The next day, at the Pope Palace.
"Teacher, what did you want to see me about?" Bibi Dong asked Qian Xunji curiously.
He had called her over first thing that morning.
Qian Xunji looked at Bibi Dong's curious expression, hesitating as he tried to figure out how to broach the subject.
He knew her personality. Getting her to break things off with Yu Xiaogang would be next to impossible, but he wanted to try.
There was a serious problem: he had no idea how best to handle this.
"Teacher?" Bibi Dong prompted tentatively.
"Dong'er," Qian Xunji finally said, his voice tinged with rare hesitation. "I called you here because I wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead, Teacher."
"You and that Yu Xiaogang... are you still together?"
Bibi Dong's expression stiffened slightly.
She hadn't expected her teacher to call her over first thing in the morning just to ask about this.
Bibi Dong understood what her teacher was thinking. He wanted to persuade—
"Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?" Bibi Dong's voice sounded a little unnatural.
"Answer me first." Qian Xunji's tone brooked no refusal.
Without a moment's hesitation, Bibi Dong said, "We broke up."
Qian Xunji launched into his prepared speech. "Dong'er, I know you've always liked Yu Xiaogang, but he's a good-for-nothing... Wait, what did you just say?"
"This disciple said that I've already broken up with him." Bibi Dong's voice was as still as a lake, without a ripple.
Qian Xunji fell silent for a full three seconds.
He had spent half the night tossing and turning, preparing for this conversation. In his mind, he had rehearsed dozens of possible reactions from Bibi Dong—she might cry, throw a tantrum, argue her case, or slam the door on her way out. He had even prepared a response for each one: if she cried, he would appeal to their bond as teacher and student; if she threw a tantrum, he would reason with her using the Pope's authority; if she trotted out that old line about how "strength isn't the only standard," he would list Yu Xiaogang's ten major failings and refute them one by one until she had nothing left to say.
He had even planned a fallback: if he simply couldn't persuade her, he would send her to the Star Luo Empire on a six-month assignment and let distance dilute everything. If six months wasn't enough, then a year; if a year wasn't enough, then three. He was the Pope. He had all the time and means in the world.
Yet the long speech he had spent all night preparing had barely gotten started. He hadn't even had the chance to lay out Yu Xiaogang's "crimes" when Bibi Dong slapped the ending right in his face.
They'd broken up.
Just two words.
All the long-winded arguments Qian Xunji had prepared—reasoning and appealing to her feelings, wielding both kindness and authority, alternating between softness and firmness—were abruptly choked off by those two words.
"Good that you broke up. Good that you broke up," Qian Xunji said twice.
His voice brimmed with relief and satisfaction, and a rare smile appeared on his dignified face.
Qian Xunji picked up the teacup on the table, hoping to calm his nerves with a sip, only to find that the tea had gone cold.
He didn't care. He savored the cold tea all the same.
Nothing lifted his spirits more than seeing his disciple suddenly come to her senses. What did cold tea matter? He would have been happy drinking cold water.
But after setting down the teacup, his brow furrowed slightly.
He knew Bibi Dong's temperament. She was a good disciple in every way, except that she was too stubborn.
Once she made up her mind, not even ten Soul Beasts could drag her back.
Back when she wanted to be with Yu Xiaogang, she had even dared to obey his instructions in name while defying them in practice.
Now she was suddenly saying they had broken up, cleanly and decisively. It didn't seem like her at all, which made him suspect something was wrong.
"Dong'er," Qian Xunji said, his smile fading as he replaced it with a gentle, concerned expression. "What made you change your mind so suddenly? Did that boy do something to betray you?"
His tone was calm, but a chill flashed deep in his eyes.
If Yu Xiaogang had truly done something to hurt his disciple, he had ten thousand ways to make that man disappear from the world without a trace.
A good-for-nothing wasn't frightening, but a good-for-nothing who dared bully the Spirit Hall Saintess was asking for death.
Bibi Dong shook her head, and Deng Tianxin's infuriating little face surfaced in her mind unbidden.
He'd pointed a wooden stick at her and shouted, "This road is mine!" Then Deng Tianxin had solemnly called her a cradle snatcher, said Yu Xiaogang was a bowl of plain noodles, and called her "Mom" right in front of Yu Xiaogang...
At the thought, Bibi Dong's fists clenched.
"No," Bibi Dong said. "A little brat woke me up by insulting me."
"A little brat?" Qian Xunji froze.
"It was Deng Tianxin," Bibi Dong said, her voice tinged with helplessness. "That day on the road, he said a lot of really hurtful things. He said I only liked Yu Xiaogang because he was new and different—that no one had ever treated me like an ordinary person growing up, so when I met Yu Xiaogang, who didn't know who I was, I thought he was special and mistook it for love."
After hearing Bibi Dong out, Qian Xunji sat holding his cold tea in silence for quite a while.
On the surface, he remained composed, but inside, a storm was raging.
It wasn't the fact that Bibi Dong had broken up with Yu Xiaogang, though he was certainly happy about that. It was the person who had brought it about.
He had thought the child was simply a prodigy with extraordinary talent, worthy of special cultivation by Spirit Hall.
But now, it seemed Deng Tianxin had far more surprises in store for him.
The heartache that had troubled him for so long, and that he had failed to resolve despite preparing countless plans, had been fixed by a six-year-old with just a few words.
Qian Xunji lifted his teacup, silently marveling to himself.
This child really was a lucky star.
Getting Dong'er to come to her senses by scolding her was no ordinary feat.
He knew Dong'er's temper better than anyone. When she got stubborn, she even dared talk back to him, her teacher.
You could count on one hand the number of people on the whole continent who could make her lower her head and reflect.
And this little fellow had done it in less than a day.
But then again, Qian Xunji's thoughts drifted in another direction.
His gaze settled on Bibi Dong, thoughtful.
Dong'er had broken up with Yu Xiaogang. That was certainly wonderful news, a burden lifted from his heart.
But he knew Dong'er well. She wasn't someone who fell in love easily, and once she did, she wouldn't let go so easily.
Yu Xiaogang was her first love.
Though they had broken up, the relationship had become part of her life. It couldn't be erased or wiped away.
What if Yu Xiaogang came back to pester her someday, or Dong'er softened and went back to him? Wouldn't all this have been for nothing?
At that thought, Qian Xunji suddenly felt that Deng Tianxin had become even more important.
That child was connected to the God of Love and naturally understood how to handle matters of the heart.
With him by Dong'er's side, if she ever started getting muddleheaded again, he would surely notice right away and scold some sense back into her in a few words.
Before you continue