"Creak—"
The faint sound of a door opening rang out beyond the silent bedchamber, followed by a series of deliberately softened footsteps. Like a guilty little cat, someone crept toward the bedchamber door, taking a step, then pausing.
How keen were Bibi Dong's senses? Even without looking, she knew who had come.
In all of Spirit City, who else would dare slip into Saintess Hall at this hour without announcing herself, other than Qian Renxue?
"She's back again."
Bibi Dong sighed and rubbed her temples, feeling utterly drained in body and mind.
Too much had happened today. First came the passionate speech at the succession ceremony, then the whole ordeal at Elder Hall, and finally Nan Feng had ripped open her wounds and berated her. All she wanted now was to be alone. She didn't want to deal with Qian Renxue at all.
"Nan Feng."
Bibi Dong called out in the Sea of Consciousness. "You go."
"Go where? No way!"
Nan Feng rolled over, turning his back to her. His voice was full of resistance. "You go yourself. The Emperor is weak as a kitten right now and can't move."
"You..."
Bibi Dong choked, a little annoyed. "What's wrong with you now? Weren't you doing a good job of acting before? She's here now. Just go and coax her away, won't you?"
"Lady, did you lose your memory?" Nan Feng snapped. "Who forced my avatar to blow itself up? That old pervert, Qian Daoliu!"
"Even though the Soul Blood Pact improved the quality of my avatar, that thing came at a cost! It was like cutting off a piece of my soul and blowing it up! My head's still ringing!"
"And now this high-quality Spider Emperor Avatar has a cooldown of one month!"
"An entire month! I can't make that physical avatar again during that time!"
"Then use my body," Bibi Dong said matter-of-factly. "It's not like you haven't used it before."
"I refuse."
"Why?" Bibi Dong frowned. "Don't you like her? You watched the stars with her and told her stories, spoiling her so much you seemed more like her real mother than I did. Why have you changed your tune so suddenly?"
"Huh?"
Nan Feng sat bolt upright as if he'd just heard the biggest joke in the world, staring at Bibi Dong as though she were an idiot.
"Like her? Bibi Dong, did my scolding just short-circuit your brain?"
"I was acting! Acting, understand?!"
"If I weren't trying to tie her to this sinking ship of ours as a protective charm, if I weren't trying to make Qian Daoliu wary of the consequences so he wouldn't dare touch us, would I have been bored enough to play house with some nine-year-old brat?"
"I'm the Death Spider Emperor, the overlord of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. Does it look like I'm the nurturing type, taking care of human pups?"
Bibi Dong was stunned.
She had always thought that, though Nan Feng was sharp-tongued and black-hearted, he still felt some affection for Qian Renxue. His protectiveness and doting had seemed too genuine to be an act.
But now it seemed... this guy had been scheming from beginning to end.
Even that child was nothing more than a bargaining chip in his hands.
"And the most important point."
"That old bastard Qian Daoliu just humiliated me with divine power and forced me to blow up my avatar, leaving my soul injured."
"And now I'm supposed to turn around and cheerfully control your body to coax his granddaughter? Put on a show of motherly affection for him?"
"Do I look that pathetic?"
"Get slapped one second, then wag your tail and trot over the next?"
Nan Feng gave a cold snort and lay back down, crossing one leg over the other.
"Dream on!"
"I'll make sure that old bastard knows bullying me comes at a price!"
"He drove that good mother to her death. Now he can suffer the consequences!"
"Even if those consequences mean making his granddaughter sad, making her despair, and making him watch her cry, powerless to do anything... he brought it on himself!"
"That's the price."
"So..."
Nan Feng rolled over, turning his back to Bibi Dong. "You deal with that little burden outside yourself."
"Either put on a cold face and drive her away, send her back to cry in front of Qian Daoliu and make that old man's heart ache..."
"Or go play the good mother yourself. I'm done serving."
"Don't expect that amnesiac personality to show up for a month."
"The Emperor is on strike!"
Worship Hall.
Qian Daoliu sat cross-legged beneath the statue, his eyes half-closed.
Suddenly—
"Waaah..."
The sound of unsteady footsteps, accompanied by uncontrollable sobbing, shattered the silence of Worship Hall.
Qian Daoliu's eyes snapped open. With a flash, he was at the entrance to the hall.
"Xue'er?!"
A small figure was stumbling up the steps, her face streaked with tears and her eyes swollen and red from crying. Her golden hair, mussed from running, clung in disarray to her face. She looked utterly wretched.
"Xue'er, what happened?!"
