Does the Saintess Like Me?

Bibi Xi hurriedly pulled the black cloth from his face, revealing a face flushed from stuffiness and nervousness.

He quickly stuffed the cloth into his clothes, then warily looked around before lowering his voice. "Miss Ling Yuan, you have no idea."

"Yelin City is terrifying now!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I obviously didn't steal or rob anything. I'm a law-abiding young man, yet after that day, there were public security officers everywhere—at the city gates, in every street and alley—holding my portrait and asking around."

"They asked everyone if they'd seen this person."

"That portrait was... well, it looked a tiny bit uglier than me, but I recognized it at a glance."

"I thought I'd somehow become wanted, and it scared me so badly that I didn't dare show my face in the city for days!"

Ling Yuan: "..."

With dark lines practically appearing across her face, she silently complained, That portrait was drawn by someone Pope had sent based on my description!

It was to find you, not put you on a wanted list!

This misunderstanding was huge!

"So... you dressed like this and snuck all the way from Yelin City to Spirit City?"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"I went to a lot of trouble and used my special method to slip out from a corner of the city wall in the middle of the night."

"I hid all the way here, sleeping rough and eating whatever I could find. I finally located Spirit City using the address you gave me. Spirit City is way too big—I spent ages just asking for directions."

Ling Yuan held back her laughter as she explained, "All right, you've had it rough."

"But you misunderstood."

"What? A misunderstanding?"

"Yes. The people looking for you weren't Yelin City's public security officers. They were from our Spirit Hall."

"And they weren't using your portrait to put you on a wanted list."

"Huh? Spirit Hall?"

"Why were they looking for me?"

"Because our Saintess wanted to find you."

At that, Bibi Xi froze. Then, as though he had thought of something, his expression suddenly turned strange.

He lowered his voice and leaned closer to Ling Yuan. "Could it be... your Saintess? She... she really took a liking to me?"

"So she noticed me somewhere in Yelin City, fell in love with me at first sight, then returned to Spirit Hall and used her influence to search the entire city for me because she just had to find me?"

The more he spoke, the more plausible it seemed. After all, he was this handsome and his talent was decent too. It was perfectly reasonable for the lofty Saintess to fall for him at first glance and begin a tale of a domineering Saintess chasing love.

Watching him instantly switch into narcissistic mode, Ling Yuan nearly choked on her own saliva.

Suddenly, a mischievous thought rose in her heart. She deliberately put on a stern expression and nodded seriously. "That's right. Our Saintess wants to see you."

"As for whether she likes you..."

"Won't you find out once you go inside?"

Bibi Xi's eyes lit up even more. He straightened his wrinkled gray cloth outfit and smoothed the loose purple strands hanging over his forehead.

"Then, then what are we waiting for? Take me to see Lady Saintess."

Suppressing a smile, Ling Yuan turned and led him into the teahouse.

Upstairs, Bibi Dong took in every interaction between the two below, and the tension in her heart eased somewhat.

"Are those two really that familiar? They were chatting and laughing together?"

After a while, Ling Yuan led Bibi Xi upstairs, his head held high and chest puffed out, and stopped before the private room.

She knocked softly, then pushed the door open.

"Saintess, I've brought him."

"Mm. Let him come in."

Bibi Xi took a deep breath, adjusted his expression, and stepped inside.

The private room was softly lit, with the fragrance of tea drifting through the air.

At the table by the window sat a young woman in a pale purple gown.

Her back faced the door as she seemed to gaze at the street outside. Her long purple hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and her figure was elegant.

Bibi Xi's heart thumped twice as he silently thought, She's so captivating from the back alone!

"My name is Bibi Xi. I came as requested. Greetings, Saint—"

His words cut off abruptly.

Because the young woman by the window slowly turned around.

A face appeared before him that resembled his own by seventy or eighty percent, yet was more exquisite and gentle.

Those violet eyes, almost identical to his own, looked at him with complicated emotions.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

The smile on Bibi Xi's face instantly stiffened. His mind buzzed, turning completely blank.

He stared fixedly at the face before him. A childish face buried in the deepest part of his memories—long blurred, yet never truly forgotten—gradually overlapped with the tearful face before him...

"E... Elder Sister?"

An unfamiliar yet familiar form of address squeezed out of his throat.

He had not called her that in more than ten years.

Upon hearing that long-lost "Elder Sister," Bibi Dong's tears finally fell.

She suddenly rose to her feet and rushed to Bibi Xi in a few strides. Trembling, she reached out as though she wanted to touch his face, yet feared it was only a dream.

"Xiao Xi... is it really you?"

"You're alive... You're alive."

"Elder Sister? You... you're my elder sister? The Saintess of Spirit Hall... is you?"

There was too much information. He felt like his brain was about to burn out.

The sister from his memories, gentle and always smiling, who had always protected him.

The family member he had believed died in the flames of war ten years ago... was actually the Saintess of Spirit Hall, now renowned across the continent?

Ling Yuan quietly retreated outside and closed the door, leaving the space to the siblings who had reunited by chance.

She leaned against the door, listening to the faint sounds coming from inside, a relieved smile lifting the corners of her lips.

At last... they had found him.

Inside the private room, Bibi Dong finally managed to stop crying and pulled the still-dazed Bibi Xi down to sit.

"You've grown taller, and stronger too."

Remembering his narcissistic and furtive appearance downstairs just now, she laughed through her tears.

"Elder Sister... I, I thought you... Father and Mother searched for you for a long time. They never gave up."

"We were later rescued by kind people and fled to Suotuo City. But when we went back to look, the town was gone, and you too..."

"Father and Mother?"

Bibi Dong suddenly grabbed his hand. "Father and Mother are alive too? Where are they? How are they now?"

Bibi Xi rubbed the hand she had gripped painfully, holding back tears as a smile appeared on his face. "Yes, they're alive! They were both injured back then. Mother was especially badly hurt protecting me and needed a long time to recover, but they both pulled through in the end."

"They never gave up looking for you. Whenever they had time, they would ask around near the old site of Tianming Town or search in the directions where people might have fled back then."

"They've aged a lot. Their hair has turned much whiter."

"Where are they now? Where do they live?" Bibi Dong asked eagerly.

"In a small village within the Empire called Anping Village."

"After Father's injuries healed, he occasionally took on nearby guard work or hunting jobs. Mother did handicrafts. Their lives were fairly peaceful."

Anping Village... Bibi Dong silently committed the name to memory, a powerful impulse surging through her heart.

That was, she wanted to fly there immediately and see the parents she had been separated from for ten years, whom she had believed lost forever.

"Elder Sister, you're Spirit Hall's Saintess now... what exactly happened?"

"How did you get here back then, and how did you become the Saintess?"

Bibi Dong then briefly recounted how Spirit Hall had rescued her back then, how the Pope had accepted her as a disciple because of her Twin Martial Souls talent, and how she had gradually become the Saintess...

After hearing it all, Bibi Xi was so shocked that he sprang straight out of his chair.