The Pope Palace is vast and spacious, with rows of eternally burning candles hanging high in the sky, their flickering flames casting large, swaying shadows.
The hall was eerily quiet; even the faint crackling of the burning candles could be heard. A cool, refreshing fragrance filled the air—the floral scent that Bibi Dong always wore. It was so faint it was almost imperceptible, yet it weighed heavily on one's chest.
Bibi Dong sat on the highest, enormous Pope throne, her wide, heavy, purplish-black Pope robes cascading down the jade steps, the intricate gilded patterns on the garments gleaming with a cold metallic sheen under the flickering lamplight.
She rested one hand on the scepter, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the large purple gemstone at the top of the scepter repeatedly, the cool touch barely calming her chaotic thoughts.
Footsteps approached from afar, each one tapping on the cool bluestone floor.
Bibi Dong slowly raised her eyes, her purple pupils first instinctively scanning behind the girl, searching for Su Zui's figure.
Empty.
Qian Renxue walked alone, step by step, toward the throne.
In that instant, Bibi Dong felt a sudden emptiness in her heart, and a sense of panic inexplicably surged up her spine, a trace of fear creeping up her spine.
She had long anticipated their reunion, envisioned being alone with Qian Renxue, but when the moment finally arrived, she realized she was completely unprepared.
She didn't know what expression or tone to use when facing the daughter she had carried for ten months and given birth to, yet fate had forced her to only watch from afar, afraid to get close.
Countless painful memories were stirring in her heart, just one trigger was needed to break through the icy shell she had built up over the years.
Qian Renxue slowly climbed the steps.
Having walked the Hell Road and struggled through blood and slaughter, the sharp and stubborn edges that used to pierce her seemed to have been worn away considerably. She was no longer the girl who always seemed to be testing and antagonistic from the moment she was first met.
But it was precisely this calmness, this non-hostile gaze, that made Bibi Dong, sitting on the throne, feel increasingly uncertain.
She knew Qian Renxue's sharpness all too well. When a hedgehog retracts its quills, it's often because it has accumulated too much grievance in its heart.
"You're back."
Bibi Dong spoke first, her voice steady and without any fluctuation, as calm as a bottomless, icy pool.
She gripped the scepter tightly, using all her strength to suppress her surging emotions, not letting the tenderness in her eyes, which shouldn't have been revealed, show even a hint of vulnerability.
Qian Renxue stopped at the bottom of the steps, bowed slightly, and paid her respects.
Your His Holiness the Pope.
Four simple words, yet separated by an invisible, thick wall. Despite being connected by blood, this form of address still carries an insurmountable distance.
Bibi Dong's gaze slowly fell upon her, sweeping over her inch by inch, her Soul Power quietly spreading out to carefully probe the aura within Qian Renxue's body.
"The Hell Road is fraught with peril, and you've managed to complete it alive; that's quite impressive."
Qian Renxue straightened up, her fingers hanging at her sides curling up quietly, her nails digging gently into her palms.
Qian Renxue hesitated for a moment, then swallowed hard. "Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo should have already reported to you that Su Zui and I have emerged from Hell Road together."
"Yes, I understand."
Bibi Dong responded calmly, her deep purple eyes fixed on her, her gaze heavy.
After he finished speaking, the hall fell silent once more.
The candlelight flickered, and two figures faced each other across several white jade steps, each with their own secrets.
Qian Renxue looked up at the woman on the throne, her heart filled with mixed emotions. That was her mother, a blood relative, yet in her twenty-four years of life, she had received none of that—no companionship, no love, no protection.
Countless times in the dead of night, she asked herself, what was she to Bibi Dong? A pawn used to control the Worship Hall? Or a burden she simply refused to acknowledge?
The questions that had been building up for years, and the grievances that had been suppressed for countless days and nights, could no longer be contained.
Qian Renxue gazed into those purple eyes, her voice soft, the last syllable carrying a hint of expectation she herself hadn't noticed, like reaching out to touch a faint flame. "Mother... could you tell me everything that happened before? I want to know the truth."
The instant those words were spoken.
Bibi Dong's fingers tightened suddenly as she gripped the scepter, her knuckles turning bluish-white from the force.
