Angel Family Matters, Awakening Before Qian Daoliu
Qian Daoliu's body stiffened slightly.
This was the first time he had heard the grown-up Qian Renxue use the word "mother".
In the past, when she mentioned Bibi Dong, she always referred to her as "that woman."
Her tone was sharp and icy, like a knife. But today she was saying "mother."
"Xue'er, you--"
"Grandfather."
Qian Renxue interrupted him, her voice trembling.
"Did my father do something evil to my mother, which is why I exist?"
"Was it because of this that Mother killed Father?"
"Was my existence a mistake from the very beginning?"
Qian Renxue asked these questions with tears streaming down her face.
"I want to hear the truth from you."
"!"
Qian Daoliu's pupils suddenly contracted.
He knew this day would come sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.
He opened his mouth, but found himself unable to answer.
Because the truth is a stain on the Qian Family.
It was an unforgivable crime committed by Qian Xunji.
It was a disgrace to him as the Pope's father.
"Xue'er."
Qian Daoliu's voice sounded ten years older than before, "Who told you these things...?"
Qian Renxue did not say who told her.
"Grandpa, I just want to know the truth."
"..."
Qian Daoliu closed his eyes.
The Worship Hall remained quiet for a long time.
The night wind outside the temple stopped and rose again, and the candlelight before the statue flickered again and again.
He finally opened his eyes.
Those cloudy old eyes no longer held any authority or sharpness, only a bottomless weariness.
It's true.
Three words.
This caused Qian Renxue's body to sway.
"Your father, Qian Xunji..."
"He did something unforgivable."
"The consequence of the sin of your birth."
Qian Renxue's face turned pale instantly.
She learned everything from Lin Qingmo.
I mentally went through all the possibilities.
She had rehearsed the worst, the most disgusting, the most unacceptable... all of them.
But hearing it confirmed by her grandfather was still more than she could handle.
"So... it was his mother who killed him."
Her voice was trembling, so trembling that she felt ashamed of herself.
"She killed my father because she hated him."
"And she... hates me too."
Qian Daoliu did not deny it.
Because that's the truth.
Bibi Dong never hid her indifference towards Qian Renxue.
Qian Renxue suddenly felt...
If she were Bibi Dong, she would also hate.
She even felt she had no right to complain about the indifference of the past twenty years.
"Xue'er, listen to me."
Qian Daoliu's voice lowered, and he increased the pressure on his hand by three points.
"The crime your father committed is his crime."
"Bibi Dong killed him; that was his retribution."
"You shouldn't have to bear the burden of either of these things. Your existence has never been a mistake."
"But my very existence is a consequence of that event!"
Qian Renxue finally lost control.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she didn't let the tears fall.
This was probably her last act of defiance.
Or rather, it was the only thing "that woman" taught her over the past twenty years.
Don't cry in front of others.
"If that hadn't happened, I wouldn't exist."
"It's understandable that my mother hates me... I shouldn't have been born in the first place..."
"Shut up."
Qian Daoliu's voice wasn't loud.
But the air in the entire hall seemed to freeze for a moment.
The candlelight all dipped half an inch.
The face of the Angel God Statue flickered in and out of the light, as if it too were listening to this conversation that was twenty years overdue.
Qian Daoliu had never spoken to Qian Renxue like this before.
He never hid his affection for his granddaughter.
They asked for stars but not the moon, they asked for Soul Bone but not Spirit Ring.
When she said she was going to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire, he hesitated for three days and three nights before finally agreeing.
But today, he said "shut up."
Qian Renxue was stunned.
She looked into her grandfather's eyes, and there was something burning in those cloudy old eyes that she couldn't describe.
Guilt, anger, heartache, and self-blame were all mixed together, simmering into a thick pot of emotions.
Whether or not you should have been born was not decided by your father.
"It's not something that Bibi Dong can decide."
Qian Daoliu spoke each word carefully.
The candlelight flickered again.
In the firelight, the wrinkles on his face were cut into deep and shallow furrows, like a piece of paper that had been crumpled and then unfolded.
Qian Renxue's lips moved, but no sound came out.
Her golden eyelashes trembled for a long time.
Then she looked up.
Her eyes were still red, but no tears fell.
"Grandfather."
"I don't hate my mother anymore."
"For years, I've believed she was the one who ruined this family."
Qian Renxue's gaze fell on the Angel God Statue, her voice very soft, as if she were talking to herself.
"But the truth is, this family never existed in the first place."
"My father did that to my mother, and she killed him. There was never a 'family' between them."
"So no one destroyed anything, I have no right to hate her."
Qian Renxue lowered her head, her golden eyelashes trembling again.
"I just... don't know how to face her."
"..."
Qian Daoliu stared at her blankly for a long time.
Then he gently embraced his granddaughter.
The movements were very clumsy.
How many years has it been since he last held Xue'er? Ten years? Fifteen years?
The last time was when she had just awakened her Martial Soul.
Six-year-old Qian Renxue blushed with excitement and rushed into his arms, shouting, "Grandpa, look at my wings!"
He lifted her up and spun her around three times, laughing even more heartily than if he had broken through ninety-nine levels.
Then she grew up.
He thought he had plenty of time to teach her, protect her, and watch her become the successor of the Angel God.
Today, it turned out that he had forgotten how to hug her even properly.
An aged hand gently patted Qian Renxue's back, carrying the guilt that had been suppressed for more than a decade.
"Xue'er, you're already better than Grandpa."
His voice rang out above her head, slightly hoarse.
"The only people Grandpa has never dared to face in his life are you and Bibi Dong."
"I covered up your father's crime for twenty years, not because I wanted to protect him."
"He's already dead; there's no point in protecting a dead man."
"I don't know how to start... I'm afraid... afraid you'll hate me."
Qian Daoliu smiled bitterly.
"I raised such a son; it is my sin."
"Therefore, I am only fit to stay in this temple for the rest of my life, guarding the legacy of the Angel God, and waiting for someone who can inherit it."
"I thought it would be your father, but he has brought shame upon God."
"Grandfather."
Qian Renxue withdrew from Qian Daoliu's embrace.
She took a deep breath.
The redness in his eyes finally faded.
Instead, there was a clarity that Qian Daoliu had never seen in her eyes before.
"I need to go into seclusion to cultivate."
Qian Daoliu taken aback.
"Now?"
"Now."
Her tone was firm and decisive.
"It's not to prove anything to anyone."
"So that one day, I can stand before her openly and honestly, and say a single word to her."
"I haven't decided what to say yet, but I need to be qualified to stand in front of her first."
Qian Daoliu looked at his granddaughter, his lips moved, but in the end he said nothing.
He simply nodded.
Then he watched as Qian Renxue turned and walked towards the cultivation Secret Chamber in the Worship Hall.
Her back was ramrod straight, her long golden hair shimmered in the candlelight, and she disappeared through the doorway of the Secret Chamber.
Qian Daoliu stood still, motionless for Jiujiu.
The night wind outside the temple stopped and then rose again, and the candlelight before the statue flickered.
He finally let out a long breath and said something in a low voice.
"Xunji, the sins you committed will ultimately be repaid by your daughter."
No one answered him.
The Angel God Statue stood silent, their faces solemn and compassionate in the firelight.