That day, the God of Love hadn't brought flowers or honey wine. She had simply stood before her, smiling as she said, "If I'm ever gone one day, don't miss me too much, okay?"
Back then, she had scoffed. "Who would miss you?"
Those were the last words she ever said to the God of Love.
Slowly drawn back from distant memories, the Rakshasa God leaned against the Ink Crystal Throne. Her purplish-red eyes reflected the white-clad figure on the mirror, still swinging a blade amid a pool of blood.
Elsewhere, in a certain city.
Deng Tianxin suddenly woke in Tang Yuehua's arms. For some reason, his bottom felt chilly.
He'd been dreaming that Bibi Dong had speedrun Slaughter City, seen the wonderful life he was living, and then spanked him for three days and three nights.
"What's wrong?" Tang Yuehua felt the little one in her arms jerk and looked down at Deng Tianxin.
Deng Tianxin's eyes were wide, and his little face wore a dazed, shaken expression. Both his tiny hands had instinctively covered his bottom, as if checking whether everything was still there.
"...Nothing. I had a nightmare." Deng Tianxin slowly lowered his hands.
He put on his usual well-behaved expression again, but the cold sweat on his back gave away how rattled he was.
He instinctively swept his gaze around the room, making sure the doors and windows were shut tight and that the familiar figure wasn't standing at the doorway. Only then did he let out a long breath.
Deng Tianxin hurriedly reassured himself.
The old witch was in Slaughter City. Slaughter City was tens of thousands of miles from Heaven Dou City. There was no way she could show up here. A dream was just a dream. Don't scare yourself.
Right. Don't scare yourself.
Looking at the little face in her arms, still shaken, Tang Yuehua couldn't help smiling.
Deng Tianxin said he was fine, but his little hands had only just moved away from his bottom, and his fingertips still trembled with guilt.
"What was the nightmare about? Tell big sis." Tang Yuehua asked gently. One arm naturally wrapped around his back, while her other hand rested lightly on his little bottom and slowly rubbed it through his clothes.
Deng Tianxin stiffened as if someone had tapped his pressure point.
"Y-you... where are you rubbing?!" His voice jumped two octaves, and his little face turned from deathly pale to bright red in the blink of an eye. He reached both short arms behind his back, trying to slap Tang Yuehua's hand away, but he couldn't get any leverage from that angle. After flailing for a while, all he managed was to swipe uselessly at the air.
"I'm rubbing it for you." Tang Yuehua blinked, sounding perfectly matter-of-fact. Her touch grew even gentler. "Didn't you just say you dreamed you got spanked? A little rub will make it feel better."
"That was a dream! Dream pain isn't real pain!" Deng Tianxin protested under his breath. "Besides, rubbing it won't—Ow, be gentler!"
"All right, all right, I'll be gentle." Tang Yuehua obediently eased up, but made no move to take her hand away. Her palm was warm and soft as she slowly drew circles over Deng Tianxin's little bottom through the thin fabric, as if petting a fluffed-up kitten. She noticed that although the little fellow protested loudly, his body was honest—after a few rubs, his tense back relaxed without him even noticing. A faint little purr slipped from his mouth, so quiet it was almost inaudible, just like a kitten purring when it was being petted.
"Pfft." Tang Yuehua quickly pressed her lips together, barely stopping herself from laughing aloud. She didn't dare laugh. If she did, the little rascal would jump straight out of her arms.
"Did you just laugh?" Deng Tianxin looked up warily.
"No." Tang Yuehua kept a straight face.
"Your mouth's still twitching."
"It's natural."
Deng Tianxin eyed her suspiciously for several seconds, then finally gave up trying to press the matter and buried his head against her again.
Fine, she could rub it if she wanted. His bottom had long since gone numb from Bibi Dong's kneading anyway. One more rub from Tang Yuehua wouldn't make a difference.
And, to be honest, Tang Yuehua was much better at it than Bibi Dong.
When the old witch rubbed his bottom, she didn't rub it so much as knead dough. Every time, she left him gritting his teeth.
Thinking about it, the old witch in his dream, pinning him down and spanking him as soon as she returned, had used exactly the same technique as Bibi Dong did in real life. Even the angle of each slap had been identical.
Deng Tianxin shuddered and hurriedly banished the terrifying thought from his mind.
No way. The old witch was in Slaughter City. There was no chance she'd speedrun it.
He counted on his fingers. In the original story, Tang San had taken several years to clear Slaughter City. Bibi Dong was stronger than Tang San, but that cursed place wasn't somewhere you could rush through just by being powerful. Even if she sprouted wings, she couldn't fly back here.
Right, he still had time. Plenty of time.
By the time the old witch cleared Slaughter City, he'd have collected all the fragments. Then the sky would be high and the birds free.
"Tianxin," Tang Yuehua's voice came from above his head, colored with curiosity. "You just called out in your dream, 'Old witch, I was wrong.' This old witch... couldn't be your teacher, could it?"
Deng Tianxin stiffened again.
"You heard wrong." He buried his face in Tang Yuehua's arms, his voice muffled, and stubbornly refused to look up.
"Did I?" Tang Yuehua looked down at the tips of Deng Tianxin's ears, red enough to drip blood. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't suppress her smile. "I thought I heard you say, 'Old witch, I was wrong. Stop hitting me.' Maybe I misheard?"
Deng Tianxin jerked his head up, his little face filled with shame and indignation at being found out. "That was sleep-talking! You can't take sleep-talking seriously! Who knows why I'd say something like that in a dream? Maybe I dreamed she was bowing down and admitting she was wrong to me!"
Even he didn't believe what he was saying.
Tang Yuehua didn't call him out. She simply smiled at him, her gentle eyes plainly saying, "Go on, make something up. I'm listening."
Under her gaze, Deng Tianxin felt so uncomfortable that he decided to throw caution to the wind.
He rolled out of her arms and sat upright, hands on his hips, putting on his usual bluffing airs. "Sis Yuehua, I'm telling you, I'm not scared of that old witch at all. Don't let her fierce act fool you. She's all bark and no bite, strong on the outside and weak within. When she gets back from Slaughter City, I'll show her what I can do. We'll see who ends up spanking whom."
"Oh?" Tang Yuehua tilted her head slightly, wearing an expression of perfectly timed surprise. "You're going to spank your teacher?"
"Of course!" Deng Tianxin patted his little chest, full of bravado, as if Bibi Dong had already bowed her head and admitted defeat before him. "I haven't spent this past year training for nothing. Once I've gained a few more levels, she won't be able to beat me with one hand. Then I'll pin her over my knee and spank her—smack, smack, smack—so she'll know what it feels like to get her bottom beaten."
"Oh, and Sis Yuehua, you can't tell anyone about this. Especially her."
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