The Red-Haired Young Lady's "Night Raid," Divine Punishment Day and Night

The night was already deep.

Outside the window, moonlight lay like diluted mercury, quietly spilling into the room through the delicate latticework.

Dim halos of light outlined the vague shapes of the furniture within.

The night was tranquil, disturbed only by the occasional indistinct bark of a dog in the distance and the faint sound of horns even farther away as the city guards changed shifts, reminding one of time's passage.

Cui Ciyou sat cross-legged on the soft, comfortable bed, still awake.

His eyes were lightly closed, his breathing steady and deep as he practiced a special kind of "meditation."

Cui Ciyou could feel his Mental Power growing at an extremely slow but unmistakable rate.

This power of spiritual consciousness seemed, like mana, to follow some law of depletion and recovery:

Every time it was exhausted and then fully restored, its total amount increased by just a little.

The feeling of steadily growing stronger was undoubtedly pleasant.

Just as he was immersed in this introspective exploration, the faintest of deliberately muffled footsteps came from outside his door.

Then came the soft click of a key opening the lock.

Eris had probably threatened the servant Thomas into giving her a spare key.

Cui Ciyou slowly opened his eyes. In the dim light, his black pupils appeared somewhat brown.

He did not need to use that special Perception ability.

Based on the past half month alone, he already knew who had come and what she intended to do.

Hah... she's here again. Cui Ciyou sighed helplessly to himself.

The door silently opened, and a petite red figure in a silk nightgown slipped inside on tiptoe like a nocturnal cat.

Moonlight happened to shine through the window, illuminating her flaming red hair.

It also lit up her delicate little face, slightly flushed with excitement, nervousness, and anticipation at an impending prank's success.

It was none other than Eris Boreas Greyrat.

She tightly gripped a small but exquisitely crafted wooden sword in her hand.

Standing on tiptoe, she carefully crept toward Cui Ciyou's bed one step at a time.

Her movements were incredibly light, and she had suppressed her breathing to the bare minimum.

Her ruby-like eyes gleamed with foxlike cunning. She clearly believed her infiltration had been flawless.

When she finally reached the bedside and confirmed that the figure on the bed truly seemed to have no reaction—

Her large eyes instantly burst with undisguised excitement and... ferocity!

"Die!... Pretty boy... Divine Punishment!"

It was a low shout full of rage and determination.

Although she had deliberately lowered her voice, it still sounded perfectly clear in the silent room.

Eris gripped the sword with both hands, raised it high, then swung down with all her strength.

With a sharp whistle through the air, the sword viciously chopped toward the face of the figure on the bed.

This strike was incredibly fast and came from a tricky angle.

She had even used the fierce opening stance of the Sword God Style that she had learned from Ghislaine during this period.

If an ordinary person had been ambushed like this in their sleep, they might truly have been seriously injured or even killed in a single blow!

This girl's perseverance... or rather, obsession, is terrifyingly strong.

Cui Ciyou watched the shadow of the wooden sword rapidly enlarge under the moonlight.

He also saw Eris's little face twist slightly with effort, and a deep sense of helplessness rose in his heart once more.

Apart from her talent with the sword, this willpower of hers truly deserves praise.

How many times has this been already? I've become too lazy to count.

Just as the wooden sword, carrying rage and killing intent, was about to split Cui Ciyou's face, he lazily raised his left hand.

His movement looked utterly casual, even somewhat languid, but it was terrifyingly fast.

Smack!

With a light sound, Eris felt her wrist go numb.

The wooden sword she had swung down with all her strength had actually been caught lightly by its blade in one hand.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not force it forward even an inch!

Then a deft force passed through her hand, and her fingers around the hilt involuntarily loosened.

The wooden sword was easily taken from her and casually tossed to the foot of the bed.

"Ah!"

Eris cried out in surprise. Before she could react, her vision blurred, and her wrist had already been firmly seized.

The next second, an irresistible force descended upon her, and her entire body was easily pressed onto the soft bed.

Cui Ciyou's right hand clamped around both her wrists like iron pincers, twisting them behind her back.

At the same time, his left knee lightly yet precisely pinned down her wildly kicking knees.

In an instant, Eris was subdued. Like a tiny insect caught in a spiderweb, she could not move at all.

"Sigh! Young Lady Eris."

Cui Ciyou looked down at the little girl beneath him, whose face had turned red from anger and humiliation as she continued to twist and struggle.

He could not help sighing, his tone filled with deep exhaustion and frustration.

"Let's not even talk about whether we truly have some blood feud between us, or a grudge over a stolen wife..."

"But it's been half a month now, fifteen whole days. Every night, without fail, you come here three times to 'Divinely Punish' me."

"Every morning, as soon as dawn breaks, you come another two times."

"That makes five times a day, seventy-five times in half a month... Seventy-five times! Isn't your perseverance a little too astonishing?"

"If you could put even a tiny bit of that energy into studying, you'd probably be able to read the History of the Founding of the Asla Kingdom by yourself already."

The more Cui Ciyou spoke, the more exhausted he felt.

During the first few days, he had even found Eris's indomitable spirit somewhat "interesting."

He had even been in the mood to symbolically "teach" her a few lessons with his scabbard after her failed ambushes.

But as time passed, this repetitive "harassment," day after day without the slightest novelty, had left him deeply... annoyed.

"Let me go! You bastard! This is all your fault!"

Pinned down tightly by him, Eris kept writhing and struggling as she let out an angry shriek.

"If you hadn't spanked me and acted so arrogantly, insisting on becoming my tutor, I never would have..."

This pretty boy is really good at arithmetic!

In the midst of her anger, this thought flashed through Eris's mind at a wholly inappropriate moment.

"Stop!"

Cui Ciyou immediately cut her off, and his tone carried a trace of helplessness.

"Eris, let's make this clear."

"First, when we met for the first time, you were the one who hit me first."

"Second, from the moment we met, you've been calling me pretty boy and bastard nonstop. So who's the arrogant one here?"

"Third, I admit that I hit you with my scabbard, but you also bit me hard. That makes us even."

"Fourth, and most importantly, it was you—"

At this point, Cui Ciyou emphasized his words:

"For all these days, every night and every morning, you've voluntarily run into my room to attack me... I'm the victim here, okay?"

Looking at her angry, unwilling little face, he could not help glancing once more at his right shoulder, which had long since healed without a trace.

He once again marveled inwardly at just how "vicious" this girl was.

She may be young, but this ruthlessness and violent streak of hers truly are... worthy of the future Mad Dog.