Douluo: The Venom System Is Awesome

"Mmm!"

Mu Junyu nodded vigorously, his eyes as pure as the stars.

"So, Sister Xue, please don't be angry with Teacher anymore, okay? And don't be angry with me either. Aren't we... all one family?"

He extended his pinky finger.

"I promise you, Sister Xue, from now on... I'll do that most comfortable type of cultivation with you, even more than I do with Teacher, alright? Shall we pinky swear?"

These half-truthful words, paired with his incredibly innocent expression and seemingly concessive promise, flowed like warm water through the conflicted heart of Qian Renxue.

That sharp edge of anger and jealousy was slightly smoothed over; although her suspicions regarding Bibi Dong had not completely vanished, at least... the resentment toward Mu Junyu had largely dissipated. She looked at his hooked pinky finger, hesitated for a moment, and finally reached out her own finger to gently hook it around his.

"You had better remember what you said."

Her tone remained somewhat stiff, but her eyes had softened.

Mu Junyu immediately broke into a wide smile and, pushing his luck, burrowed into her arms.

"I'll definitely remember! Sister Xue is the best!"

Qian Renxue's body stiffened slightly, but she eventually sighed and wrapped her arms around his warm little body, resting her chin gently on the top of his head, her heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.

[Qian Renxue affection level +5%, currently 45%.]

Phew... managed to stabilize things for now. White lies are necessary, after all...

This is so difficult... As expected, the Shura Field is a major hurdle for any protagonist wanting to build a harem.

I didn't expect Qian Renxue to be so resistant to the intimate cultivation between me and Bibi Dong... and I even upset Bibi Dong today... I'm afraid the affection level will stay like this until I leave...

I'll deal with it when I have the chance later. Bibi Dong, you won't be able to escape my grasp either...

It looks like I'll have to try talking to Bibi Dong tomorrow...

So annoying... This mother and daughter... they care about each other but refuse to say anything. They're so awkward...

Chapter 28: Twisted Affection

The next morning, before the sunlight had fully dispelled the chill of the night, Mu Junyu was already standing outside the heavy, carved wooden doors of the Pope Palace.

He took a deep breath and tapped lightly on the door with his small hand.

The hall inside was silent. After a long while, Bibi Dong's cold and slightly weary voice drifted out: "Who is it?"

"Teacher, it's me, Junyu."

Mu Junyu tried his best to make his voice sound obedient and tinged with a hint of timid ingratiation.

"May I... come in and talk to you?"

There was another silence inside, as if the very air had frozen.

Just as Mu Junyu thought he would be rejected, the door creaked open a crack.

He pushed the door open cautiously and stepped inside.

He saw that Bibi Dong was not sitting upright on the papal throne handling official business as usual; instead, she was standing alone before the massive, colorful floor-to-ceiling window, her back turned to him.

The morning light outlined her slender yet straight silhouette. Her long purple hair was not tied up in its usual meticulous style.

Instead, it cascaded loosely over her shoulders, adding a rare sense of vulnerability. She wore only a simple, plain-colored dress, rather than her majestic papal robes.

"Teacher..."

Mu Junyu walked a few steps closer and called out softly.

Bibi Dong did not turn around, merely gazing at the awakening Martial Soul City outside the window, her voice devoid of discernible emotion.

"What else is there to say? Aren't you... leaving with Xue'er very soon?"

Her fingertips curled unconsciously, betraying her inner turmoil.

Mu Junyu circled around to face her, tilting his small face up, his purple eyes brimming with sincere apology and attachment.

"Teacher, about yesterday... I'm sorry. I was too willful, and I made you angry, and I also caused Sister Xue to misunderstand you."

Bibi Dong lowered her eyes to look at him, then quickly looked away, her jawline tightening slightly.

"It has nothing to do with you. It was I who... behaved improperly."

She forced these words out, as if each one carried immense weight.

"No, that's not it!"

