back to the foot of the bed, then glared at the blood-red patches of light on the ceiling. Her chest heaved for a long while before she gradually calmed down.

Never mind. There's no point thinking about this now.

She had more important things to do: clear Slaughter City as quickly as possible, then get out and settle the score with that little brat.

She dragged the blanket back from the foot of the bed, wrapped herself up like a silkworm in its cocoon, and closed her eyes.

Before long, Bibi Dong drifted off to sleep.

Bibi Dong found herself standing before an ornately carved wooden door.

The door stood ajar. Inside, she heard the clink of cups and the clamor of a feast, mixed with the coquettish laughter of women and a familiar voice that made her blood pressure shoot through the roof. She reached out and pushed the door open. The sight before her made her pause for a moment.

It was a grand, lavishly decorated hall, with swaying candlelight and the lilting strains of string and wind instruments.

At the very center of the hall stood a long table large enough to seat more than a dozen people, piled high with delicacies.

There was a whole roasted pig, golden and glistening with grease; abalone bigger than a palm; heaps of candied fruit; and several jugs of opened vintage wine.

And seated at the head of the table, with his legs planted wide, was the little brat she knew better than anyone.

Deng Tianxin looked a few years older than he did in real life, somewhere over ten. He had shot up quite a bit, but his chubby face hadn't changed much. His mouth was slick with grease, clearly showing that he'd been eating for a while.

Liu Erlong sat on his left, lifting a crystal shrimp dumpling with her chopsticks and feeding it to him. Tang Yuehua sat on his right, wiping the grease from the corner of his mouth with a silk handkerchief.

Besides them, several young women whose names she didn't know sat on either side of the table. Every one of them was a beauty. Some were peeling grapes for Deng Tianxin, some were pouring him wine, and one was even leaning against his shoulder, giggling as she breathed into his ear.

Deng Tianxin accepted everything offered to him. He finished the shrimp dumpling Liu Erlong had fed him, then opened his mouth to catch the almond pastry Tang Yuehua gave him. His cheeks bulged as he chewed, and he mumbled, "Now this is the life—"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the hall's doors were kicked open.

The wooden doors slammed against the walls with a deafening crash, splitting in two as splinters flew everywhere.

The music stopped dead. Every woman in the hall turned toward the door in unison, where a woman stood, radiating a cold killing intent.

Her white robes were like snow, her black hair like a waterfall. A breathtakingly beautiful face wore a smile that made everyone present break out in goosebumps.

In her right hand, she held a long saber that was still dripping blood. Droplets fell one by one from its blade onto the threshold, where they spread into a small pool of dark red.

"Deng. Tian. Xin." Bibi Dong spoke his name one syllable at a time.

Her voice was as soft as a lover whispering in someone's ear, yet it made the air throughout the hall freeze.

The chopsticks in Deng Tianxin's hand clattered onto the table.

The smile vanished from his face, replaced by a terror rising from the depths of his soul.

Deng Tianxin instinctively shrank back. His little legs kicked wildly beneath the chair as he searched for somewhere to hide, but his chair was against the wall, and women blocked both sides. He had nowhere to run.

"Tea... Teacher? Why are you back?" Deng Tianxin's voice cracked, and the muscles in his face twisted into a smile uglier than a sob. "Aren't you in Slaughter City? How did you get back so soon? I didn't mean it like that! Teacher, listen to me! They were the ones who came on to me! I didn't do anything! I just ate a little! Really! All I did was eat a little!"

Bibi Dong tossed the long saber aside. Its blade sank into the floor, and its hum echoed through the silent hall for several seconds before fading.

She started toward the head of the table, unhurriedly. Each step seemed to land on Deng Tianxin's heartbeat.

"Happy and Forgetting Bibi?" Bibi Dong stopped in front of him and looked down at the little brat curled into a ball. Her smile grew brighter. "Come on. Let your teacher see just how happy you've been all these days."

Deng Tianxin tried one last desperate defense, launching into a string of pleas the moment he opened his mouth. "Teacher, I was wrong! I shouldn't have snuck out to play! I shouldn't have said I was happy and forgetting Bibi! From now on, I'll train properly and strive to improve every day. I absolutely won't bring shame on you—"

But before he could finish, Bibi Dong had already grabbed him and lifted him from the chair.

Deng Tianxin dangled in midair. His little legs kicked helplessly twice, then he closed his eyes in despair.

He knew this routine all too well. Next, she'd turn him over, lay him across her lap, and then...

Bibi Dong suddenly stopped.

She glanced down at her bare feet, then at Deng Tianxin's face, and an inexplicable thought crossed her mind.

If she shoved her foot into the little brat's mouth, it would probably count as a reward.

With how shameless he was, he might even lick it a couple of times.

No. She couldn't let him off that easily.

So she decisively abandoned the strange idea, flipped Deng Tianxin over with practiced ease, laid him across her lap, raised her hand, and brought it down hard.

"Smack!"

The sharp slap rang through the hall, accompanied by Deng Tianxin's piercing wail and the collective gasp of the women around them.

Liu Erlong and Tang Yuehua exchanged glances. The shrimp dumpling and silk handkerchief in their hands both fell onto the table, but neither dared step in. That woman's presence was simply too terrifying.

"That's for being happy and forgetting Bibi!"

"Smack!"

"That's for putting your arms around women out there!"

"Smack!"

"That's for eating shrimp dumplings fed to you by someone else!"

"Smack!"

Bibi Dong suddenly opened her eyes.

The ceiling was still blood-red, and the walls still belonged to that cold stone room. There was no lavish hall, no table piled with delicacies, and no group of women circling Deng Tianxin.

Bibi Dong slowly sat up and realized her right hand was still raised in a slapping pose, frozen in midair. Her palm tingled faintly, as though those few smacks had really landed on something soft and bouncy.

She looked down at her hand, then at the empty bed beside her, and sat in silence for a long while.

Then she buried her face in her palm and let out a long sigh, heavy with complicated emotions.

"...It was only a dream."

At that moment, Bibi Dong really did want to spank Deng Tianxin and let off some steam.

Bibi Dong sat on the edge of the bed, her right palm still tingling faintly. The soft, springy sensation had felt so real, as though the little brat's bottom had been resting on her lap, its familiar curve and bounce perceptible even through his trousers.

It had been thirty-six days since she'd last spanked him. The last time was the night before she left, because he'd sneaked three boxes of osmanthus cakes the cook had hidden in a cupboard, then stuffed the empty boxes into her bedding to frame her.

She'd hit him five times that night. He'd howled like a slaughtered pig, but once he finished howling, he'd clung to her leg as if nothing had happened and threatened to report her for child abuse.