"I don't," Xuan Ming said.
"Then why are you trying so hard to stay alive?" Bibi Dong asked.
"If you'd tried even a little less hard, you wouldn't have survived this long."
"Because I don't want to die," Xuan Ming said.
"You don't want to live, and you don't want to die, but you chose to live. In other words, between the two, you detest the latter more," Bibi Dong said.
"Then would you rather disgust others or be disgusted by them?"
Xuan Ming's brows knitted tightly. "Neither."
"There's no having the best of both worlds. You have to choose one, just as you chose between life and death," Bibi Dong said.
"Besides, right now, you don't even have the right to disgust others. You have no right to choose, either. You can only accept everything forced upon you."
"Until you have the ability to disgust others, don't think about whether it's disgusting. You have no right to think about it, much less judge it."
"..."
Thump!
Bibi Dong raised her hand and flicked his forehead, striking so hard that Xuan Ming nearly toppled backward.
"You child, you just think too much." Bibi Dong sighed.
"You think about yourself, then you think about others. But what are you thinking so much for?"
"You can barely fend for yourself. Where do you find the leisure to think about others?"
"I wasn't thinking about others. I just don't want to disgust myself," Xuan Ming said.
"Then do you want others to disgust you?" Bibi Dong asked.
"No," Xuan Ming said.
"Then stop thinking about whether you'll disgust yourself. Deal with others disgusting you first," Bibi Dong said.
"Likewise, you don't want to live, and you don't want to die, so you need the ability to stay alive first."
"First solve the question of staying alive, then think about how to live."
"First gain the right to choose, then talk about how to choose."
"Will you remember that?"
"Oh."
Thump!!
Bibi Dong flicked his forehead hard, sending Xuan Ming flying several meters before he fell backward onto the ground.
"I'll remember!"
Xuan Ming clutched his forehead. His head was going to explode!
"You really don't know pain until I hit you." Bibi Dong pulled Xuan Ming up from the ground.
"If you have these pointless misgivings again, give yourself a couple of smacks and clear your head."
"Got it?"
"..."
"Hmm?"
Xuan Ming covered his head with both hands. "Got it! Stop hitting me! It's going to explode!"
"Does it hurt that much?" Bibi Dong reached out and moved his hands aside to look.
What an enormous lump!
"Uh..." Bibi Dong felt a little guilty. She had been a bit angry just now and had struck a little too hard.
"Ahem. Remember today's pain, and don't make the same mistake again."
"Mm..."
"..."
"Does it really hurt that much?"
"I think I'm a little dead."
"..."
In a small grove outside Spirit City, Qian Daoliu, Golden Crocodile Douluo, and Qian Renxue and Snake Lance Douluo, who had come to pick Xuan Ming up, had been waiting for quite some time. Yet the appointed time had already passed, and Bibi Dong was still nowhere to be seen.
"Great Enshrined, surely she hasn't gone back on her word?" Golden Crocodile Douluo said.
"She hasn't," Qian Daoliu said.
Bibi Dong knew perfectly well that he would not yield on this matter. Under these circumstances, that woman would not insist on clashing with him again.
"But it's almost a quarter of an hour past the appointed time," Golden Crocodile Douluo said.
"Could it be..."
"Are your days numbered, Elder Golden Crocodile? You can't even wait this little while?"
Holding Xuan Ming's hand, Bibi Dong descended from the sky.
"Bibi Dong, don't get too insolent." Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression darkened.
Before, Bibi Dong had at least kept up appearances with him, but ever since this brat arrived, she no longer even bothered pretending!
That mouth of hers-it was as though she had caught something!
It was growing more venomous by the day!
"Insolent? Am I?" Bibi Dong's expression remained unchanged.
"I'm showing concern for Elder Golden Crocodile. If you enter Douluo Hall, all of Spirit Hall will have to mourn. As Pope, shouldn't I make preparations early?"
"We certainly can't slight your dignity."
"You!" Golden Crocodile Douluo's aged face flushed red. He was clearly furious.