Mu Junyu retorted eagerly, reaching out to tug gently on the hem of her dress.

"Teacher did nothing wrong! It was me... I am the one who likes being close to Teacher, who likes that... method of cultivation. I'm the one who can't control myself, always greedily wanting more..."

He lowered his head, his voice gradually fading, filled with deep disappointment and self-reproach. "If... if Teacher thinks I am a nuisance, or finds me annoying... then... I will try my best to control myself in the future and stay further away from you..."

As he spoke, his eyes turned slightly red, though he fought to keep the tears from falling. That look of being clearly aggrieved yet trying so hard to appear sensible struck the softest part of Bibi Dong's heart.

How could she possibly find him annoying?

It was precisely because she liked him so much, and was so addicted to the warmth and comfort he brought, that she felt such panic and self-loathing.

Watching the boy's lowered head and trembling shoulders, Bibi Dong's heart felt as if it were being squeezed by something.

She almost couldn't control the urge to reach out and stroke his hair, but the look of disdain and the words Qian Renxue had spoken yesterday suddenly surfaced, forcing her to stop mid-motion.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, the emotions in her eyes had been forcibly suppressed, leaving only the detachment and indifference of the Pope.

"Let's not speak of the past anymore. When you go to the Heaven Dou Empire, everything... prioritize the mission. Protect yourself, and protect Xiao Xue as well."

Her voice was steady, yet it carried a deliberate sense of distance.

Mu Junyu keenly sensed this alienation, and his heart tightened; he knew the shock of yesterday had affected her deeply, and it wasn't something that could be resolved in a few words.

Mu Junyu took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind about something.

He didn't try to get closer or touch her again, but instead turned and walked over to the large desk that symbolized the Pope's authority.

He stood on his tiptoes, resting his arms on the cold surface and laying his chin upon them; this posture made him appear even smaller and more harmless.

He tilted his head, his gaze clear as he looked at Bibi Dong, who was still standing by the window. His voice was not loud, yet it echoed clearly through the silent hall.

"Teacher."

He spoke softly, but the topic suddenly shifted in a direction completely unexpected by Bibi Dong.

"Yesterday, Sister Xue was so angry... actually, it wasn't just because she saw us cultivating."

Bibi Dong's back stiffened almost imperceptibly, but she did not turn around, nor did she interrupt him.

Mu Junyu continued, his tone carrying a sense of pure confusion and a hint of grievance on behalf of Qian Renxue.

"When she pulled me away, her eyes were red, and she said to me... she asked why you would never look at her? Why you would never smile at her? Was it because no matter what she did..."

He paused at just the right moment, turning to look at Bibi Dong's back with a more direct gaze.

"Teacher, Sister Xue... she is actually very lonely. She cultivates desperately, trying to do everything perfectly, and perhaps her greatest wish is to receive a word of approval from you, a real, warm smile."

His voice gradually lowered, filled with sincere bewilderment.

"But why are you... always so cold to her? She is clearly your only daughter, your closest kin."

These words were like a dull blade, slowly slicing through the hard shell Bibi Dong had wrapped around herself, precisely piercing the deepest, most bloodied part of her heart that she dared not face.

She turned around abruptly, her purple eyes surging with intense pain and a kind of panic at having her secret exposed; the indifference she had worked so hard to maintain shattered instantly.

"What do you know?! What could you possibly know?!"

Her voice carried a hint of uncontrolled sharpness, but even more, it held an unspeakable agony.

Mu Junyu shrank his shoulders, startled by her intense reaction, but he continued to look at her persistently, his eyes as clear as a mirror, reflecting her current disarray and pain.

"I don't understand... I don't understand why, when you are all each other has, you must act like strangers, or even colder than strangers."

"Teacher, when you look at Sister Xue, there is... sometimes something very sad in your eyes. Since you are sad, why can't you just hug her?"

"Shut up!"

