The Betrothal Gifts Were Too Generous, the Aloof Pope Uncharacteristically Advised Marriage

The vague figure in her mind had not yet taken shape when the door to the training room was knocked upon from the outside.

Three knocks, evenly spaced, with restrained force.

It was not Xie Yue—he never knocked with such rhythm.

Hu Liena pulled her arm back from the windowsill, her fox tail quickly retracting behind her, and she forcibly pressed her pink-tinged ears into her hair.

"Come in."

The person who entered was a personal maid from the Pope Palace, eyes lowered and demeanor submissive as she performed a salute.

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

Hu Liena's fingers paused slightly.

The secret chamber.

Not the council hall, not the main hall of the Pope Palace, but the place Bibi Dong only used when handling the most confidential matters.

It was soundproof and isolated from spiritual energy; even ordinary elders lacked the qualifications to enter.

Her teacher was summoning her alone, at this specific time.

"Understood."

Hu Liena did not ask further. She stood up, 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 door to the secret chamber was half-ajar, casting a dim, yellowish light from within.

The scent of calming incense drifted out from the gap, faint, with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Hu Liena pushed the door open and entered.

The secret chamber was not large, and only half of the candles on the wall sconces were lit, making the light dim and soft.

Bibi Dong sat in the main seat, her right hand resting on the armrest—the medicinal bandage on that hand had been removed, but faint black lines remained between her fingers, the marks left by Dao Qi burns.

She was not wearing her papal robes, but rather simple, plain clothing. Her entire demeanor was more relaxed, lacking the usual biting oppression and possessing a bit more of the warmth belonging to a "master" rather than a "Pope."

Hu Liena walked to the center of the secret chamber and stood still.

"Teacher."

Bibi Dong did not speak immediately. She just looked at Hu Liena, watching her for quite a while.

The smoke from the calming incense rose slowly between them, twisting into a wisp before dissipating.

"Sit."

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

Another silence followed.

Bibi Dong's gaze slid over the Fox Seal on her forehead before falling back onto her face.

"Nana."

"Yes."

"Tell your master the truth."

Bibi Dong leaned back against the chair, her tone level, revealing neither joy nor anger.

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

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

She lowered her head.

Her fingers unconsciously reached for the hem of her garment, pinching a small piece of fabric, twisting it twice, releasing it, and then twisting it again.

In the secret chamber, there was only the occasional faint "crackling" sound of the burning incense.

"Teacher, I..."

She started to speak, then stopped.

How was she supposed to say it?

Should she say she had developed feelings for someone she had never even met?

How would that sound any different from those foolish women who were bewitched by the slightest bit of sweetness?

But to say she felt nothing at all—that wasn't right either. She knew well enough what her last thought was every night before she closed her eyes.

Hu Liena's hem was twisted into wrinkles by her fingers.

"I don't know who he is."

Her voice was very low, so low it almost melted into the smoke of the incense.

"I don't know what he looks like, I don't know his temperament, and I don't know why he chose me."

A pause.

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

Her fingers released the hem, then gripped it again.

"The Primordial Spirit Bead triggered my Martial Soul Evolution and awakened my bloodline, while the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron helped stabilize my foundation... When Teacher was injured, that bead didn't attack you, it just—"

She paused there, lifted her head to cast a fleeting glance at Bibi Dong's right hand, then lowered it again.

"It was just protecting me."

As the final three words slipped from her lips, the roots of Hu Liena's ears began to burn again, and she quickly clamped her mouth shut, saying no more.

Bibi Dong did not interrupt her.

Once Hu Liena finished speaking, the secret chamber fell silent for a long moment.

Bibi Dong leaned back against her chair, her right fingertips gently tracing the patterns carved into the armrest.

The lingering black marks were exceptionally conspicuous under the dim candlelight.

"The handiwork of this person..."

She finally spoke, exhaling a breath that carried a very complex nuance.

"Even this teacher must admit to being inferior."

Hu Liena looked up.

Bibi Dong did not look at her, but instead stared at a patch of empty space in the corner of the chamber.

"The Primordial Spirit Bead, the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron. Either one of these, if brought out, would be enough to make every power on the entire continent fight until their heads were broken. Yet he used them as a Marriage Contract—and those were only the first two layers."

Her fingers came to a stop.

"The strength of such a person likely far exceeds this teacher—perhaps even far exceeds the imagination of everyone in this world."

Hu Liena's heart skipped a beat.

Teacher never easily admitted that anyone was stronger than her.

Never.

Bibi Dong turned her head, looking straight at Hu Liena.

The candlelight flickered twice in her pupils, reflecting a gravity Hu Liena had never seen on her teacher before.

"Nana, this teacher has a question for you."

"Listen carefully."

Hu Liena instinctively sat up straight.

"If that Shen Yichen is truly as written in the Marriage Contract—a successor to the Ancient Celestial Master, with power that reaches the heavens and shakes the earth, and... if he is sincere toward you."

Bibi Dong enunciated every word with absolute clarity.

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

The words landed in the secret chamber, light as a feather, yet they pinned Hu Liena to her chair.

She jerked her head up.

Six Fox Tails burst out from behind her, and her ears popped out from her hair, standing bolt upright.

What was Teacher saying?

Her teacher—the woman who had spent her entire life fighting against fate, who refused to bow her head, and who had carved "never rely on anyone" into her very bones—was advising her to marry?

Bibi Dong saw her shock, but offered no explanation, nor did she retract the statement.

She simply waited quietly.

Hu Liena met that gaze and read what was inside—not calculation, not exploitation, but the most sincere advice a mother could give after weighing her daughter's lifelong happiness.

A wave of soreness welled up in her chest.

Hu Liena lowered her head again. Her fox ears drooped, the tips turning a pale pink.

"Teacher... I still need some time."

Her voice was tiny, barely heavier than a breath.

"We've never met, I know nothing about him, I can't just—"

The rest of her words were swallowed back.

Bibi Dong did not press her.

She stood up from her chair and walked over to Hu Liena.

She looked down at her for a moment, then reached out her left hand—the hand that was not injured—and let it rest gently on the crown of Hu Liena's head.

Her fingertips stroked slowly through her hair, carefully avoiding the pair of drooping fox ears.

The movement was light and slow.

"No rush."

Bibi Dong's voice was so soft it didn't sound like her own.

"Think it over slowly. Until you have made up your mind, no one can force you to make any decision."

Her fingertips slid from the top of her head to her temples, then retracted.

"Including your teacher."

Hu Liena's nose stung, and she bit down hard on her lower lip.

She nodded, not daring to make a sound.

She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she wouldn't be able to control herself.

Bibi Dong patted her shoulder, turned, and walked back to the main seat to sit down, picking up a secret report from the table and flipping it open.

"Go on, get some rest early. You have training tomorrow."

"Yes."

Hu Liena rose, performed a salute, and turned to walk toward the exit of the secret chamber.

Her footsteps were light and hurried; she was practically fleeing.

The stone door slowly closed behind her, the heavy sound of friction echoing through the corridor.

Hu Liena stood outside the door, staring at the gap as it grew narrower and narrower, until it shut completely with a dull "click."

Her nose stung again.

From childhood to adulthood, what others saw in Bibi Dong was the Pope, the witch, the terrifying existence on the verge of becoming a god.

Only she knew that beneath all of that, her teacher's hand would rest ever so lightly upon her head, would say "no rush," and would say "including your teacher."

A deep sense of gratitude welled up in Hu Liena's heart.