I'm Afraid You Won't Be Able to Accept It!

Qian Renxue's voice softened, carrying a hint of barely Frisk probing.

"I heard... Mother later went to the Moonlight Pavilion? Is she... alright?"

She stared intently into Lin Xia's eyes, trying to glean the truth from the subtle changes.

"When the banquet ended, I sensed something was wrong with her... she seemed colder and more repressed than usual..."

The concern was like a warm spring, but Lin Xia felt as if she were standing in boiling oil.

Qian Renxue's concern for his mother was so genuine that it became a thorn in his heart.

Lin Xia's throat tightened, and her lips moved, but she couldn't make a sound immediately.

Qian Renxue's heart sank instantly. Lin Xia's reaction confirmed her unease.

She stepped forward and unconsciously grabbed Lin Xia's arm, her fingertips Frisk slightly.

"Xiao Xia, tell me the truth! How is Mother...? Has the Rakshasa Divine Power... backfired again?"

Lin Xia felt the force on her arm and the suppressed panic. The high wall in her heart called honesty seemed to be softened and eroded little by little by this pure worry.

Lin Xia could no longer escape, nor could he use lies to cover it up. He struggled to raise his head, meeting Qian Renxue's anxious gaze, his eyes filled with pain and a complex mix of near despair.

"Sister Xue'er..."

Lin Xia's voice was dry and hoarse, as if it had been rubbed against sandpaper.

"Teacher, her... condition is very bad."

Qian Renxue's pupils suddenly contracted, and she gripped Lin Xia's arm tightly with her fingertips, almost digging into his flesh.

Images of my childhood, when I was hurt by Bibi Dong's cold, distant, and even Spite gaze, flashed through my mind—a mother-daughter relationship that lasted for more than a decade, like being in the dead of winter.

Finally, six years ago, thanks to Lin Xia's appearance and some other opportunities, the ice began to melt, and she was able to rediscover the precious warmth of kinship that came from her bloodline, even though it still bore the scars of her past!

Is it possible that... everything is going to go back to square one?

Even worse?

She couldn't imagine her mother being Rakshasa Devour again, turning back into that cold Pope, or even more depraved!

"No... no way!"

Qian Renxue's voice carried a hint of panic that she herself was Frisk. The composure and arrogance that belonged to the Crown Prince had vanished. At this moment, she was just a daughter who was afraid of losing her mother again.

"Mother... she's clearly been suppressing so much! Xiao Xia, you must have a way, right? Just like before!"

Qian Renxue clung tightly to Lin Xia as if grasping at a last straw, her golden eyes filled with a mixture of hope and fear.

"Tell me, what can I do to help her? I'm willing to do anything, no matter what resources are needed or what I'm required to do! I'll call upon anything from the Spirit Hall! As long as my mother is alright!"

Seeing the tears welling up in Qian Renxue's eyes, seeing the vulnerability and pleading she revealed after she shed all her proud facade, Lin Xia felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart tightly, causing him pain so intense he could barely breathe.

How cruel he is!

What he was about to do was to shatter her pure expectation and dependence with his own hands!

But Bibi Dong's agonizing figure on the verge of collapse, the image of her being frantically torn apart by Rakshasa Evil Thought, and her vulnerable posture of curling up in the corner and crying silently, were equally clearly imprinted in his mind.

He agreed to his teacher's request and promised to face it together.

The arrow is on the bowstring, and it must be released.

Lin Xia closed her eyes in pain, and when she opened them again, all that remained in her eyes was a resolute determination to go all in.

Lin Xia gently reached back and touched Qian Renxue's tightly gripping hand, feeling the coldness of her fingertips. Her voice was as heavy as Qian Jun.

"There is... a way, Sister Xue'er."

A light instantly shone in Qian Renxue's eyes, like a candle flame lit in the darkness.

"Really? What's the plan? Tell me quickly!"

Qian Renxue pressed for answers, leaning slightly forward, as if she would immediately put into action the moment Lin Xia revealed the method.

Lin Xia took a deep breath, as if she had to squeeze out all the air from her chest, in order to gather the courage to tell the truth.

Lin Xia looked directly into Qian Renxue's hopeful eyes, and spoke slowly and deliberately, each word like a poisoned icicle, squeezed out with difficulty from between her teeth.

"But... I'm afraid you... won't be able to accept this method."

The warm air inside the palace seemed to freeze instantly.

The eagerness and hope on Qian Renxue's face seemed to be frozen, then slowly cracked and peeled away.

The light in her eyes quickly dimmed, replaced by an incredulous astonishment and a chilling shadow.

She held Lin Xia's hand, but her grip gradually loosened, and it eventually slipped away.

"Can't accept it?"

Qian Renxue's voice suddenly turned low and dangerous, like the deathly silence before Hurricane.

She took a half step back, creating distance between herself and Lin Xia. Her golden eyes, sharp as knives, Lock-On on him, filled with doubt and a hint of offended chill.

"Xiao Xia, what do you mean by that? As long as Mother can be saved, what is there that Qian Renxue can't accept? The Spirit Hall's secret treasure? It requires sacrifice? Or is it..."

Qian Renxue's voice trembled slightly, almost Frisk.

"... What price would I have to pay that I can't afford?"

Qian Renxue thought of certain forbidden sacrifices, secret techniques that might damage one's foundation, and even... life itself.

But as long as it can restore her mother's sanity, she is willing to pay any price, no matter how heavy!

However, the pain on Lin Xia's face and the overwhelming guilt made her realize that things were not so simple.

It wasn't just the pain of facing a difficult choice; it was more like... a deep sense of guilt?

A sense of shame, an inability to hold my head high in her presence?

A thought, utterly absurd yet instantly Wrap around her mind like a poisonous vine, chilled her to the bone.

Could it be... that my mother's condition is related to Xiao Xia?

Could it be that the method Lin Xia mentioned that she "couldn't accept" wasn't referring to external objects or sacrifices, but rather... to Lin Xia herself?

Or perhaps it points to some... unspeakable relationship between the three of them?

Qian Renxue's heart stopped abruptly from the shock of her own thought!

No!

Impossible!

This is absurd!

This is blasphemous!

My mother is the Pope!

She is her biological mother!

It's Xiao Xia's master!

Xiao Xia is her lover!

This relationship is more sacred and inviolable than the strongest barrier in the Douluo Continent!

But... Lin Xia's gaze, which she dared not meet, that heavy sense of guilt, those words, "I'm afraid you can't accept it"... where else could it point but towards that forbidden direction?

The dark obsession deep within the mother's soul, arose from the Rakshasa... Could the root cause not be Yu Xiaogang, but rather...?

Qian Renxue dared not think any further. A chill ran from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head, making her limbs and bones feel cold and stiff.

Her delicate face was drained of color, leaving only a deathly pallor, almost like jade.

Those golden eyes, which always burned with the flames of pride, were now frozen in ice, staring intently at Lin Xia. Inside were turbulent waves of emotions—shock, disbelief, anger at being deceived, pain of betrayal, and immense fear of the truth about to be revealed.