The voice was like a clear spring trickling down a mountain stream and dripping onto jade.
Cool and clear, yet touched with just the right amount of gentleness. It also carried the unmistakable reserve and distance of someone in a position of authority.
The moment she heard that voice, Qian Renxue, who had still been smiling so brightly her eyes had curved into crescents, gave a sudden little shudder.
The smile drained from her face like the tide going out, leaving her pale and flustered in an instant.
Almost instinctively, she shrank behind Ye Qing. Her little hand unconsciously clutched the hem of his clothes, as though the voice belonged to something terrifying.
Ye Qing keenly noticed Qian Renxue's unusual reaction.
His brow furrowed slightly. Lowering his head to look at the little girl hiding behind him, who seemed to have even quieted her breathing, he asked softly:
"What's wrong, Xiao Xue? Do you... know the person outside?"
Qian Renxue shook her head vigorously and ducked her little head even lower, but she didn't answer.
Yet her faintly trembling fingertips and suddenly stiffened body said everything.
Ye Qing's doubts only deepened.
Who in Spirit Hall could frighten Qian Renxue—the Grand Pontiff's own granddaughter and the Pope's daughter—like this?
He already had a vague idea, but didn't say it aloud.
He patted Qian Renxue's little hand where it clutched his clothes, trying to reassure her. Then he raised his head and spoke slowly toward the courtyard gate, his clear child's voice ringing out:
"Sure. Please come in."
He could more or less guess who was outside.
In Spirit Hall, there was only one woman with the right to come and go freely from the guest courtyard behind Pope Palace, and who could inspire such intense fear in Qian Renxue.
That would be Bibi Dong, the woman who was now the Saintess of Spirit Hall—and Qian Renxue's birth mother.
Just as he expected, the moment his voice fell, the heavy courtyard gate was gently pushed open by a hand as fair as white jade, its nails neatly trimmed.
The first thing to appear was a jade-white foot stepping over the threshold, clad in a silver high-heeled shoe.
Then a tall, slender figure with graceful curves slowly entered the courtyard.
The afternoon sunlight traced the exquisite profile of her face.
Her long purple hair fell smoothly over her shoulders like fine silk, its ends curling ever so slightly.
She wore a well-tailored, pale purple dress that fell to her knees. It perfectly set off her slender waist and full chest, while revealing a pair of straight, shapely legs so white they almost dazzled the eye.
Her features were as exquisite as if they had been painstakingly carved by a master artist: brows and eyes like a painting, a high nose, and lips the faint pink of cherry blossoms.
Most striking were her eyes, also a deep purple.
But they were more composed than Qian Renxue's, and more complex, as though they held endless thoughts and unfathomable whirlpools.
She was beautiful, yet carried an aloof nobility that made her seem difficult to approach.
Bibi Dong.
Ye Qing silently repeated her name in his mind.
This was the first time he had seen the future Empress of Spirit Hall from such close up.
She was also one of the female characters in the original story whose fate was most tragic and complicated.
She really was beautiful—so beautiful it took one's breath away. That noble air, blending a woman's delicate elegance with the first hints of a future empress, was utterly unique.
That was Ye Qing's first impression of her.
But Ye Qing knew perfectly well that there was far more to this woman than her beauty.
Her talent was among the finest of any female Soul Master on Douluo Continent, and she would one day attain Rakshasa Godhood.
Her methods and temperament also ranked among the most ruthless of all the Popes in Spirit Hall's history. She would lead Spirit Hall to unprecedented heights and establish the Spirit Hall Empire.
But when it came to her taste in men...
Ye Qing couldn't help silently complaining to himself.
First, she'd been blind enough to fall for Yu Xiaogang, that Grandmaster who could talk up his theories until the heavens shook, yet was a complete mess in actual combat—and cowardly and obsessive to boot.
Then there was her carefully nurtured disciple, Hu Liena, who was also devoted to Tang San, that Tang Sect thief...
When it came to being unlucky in the people they chose, master and disciple really were cut from the same cloth. You just couldn't make this stuff up.
As Bibi Dong walked fully into the courtyard, her calm purple eyes—eyes that seemed able to see through everything—swept casually over them.
Qian Renxue, who had still been hiding behind Ye Qing, let go of his clothes as suddenly as a startled little rabbit.
Her small body stiffened at once. Then, scrambling on her hands and feet, she darted out from behind Ye Qing without looking back, fleeing the courtyard at such speed she didn't even dare say goodbye.
Her tiny figure quickly vanished around the corner of the corridor beyond the gate.
She looked exactly like a mouse seeing a cat—no, worse than that.
It was a fear and estrangement that came from deep in her bones.
Ye Qing watched Qian Renxue flee in panic, then looked at Bibi Dong, who stood there with a calm, expressionless face, as if she weren't the person her own daughter had just been so afraid of that she'd run away. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
The relationship between this mother and daughter was even colder and stranger than he had imagined.
All he could do was give a wry smile to himself before turning his gaze back to the purple-haired woman, who had walked over to the other side of the stone table and sat down with effortless grace.
He didn't stand. He simply inclined his head slightly, wearing a smile that seemed fitting for his age, tinged with curiosity and confusion, and spoke first, breaking the awkward silence left by Qian Renxue's escape:
"May I ask who this pretty big sister is...?"
He had deliberately called her "big sister," a slightly familiar form of address. It was both a test and a touch of childlike innocence.
Bibi Dong didn't answer immediately.
First, her calm purple eyes flicked toward the courtyard gate where Qian Renxue had disappeared.
Some extremely complicated emotion seemed to flash deep in her gaze, too quickly for anyone to catch.
Then she fixed her eyes on Ye Qing again.
Her gaze was calm, almost coldly detached.
But Ye Qing could sense that beneath the calm lay an exceedingly careful scrutiny and evaluation.
Only after Qian Renxue's presence had completely faded into the distance did Bibi Dong lower her eyes slightly, her long, curled lashes casting faint shadows over her eyelids.
She raised a slender hand and gracefully poured herself a cup of tea that had long since gone cold. She didn't drink it, only lightly tracing the rim of the warm porcelain cup with her fingertips.
Then she looked up at Ye Qing and parted her red lips. Her voice was still pleasant to the ear, but carried a measured, almost formal distance:
"My name is Bibi Dong."
She paused, then added in a flat tone, as though stating a fact that had nothing to do with her:
"I am the current Saintess of Spirit Hall."
Ye Qing nodded lightly, letting a look of realization cross his face at just the right moment, even though he had already guessed who she was.
In the same well-behaved child's voice, he continued:
"So you're the Saintess. May I ask why Your Highness has come to see me in person?"
He remained wary inside.
At a time like this, Bibi Dong had come to see him, the God Child of Sea God Island, alone and without Qian Daoliu or Qian Xunji. She certainly hadn't come just to say hello.