I Am Your Natural Enemy

A woman came out carrying a plate of greens. Seeing the girl with dark circles at the door, she immediately spoke.

”Why are you just standing there? Hurry up and scoop the rice. Do you want me to serve it and feed it to your mouth for you?”

That one scolding made the dark-eyed girl shrink her neck at once. She hurriedly responded, went into the kitchen, and, as if she’d always known what to do, deftly opened the disinfection cabinet, took out a rice scoop and a small bowl, and filled it with rice.

A mother’s role, a younger brother, plus the dark-eyed girl, all sitting together to eat.

An ordinary meal, the standard: one plate of greens, plus something else.

The mother picked up the remote, turned off the TV, and scolded her younger brother.

”Don’t watch TV while you eat. Eat your food quietly. Have you forgotten about getting choked by a fish bone last time?”

With that sentence, the ”other dish” on the table transformed into a plate of steamed perch.

The dark-eyed girl ate quietly. The mother turned to look at her again.

”You’ve finished your undergraduate now; you absolutely must get into graduate school. The competition is fierce these days.

Even when the neighborhood is hiring someone, and says bachelor’s degree is fine, the ones who can actually get the job are all postgraduates.

I can still make a bit of money now; I can definitely support you. Just focus on your graduate entrance exams.

Then it’d be best if you find a boyfriend—someone with better prospects. After graduation, they definitely won’t even look at what our family has to offer.”

The dark-eyed girl listened quietly to her mother’s nagging. She continued eating as always, calm and silent, but her emotional defenses were beginning to erode.

Outside the bubble, Dream Tapir watched everything inside. At this moment, it finally spotted the crucial point.

The buildings there.

The surrounding three buildings slowly began to turn into the lower half of a giant open mouth.

The row of storage rooms in front, just one story high, turned into the lower row of teeth in this gaping mouth.

The darkness creeping in slowly became the upper half of the mouth.

This mouth was about to close. And the dark-eyed girl sitting inside still wasn’t aware, happily enjoying her meal.

Doctor Meng’s figure flickered, and he appeared inside the bubble.

He flicked his fingers, and a knuckle bone flew out—immediately, a torrential rain poured down, the rainwater becoming a massive pillar, propping up the mouth that was about to slam shut.

Doctor Meng reached out and grasped, and a black umbrella appeared out of thin air in his hand.

In the pouring rain, a pair of crimson eyes lit up.

”Entering the dream?”

”Before, she was my guest. Now, she’s my patient. Give me some face and let it end here—good for you, good for me, good for everyone.”

”Ha...” The eyes in the rain laughed loudly.

”I’m serious. I have zero appetite today, and I’m not in a great mood. I don’t care what you are, don’t want trouble, don’t even want to report to the Scorching Sun Department again. The Scorching Sun Department’s been a hassle lately. You’d better leave now.”

Doctor Meng offered good advice, knowing that if they fought, he’d be forced to report to the Scorching Sun Department.

Otherwise, if anything happened later and the Scorching Sun Department found out, it’d be hard to keep this clinic running.

There aren’t many places where you don’t need to struggle for food, there’s always something to eat every day, and you even have the Scorching Sun Department’s okay.

He doesn’t like spicy food, and he doesn’t want to go back to Tianfu County; the dreams there really don’t suit his taste.

Unfortunately, Doctor Meng’s well-intentioned advice was only met with mockery.

Seeing this, Doctor Meng sighed.

”Turns out you don’t even know who I am. No wonder you’re so reckless.”

Doctor Meng stretched out a hand and seized forward—instantly, it was as if the whole world was retreating behind him.

Out in the rain, those eyes—still at a distance, blurry, impossible to pinpoint—were now instantly seized by Doctor Meng.

Doctor Meng looked down at the eye in his hand; it seemed still shocked.

”It’s been a long, long time since anyone in the dream world’s dared to act wilder than some in my own clan. I already told you, I just have no appetite and don’t want to mess with the current Scorching Sun Department. Did you really think I was afraid of you?”

Doctor Meng gripped that illusory eye, and with his other hand, reached into the drifting clouds in front of him.

The next moment—there, in the sky, a giant hand descended, covering half the dream world, and seized the other eye that’d tried to get away.

He drew his hand back from the clouds before him; the giant hand in the sky withdrew at the same moment.

Now, both his hands held an eyeball each.

He thought for a moment, shook his head, turned into the head of a Rakshasa Bird, opened his beak wide, and swallowed both eyeballs, one after the other.

”There’s a sickly taste to it—like chilled cucumber mash, way too salty.”

With a flick, he left this dream world, turned back to his original Dream Tapir form, cradled the dream bubble in his hands, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed the entire dream world.

He closed and opened his eyes, and as Doctor Meng by the sickbed, opened his eyes again.

He looked at the sleeping dark-eyed girl on the hospital bed. Even her tightly furrowed brows began to relax. He took a tissue and wiped his mouth.

He gently closed the door and left some white noise to help her sleep.

Downstairs, Doctor Meng took out his phone and browsed his contacts.

In the end, he called Zhuge Wanjun.

”Hello, Wan Jun? There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

”Brother Meng, what is it? Just ask. If it’s something I can say, I won’t keep it from you.”

”Are you up to date on the situation at the Nanwu County Scorching Sun Department?”

Zhuge Wanjun gave a brief summary.