Qian Daoliu's heart clenched. He hurriedly crouched down, wanting to embrace his granddaughter, the one who was so dear to him.
"Why are you crying like this? Did you fall? Or...?"
"Get away!!"
Qian Renxue suddenly shoved his hand away and even stumbled back two steps, glaring at him with eyes full of disappointment, anger, and hurt.
"Grandpa's a big liar! A big meanie!!"
Her scream was choked with heart-wrenching sobs, and it left Qian Daoliu stunned.
"Xue'er... How did Grandpa lie to you?" Qian Daoliu asked helplessly.
"You promised me! You said you wouldn't hurt that mother! You said you'd help cure her!"
Qian Renxue cried and shouted, her little body trembling from the force of her emotions.
"But... but Mom said you drove that gentle mother to her death! You forced her to blow herself up!!"
Qian Daoliu's expression stiffened. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain that it was just an accident, that the avatar had blown itself up.
But Qian Renxue wouldn't listen.
"I went to the bedchamber just now to see Mom... I wanted her to bring out that gentle mother to keep me company..."
Qian Renxue sobbed, her tears falling like beads from a broken string. "But... but Mom drove me away!"
"She was so mean... She was really so mean..."
"She said, 'Don't bother me! Your good mother was driven to her death by your good grandpa!'"
"She said, 'One second he was pretending he'd protect us, and the next he used divine power to force her to blow herself up!'"
"She said, 'That gentle mother is badly injured now, and her soul is shattered. She can't come out at all! Even if she could, she wouldn't want to see you! Because looking at you would remind her of your hypocritical grandpa!'"
"Waaah..."
"Xue'er, that's not what happened..." Qian Daoliu tried to explain. "Grandpa was only trying to check..."
"I won't listen! I won't listen!"
Qian Renxue covered her ears, crying in despair and helplessness as she slumped to the cold floor.
"Daddy's gone... Daddy was beaten to death by bad people..."
"Now that good mother is gone too... Grandpa made her disappear..."
"My real mother won't even talk to me... She thinks I'm annoying... She told me to get out..."
Qian Renxue lifted her head. Her golden eyes, once full of life, were now filled with a heart-rending emptiness.
"Grandpa... Was Xue'er bad?"
"Is it because Xue'er is unwanted?"
"Daddy didn't want Xue'er, and Mom hates Xue'er... Now even the only mother who used to hold Xue'er and tell her stories doesn't want her..."
"No one wants Xue'er... Waaah..."
Those last few words completely shattered Qian Daoliu's defenses.
Looking at his little granddaughter curled up in a ball, crying that nobody wanted her, the old man who had lived for over a century and stood at the pinnacle of the continent felt his heart clench painfully in someone's grasp. He could barely breathe.
He had grieved over Qian Xunji's death, but more than anything, he'd felt anger and regret.
But Qian Renxue's tears struck his deepest weakness. The pain cut him to the bone.
"No... That's not..."
Ignoring the fact that his granddaughter had pushed him away, Qian Daoliu pulled the tiny figure tightly into his arms. His eyes reddened, too.
"Xue'er isn't unwanted... Xue'er is Grandpa's precious treasure... Grandpa wants you. Grandpa will always want you..."
"Liar! You're all liars!"
Qian Renxue struggled fiercely in his arms, her little fists raining blows on Qian Daoliu's chest. "Give that mother back to me! I want that mother! I want to hear stories! I want mung bean cakes!"
"You owe me! Waaah..."
No matter that Qian Daoliu possessed demigod power capable of reaching heaven and earth, no matter that he could command Angel Divine Power to suppress anything.
At that moment, faced with his granddaughter's tears and her demand that he "give me back a mother," he felt a helplessness he had never known before.
Give her back? How could he?
That avatar had already exploded!
And Bibi Dong had made it perfectly clear. Its soul was injured, so it couldn't come out again anytime soon!
Worse, because of his earlier coercion, that avatar personality now felt repulsed by both him and Xue'er!
"Damn it..."
A deep wave of regret surged through Qian Daoliu's heart.
He regretted it.
If he'd known that avatar was so unyielding, if he'd known it meant so much to Xue'er, why had he been so damn meddlesome and probed it in the first place?!
Now look what had happened.
Bibi Dong's true self was at odds with him, that avatar personality had gone on strike, and Xue'er thought he was a liar.
He'd lost a wife and a soldier!
"Don't cry, Xue'er... Grandpa will think of something... Grandpa will find a way..."
As he awkwardly patted Qian Renxue's back, Qian Daoliu felt bitter inside.
What could he do?
Was he supposed to beg Bibi Dong again?