"Die!!!"
Seeing that everyone had arrived, a cruel glint flashed through Bibi Dong's eyes, and her Eighth Soul Ring suddenly lit up!
"Eighth Soul Skill—Spider Emperor Avatar!"
But this time, she wasn't summoning an avatar. She was—detonating it!
Because Nan Feng's body was, in essence, a product of the Eighth Soul Skill. Its original owner had absolute control over it!
"Shatter... for me!!"
Bibi Dong let out a sharp cry and clenched one hand in midair.
Nan Feng, who was charging toward her, suddenly froze. An expression of pain and disbelief appeared on his face.
"How... could you..."
Boom—!!!
The next second.
Nan Feng's body exploded right before everyone's eyes!
But he didn't turn into flesh and blood. Instead, he became countless purple-black specks of light, which surged back into Bibi Dong's body!
"Ahhh—!!!"
Bibi Dong let out a cry of agony and clutched her head with both hands, her whole body seeming ready to split apart.
"No... get out!!"
"I'm the Pope... I'm Bibi Dong..."
"Xue'er... Xue'er..."
Her voice switched frantically between cold and gentle, while her eyes flickered back and forth between purple-green and clear purple.
At last.
Bibi Dong's body went limp, and she passed out completely.
The whole place fell silent.
Qian Daoliu, Golden Crocodile, Guang Ling, and Qian Renxue, who was crying her eyes out—all of them stared blankly at the scene.
After a long while.
Qian Daoliu took a deep breath, his expression more complicated than ever.
"It seems..."
"Her illness is even more serious than we thought."
The garden of Saintess Hall was a ruin, strewn with rubble and wreckage.
Qian Daoliu stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the door through which Bibi Dong had been carried. His expression was grave beyond measure.
"Grand Pontiff."
Standing beside him, Golden Crocodile Douluo asked through a mental transmission, "Those two just now... were they both really Bibi Dong?"
"That's right."
Qian Daoliu's voice rang in Golden Crocodile's mind. "Last night, when I sensed that something had happened to Xunji, I saw one of the Bibi Dongs holding Xue'er and watching the stars with her. But when I rushed into the Pope's Bedchamber, the other Bibi Dong was... devouring Xunji."
"I also found it unbelievable at the time, and I never figured out how that woman had done it. But now, it seems..."
Qian Daoliu took a deep breath, a deep wariness flashing through his eyes. "This isn't an ordinary backlash from Twin Martial Souls."
"Golden Crocodile, did you notice just now?"
"What?" Golden Crocodile Douluo was taken aback.
"The avatar Bibi Dong shattered never manifested any Soul Rings!" Qian Daoliu said gravely. "Although she could use Soul Power, and her physical strength had even reached rank ninety-seven, she had no Soul Rings and never used any Soul Bone abilities. That fits the characteristics of a Soul Skill avatar."
"But..."
Qian Daoliu paused, his tone turning incredulous. "Even if a Soul Skill had mutated, it shouldn't have been capable of producing such complete fluctuations of the soul, let alone an independent personality and memories! Even I couldn't tell the real from the false."
"The only explanation is that she came into contact with that... Evil God's inheritance."
Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression changed. "The Evil God..."
"Other than a god, I can't think of any power capable of this." Qian Daoliu sighed, his eyes full of gloom. "That so-called avatar was probably a personality with amnesia, split off from Bibi Dong because she went berserk in her cultivation—or because the Evil God's power had corrupted her."
"She entrusted that avatar with her love for Xue'er and her confusion about the past. As for her true self..."
Qian Daoliu didn't finish, but his meaning was clear.
Her true self was a madwoman consumed by hatred and wicked thoughts.
"Big Brother, what do we do now?" Golden Crocodile Douluo asked anxiously. "A mentally fractured Pope who could lose control at any moment? If word gets out, what will become of Spirit Hall's reputation? And... what if she suddenly goes mad at some important occasion, or that avatar appears again and causes trouble? Then..."
"I know." Qian Daoliu closed his eyes and rubbed his aching brow. "But we don't have a choice."
