The Betrothal Gifts Were Too Powerful; the Aloof Pope Urged Her to Marry for the First Time

The vague figure in her mind had not yet taken shape when someone knocked on the Cultivation Room door from outside.

Three knocks, evenly spaced, each measured and restrained.

It wasn't Xie Yue—he never knocked with that kind of rhythm.

Hu Liena drew her arm back from the windowsill. Her fox tails quickly tucked themselves behind her, and she forcibly pressed her pink-tinged ears into her hair.

"Come in."

A personal maid from the Pope Palace entered. She lowered her eyes respectfully and curtsied.

"Your Highness, the Pope requests your presence in the inner sanctum."

Hu Liena's fingers paused slightly.

The inner sanctum.

Not the council chamber, nor the main hall of the Pope Palace. This was where Bibi Dong dealt with her most confidential affairs.

It was soundproofed and sealed against spiritual energy. Even ordinary elders weren't qualified to enter.

Her teacher wanted to see her alone, at this hour.

"Understood."

Hu Liena asked no questions. She rose, straightened her collar, and followed the maid through three corridors and past two sealed checkpoints, arriving at the deepest part of the Pope Palace.

The inner sanctum's door stood ajar, and a dim yellow light spilled through.

The scent of calming incense drifted through the gap, faint and slightly bitter on the finish.

Hu Liena pushed the door open and entered.

The inner sanctum was small. Only half the candles in the wall sconces were lit, their light soft and dim.

Bibi Dong sat in the seat of honor, her right hand resting on the armrest. The bandages had been removed, but faint black lines remained between her fingers—the traces left by the Dao Qi burn.

She wasn't wearing her papal robes, only a plain set of everyday clothes. She seemed more relaxed, less imposing than usual, and warmer—more like a "teacher" than the "Pope."

Hu Liena walked to the center of the room and stopped.

"Teacher."

Bibi Dong didn't speak at once. She simply watched Hu Liena for a long while.

The incense smoke slowly rose between them, coiling into a thin wisp before dispersing.

"Sit."

Hu Liena took a seat in the chair below her, her back straight.

Silence fell again.

Bibi Dong's gaze passed over the Fox Seal between Hu Liena's brows, then returned to her face.

"Nana."

"Yes?"

"Tell your teacher the truth."

Bibi Dong leaned back in her chair, her tone even and unreadable.

"Right now—what do you really think of that Shen Yichen?"

The question struck, and Hu Liena froze for a moment.

She lowered her head.

Her fingers wandered to the hem of her clothes and pinched a small piece of fabric, twisting it twice before letting go, then twisting it again.

The only sound in the room was the occasional faint crackle of the calming incense as it burned.

"Teacher, I..."

She began, then faltered.

How could she explain it?

That she had grown fond of someone she had never even met?

Wouldn't that make her sound no different from those foolish women who were utterly enchanted by a few crumbs of kindness?

But saying she felt nothing at all wouldn't be true, either. She knew perfectly well what her last thought was every night before she closed her eyes.

Hu Liena had twisted her hem into a wrinkled knot.

"I don't know who he is."

Her voice was low, almost blending into the incense smoke.

"I don't know what he looks like, what his temper is like, or why he chose me."

She paused.

"But the things he sent... they really have helped me a lot."

Her fingers released the hem, then clenched again.

"The Primordial Spirit Bead evolved my Martial Soul and awakened my bloodline. The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron helped stabilize my foundation... When you were injured, the bead didn't attack you, either. It only—"

She stopped there, glanced quickly at Bibi Dong's right hand, then lowered her head again.

"It was only protecting me."

As the last three words slipped from her lips, Hu Liena's ears began to burn again. She quickly shut her mouth and said no more.

Bibi Dong didn't interrupt her.

When Hu Liena finished, silence settled over the room once more.

Leaning against her chair, Bibi Dong gently traced the pattern on the armrest with her right fingertips.

The black marks that remained stood out against the dim candlelight.

"The means this person commands..."

At last, she spoke, exhaling with a complicated air.

"Even your teacher can't help but feel inferior."

Hu Liena looked up.

Bibi Dong wasn't looking at her. Instead, she stared into empty space in a corner of the room.

"The Primordial Spirit Bead. The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron. Either one would be enough to make the forces across the continent fight tooth and nail to claim it. He gave them to you as betrothal gifts—and those were only the first two."

Her fingers came to a stop.

"Someone like him must be far more powerful than your teacher—even beyond anything anyone in this world could imagine."

Hu Liena's heart skipped a beat.

Her teacher never admitted that anyone was stronger than her.

Never.

Bibi Dong turned and looked straight at Hu Liena.

Candlelight flickered twice in her pupils, revealing a solemnity Hu Liena had never seen in her teacher before.

"Nana, let me ask you something."

"Listen carefully."

Hu Liena instinctively straightened up.

"If that Shen Yichen really is as the Marriage Contract says—a successor to the Ancient Celestial Master, with power that reaches to the heavens and penetrates the earth, and... if he truly cares for you..."

Bibi Dong enunciated each word clearly.

"Then marrying him might not be a bad thing."

Her words fell softly into the inner sanctum, yet pinned Hu Liena to her chair.

She jerked her head up.

All six fox tails burst out behind her. Her ears sprang from her hair, standing straight up.

What was her teacher saying?

Her teacher—the woman who had spent her whole life struggling against fate, who never bowed her head and had "depend on no one" carved into her very bones—was urging her to marry?

Bibi Dong saw her shock but didn't explain or take back what she had said.

She simply waited in silence.

Meeting that gaze, Hu Liena read what lay within it. It wasn't scheming or exploitation. It was the most sincere advice a mother could offer after considering her daughter's future.

Her heart ached.

Hu Liena lowered her head again. Her fox ears drooped, their tips tinged pink.

"Teacher... I still need a little more time."

Her voice was tiny, only a little louder than a breath.

"I've never met him, and I don't know anything about him. I can't just—"

She swallowed the rest of her words.

Bibi Dong didn't press her.

She rose from her chair and walked over to Hu Liena.

After looking down at her for a moment, she reached out with her left hand—the one that wasn't injured—and gently rested it on Hu Liena's head.

Her fingertips slowly stroked her hair, avoiding the drooping fox ears.

The gesture was gentle and unhurried.

"There's no rush."

Bibi Dong's voice was softer than Hu Liena had ever heard it.

"Take your time. Until you've made up your mind, no one can force you to decide anything."

Her fingers slid from the crown of Hu Liena's head to her temple, then withdrew.

"Not even your teacher."

Hu Liena's nose stung. She bit her lower lip hard.

She nodded without daring to make a sound.

She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she wouldn't be able to hold it in.

Bibi Dong patted her shoulder, returned to her seat of honor, picked up a confidential report from the table, and opened it.

"Go. Get some rest early. You have training tomorrow."

"Yes."

Hu Liena rose, bowed, and turned toward the door.

Her steps were light and hurried. She was practically fleeing.

The stone door slowly closed behind her, its heavy scraping echoing through the corridor.

Hu Liena stood outside, watching the gap grow narrower and narrower until it closed completely with a dull click.

Her nose stung again.

All her life, others had seen Bibi Dong as the Pope, a witch, a terrifying being on the verge of godhood.

Only Hu Liena knew that beneath it all, her teacher's hand could rest gently on her head, and she could say, "There's no rush," and "Not even your teacher."

A swell of deep gratitude rose in Hu Liena's heart.