Shang An Gets Beaten

Ni Huang, hidden in the shadows, stared blankly at Qian Renxue, who had transformed into Bibi Dong. This disguise skill was actually so powerful that even she had failed to spot any flaws.

During that brief lapse, Qian Renxue stepped onto the large bed. After hesitating for a moment, Ni Huang still did not reveal herself. Xiao An sleeping there must have been part of his own plan.

Shang An, who kept the Taiyi Dharma Domain active even in his sleep, had not been discovered by her. As usual, she lifted the covers and lay down in bed.

Before long, Qian Renxue, exhausted from an entire day, fell asleep. In his dreams, Shang An vaguely sensed the aura of his Pope-brand body pillow, pulled her into the Taiyi Dharma Domain, and skillfully wrapped an arm around her.

Qian Renxue slept deeply. Moreover, because Shang An had hugged his Pope-brand body pillow for years, he carried Bibi Dong's scent. Qian Renxue only felt as though her mother had gathered her into an embrace, and she slept with great peace of mind without waking.

Meanwhile, Ni Huang faithfully remained concealed in the dark, standing guard. For a Title Douluo, sleeping or not sleeping made little difference.

The first ray of morning light split the clouds, passed through the curtains, and fell upon the bedside.

Shang An woke from his haze. That had been quite a comfortable sleep, and with Teacher too—wait!

Wasn't I waiting for Qian Renxue to return in her bedchamber?

The confusion in Shang An's eyes instantly vanished. He opened his eyes and saw the appearance of his mature and alluring Pope teacher before him.

"Teacher?"

Shang An murmured softly. No, this was not Teacher. Why would Teacher appear in Qian Renxue's bedchamber? Shang An probed with Psychic Power and discovered that her soul aura differed from his teacher's.

She was Qian Renxue!

A body's aura might be imitated, but a soul's aura was exceedingly difficult to copy. Though Qian Renxue's Spirit Bone Skill had made her outward appearance identical, her essence was ultimately different.

This only worked because the Douluo system was so backward that it could not perceive the existence of souls. Shang An simply had not noticed those details in his sleep last night and had only treated her as his exclusive Pope-brand body pillow.

But why had she transformed into Teacher? Could this girl have developed some sort of mother-complex tendency from being deprived of maternal love for so long?

While Qian Renxue was still asleep, Shang An prepared to leave first. But the moment he moved, he sensed that something was wrong.

He was trying to pull out the hand that was currently misbehaving when Qian Renxue's eyelids twitched. She was about to wake up.

Shang An inwardly cursed. He shut his eyes and simply continued pretending to sleep.

Qian Renxue slowly awoke from her dreams.

Ever since arriving in the Heaven Dou Empire, she had never slept so comfortably. She had even dreamed last night that her mother gently held her, softly stroked her, and called her Xue'er.

At that thought, a faint smile appeared on her lips. She instinctively wanted to stretch, and then—

Qian Renxue suddenly sensed that something was wrong. It seemed something was pressing against her!

She instantly became fully awake. How was that possible? How could there be someone in her bedchamber?

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through her mind.

Accustomed to the filth of politics, her first thought was that someone was trying to frame her. But she immediately felt that something was off. Even if they wanted to frame her, it should not have been like this. She was the dignified Crown Prince of Heaven Dou; even if she shared a bed with a woman—wait!

Qian Renxue felt a firm chest beside her. This seemed to be a man!

She had actually shared a bed with a man.

What the hell was Snake Lance doing? Someone had entered her bedchamber, yet he did not know? Or did he know and simply fail to tell her?

Feeling violated, Qian Renxue flew into a rage. She threw back the covers, gathered Soul Power in her hand, and was about to kill this man who dared defile her with one palm strike.

However, when she saw that face, beautiful enough to make heaven and earth lose some of their color, her hand actually paused.

How could there be such a beautiful man in this world? Qian Renxue had always possessed absolute confidence in her own appearance and never believed anyone could surpass her. Yet upon seeing him, she could not help but think that if he were a woman, there would be no peerless beauty left in the world.

But Qian Renxue quickly recovered from his beauty and struck out with her palm. Yet for some reason, the force behind it had weakened by seventy or eighty percent.

