"First, because it would be incredibly stupid. Second, because it would put you, their only young mistress, in danger."
6
"No normal person would ever do something like that."
"Even if—fine, even if that Pope truly had no feelings for you at all!"
"Your grandfather, Qian Daoliu, is one of the three great Limit Douluo of this era. There's no way he wouldn't understand that!"
"And yet, you really were sent out here!"
"I'm beginning to suspect that this undercover mission, where you were sent to the Heaven Dou Empire to impersonate the crown prince, was actually meant only to separate you from that Pope!"
Ye Lengling's clear and logical words startled even Gu Changge.
Good grief!
If Gu Changge had not been certain that he had never told her the story of the original Douluo Continent novel,
he would have thought Lengling was reading the novel and spoiling the plot.
As for Qian Renxue,
her figure suddenly swayed, as though she might collapse at any moment.
She wanted to argue.
She wanted to say that her grandfather loved her dearly.
She wanted to say that she had requested this herself.
Yet when the words reached her lips, they seemed so pale and powerless.
Yes.
Her grandfather loved her dearly.
Since he loved her, why had he agreed to such an absurd plan she had proposed in the first place?
Was it truly because he trusted her abilities?
Or had even her grandfather believed that she might live better if she left Spirit Hall and escaped that woman's sight?
"Stop imagining things!"
Gu Changge's voice rang out again. "Your grandfather, your father, your mother, and you—if you ask me, every last one of you has something wrong with your brains!"
"Haven't you always wanted to know why Bibi Dong is your mother, yet has never loved you in the slightest and instead hates you so deeply?"
Even with her emotions in turmoil, Qian Renxue felt anger flare up at his first sentence.
But his second sentence made her body tremble violently.
"You know?"
She spoke almost instinctively.
The fact that Bibi Dong felt no love for her, only hatred,
had become an obsession for her ever since she was old enough to understand.
She could not understand why her own mother harbored such feelings toward her.
"I do!"
Gu Changge nodded frankly. "Because from the standpoint of your Spirit Hall—no, from the standpoint of any normal person—your mother, Bibi Dong, is an ungrateful wretch!"
"As for why she has only hatred for you and no love, it's because your birth was not a child to her, but hatred and humiliation!"
"Don't look at me like that. This is the answer you wanted!"
Seeing Qian Renxue suddenly glare at him with furious eyes, Gu Changge immediately shot back.
Then he continued, "You surely know Bibi Dong's general background! She was born a commoner, then discovered by Spirit Hall after awakening Twin Martial Souls and displaying extraordinary talent as a soul master. After that, she became your father Qian Xunji's disciple and Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden, right?"
Qian Renxue was deeply dissatisfied with Gu Changge's attitude.
But she could only nod silently at this question.
Gu Changge continued, "From being a commoner to rising straight to the top, becoming the disciple of Spirit Hall's Pope and its Holy Maiden, then receiving the finest training in all of Douluo Continent—wouldn't it be fair to call such grace as deep as the sea, like being given a second life?"
At his words, Qian Renxue once again kept a tense little face and nodded with eyes that looked as though they carried pear blossoms in the rain.
But Gu Changge suddenly changed the subject. "Do you admit that Spirit Hall, the two great empires, and the Upper Three Sects are hostile forces?"
Qian Renxue dearly wanted to say no.
But she could not bring herself to say it.
Because anyone with even half a brain, so long as they were not blind,
could see that Spirit Hall, the two great empires, and the Upper Three Sects were all hostile forces.
So, faced with Gu Changge's question, she gritted her teeth and said, "I admit it!"
"Good that you admit it!"
Gu Changge smiled. "Since you admit it, then I have a question. If Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden—Bibi Dong's disciple, Hu Liena, the one you envied, resented, and hated since childhood—suddenly fell in love with a disciple of the Upper Three Sects, and then chose to give up everything she had, abandon Spirit Hall, and pursue true love with him, what would you do?"
"How dare she!!!"
Qian Renxue gave her answer almost instinctively. "Spirit Hall raised her from childhood, fed her, clothed her, gave her status, and taught her skills. If she dared to do that, she would be courting death! From top to bottom, not a single person in Spirit Hall would permit such a thing!"
Qian Renxue's words were crisp, decisive, and unequivocal.
Dugu Bo and the others nodded to themselves as they listened.
Because there was nothing wrong with what she had said.
Not just Spirit Hall.
Replace it with any other faction,
and anyone who dared betray their benefactors like that would be courting death.
"But your mother did exactly that!"
Gu Changge's voice suddenly rang out.
Then, everyone present fell into dead silence.
And then—
"No, impossible!"
"You're talking nonsense, aren't you?!"
Qian Renxue completely broke down.
"That woman may be hateful and wicked, but she isn't an idiot!"
"As long as someone has a brain and isn't blind, no one could possibly do something like that!"
"You must be talking nonsense. How could something like that possibly happen to her?!"
Qian Renxue had her obsessions and hatred over how Bibi Dong treated her.
But she had never doubted Bibi Dong's methods or capabilities.
After all, Bibi Dong was the only Pope in Spirit Hall's history who was not from the founding bloodline.
Even though she bore the identity of Qian Renxue's mother, the heir to Spirit Hall's Pope lineage,
it was still exceedingly difficult for an outsider to secure the position of Pope.
Yet Bibi Dong had not only secured it, but after doing so, she had led Spirit Hall to heights even greater than when her father, Qian Xunji, had been in power.
So Qian Renxue could accept people calling Bibi Dong wicked or hateful.
But if they said she was such a fool that she would make such a childish mistake,
Qian Renxue truly could not accept it.
And at this moment, it was not only Qian Renxue who could not accept it.
Dugu Bo and the others were nearly stunned senseless by the news Gu Changge had revealed.
Even Dugu Yan and Ye Lengling each grabbed one of Gu Changge's arms.
Their faces were filled with disbelief.
Gu Changge shook his head helplessly.
"Though it sounds absurd, shocking, and impossible to believe,"
"this is the truth!"
"And what's even more shocking is that the person she fell in love with was not some genius from the Upper Three Sects!"
"Instead, he was a clown-like fellow who made a name for himself across the continent through trickery and fraud!"
Before you continue