Bibi Dong's Origins

Bibi Dong clearly had not expected the conversation to suddenly turn so heavy.

She froze for a moment, and the lively atmosphere turned sorrowful.

Seeing this, Ling Yuan immediately regretted it and quickly waved her hands. "Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. Let's talk about something else, like what we'll eat on the way back tomorrow..."

"It's alright, Ling Yuan." Bibi Dong gently shook her head.

"It won't hurt to tell you... I haven't mentioned these things to anyone in a long time."

"My home... wasn't in Spirit City."

"It was in a small place called Tianming Town, on the border of the Heaven Dou Empire."

"It wasn't particularly prosperous, but the townspeople were all kind. They lived off the mountains, and their days were quiet and peaceful."

"My father was a hunter with a little Soul Power, while my mother took on mending work in town."

"Until the year I turned six, when the town chief took us to the city to awaken our martial souls."

"I awakened Twin Martial Souls, which caused quite a stir at the time."

"The old folks in town were delighted. They thought our town was going to produce someone remarkable."

"With the subsidy and certificate issued by Spirit Hall in hand, I rode home in a carriage with the old town chief, thinking how proud my parents would be when they found out..."

"But... when we returned to Tianming Town... all we saw were ruins."

"The houses had collapsed, the fires had not yet fully died out, and the streets were covered in blood and corpses."

"For some reason, Star Luo Empire troops had suddenly crossed the border and attacked the Heaven Dou borderlands. Our town... happened to lie in their path."

Ling Yuan's heart clenched painfully. She reached out and took Bibi Dong's icy hand.

Bibi Dong continued, "The old town chief, a few uncles who had luckily escaped the first wave of attacks, and I searched through the ruins like mad for a long, long time. They were nowhere to be found, or perhaps..."

"Later, under the old town chief's lead, those of us who had survived tried to flee toward safer inland cities."

"But... a Star Luo patrol discovered us."

"We were locked up. At the time, I was terrified and hungry."

Ling Yuan sighed as she listened. "What happened afterward? How were you saved?"

Bibi Dong leaned against Ling Yuan's shoulder and steadied her emotions before continuing. "Just when we were nearly desperate, people from Spirit Hall arrived."

"They held Spirit Hall tokens and forcefully demanded that the Star Luo officer guarding us hand someone over."

"Hand someone over? Who?"

"Me."

"The matter of my Twin Martial Souls had already been reported by the Holy Temple to the main hall."

"Spirit Hall placed great importance on me. When they learned that the town where my family lived had suffered the ravages of war and that my entire family might have perished, the main hall immediately sent people to search for me along the most likely routes."

"They found traces of the Star Luo army and tracked them all the way here."

"And after that... you know the rest."

"I was brought back to Spirit City. Because of my exceptional talent, my teacher accepted me as a personal disciple, and I became the Saintess."

Ling Yuan was silent for a long time. She could imagine how lonely and insecure a six-year-old girl must have felt after losing all her family overnight, leaving an ordinary little town for the unfamiliar Spirit Hall, bearing the title of a genius, and growing up under the strict guidance of the Pope.

No wonder she had been both so delighted and so uneasy at the Pope's sudden change toward gentleness.

After quite a while, Ling Yuan released her embrace and looked into Bibi Dong's eyes.

"Saintess, do you have a younger brother?"

Bibi Dong's entire body trembled violently as she looked at Ling Yuan in disbelief.

She had never told anyone in detail about the existence of her younger brother.

"You... how did you know?"

"I've never told anyone about my brother... Apart from the deacons who came to investigate back then, it wasn't even recorded in the official files."

Ling Yuan's heartbeat suddenly quickened. Bibi Dong's reaction confirmed her suspicion.

"Because... tonight, I met someone."

"He looked very, very much like you, especially his eyes."

"He said his name was—Bibi Xi."

"Where is he?" Bibi Dong hurriedly sat up from the bed.

"My brother? Xiao Xi? He might still be alive?"

Ling Yuan was startled by her sudden excitement and quickly pressed her hands onto Bibi Dong's shoulders. "Calm down, Saintess. I-I'm not sure where he is right now. He should... still be in the city."

"Then why didn't you bring him to see me when you met him?"

Ling Yuan patiently explained, "I was shocked too, but then I thought about it. You clearly said you were an orphan... If this Bibi Xi really is your younger brother, then what exactly happened back then?"

"Why did Spirit Hall find you and determine that you were an orphan, while he was still out there? Could there... be some hidden reason? Perhaps... your family did not treat you well? Or some other reason why you were unwilling to mention them?"

"I-I'm your friend, so of course I had to be cautious. What if I rashly brought him to you and made you unhappy or got you into trouble?"

Bibi Dong paused, understanding Ling Yuan's concerns.

"No, my family treated me very well."

"I'm going to find him!"

As she spoke, she was about to get out of bed.

"Wait!" Ling Yuan grabbed her again. "Yelin City is so large, and it's nighttime now. How are you going to find him? Run around like a headless fly?"

"I..." Bibi Dong was left speechless. Then her eyes lit up. "I can find Teacher. Teacher will definitely have a way."

Ling Yuan considered it. That was indeed a reliable idea.

"Alright, then let's go find His Holiness the Pope."

The two hurriedly tidied themselves up, then knocked on Qian Xunji's door.

After hearing Bibi Dong's account, Qian Xunji frowned.

He had not expected an ordinary Lantern Festival trip to uncover the possibility that Bibi Dong's younger brother was still alive.

"Dong'er, don't panic."

"Now that we have a lead, it will be easier."

He walked to the center of the room, closed his eyes once more, and released his Spiritual Power to search.

Since they were close blood relatives, their martial souls were likely of the same origin or highly similar.

Second by second, time passed...

At last, Qian Xunji opened his eyes.

"Well? Teacher, did you find him?"

Qian Xunji shook his head. "I did not sense spider-type martial souls such as the Death Spider Emperor or the Soul Devouring Spider Emperor."

The light in Bibi Dong's face instantly dimmed.

"However," Qian Xunji continued, "within Yelin City, there are quite a few soul masters with all kinds of spider martial souls... By rough estimation, there are more than a hundred of them."

Ling Yuan stared in surprise. "More than a hundred? H-how are we supposed to search?"

"Having a target is enough."

"We can search for them one by one. As long as they possess a spider martial soul, they may be Dong'er's younger brother or someone connected to him."

"You two should return and rest first. I'll mobilize the people from the local Spirit Hall Branch and have them investigate overnight the soul masters with spider martial souls according to the locations marked by my Spiritual Power."

"I'm going too!" Bibi Dong said immediately.