Qian Yu: Yu Xiaogang Will Fall in Love with Another Woman. Your Love Means Nothing to Him!

Saintess Hall.

"Greetings, Lord Qian Yu!"

The two rows of golden-armored knights and maids stationed outside the hall saw him and promptly dropped to one knee, their expressions filled with utmost respect.

Qian Yu paid them no mind. He merely raised a hand slightly, signaling for them to leave.

Then he reached out and pushed open the door.

"Creak—"

The bedchamber was dimly lit.

A slender, graceful figure sat quietly on the soft couch in the center of the room.

At the sound of the door opening, the figure suddenly shuddered.

Bibi Dong tensed up like a startled hedgehog.

She lifted her head and stared at Qian Yu, who walked in against the light.

Bibi Dong's face was pale, devoid of color.

Her eyes were bloodshot and badly swollen. She had clearly just wept in despair.

She looked like a delicate porcelain doll, drained of its soul, her whole being radiating a heartbreaking sense of brokenness.

But the moment she saw Qian Yu,

wariness and humiliation surged into Bibi Dong's eyes, along with a trace of hatred buried deep within.

"What are you here for?"

Bibi Dong's voice was terribly hoarse, heavy with suspicion.

Qian Yu closed the door behind him and strode forward.

He approached Bibi Dong at an unhurried pace, admiring her tragic beauty from above.

"Do I need a reason to visit my future wife?"

Qian Yu's voice was gentle and elegant, as if he were speaking the sweetest words in the world.

But to Bibi Dong, his voice was more terrifying than the demons of hell.

"Where's Xiaogang?!"

Bibi Dong sprang to her feet. She had risen too quickly, and her body swayed slightly.

Bibi Dong bit down hard on her colorless lower lip, her voice trembling.

"You promised me!

As long as I agreed to Master's arranged marriage, as long as I agreed to marry you...

you'd let him go!

What have you done to him?!"

Qian Yu saw the way Bibi Dong berated him for another man.

A flicker of mockery passed through his eyes.

"Don't worry. I, Qian Yu, always keep my word."

Qian Yu smiled faintly, his tone as calm as if he were discussing the weather.

"He's already left Spirit City 'safely.'

"As long as he never steps into Spirit Hall's territory again and never mentions your name,

he can live to a ripe old age like an ordinary man."

At those words, the tension drained from Bibi Dong's body.

As if all her strength had been stolen, she sank back onto the couch, two streams of tears slipping uncontrollably down her cheeks.

"Thank goodness... Xiaogang, you're finally safe..."

Bibi Dong murmured to herself, her eyes shining with an almost saintly light of self-sacrifice.

As long as Yu Xiaogang could live, she would gladly descend into an endless hell.

Seeing Bibi Dong so moved by her own sacrifice only deepened Qian Yu's scorn.

He bent down slowly, then suddenly reached out and seized Bibi Dong's delicate chin between his long, pale fingers.

"Ah!"

The pain forced Bibi Dong to lift her head and meet Qian Yu's deep, fathomless gaze.

"You're giving up your whole life for a good-for-nothing who can't even protect you. You'll even have your memories erased.

"Dong'er, do you think... it's worth it?"

"You don't understand!"

Bibi Dong tried to turn away in humiliation, to escape Qian Yu's grip, but his hand was as unyielding as iron pincers.

All she could do was glare at him with red-rimmed eyes, her gaze full of hatred.

"A cold-blooded, overbearing demon like you could never understand love!

"Xiaogang's talent, his gentleness—you'll never understand people like him!

"You can keep my body imprisoned in Spirit Hall, but my heart will always belong to him alone!"

"Is that so?"

Faced with Bibi Dong's stubbornness and curses, Qian Yu didn't get angry. Instead, he chuckled softly.

His laughter was full of pity and amusement.

"Then let's make a bet, my fiancée."

Qian Yu released her chin, but let his fingertips linger with a hint of flirtation.

He slowly brushed them over her soft, pale cheek, wiping away her tears.

His touch was gentle, yet it sent a chill down Bibi Dong's spine.

"What are we betting on?"

Bibi Dong warily shrank back.

"On that perfect, flawless love you hold in your heart."

Qian Yu straightened up and looked down at her, like a god gazing upon a mortal who refused to see reason.

"I'll spare Yu Xiaogang's life and let you watch with your own eyes.

"Watch the man you're willing to sacrifice everything for struggle through the mire of reality after leaving Spirit Hall's protection.

"Watch him cast aside his laughable dignity for the sake of survival and profit.

"And watch him... forget all about you and throw himself into another woman's arms."

"Impossible!!!"

Bibi Dong shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Xiaogang would never do that!

He would never betray me!"

"Shh..."

Qian Yu raised one finger and gently pressed it to his lips, signaling for silence.

His deep eyes glinted with the cruel light of one who saw through human nature.

"Don't be so certain, Dong'er.

"Time is the best lie detector for exposing all pretenses.

"I'll prove it to you, bit by bit.

"I'll show you just what a revolting lump of mud the man you treasure really is."

Qian Yu turned around, his snow-white cloak sweeping through the air in an elegant arc as he headed for the door.

When he reached it, he paused and turned his head slightly.

His cold, domineering voice echoed through the empty Saintess Hall.

"Get some rest.

"In half a month, put on the most beautiful wedding dress and become my wife.

"As for Yu Xiaogang... you'll soon learn just how foolish and laughable your sacrifice today was."

"Bang."

The door closed once more.

Bibi Dong clutched the bedsheet beneath her, her knuckles white from the force of her grip.

Though she had said she absolutely didn't believe him,

the certainty and mockery in Qian Yu's eyes as he left

were like a poisoned seed taking root and sprouting in her heart, beyond her power to stop...

The Saintess Hall was utterly silent.

Bibi Dong curled up in a corner of the spacious couch, wrapped both arms tightly around her knees, and buried her face in them.

Her stifled sobs echoed intermittently through the empty room, like the cries of a wounded young beast.

"No... Xiaogang wouldn't..."

Bibi Dong shook her head frantically, trying to drive Qian Yu's curse-like words from her mind.

She forced herself to remember the beautiful future Yu Xiaogang had once described to her.

She remembered how confidently he'd held forth in the Library Pavilion.