"Enough. Say a little less." Qian Daoliu could not help speaking up to stop her.
Golden Crocodile already had a bad temper. If she kept provoking him, he might truly lose control and attack.
"How has your health been lately, Great Enshrined? Have you been unwell?" Bibi Dong asked with concern.
"Perfectly well. No need for you to trouble yourself," Qian Daoliu said flatly.
"It's good that you're well, Great Enshrined. After all, Spirit Hall still has to depend on you," Bibi Dong said.
"If anything were to happen to you, I wouldn't even know what to do."
Qian Daoliu's face fell. "I think you wouldn't know how to celebrate!"
"What are you saying, Great Enshrined?" Bibi Dong's expression remained unchanged.
"Of course I know how to celebrate."
"..."
"Hurry up and take him away."
Qian Daoliu drew a deep breath and began urging Qian Renxue directly.
If this went on, even he would barely be able to hold himself back!
That woman's tongue was even more venomous than the Death Spider Emperor!
"Oh..." Seeing that the atmosphere was decidedly off, Qian Renxue wasted no more time and stepped forward to take Xuan Ming away.
"Hm?"
"What happened to your head? Why is there such a huge lump?"
"A spider bit me."
"..."
Chapter 58: Why Don't You Just Kill Me?
"Great Enshrined, do you think Xiao Xue can keep this brat under control?"
After picking up Xuan Ming, Qian Renxue's party left, and Bibi Dong did not stay to waste time there either.
"Impossible," Qian Daoliu said.
Golden Crocodile froze. "Then why..."
"Controlling him is impossible, but there's still hope with other methods," Qian Daoliu said.
"Other methods?" Confusion appeared on Golden Crocodile's face.
"What methods?"
"How did Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect win over Chen Xin of the Seven Kill Sword?" Qian Daoliu said.
"Well..." Golden Crocodile Douluo frowned slightly.
"I'm afraid that's not very likely either."
He knew Qian Renxue's temperament too. She held everyone beneath her notice; she probably could not open her heart to this brat.
"Don't you have anything you want to ask me?"
The carriage had been traveling for a long time, but Qian Renxue and Xuan Ming had not exchanged another word since boarding it.
At last, Qian Renxue was the first to lose patience.
"Ask what?" Xuan Ming opened his eyes and touched the lump on his forehead. It was much smaller than before.
"Ask about what you'll be doing next," Qian Renxue said.
"If you want me to do something, you'll tell me. If you haven't told me, then you don't want me to know," Xuan Ming said.
"Don't ask what shouldn't be asked."
The corner of Qian Renxue's eye twitched slightly. "You weren't this sensible before, were you?"
"I'm not really sensible. I'm just a little afraid of dying," Xuan Ming said.
Qian Renxue narrowed her eyes. "Afraid of dying? Why weren't you afraid before?"
Back on the mountain, this fellow had retorted every time she spoke!
He had acted as though he did not care whether he lived or died!
Later, he had even unleashed his Martial Soul and fought her to the death!
He called that being afraid of dying?
"I was, but I'd been pushed too far," Xuan Ming said.
"Even a cornered rabbit will bite, let alone me. I'm no rabbit."
"You kept tormenting me, one after another. I understood. After all, you didn't see me as human. But later, I realized you didn't even see me as a dog."
"You put on an act of giving me charity, as though sparing me another glance or saying a word to me was some tremendous favor."
"You talked to me about all the people under heaven, smashing me with a big stick without even giving me a chance to breathe, while painting a grand pie that had nothing to do with me. And you thought I should eagerly drop to my knees and lick your boots."
"Even people training dogs know to give them something to eat after a beating. What about you?"
"Painting pies is one thing, but why drag in all the people under heaven? What the hell do they have to do with me?"
"Besides, a bunch of human traffickers who kept abducting me back and forth, opening their mouths to spout benevolence and morality, closing them on all the people under heaven-don't you find that funny?"
"What's even funnier is that I was dying at the time, and after all that talking, you actually wanted me to worry about the suffering of the masses?"
"Are you insane, or am I?"
"..."