Bibi Dong snapped, interrupting him sharply. Her chest heaved violently, and her fingers gripped the window frame so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Those memories she had deliberately forgotten and suppressed surged like a tide: the crimes of Qian Xunji.

That filthy night; the very existence of this daughter was like an eternal brand of shame, constantly reminding her of that unbearable past and the shackles she could never escape.

She hated Qian Xunji, but this hatred inevitably spilled over onto the daughter who carried half of that man's blood...

This complex and twisted emotion was something she could never speak of to anyone, let alone face the eyes of Qian Renxue, which grew more like her father's with each passing day.

Watching Bibi Dong's violently fluctuating emotions and the bottomless pain in her eyes, Mu Junyu knew his words had taken effect.

He didn't press her further, just stayed there quietly, watching her silently with those clear purple eyes, his gaze filled with worry and concern, but devoid of fear or judgment.

This silent companionship and understanding pierced through her defenses better than any words could.

Chapter 29: Family Above All

After a long while, Bibi Dong seemed to have all her strength drained away. She slowly loosened her grip on the window frame, her voice hoarse and weary.

"...You don't understand. Some things... are not as simple as you think."

She turned away, facing him with her back once more, her shoulders slumping slightly. The Pope's authority she had been propping up dissipated completely, leaving only a fragile soul riddled with holes by the past.

"Leave."

She said in a low voice, heavy with exhaustion.

"Let me be alone for a while."

Mu Junyu looked at Bibi Dong's lonely back, which seemed abandoned by the whole world, and listened to the thick, inseparable weariness and pain in her voice; his heart felt as if it had been cruelly twisted.

His original plan, those affection points, the system rewards... suddenly didn't seem so important at this moment.

He gritted his teeth, a flash of determination in his eyes.

"Teacher, I'm sorry... your student has overstepped!"

Before the words had even faded, his entire body instantly transformed into a streak of purple-black light. No longer a slow erosion, he lunged directly at Bibi Dong with the greatest possible speed!

Bibi Dong was caught off guard, feeling a familiar, icy sensation instantly envelop her entire body, far more fierce and intense than any time before!

She struggled in astonishment, but the Heart-Eroding Venom had already permeated every pore, not just her skin, but launching a direct assault on her sea of consciousness!

"Mu Junyu! You..."

Her rebuke came to an abrupt halt, her consciousness seemingly dragged into a warm vortex.

This time, Mu Junyu's goal was incredibly clear. He forcibly suppressed Bibi Dong's instinctive mental resistance, his consciousness sinking directly into the mental world filled with her scars and dark memories.

[Current Modification: Insatiable Desire.]

Change.

[Current Modification: Family Above All.]

The pink mental nodes pulsed, his mental power acting like the most precise scalpel, locking directly onto the core region that constantly radiated twisted hatred, pain, and avoidance.

Providing the optimal soothing for the pain in Bibi Dong's heart.

A strand of soft yet incredibly resilient power carried pure warmth and the emotional fluctuation of attachment.

Like the purest spring of light, it was forcibly injected into Bibi Dong's mental core.

That radiance gently wrapped around the core, which had become cold and hard due to trauma and hatred, striving to permeate, soothe, and reshape it...

"Ugh... JPY96"

Bibi Dong let out an unconscious moan, her body falling backward limply.

She was gently caught by flowing venom and slowly laid down on the carpet.

In her mental world, those images concerning Qian Renxue, originally filled with pain and disgust, began to twist and change...

She seemed to see Qian Renxue's wrinkled little face when she was just born, her first stumbling steps, the first time she timidly called her "Mom"...

Those tiny moments she had deliberately forgotten and ignored now surged forth with absolute clarity, accompanied by a strong and unfamiliar throbbing and softness originating from the depths of her bloodline.

Hatred and fear receded, replaced by a belated, surging guilt and an indescribable longing—

A longing to embrace that child and to make up for everything lost over these years.