Nan Feng's gaze quickly withdrew from the sky, becoming serious and cold again.
He looked around the audience and his tone became serious:
"Everyone."
"Even if Qian Xunji, the culprit, has received the punishment he deserves, even if Golden Crocodile and others have gone to the wall to think about their mistakes."
"But I know that for living people, the wounds in the heart are not so easy to heal."
"The dead are gone, what's wrong with the living?"
Nan Feng's voice was low, with a hint of compassion:
"Those brothers and sisters who have lost relatives and friends in the war, can the hatred in your hearts really disappear easily just by punishing a dead person?"
"Can't."
Nan Feng asked and answered himself, then his eyes narrowed and his voice became firm:
"So, today! I not only want to give an explanation to the dead, but also to the living!"
"I want to be here to completely end the grudges of this war!!"
Nan Feng suddenly waved his sleeves and pointed the scepter in his hand at the huge open space in the square in front of the Pope Palace:
"Spirit Hall belongs! Clear Sky Sect belongs!"
"If any of you are still obsessed with yesterday's grudges, if there are some who feel that the hatred in their hearts cannot be quelled, and that they must be washed away with blood!"
"Then stand up!!"
"Fight or kill! Solve it today!"
"Right in front of the Pope Palace! Solve it under the witness of Soul Master in the world!"
"Regardless of life or death, everyone is content with their destiny!"
"But-"
Nan Feng changed the topic and his tone was as cold as a knife:
"After today, don't bring up old grudges again! All grudges must be settled today!"
"If you don't speak up today or fight today, tomorrow you will attack someone else's family out of hatred, secretly commit crimes, and cause more innocent injustices."
"Then there is no difference from that Qian Xunji who started a war and brought chaos to the world for his own selfish interests!!"
Nan Feng's eyes were like lightning, scanning everyone's face:
"Being like this is an enemy of me! It is an enemy of Soul Master, who longs for peace in the world!!"
"When the time comes, I will kill him!!"
"Now!"
Nan Feng pointed at the open space and shouted:
"Revenge for those who have a grudge! Revenge for those who have a grudge!"
"It's a man's, so don't hide it!"
"Stand up!!"
Worship Hall, Angel God Statue ago.
The huge statue of Six-Winged Angel exudes a soft and sacred light, but this light cannot illuminate the haze in Qian Daoliu's heart at this moment.
He knelt down on the futon in front of the statue, his eyes slightly closed, and although his breathing was steady, the oppressive aura around him made the empty hall seem particularly heavy.
Today, in front of the people of the world, he personally denied his son and trampled the glory of the Angel Family under his feet.
Although it was for the sake of the overall situation and to preserve the final bottom line, this humiliation gnawed at his heart like a poisonous snake.
"Tap, step, step..."
A burst of slight and messy footsteps broke the dead silence.
Qian Renxue walked in dejectedly.
Her little face was pale, and her golden eyes, which were always shining with pride, seemed to be covered with a layer of gray fog at this moment, empty and confused.
She did not salute or speak. She just walked to Qian Daoliu like a puppet whose soul had been drained, and silently knelt down, lowered her head, and looked at the cold stone bricks on the ground.
Everything that happened today was like a ridiculous nightmare, shattering the worldview she had built over the past nine years.
She hid in the dark and saw with her own eyes how the "teacher" who was always sarcastic and sarcastic to her, but also cooked for her, tore off her father's "glorious" disguise in front of tens of thousands of people.
She could tell that that was not her real mother, but her teacher, because her mother did not have that arrogance.
She saw the second grandfather's fear and regret, and saw the speechless expressions of several people who worshiped him.
She also saw that... her most beloved grandfather, the omnipotent Grand Pontiff, finally chose to compromise, and even personally issued an order to kick her father out of the family tree and pursue the title.
A long time.
"Grandpa."
Qian Renxue's voice was a little hoarse, with a faint tremor:
"Today in front of the Pope Palace... the... things my mother said, are they true?"
Qian Daoliu's eyelids trembled slightly, but he did not open his eyes or speak.
Qian Renxue turned his head and looked at grandpa's old profile, his eyes gradually turned red:
"Ever since I was little, you, Grandpa Golden Crocodile, and other grandpas who worship me have always told me that my father is a great hero and the pride of the Spirit Hall."
"You tell me that Tang Hao is a treasonous sinner and Clear Sky Sect is a treacherous person."
"But today..."
Qian Renxue's voice was filled with tears:
"Mom, as well as the tens of thousands of Soul Master people in the audience, including even Seven Great Sects people, their meanings are very clear."
"From the beginning to the end, dad was looking for trouble."
"It's because he's greedy, it's because he's unreasonable, it's because he brought it upon himself."
"Even..."
