On the bed, a storm was brewing in Zhu Xiaxia’s heart.
‘It’s so funny thinking about what’s about to happen, hee hee hee. Hold it in, I mustn’t laugh.’
After finishing off her snacks, Zhu Qiu eagerly climbed onto the bed and crawled close to Zhu Xiaxia to begin her revenge.
“Zhu Xiaxia, do you remember who I am?”
“Mmm~ I forgot. Who are you?”
“Heh heh~ I am the Human Sword Saint. Do you really not remember me?”
Zhu Qiu’s tail wagged behind her like a propeller, spinning so fast she looked ready to take flight.
“I… I forgot…”
“You forgot? It’s fine. The Human Sword Saint will make a very deep impression on you.”
The Little Princess crawled under the blanket, found Zhu Xiaxia’s Dragon Tail, and squeezed it in her hand just as the woman had done to her.
“Zhu Xiaxia, I have your weakness in my grasp! Now, you shall pay the price for everything you’ve done before!”
Zhu Qiu gave the Dragon Tail a hard squeeze, yet Zhu Xiaxia showed no reaction at all.
“Huh?!”
‘This shouldn’t be right. Aren’t the tails of the Dragon Race supposed to be very sensitive? It worked so well against me, so why is it useless against Zhu Xiaxia?’
“That is because my daughter is still just a Young Dragon~”
“A Young Dragon? Does this move only work on Young Dragons and not on adults?”
“Of course. Young Dragons are still in the developmental stage, so it is normal for them to be a bit more sensitive.”
“Oh~ So that’s how it is.”
Zhu Qiu released her grip and stroked her chin in thought.
“What could Zhu Xiaxia’s weakness be then?”
“How could Mother have any weaknesses? On the contrary, my daughter is covered in weaknesses from head to toe~”
“Wait, this… this sounds like Zhu Xiaxia’s voice…”
Zhu Qiu reacted instantly, her face turning pale with shock.
“Zhu… Zhu Xiaxia, you clearly ate my Sedative Powder. How can you still be awake?”
“My precious daughter, you are quite clever. You knew to have Xiaguang tell you the location of the food storage, picked out the longans, and finally extracted the sedative components from them. However, Mother will always be Mother. How could I lose a battle of wits to my own daughter?”
“What? You… you knew everything!”
“Naturally. If I didn’t even know my daughter’s little schemes, how could I be a qualified Mother?”
It was over. Her plan had been exposed, and she had been caught red-handed by Zhu Xiaxia.
Now, there was only one path left for Zhu Qiu.
Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing was the best option.
“Run!”
“Mo… Mother, you should sleep well. I won’t disturb you any longer, haha…”
The Little Princess tried to get up and make a break for it, only to find that her legs had no strength at all.
“Wh… what is going on?”
Zhu Qiu tried again. This time, she barely managed to stand up before collapsing, falling right into Zhu Xiaxia’s embrace.
“Zhu Xiaxia, did you use some kind of Magic? Why can’t I stand up all of a sudden?”
“Of course not. Mother didn’t use Magic. I simply added a little seasoning to the milk my daughter just drank.”
“Seasoning? What seasoning?”
“My daughter’s Longan Sedative Powder~”
“Ah?!”
“Did it taste good?”
Zhu Xiaxia used 1 hand to pull out an empty spice bottle and waved it in front of Zhu Qiu’s eyes.
She then used her other hand to grab the girl’s tail and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Whimper~”
It was a total disaster… Not only had she enraged Zhu Xiaxia, but she also couldn’t escape.
Her revenge had failed, and she had effectively delivered herself into the enemy’s hands.
“Mo… Mother, could you please be a little gentler? My ta… tail is really sensitive, ugh~”
Zhu Qiu tried to use pleas for mercy to awaken whatever shred of conscience remained in Zhu Xiaxia’s heart.
“It’s sensitive? Well, Mother thinks that if it’s sensitive, you should receive more training~”
Zhu Xiaxia gave it another hard squeeze, and Zhu Qiu’s face instantly flushed bright red.
“Waaaah~ It’s over… I’m going to be bullied again…”
With just those 2 squeezes, Zhu Qiu turned into a well-behaved baby, lying quietly and motionless in Zhu Xiaxia’s arms.
Now, all it took was a single squeeze of Zhu Qiu’s tail to make her whimper and press her head even closer against Zhu Xiaxia’s warm chest.
As for why Zhu Xiaxia was so obsessed with squeezing Zhu Qiu’s tail… it was because squeezing the tail could turn a “no” into a whimper.
It turned any words into whimpers of the uncontrollable variety.
This was exactly what she liked.
To her, this was a truly hearty release of emotion.
“It’s alright. Being bullied a little bit by Mother will promote the bond between us.”
“Whimper~”
Zhu Qiu’s body was completely out of her control, leaving her at Zhu Xiaxia’s mercy.
Compared to when she first arrived at the Imperial Palace, she had made some progress; she could now hold out for 5 minutes before fainting.
However, every time she fainted, she remained unconscious for nearly 12 hours.
Each time Zhu Qiu fell unconscious, Zhu Xiaxia felt a strong sense of loss. She wished her daughter could spend more time interacting with her.
After settling the unconscious Zhu Qiu, Zhu Xiaxia briefly left the Dragon Race Imperial Palace and flew toward the Sky Island located on the level above the Dragon Kingdom.
She needed to prepare something—something even more important than a Custom Baby Bottle.
***
Time flew by, and soon it was the next morning.
Today was a weekday. According to Zhu Xiaxia, as long as she successfully completed this final day of study, she could return to the Human Race either tomorrow or even tonight.
When Zhu Qiu woke up, she was already back in her own room.
She opened her eyes to find the Sword Spirit standing beside her with an expressionless face.
The Sword Spirit was very calm, unlike yesterday when she had immediately brandished the Holy Sword to use a finishing move. She felt that she should re-evaluate this Sword Saint.
“Sword… Sword Spirit, it’s not what you think. I was outplayed by Zhu Xiaxia. That big Evil Dragon is like a cheater. I clearly didn’t leak any information, yet she still had me in her grip. Do you think that’s reasonable?”
“I do not know if it is reasonable. I only know that as the Sword Spirit, I have no way to stop the Sword Saint User’s depravity. However, I will still follow you forever.”
“I really haven’t fallen! Sword Spirit, I will prove it to you. You have to believe me.”
The Little Princess wanted to cry but had no tears. Why was she always misunderstood?
“You have tried to prove it many times, and every time you fail and fall into the Evil Dragon’s arms. I am starting to suspect that you are using these ‘proofs’ as a pretext to intentionally cling to that Evil Dragon.”
“!”
Those words felt like a sharp sword piercing Zhu Qiu’s heart.
In the Sword Spirit’s eyes, all her hard work had actually become evidence of her falling from grace.
Zhu Qiu’s expression gradually became peaceful.
“Sword Spirit, even you don’t believe me…”
“Humph!”
“Waaaah…”
The next second, Zhu Qiu dove under her covers, curled herself into a ball, and began to wail.
“Waaaah! Even the Sword Spirit doesn’t believe me anymore! What is the point of my existence? I might as well just die, waaaaah!”
‘Wait, why is this child crying?’
This completely baffled the Sword Spirit. she had only been putting on an act and hadn’t expected Zhu Qiu to have such a massive reaction.
She quickly dropped her fake expression and scrambled onto the bed in a panic.
“I… I was just talking nonsense just now! I didn’t say I didn’t believe you! Stop crying! I… I don’t know how to comfort people!”