Mixing ammonia and bleach has a similar effect. But if ammonia is present in excess, toxic and explosive liquid hydrazine is formed. Bleach and rubbing alcohol when mixed creates chloroform. In addition to the anaesthetic use popularized in novels and television, chloroform damages the nervous system, eyes, lungs, skin, liver, and kidneys when inhaled in large amounts. High levels of exposure could result in death.

It was very important to understand the dangers of household chemicals! Li Mei ripped a s.h.i.+rt for a strip of cloth to cover her nose and mouth. She then sat in the dining room and mixed together liquids in appropriate amounts, putting them away in storage before the vapors caused any damage.

She lit a bit of cloth on fire, putting it in storage and taking it back out a minute later to test its state. Even after a minute in storage flames burned bright on the cloth, consuming it to ash in moments after she brought it back out. 'Perfect stasis,' Li Mei muttered with satisfaction. Keeping that in mind, she lit several long strips of cloth on fire and stashed them before they vanished.

In the kitchen she burned charcoal inside the wood stove until the pieces were bright red and radiating heat from a distance. Those went inside the storage too, then she went around examining some heavier statue bases standing around the dining room and in the hall.

She found four that wouldn't move even when she threw her body weight against them! They were perfect for her needs and went right into storage. Her storage had a limit on ma.s.s not dimensions, and the pedestals pushed it to being so full the shortcut icon turned bright red - but it was only temporary.

Li Mei slipped down into the bas.e.m.e.nt, making her way to the slave's quarters with silent footsteps.

The slave's quarters were a small room with an attached bath and lavatory that all five had to share. There were six narrow beds crammed into a short s.p.a.ce, the ceiling so low even Li Mei felt uncomfortable. Near the door was a single wardrobe for holding clothes they all had to share.

Everything stank of sweat and body odor. Li Mei walked by each bed at a clipped pace, bringing out the heavy pedestals on top of the five sleeping slaves with a few decisive movements.

They awoke with a chorus of screams, voices tinged by pain and confusion. A tiny woman with curly brown hair went pale from the pain, cold sweat breaking out on her face - the pedestal pinning her to the bed was almost as big as she was. The others fared little better.

The largest slave, a man with rippling muscles and a face like a pig, exerted himself trying to move the plinth. He grunted and snorted but only made it wobble around. He was the only one who even came close to getting loose.

Li Mei flicked a switch to turn the lights on, removing the ragged cloth tied around her face.

"h.e.l.lo everyone," Li Mei said, a cruel smile shadowing her lips. Two months of eating properly turned her into an adorable little girl with charming dimples, but the pinned slaves seemed immune to her cuteness. Four pairs of eyes stared at her, confused and angry, while one gaze was panicked and afraid.

"What the h.e.l.l's going on?!"

"44, explain!"

"Help us up!"

"How... Did she... Do this?"

The five babbled and swore and gasped for breath. Li Mei brought the knife that killed 44 out of storage and stood unmoving until they noticed it and fell silent. Its blade was still slick with warm blood that dripped slowly onto the cold stone floor.

"Was it fun? Hurting me. Beating me. Did you enjoy yourselves?" Her low, calm voice sent chills down the spines of the adults. Li Mei sauntered over to the closest bed, where a skinny man was trying to leverage himself against the bed to move the plinth pinning him down. She brought out a bottle of mixed bleach and vinegar, pouring it into the man's eyes. As he screamed in pain and fear, Li Mei smiled and moved away before she inhaled the vapors. "You were right. This is fun."

The room was small so she'd have to work fast before the fumes had a chance to affect her. More of the mixture was poured on each of the slave's faces, accompanied by burning pieces of charcoal she dropped out of her storage and onto their faces.

After they shrieked and suffered for a couple minutes she stabbed the knife into the soft parts of their throats. Severing one of the many carotid arteries in the neck ensured they would bleed to death in a matter of moments.

She couldn't face them head-on in her small body, but she could d.a.m.n well cut their throats while they were pinned in place.

