Don't Trust Anyone

"Tea... teacher?"

Since Nan Feng had taken it upon himself to reveal his true form in front of Hu Liena and had even come up with that inexplicable League of the Unrighteous to oppose feudalism, landlords, and hegemony, Bibi Dong had no choice but to go along with Nan Feng's plan.

"Your Holiness, are you... serious?"

Hu Liena, whom Nan Feng had just woken, stared at Bibi Dong in a daze.

She was going to take her as a student?

"Mm." Bibi Dong nodded.

She had come mainly for this. As it happened, it would also give Nan Feng a chance to see if he liked Hu Liena. If he did, then while Bibi Dong was in seclusion, she could have Hu Liena look after him.

"What is it? You don't want to?" Bibi Dong asked.

"No! That's not it!" Hu Liena shook her head nervously.

"I just feel... like I'm dreaming..."

First she had seen a cat that could speak, and now Her Holiness wanted to take her as a disciple... Could she really be dreaming?

That was it!

She definitely hadn't woken up from her daydream!

At the thought, Hu Liena suddenly pinched her own thigh.

"What are you doing?" Bibi Dong asked, puzzled, as Hu Liena pinched herself hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"I..." Hu Liena bit her lip and looked up, eyes brimming with tears.

It hurt! She wasn't dreaming!

"You're timid, and on top of that, you're not too bright." Nan Feng walked over to Hu Liena with a look of disdain and gently patted her.

"Huh?" Hu Liena stared blankly.

This cat really could talk?!

Wait, the pain was gone!

"I'll leave the preaching to you. I'm going out for a walk." With that, Nan Feng leaped out the window.

"Meow!!!"

Bibi Dong's eye twitched violently.

They were on the sixth floor!

Pope Hall.

Word of Bibi Dong's trip to Martial Soul Academy to take on a student soon reached Qian Xunji.

"A top-tier mental-type Demon Fox Martial Soul, innate level nine..." Qian Xunji looked over the file submitted by Martial Soul Academy.

"Dad, Mom took on a student?" Qian Renxue asked curiously, leaning closer.

"Wasn't Mom's Divine Slaughter's Domain still unstable? Weren't we supposed to avoid approaching her?"

"Who knows..." Qian Xunji couldn't make sense of Bibi Dong's actions either.

Had she finally worked things out during her three years in Slaughter City?

That was probably it. Someone with Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power who had even overcome the challenge of cultivating both Martial Souls at once was a peerless genius. There was no way she should waste her life on a good-for-nothing.

"Come on. Let's go see her." Qian Xunji stood up.

Qian Renxue hesitated. "But Grandpa said not to visit Mom until her Killing Intent had stabilized..."

"I'll take you. It'll be fine," Qian Xunji assured her.

"Besides, don't you want to see what kind of student she took on?"

"..."

Saintess Hall.

After successfully taking Hu Liena as her student, Bibi Dong brought her back with her.

"From now on, you can come here whenever you're not in class at Martial Soul Academy."

Bibi Dong was showing Hu Liena around Saintess Hall.

Like Pope Hall, Saintess Hall wasn't a single palace but a complex of palaces, with buildings of different sizes serving different purposes.

Pope Hall occupied nearly a tenth of Spirit City. The staff of Spirit City all worked within its grounds.

And when people spoke of Pope Hall, they usually meant the place where the court held its assemblies, much like those of the Two Great Empires—the assembly hall Nan Feng had visited before.

Saintess Hall wasn't as enormous as Pope Hall, but it was still made up of four courtyards to the east, west, south, and north. In scale, it was comparable to the estate of a duke from either of the Two Great Empires.

The West Courtyard housed the support staff. The South Courtyard was Saintess Hall's public face, where guests were received; no one lived there. Bibi Dong usually stayed in the North Courtyard, which would also be where she went into seclusion.

Now, Bibi Dong was showing Hu Liena around the East Courtyard.

"I'm not especially familiar with this place myself," Bibi Dong said.

"Take some time to explore on your own when you can."

Hu Liena nodded. "All right, teacher."

"Oh, right." Bibi Dong stopped walking.

"Don't trust anyone in this hall."

Hu Liena froze. "Why?"

"I'll tell you why later. For now, just remember," Bibi Dong said.

Everyone in Saintess Hall had been sent by Qian Xunji to keep an eye on her. Every last one of them.

"I'll remember." Hu Liena nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

"And..." Before Bibi Dong could finish, her expression fell.

Qian Xunji was walking toward them from up ahead, with Qian Renxue following behind him, peeking around.

"Your Holiness!" Hu Liena bowed awkwardly.

"So this is the student you just took on?" Qian Xunji sized up the timid Hu Liena.

"Yes."

"Thank you, Your Holiness." Bibi Dong's tone was cool as she did her best to suppress the Killing Intent within her.

Qian Xunji didn't seem to mind. He pulled Qian Renxue out from behind him. "Xiao Xue, go play with this girl. The Saintess and I need to talk."

"Mm." Qian Renxue stepped forward nervously, not daring to look at Bibi Dong.

Although Qian Renxue knew that Bibi Dong had acted that way before because she'd lost control of her Killing Intent, the incident had still left her badly shaken.

"Your Holiness, why not just say what you have to say?" Bibi Dong stepped in front of Hu Liena.

"Some things are better discussed in private," Qian Xunji said.

"..."

"Nana, go on and play." Bibi Dong gave Hu Liena a look, signaling for her to take Qian Renxue to the garden where Nan Feng had slept.

"Oh..." Hu Liena stepped forward nervously.

Watching Bibi Dong act so familiarly with another child, Qian Renxue's expression shifted in a way no one could quite read.

Why?

Did Bibi Dong only lose control of her Killing Intent when she saw her?

After watching Qian Renxue and Hu Liena walk away, Qian Xunji turned back to Bibi Dong. "There's something I need your help with."

Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

"Didn't you want to avoid seeing Xiao Xue?" Qian Xunji took out the plan to send someone undercover in Heaven Dou and handed it to Bibi Dong.

"Now there's a chance to make sure she keeps her distance from you."

Bibi Dong glanced through the plan in her hands and couldn't help laughing. "An undercover mission?"

"I didn't expect you people to stop even pretending. You've really gone through with something like this."

Call it an undercover mission if you wanted, but in plain terms, they were sending a girl who wasn't even ten years old to the Heaven Dou Imperial Family to win their trust, then kill their entire family.

"If you want to achieve great things, you can't worry about the little things." Qian Xunji's expression didn't change.

"So, what's your decision?"

"What if I refuse?" Bibi Dong asked.

Qian Xunji clasped his hands behind his back and turned toward the flowers and plants by the roadside. "Do you remember that abandoned scion of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan?"

"I know a lot about him. Want to hear?"