Is it tasty?

Luo Dong could only reach out and gently pat Qian Renxue on the shoulder: "Sister didn't do anything wrong. Sister is very good, both beautiful and smart. Mother, she..."

"She what?" Qian Renxue lifted her head from her knees, looking at him with tear-blurred eyes.

"She..." Luo Dong opened his mouth, but in the end, he only sighed. He spoke in a low voice, with a maturity that completely contradicted his age, "You'll understand when you grow up. You wouldn't understand even if I told you now."

Qian Renxue's sobbing paused.

She didn't quite grasp the meaning of those words, but she vaguely felt that this little brother of hers seemed to truly know something.

She then wiped her eyes vigorously with her sleeves and asked with a hiccup: "Really? I'll understand when I grow up?"

"Mm." Luo Dong nodded, reached out to fish a candied fruit from the small jar by the bedside, and held it to her lips, "Eat a candied fruit. It's sweet; you'll stop crying once you eat it."

Qian Renxue looked at the candied fruit, then at Luo Dong's earnest little face, and opened her mouth to take it in.

The candied fruit was indeed very sweet, the fragrance of osmanthus melting in her mouth, so sweet that she squinted her eyes.

Her tears finally stopped, though her eye sockets remained red and her nose still twitched.

"Is it good?"

"...It's good."

"Then have another one?"

"No more, it's too sweet, my teeth will rot." Qian Renxue shook her head with a serious expression, then looked at Luo Dong.

Suddenly, she asked, "Do you... still need to drink Mother's milk in the future? You're already one year old. I heard that children shouldn't drink it once they grow up."

Luo Dong blinked his eyes and nodded as a matter of course: "Of course I have to! I'm going to drink it for my whole life!"

Qian Renxue froze for a moment, her mouth opening as she wanted to say, "Aren't you ashamed to still be drinking milk at one year old?" but she swallowed the words back.

Because she suddenly thought that if her brother drank it for his whole life, then Mother would treat him this well for her whole life.

And she, she hadn't even tasted it for a single day.

As she thought about this, Qian Renxue's eye sockets turned red again.

But this time she held it back and did not cry.

She sniffled hard, puffed out her small chest, and said in an adult tone: "Then... then you must drink it well, don't waste it. Mother's milk... must be very precious."

Luo Dong couldn't help but laugh as he watched her trying to act tough.

He then fished another one from the jar and handed it to her: "Sister is right. Then have another one?"

"...Alright, the last one." Qian Renxue opened her mouth to accept the candied fruit, chewing with her cheeks puffed out.

The candied fruit was very sweet, so sweet that she temporarily forgot those unhappy things.

And so, the two children sat on the edge of the bed.

One swinging their legs, the other sitting cross-legged, chatting idly.

Qian Renxue asked Luo Dong what he had seen when he went out with Mother these past few days.

Luo Dong gestured wildly, saying he saw mountains so high, vast wildernesses, and three bad guys who were defeated by Mother in an instant.

Qian Renxue's eyes lit up as she listened, chasing him with questions about how they were defeated.

Luo Dong gestured even more exaggeratedly, nearly rolling off the bed.

Qian Renxue hurriedly grabbed his collar to pull him back, and the two looked at each other and laughed at the same time.

"You're so clumsy, you can even fall off while gesturing." Qian Renxue scolded him with a straight face.

Yet, her hands were busy straightening his crooked collar.

Looking every bit the older sister.

"Sister is the clumsy one, Sister didn't even dare to eat more candied fruit." Luo Dong retorted.

"I didn't want to eat it! It's not that I didn't dare!"

"Then eat it now!"

"...No more, my teeth really will rot."

The two children bickered.

On the other side.

Elder Hall.

When Bibi Dong stepped into the hall, the titled Douluo elders on both sides of the long table had already arrived.

Qian Daoliu was still sitting at the head, white-robed and white-haired, his face as calm as water.

Qian Xunji sat on his right; seeing her enter, the corners of his mouth moved, but he did not speak.

Qian Daoliu's gaze swept over him almost imperceptibly, forcing him to look away.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan stood by the hall pillar with his head bowed.

Seeing Bibi Dong enter, he kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, showing no extra expression.

Ever since that day in the mountain hollow when the Martial Soul poison was planted within him, he had learned to maintain absolute silence and obedience in front of Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong sat down in her designated seat.

Her gaze rested on no one in particular, yet it excluded no one either.

Seeing her take her seat, Qian Daoliu gave a light cough and commenced the meeting.

The first item on the agenda was, as expected, the mission Bibi Dong had just carried out: the extermination of those three evil soul masters.

He recounted the events briefly, his phrasing strictly official, and concluded by nodding slightly toward Bibi Dong: "The Saintess has single-handedly eliminated three high-level Soul Douluo-ranked evil soul masters, upholding the dignity of Martial Soul Hall and the stability of the continent. You have done well."

The several enshrined elders also nodded in succession, expressing their recognition and praise.

Bibi Dong bowed slightly in return.

She showed neither false modesty nor pride, simply accepting this praise, which she considered trivial, with a calm demeanor.

They were merely three Soul Douluos; to her now, they were nothing more than a flick of the wrist.

Next was the second item—Tang Hao.

Qian Daoliu's voice deepened.

Tang Hao and that 100,000-year-old transformed soul beast remained missing.

The search parties dispatched by Martial Soul Hall had expanded their reach to the three provinces surrounding the Star Dou Forest, but there was still no definitive information.

The meeting decided to further intensify the search efforts.

At the same time, a bounty would be issued to all major sects; those who provided clues would be heavily rewarded.

Bibi Dong had no interest in this topic.

Whether Tang Hao ran or not had nothing to do with her.

She sat in her seat, listening to the enshrined elders chattering away about search plans, her thoughts already drifting back to her own residence.

What was Luo Dong doing right now? Was he being good? Was he sneaking candied fruit again?

The meeting continued for another incense stick's duration.

When the third inconsequential item concluded, Bibi Dong stood up, nodded slightly toward Qian Daoliu, and turned to walk out of the hall.

Her pace was composed, her spine straight, and from beginning to end, she did not glance at Qian Xunji once.

Only at the moment she stepped out of the hall doors did her gaze inadvertently sweep over Chrysanthemum Douluo, Yue Guan.

Chrysanthemum Douluo lowered his eyes slightly.

Without a single word, he understood the meaning behind that look.

If there is any movement from the Pope's side, you know what to do.

Bibi Dong's figure vanished outside the hall doors.

Soon, she returned to her residence.

Then, she heard her precious son and Qian Renxue talking happily inside the room.

Bibi Dong had originally intended to go in and chase Qian Renxue away.

But hearing her precious son sounding so happy, her hand, reaching for the Space Gate, paused.

In the end, she did not go in.

She simply leaned against the wall, quietly listening to the two children inside, their happy, carefree, and joyful laughter.