Then she turned to the woman who stared at her with horror in her dark gaze.

"How is this possible..." The woman's voice was a panicked whisper, hoa.r.s.e and soft. Li Mei smiled wider, showing her sharp white eyeteeth.

Employed staff had access to better tools in the kitchen alone, much less what they could bring from the cottages. A chipped blade, frail, roughly made, probably belonged to a slave - just a guess, but Li Mei was glad to see she was correct. Seeing the face of a supposedly dead child was enough to elicit a reaction and reveal the guilty party.

"Aviva." Li Mei spoke her name like a curse, trailing the edge of the b.l.o.o.d.y knife against the trembling woman's neck. "It was so painful, Aviva. My stomach, bleeding and torn from this clumsy, cheap knife. Really, you couldn't steal something nicer to kill me with?"

"I... I don't... I didn't..."

"You did! Yet here I am. Such a cruel death after such a cruel life, Aviva. Can you imagine how angry I am?" Li Mei stabbed the knife into the bed, its chipped edge nicking Aviva's neck and adding a trickle of new blood to its surface. Aviva swallowed a shriek, dark eyes wide and color draining from her cheeks. "Why did you do it? Why did you kill me? It hurt so much."

"O-Orders... I was ordered!"

"Who, Aviva. Who ordered it?" Li Mei tilted the knife, cutting deeper into the woman's neck. She kept remembering every wound, every beating the woman inflicted. Cruel and vicious, even worse than the other slaves. Aviva broke 44's bones more than once. The memories made Li Mei's mauve eyes narrow into thin slits.

"The steward! Vigen! We can't disobey orders, 44! I swear I'm so sorry, I-"

"Not interested."

Aviva screamed as vinegar and bleach splashed on her face, draining into her mouth and down her throat. The smell of it was making Li Mei's stomach churn, so she put the knife back in storage and brought out a handful of burning hot coals. They were dropped on the woman's face, but unlike with the others she didn't cut the throat. Such an easy way out, for the one who killed 44?

Not a chance.

Instead, she walked to the door. Before she left she brought out a bag of flour and threw it as hard as she could at the wall. When fine white dust filled the air she rolled a handful of burning cloth along the floor into the room and ran as fast as she could for the nearby stairs.

The eventual explosion sent waves of heat and flame from the room back into the bas.e.m.e.nt with enough force to knock Li Mei off her feet even though she made it up the stairs and into the hallway. Dust already in the bas.e.m.e.nt caught fire from the flour explosion in a chain reaction, spreading its influence further and faster than she expected.

Sparks caught in her hair and ignited. She poured water from a stored thermos over her head, swearing at the pain of having her neck and scalp burned, but she didn't stop running. Li Mei could smell burning cloth over the stink of her own flesh and hair, furniture and decorations near the bas.e.m.e.nt door combusting behind her.

Fire spread around her faster than she could run, leaping from surface to surface, an angry beast bent on devouring everything in its path. It found pockets of dust left behind by slackers who didn't do their jobs cleaning the manor, causing more explosions in different parts of the house.

Smoke gushed through the hallways, a sinister black cloud rus.h.i.+ng ahead of the flames. Hotter and hotter the manor burned, turning the night sky a furious b.l.o.o.d.y red.

But Li Mei knew all the best pa.s.sages in the manor!

Her feet found the shortest route to the outside, mindless of hot floors and burning carpets under her bare feet. She laughed wildly, sprinting at top speed towards the outside. Her footsteps were light, as though the weight of the world was lifted off her tiny shoulders.

The horrible person who killed 44 was dead! Up next, everyone else who hurt her - including the steward that ordered the deed.

Li Mei dashed towards the stables, stopping just short of the wide double doors. She turned to look at the burning manor, an enormous grin on her face and a delighted s.h.i.+ne in her eyes. Windows shattered as smoke and heated air broke the panes, sending a sparkling rain of shattered gla.s.s into the courtyard.

Which fool said revenge was best served cold?