"Golden Crocodile, have you considered what would happen if we stripped her of the title of Pope and drove her out of Spirit Hall now? With her current strength and the Evil God's inheritance, where do you think she'd go?"
"The City of Slaughter? Or would she find some remote mountain forest, go into seclusion, fully accept the Evil God's inheritance, and become a true Evil God?"
"Then we'd have a madwoman lurking in the shadows, possessing Twin Martial Souls and god-level power, constantly thinking about coming back to take revenge on Spirit Hall. Would you be able to sleep?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo fell silent.
Indeed, compared to an uncontrollable threat in the shadows, a Pope in plain sight, watched by countless eyes, was obviously much safer.
"So whether or not she's mentally fractured, whether or not she's mad, she has to remain Pope!" Qian Daoliu said gravely. "Keeping her in that position, making her deal with affairs from dawn to dusk, keeping her tied down with mundane business, and keeping her under our constant watch—that's the safest option!"
"Besides..."
Qian Daoliu turned to look toward the bedchamber, a complicated glint flashing through his eyes. "That avatar... that good side of her might be the key to keeping her under control."
"As long as Xue'er can still awaken that avatar, as long as Bibi Dong still cares about Xue'er, this blade... won't go completely out of control."
Saintess Hall, bedchamber.
Bibi Dong lay quietly on the bed. Her breathing was even, but her brows were tightly knit, as if she were struggling through some painful ordeal in her dreams.
Qian Renxue knelt beside the bed, clutching one of Bibi Dong's hands tightly in both of hers. Her tears had run dry; with swollen eyes, she stared unblinkingly at her mother's face.
She was afraid.
Afraid that once Mama woke up, she would turn back into that cold, distant person.
Afraid that the gentle "new Mama," who had fought desperately to protect her, would never come back.
And beneath this tender scene of mother and daughter, an extremely "unserious" postmortem was underway in the Sea of Consciousness.
"Perfect! Absolutely perfect!"
Nan Feng's Death Spider Emperor soul hovered above the Sea of Consciousness, praising his own performance. "That fight just now worked like a charm. Those old men were all completely stunned."
"That settles it. The persona is firmly established now."
Bibi Dong's consciousness stood coldly to one side, watching the shameless fellow. Though she was still somewhat angry about how he'd forced her to go along with his plan, she had to admit... he'd made the right bet.
"Going by your theory, that old fox Qian Daoliu should be hooked by now, right?"
"Absolutely."
Nan Feng sounded confident. "Unless something unexpected happens, he's definitely already imagining some grand drama about 'good and evil twins, backlash from the Evil God.'"
"In his eyes, you're a dangerous time bomb who could lose control at any moment. And that amnesiac avatar is the chain keeping this ferocious beast in check."
"So next, he'll definitely come talk things over with you."
Nan Feng sat up straight, his tone turning serious. "Remember, when you wake up later, you have to act confused. Make it seem like you're thinking, 'Who am I? Where am I? What just happened?'"
"You have to tell him you have no idea when that avatar came out! You've been in the bedchamber cultivating the whole time!"
"And here's the important part: you have to say that when you were fighting just now, you instinctively tried to use the Eighth Soul Skill, Spider Emperor Avatar, only to discover that the impostor you were fighting was actually your out-of-control Eighth Soul Skill!"
"You have to act out the absurdity of fighting yourself! The more innocent you look, the better. The more devastated, the better!"
"Enough, I got it. You're so long-winded."
Bibi Dong waved dismissively. "Do you really think I need you to teach me how to act?"
"Fair enough." Nan Feng smiled. "After all, you managed to lie low under Qian Xunji's nose for so many years and then turn around and kill him. You're no amateur."
"Enough with the flattery," Bibi Dong said coolly.
Nan Feng nodded. "All right, your acting's decent, but your brains... not so much."
"This Emperor needed only a minor trick to toy with you in the palm of my hand..."
"..." Bibi Dong.
"Why don't we go into the Rakshasa Secret Realm tonight and practice?"
Nan Feng stiffened. "I'm sorry!"