At that moment, Shang An pretended to have just woken up in a daze. Seeing Qian Renxue's soft, feeble palm strike, Shang An did not even bother to dodge. The Taiyi Immortal Origin Body was no joke; this strike hurt him about as much as a mosquito bite.

Still, he put on an injured expression. Soul Power circulated through his body, and he spat a mouthful of blood onto the bed. His face also became several shades paler.

He changed from a handsome youth into a sickly beauty, still breathtakingly beautiful, but now carrying an added air that made others want to cherish him.

"Teacher, why did you hurt me?" Shang An wore an expression of disbelief, his eyes filled with grief.

"I..."

When Shang An looked at her like that, Qian Renxue suddenly felt as though she had become some great villain. Then she reacted.

Teacher?

Right, she still wore that woman's appearance. That meant this person was her disciple, the Holy Son of Spirit Hall? He did indeed resemble the portrait, but he was far more handsome than in the painting, and much more mature.

No wonder he had been able to sneak into her bedchamber. He likely had a Dao Protector behind him.

After a turn of thought, for some unknown reason, she did not explain her identity.

"Why are you here?" Qian Renxue could not tell how close Shang An and Bibi Dong were, so instead of answering directly, she questioned him in return.

"Didn't Teacher tell me to come?" Shang An said somewhat aggrievedly. "You said you were a little worried about that Holy Maiden hiding in Heaven Dou and asked me to come take a look in secret."

She... she secretly cared about me too?

A faint ripple rose in her heart, but Qian Renxue remained outwardly impassive. "I asked you to take a look, and you took a look from the bed?"

"That Holy Maiden never came back, so I accidentally fell asleep on the bed." Shang An wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and continued, "Besides, didn't you promise her to me? There shouldn't be any problem with me getting onto my own wife's bed, right?"

Promise her to him? Although Shang An did meet her standards for choosing a spouse, that woman had never cared for her. What right did she have to interfere in her marriage?

Even if Shang An might be the only genius on Douluo Continent who was no weaker than her, and even if he truly looked exactly like the husband she had imagined in her heart, she would not acknowledge this marriage before gaining her approval.

"Teacher, you weren't lying to me, were you? I only reluctantly agreed because I heard that Holy Maiden was beautiful. If she's some big, burly, fat-faced woman, then I don't want her."

Seeing Shang An's disgusted expression, as though he had thought of something horrible, several black lines appeared on Qian Renxue's forehead. Beneath her wide sleeves, her delicate fists clenched tightly.

You're the big, burly, fat-faced one! This lady doesn't want to marry you either!

Hold it in. I'm Bibi Dong right now. I'm Bibi Dong right now.

After hypnotizing herself for a moment, Qian Renxue's expression returned to calm. "Do you remember what I told you?"

Shang An inwardly sneered. This attempt to fish for information was far too obvious, but he still decided to play along with Qian Renxue.

"Teacher, you said that you had always felt sorry for her, but there were some things you still could not let go of. That was why you had never been willing to see her, so you asked me to help check on her."

Hearing Shang An's words, Qian Renxue's mind wavered. Could she really care about me too? Did she actually love me?

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

Seeing Qian Renxue freeze, Shang An reached out and grabbed her hand, rubbing it between both of his as he asked with a concerned expression.

Qian Renxue immediately snapped back to her senses. She felt a warm large hand holding her small one, while her delicate nose caught the masculine scent so close at hand.

Startled, she wanted to pull her hand back. From childhood until now, she had never been so intimate with any man. But Shang An held on tightly, as though protecting some precious treasure.

Thinking that she still needed to draw information from Shang An and could not expose her identity, she forcefully suppressed the urge to shake his hand off and revealed a gentle smile.

"Teacher is fine. Tell me, do you think what I'm doing is really right? Isn't it too unfair to... to that Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall? She knows nothing, yet I have always hated her."

Shang An shook his head. "I know Teacher is actually a very gentle person. You must have had your reasons for doing this."

Reasons. Bitterness filled Qian Renxue's heart. Was there truly any reason that could make her disregard even her own daughter and treat her like an enemy?