Qian Yu: Yu Xiaogang will fall in love with another woman. Your love is worthless to him!

Saintess Hall.

"Greetings, Lord Qian Yu!"

The two rows of golden-armored knights and attendants stationed outside the hall knelt on one knee in unison, their expressions filled with the utmost reverence.

Qian Yu paid them no mind, merely raising his hand slightly to signal them to withdraw.

He then reached out and pushed open the door.

"Creeeak—"

Inside the bedchamber, the light was dim.

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

Hearing the sound of the door opening, that figure shuddered violently.

Bibi Dong tensed her body instantly, like a startled hedgehog.

She lifted her head, staring fixedly at Qian Yu as he walked in against the light.

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

Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, clearly having just wept in despair.

She looked like an exquisite porcelain doll drained of its soul, exuding a heartbreaking sense of fragility from head to toe.

But the moment she saw Qian Yu.

Bibi Dong's eyes immediately filled with undisguised vigilance, humiliation, and a deeply hidden trace of hatred.

"Why have you come?"

Bibi Dong's voice was severely hoarse, laced with intense defensiveness.

Qian Yu closed the hall door behind him and strode forward.

With the leisurely pace of a stroll, he walked up to Bibi Dong, looking down to admire her tragic beauty.

"Is a reason required to visit my future wife?"

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

But to Bibi Dong, this voice was more terrifying than a demon from hell.

"Where is Xiaogang?!"

Bibi Dong stood up abruptly, her body swaying slightly from the sudden movement.

Bibi Dong bit down hard on her bloodless 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 would let him go!

What have you done to him?!"

Watching Bibi Dong act so fiercely toward him for the sake of another man.

A flash of mockery crossed the depths of Qian Yu's eyes.

"Rest assured, I, Qian Yu, always keep my word."

Qian Yu smiled slightly, his tone as calm as if he were discussing the weather:

"He has already 'safely' left Martial Soul City."

"As long as he never steps foot into the territory of Martial Soul Hall again, and never mentions your name, he can live out his life like an ordinary person."

Hearing these words, Bibi Dong's tense body finally collapsed.

As if all her strength had been drained, she slumped back onto the soft couch, two lines of clear tears sliding uncontrollably down her cheeks.

"That's good... Xiaogang, you are finally safe..."

Bibi Dong murmured to herself, her eyes shining with a light of near-sacred self-sacrifice.

It was as if, as long as Yu Xiaogang could live, she would be willing to fall into an endless hell.

Watching Bibi Dong's self-moved display, Qian Yu's inner sneer intensified.

He slowly bent down, suddenly reaching out with long, fair fingers to pinch Bibi Dong's delicate chin.

"Mm!"

Bibi Dong winced in pain, forced to lift her head and meet Qian Yu's eyes, which were as deep as an abyss.

"To sacrifice your entire life for a piece of trash who couldn't even protect you, to the point where even your memories must be erased."

Qian Yu's face was very close, so close that Bibi Dong could feel his warm breath as he spoke:

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

"You don't understand!"

Bibi Dong tried to turn her head away in humiliation to break free from Qian Yu's grip, only to find that his hand was as immovable as an iron vice.

She could only glare at Qian Yu with red-rimmed eyes, her gaze filled with hatred:

"A cold-blooded, ruthless devil like you, who bullies others by relying on power, doesn't understand what love is at all!"

"Xiaogang's talent, his gentleness—someone like you will never understand them in your entire life!"

"Even if my body is trapped by you in Martial Soul Hall, my heart will always belong only to him!"

"Is that so?"

Faced with Bibi Dong's stubbornness and curses, Qian Yu did not get angry; instead, he began to laugh in a low voice.

That laughter was filled with pity and mockery.

"Then let us make a wager, my fiancée."

Qian Yu released his grip on her chin, though his fingertips lingered with a hint of playfulness.

He slowly slid them across her fair, tender cheek, wiping away the tears at the corner of her eye.

The movement was gentle, yet it made Bibi Dong's skin crawl.

"Wager on what?"

Bibi Dong shrank back in vigilance.

"Let us wager on that flawless love you hold in your heart."

Qian Yu straightened up, looking down at her from above like a god gazing upon a deluded mortal:

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

"Watch how the man you are willing to sacrifice everything for struggles in the mire of reality once he leaves the protection of Martial Soul Hall."

"Watch how he abandons his ridiculous dignity for the sake of profit and survival."

"And watch how... he turns around, forgets you completely, and throws himself into the arms of another woman."

"Impossible!!!"

Bibi Dong shrieked instantly, as if a cat had had its tail stepped on:

"Xiaogang is absolutely not that kind of person!"

"He would never betray me!"

"Shh..."

Qian Yu raised a finger and pressed it gently against his lips, making a gesture for silence.

Deep within his dark eyes, a cruel light that pierced through human nature flickered:

"Do not speak so definitively, Dong'er."

"Time is the best lie detector to test all hypocrisy."

"I will prove it to you, bit by bit, with my own hands."

"Just what kind of disgusting filth the man you cherish truly is."

Qian Yu turned around, his pure white cloak carving an elegant arc in the air as he walked toward the exit of the hall.

Reaching the doorway, he paused his steps and tilted his head slightly.

His cold and overbearing voice echoed slowly through the empty Saintess Hall:

"Rest well."

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

"As for Yu Xiaogang... you will soon know just how foolish and laughable your sacrifice today truly is."

"Bang."

The hall doors closed once more.

Bibi Dong gripped the bedsheets beneath her so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Although she claimed with her lips that she did not believe it at all.

The certain, mocking look in Qian Yu's eyes before he left.

Was like a poisoned seed, uncontrollably taking root and sprouting in the depths of her heart...

Inside the Saintess Hall, there was deathly silence.

Bibi Dong curled up in the corner of the large, soft couch, hugging her knees tightly and burying her face deep within them.

The sound of suppressed, extreme sobbing echoed intermittently in the empty room like a wounded young beast.

"It's not true... Xiaogang wouldn't..."

Bibi Dong shook her head desperately, trying to drive Qian Yu's voice, which felt like a curse, out of her mind.

She forced herself to recall the beautiful future Yu Xiaogang had once painted for her.

To recall the confident way he looked when he spoke eloquently in the Library Pavilion.