The tenderness in her eyes just now seemed to be frozen instantly by ice, quickly disappearing and replaced by an indestructible, cold outer shell.
She abruptly turned her head away, avoiding Qian Renxue's gaze, refusing to meet her daughter's eyes again, and her tone instantly reverted to its previous aloof and indifferent state.
"There are some things that are not for you to know. Also, remember the rules: please call me His Holiness the Pope."
With a loud thud, Qian Renxue felt as if something had struck her chest hard.
The slight warmth that had just begun to emerge vanished completely in an instant.
She clearly caught it!
She saw it clearly: when Bibi Dong looked at her just now, a trace of heartache flashed in her eyes. She could feel the slight softening in the other party's attitude. She thought that returning from the Hell Road was an opportunity, and that she could get the answer today.
But whenever that deep-seated secret is touched, Bibi Dong still chooses to close her heart, covering up all the heavy and terrifying past on her own, bearing everything alone, preferring to let her misunderstand and be sad rather than reveal a single word.
A surge of grievance welled up instantly, choking me in my throat, and a sour feeling rushed to my eyes.
Qian Renxue's nose stung, and her vision began to blur.
She bit her lower lip tightly, forcing back the sobs that were about to spill out, and stopped asking questions.
She responded softly, her voice almost faint. "I understand."
"Go and rest, and take good care of your Divine Soul."
Bibi Dong raised her hand and waved it casually, as if she was eager to end the conversation and did not want to linger for even a moment longer.
Every second they looked into each other's eyes caused her the festering wound in her heart to ache even more.
Qian Renxue bowed again, her movements precise and flawless.
She turned around and walked step by step towards the outside of the hall, her back straight, refusing to lose her composure and shed tears in front of Bibi Dong.
The moment Qian Renxue stepped out of the hall's threshold.
Bibi Dong had been forcibly sitting upright, suddenly shuddered, and a violent wave of dizziness swept over her.
She let out a muffled groan, unable to hold on any longer, her forehead pressed against the back of her hand, her whole body slumped against the wide Pope throne.
A crimson hue crept up the whites of her eyes, and the images she had sealed deep in her memory surged uncontrollably, replaying rapidly in her mind.
A dark, enclosed room, bone-chilling despair, the figure of that beast, and the nightmare that ruined her life.
The excruciating pain spread throughout my body, from my Divine Soul to my heart, as if an invisible hand were squeezing it tightly.
Why...
Why must she and Xue'er ultimately bear all the filth, pain, and sin?
She desperately wanted to love her daughter, but she couldn't. Once the truth was revealed, Qian Renxue would be dragged into an abyss, one she couldn't bear. She could only choose to be a cold and ruthless Pope, forcing her daughter away and bearing this inescapable hell alone.
An evening breeze blew in from outside the hall.
As soon as Qian Renxue stepped out of the Pope Hall, the tears she had been holding back for so long finally broke through her defenses, and two lines of clear tears rolled silently down her cheeks, landing on the white jade steps. Before she could suppress her sobs, a familiar figure quickly stepped forward, reached out and pulled her into a warm and strong embrace.
A familiar scent enveloped her.
Su Zui lowered his head, his warm lips gently landing on her wet eyelashes, kissing away the rolling tears.
Su Zui gently supported her trembling back with his warm palms and asked softly, "Why are you crying?"
Qian Renxue buried her face in his shoulder, gently shaking her head. She didn't say much about what had happened inside, only weakly clutching the fabric of his clothes with her fingertips, her voice muffled. "You should go in first. Her His Holiness the Pope... she probably wants to see you too."
She didn't want to burden Su Zui with all her negative emotions, and she vaguely understood that there was more to say between Bibi Dong and Su Zui.
Su Zui looked down at her reddened eyes, but didn't press her for details about the argument in the main hall, nor did he insist on going to find Bibi Dong now.
Without saying a word, he picked Qian Renxue up in his arms.
The girl was very light, her body still trembling from suppressed emotions.
Su Zui carried her along the bluestone path, steadily walking towards his bedroom, carefully avoiding the passing Spirit Hall servants. He settled her on the soft couch in her room and covered her with a blanket.
After confirming that she had calmed down a bit, Su Zui turned around and walked towards the Pope Hall.