Qian Renxue clutched the hem of her skirt, her knuckles turned white:
"Even grandpa, you personally issued the punishment for dad in front of everyone in the world and kicked him out of the family tree."
Qian Renxue stretched out her little hand and gently pulled Qian Daoliu's sleeve. Her eyes were filled with prayers, praying that grandpa could give her a different answer, praying that grandpa could tell her that it was a lie and that Bibi Dong forced him to do so.
"Grandpa, I don't know who to trust anymore."
"I know that my mother doesn't like my father, and I also know that... the teachers don't like my father either. So I don't ask them, because they might lie to me and make up for my father."
"But grandpa, you are my father's father, and you love Xue'er the most."
"Can you tell me the truth?"
"My father..."
Two lines of clear tears slid down Qian Renxue's cheeks:
"Is he... really like that woman said?"
"..."
Qian Daoliu remains silent.
How should he answer?
Tell her that your father is indeed a bastard, not only greedy, but also raped your mother?
Or continue to lie to her, saying that all this is Bibi Dong's conspiracy, and that your grandfather was forced to bow his head for the sake of the overall situation?
No matter which answer, it would be cruel to this child.
Seeing that grandpa never spoke, the last hope in Qian Renxue's heart was shattered little by little.
She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, sniffed, and there was a stubbornness beyond her age in her eyes:
"Grandpa, if you can't answer those complicated questions."
"Then just answer a few simple questions from me."
Qian Renxue stared into Qian Daoliu's eyes and asked word by word:
"Are the facts about the cause of the war that my mother said on stage today true?"
"Did dad take the initiative to stir up trouble and let people hunt down Tang Hao?"
"Did dad start the war for his own selfish reasons and greed for Soul Bone?"
"Is it because he was inferior to others in terms of skills, took the initiative to look for trouble, and was beaten to death in the end?"
"Yes, or no."
The hall fell into dead silence again.
Qian Daoliu slowly opened his eyes and looked at the golden eyes in front of him that were full of pain and curiosity.
That is Angel Family's last hope and his only concern in this world.
He wanted to shake his head and deny it.
But after today, after the whole world knows the truth, does it still make sense for him to continue to weave that lie?
That kind of lie that can be exposed as soon as it is exposed will only make him, a grandfather, even more hypocritical in the heart of his granddaughter.
"... Phew."
Qian Daoliu let out a long breath, as if he had aged more than ten years in an instant.
He didn't look at Qian Renxue, just looked at the statue, and made a very light but very deep nasal voice:
"... Hmm."
Although the tone of what Bibi Dong said was extremely humiliating, even though in some places, Qian Xunji was described as useless.
But he couldn't deny it.
Those core things, those things about the cause, process, and result.
That's the truth.
This extremely soft "hmm" was like a heavy hammer, completely shattering the monument named "father" in Qian Renxue's heart.
Her body swayed, and her hands hung down feebly. The original tightness instantly dissipated, and her whole body seemed to have been drained of strength, and she collapsed on the futon.
It's true.
It's all true.
The father she had always been proud of, the man described by her grandfather and worshipers as an unparalleled hero, turned out to be a greedy, despicable, incompetent villain who took the initiative to stir up trouble.
Tears fell silently on the cold floor tiles, creating desolate water splashes.
But Qian Renxue didn't stop there.
The doubts in her heart were not completely solved. Instead, with the forcibly interrupted "truth", they became more intense and frightened her even more.
She raised her head, staring at Qian Daoliu with her red and swollen eyes, and her voice trembled even more:
"Since those things about the war are true, what happens next?"
"At that time, my mother asked Grandpa Golden Crocodile why she had disappeared as Spirit Hall Holy Maiden in the past ten years? Why didn't even Spirit Hall dare to talk about it internally?"
"Just when she was about to tell her answer, Grandpa Golden Crocodile went crazy."
"Second Grandpa's expression at that time, that kind of fear, that kind of desperate murderous intention that even wanted to kill people and silence them... I have never seen it on his face before."
"And you."
Qian Renxue's voice trembled badly:
"You are so strong, you could obviously have stopped her earlier, but it was at that moment, when the words were about to come out, that you desperately came and interrupted her forcibly."
"Why?"
"What are you afraid of?"
"What on earth has she gone through in the past ten years?"
Qian Daoliu's breathing suddenly stagnated, and the fingers on his knees were instantly clenched, and his knuckles turned pale blue due to excessive exertion.
The air in the hall seemed to have solidified into lead, making it hard to breathe.
Qian Renxue Looking at her grandfather's secretive appearance, the suspicion in her heart became clearer and clearer, and it made her feel more and more frightened.
"Is it... or is it about my father?"
"Is it... related to why my mother hates me so much, why she never wants to hug me, and even wants to kill me...?"
"..."