In his previous life, when Luo Yang watched the first installment of Douluo Continent, he thought the most laughable, pitiful, and tragic character in it was undoubtedly Bibi Dong.
Bibi Dong's body stiffened.
"You were the most brilliant genius on the continent. You had Twin Martial Souls and were the first to solve the backlash problem. You had ambition, ability, and cunning. You should have achieved great things."
Luo Yang's tone was like he was reviewing a story.
"But your life was ruined by two people: Qian Xunji and Yu Xiaogang."
Bibi Dong jerked her head up, bloodlust spreading through her violet eyes.
"One stole your purity and dignity in the most despicable way. The other stole your heart and future in the gentlest way."
Luo Yang paid no mind to her killing intent.
"In the end, you became the Rakshasa God, yet still lost to Tang San. Pretty tragic, isn't it?"
"Shut up..." Bibi Dong's voice trembled.
"Do you know what's most laughable about you?" Luo Yang crouched in front of her again and looked straight into her eyes. "You hated Qian Xunji to the bone, yet took out that hatred on the innocent Qian Renxue."
"I said shut up!!!"
Bibi Dong roared and tried to lunge at him, but the contract's restraints kept her from moving. She could only writhe on the ground like a trapped beast.
"You couldn't face her, because seeing her reminded you of the humiliation Qian Xunji had inflicted on you. So you neglected her, tormented her, and eventually even wanted to kill her."
Luo Yang's tone turned cold.
"But deep down, you know you don't truly hate her. You hate yourself for being too cowardly to love even your own daughter."
"..."
Bibi Dong stopped moving.
She lay there, her body drained of all strength.
Her purple hair fell in disarray, hiding her face, but Luo Yang could see her shoulders trembling faintly.
"But now there's a chance." Luo Yang's voice suddenly softened. "I can bring her back to life."
The room fell silent as the grave.
A few seconds later, Bibi Dong slowly raised her head.
Her face was streaked with tears, and something had shattered in those amethyst eyes, revealing the blood-soaked truth buried deep within her for decades.
"You... what did you say?"
"I can bring Qian Renxue back to life." Luo Yang enunciated every word. "Just as I brought you back. As long as I accumulate enough Undead Power, I can bring any departed soul back to the world of the living."
Bibi Dong stared at him, as though trying to see through the shell of this six-year-old child and discern what was hidden inside.
"If you can bring Xiao Xue back, I'll do anything for you! I'll let you command me!" she rasped.
Good. She'd taken the bait.
Luo Yang was pleased, but kept his expression impassive, even faintly amused. "Don't make promises you can't keep. What if I asked you to help me by having a child?"
He'd only meant it as a joke, to test her limits and take the edge off her arrogant attitude.
But Bibi Dong only paled slightly. Her eyes wavered fiercely, yet after less than three seconds of hesitation, she gritted her teeth and said, "Fine! If you bring Xiao Xue back, I'll have as many children as you want!"
Luo Yang: "..."
She really was a lunatic!
"I was only joking. All I need is for you to be my bodyguard," Luo Yang said. "Protect me until I can defend myself. Follow my orders and kill for me."
"That's all?"
"That's all." Luo Yang smiled. "Once you've fulfilled your end, I'll bring Qian Renxue back, whole and complete, with her memories and powers intact."
Bibi Dong fell silent.
Her gaze swept over Luo Yang's face, as if weighing whether his words were true, or struggling with some fierce inner conflict.
After a long while, she slowly spoke. "If you deceive me..."
"You'll be annihilated in body and soul, never to be reborn," Luo Yang finished for her. "That's the second rule of the contract: neither party may break their promise. If I deceive you, the rules themselves will punish me."
He held out his hand.
"So, shall we work together, Bibi Dong? Or... are you willing to be my pawn for the chance to see Qian Renxue again?"
The secret chamber was utterly silent.
Bibi Dong looked at the hand held out to her.
It was small, fair, the hand of a child.
She remembered what Qian Renxue had been like as a little girl.
Her soft golden hair, her clear blue eyes, the way she'd held out her little hands, asking to be picked up...
She had missed too much.
She had missed her daughter's childhood, missed watching her grow up, and in the end, had even missed seeing her one last time before she died.
"...All right."
Bibi Dong took his hand.
Luo Yang pulled her to her feet.
A tacit understanding had been reached.
"By the way, what's your final wish?" Luo Yang asked.
Only after fulfilling her final wish could Bibi Dong regain her full power and freedom.
Bibi Dong straightened up and fixed her disheveled hair and clothes.
At Luo Yang's question, she needed no time to think. She spat the name she loathed with every fiber of her being through clenched teeth.
"Tang San!"
Cold killing intent surged through the room again, but this time she could control it. It was no longer directed at Luo Yang.
"I want him dead! Annihilated in body and soul, never to be reborn!"
Bibi Dong's voice brimmed with bone-deep hatred.
"If not for him, I wouldn't have fallen, Spirit Hall wouldn't have been destroyed, and Xiao Xue..."
At the thought of her daughter's shattered divine position and the fate worse than death that followed, her heart bled.
"Lucky for us." Luo Yang snapped his fingers, flashing a bright smile. "We have a common enemy. I can't stand that guy either. Sooner or later, I'll settle the score with him."
A common enemy?
Bibi Dong narrowed her beautiful eyes and scrutinized Luo Yang.
How could a boy who looked so young have a grudge against Tang San, who had already become a God King?
"I may as well tell you the truth." Luo Yang spoke candidly. "My Martial Soul has been blessed by the Plane Master, and it can summon powerful figures from every era."
The Plane Master's blessing?!
Bibi Dong was shaken to the core.
No wonder he possessed such incredible power! This boy had actually been chosen by the will of an entire world?!
"So, bringing Qian Renxue back isn't impossible. But I need to accumulate enough Undead Power first," Luo Yang continued.
Bibi Dong's eyes lit up.
A mad idea took root in her mind.
If he needed the dead... then she could simply kill. The lives of ten thousand, a hundred thousand strangers in exchange for bringing her daughter back—it was worth it.
"Don't get any ideas," Luo Yang said, seeing right through her. "I won't allow the indiscriminate slaughter of innocents. I'll take care of Qian Renxue's matter."
"But there's one condition."
He stared into Bibi Dong's eyes.
"You must obey my orders at all times."
Bibi Dong remained silent for a long while.
Bringing Xiao Xue back was her one and only obsession. She could accept sacrificing her freedom, even her dignity, for it.
Besides, this boy was an enemy of Tang San, had the Plane Master's favor, and possessed boundless potential... Following him might also be the best way to take revenge on Tang San.
At last, she slowly lowered her head.
This time, it was of her own free will.
"Fine!"
Perhaps this person really could change everything, even the past that had left her with nothing but regret and hatred.