Before long, news of Bibi Dong's death reached the imperial royal family and all the major factions.
Spirit Hall also began discussing who should take the position of the next Pope.
Most people supported Qian Renxue, but because she was still too young, some recommended Qian Xunye instead.
But in Qian Daoliu's eyes, as long as the radiant and holy Six-Winged Angel existed, the position of Pope would never fall to Qian Xunye, who possessed the Dark Angel Martial Soul.
Thus, the position of Pope ultimately fell to Qian Renxue.
On the night before Qian Renxue ascended as Pope, she finally came to where Qian Xunye was imprisoned.
"U-Uncle..."
Qian Renxue walked in uneasily.
"You came, my niece." Qian Xunye looked out the window with his back to her.
"Uncle, I'm sorry. I didn't come see you even once these past few days. Will you blame Xiaoxue?"
Qian Xunye turned to look at Qian Renxue, then shook his head with a smile. "Since you've come to see Uncle now, it means you've figured it out and come to terms with it. Why would Uncle blame you?"
"Uncle!!" Qian Renxue threw herself into Qian Xunye's arms. "Uncle, although there was no mother-daughter bond between her and me, and she never cared for me, I hated her for killing my father. But she was still my birth mother. You killed her, yet I don't hate you at all."
"Uncle, do you think I am..."
"No!"
Qian Xunye's two words were decisive.
"You said it yourself. There was no mother-daughter bond between you two, and she never cared for you. What kind of mother gives birth but refuses to raise her child?"
Qian Xunye said with utmost seriousness, "Xiaoxue, it is only right for you to hate her. I understand how you feel, because Uncle went through the same thing."
"The... same thing?"
Qian Xunye shook his head and smiled. "After I awakened the Dark Angel Martial Soul back then, your grandfather began favoring your father, Qian Xunji. Like you, I was ignored, treated coldly, and subjected to emotional neglect by my closest family!"
"So Uncle understands your pain, and your hatred as well."
"So, you're not!"
Qian Xunye gently patted his niece's shoulder, then revealed the truth of that year. "Back then, I was not actually in danger of dying. I deliberately faked my death because I wanted to leave Spirit Hall forever."
"So that was it, Uncle..."
Qian Renxue instantly empathized with him and threw herself into Qian Xunye's arms again.
Having suffered the same experience, the two empathized with and understood each other. Through this conversation, a special bond instantly formed between uncle and niece.
Their relationship suddenly grew much closer.
Their entire conversation was overheard by Qian Daoliu, who had been listening outside the door. He let out a heavy sigh, regret appearing on his face. "Ah, so that's how it was. So that's how it was!"
"Xunye, you left of your own accord?"
When it came down to it, the way he had treated Qian Xunye back then was just like how Bibi Dong had treated Qian Renxue.
Only after sensing Qian Renxue's pain did Qian Daoliu truly realize the harm he had caused Qian Xunye back then.
"Perhaps I truly was wrong."
Qian Daoliu shook his head and silently left, no longer eavesdropping.
"Alright, stop crying. And you said you weren't a little crybaby, yet you're crying again at the drop of a hat." Qian Xunye lovingly wiped away the tears at the corners of Qian Renxue's eyes.
"I told you, I'm not a little crybaby!~" Qian Renxue huffed, stomping her foot as she coquettishly complained. "Uncle! You're not allowed to call Xiaoxue a little crybaby ever again!~"
"Alright, alright, I won't say it anymore. Uncle won't say it." Qian Xunye smiled.
Cute, cheerful, and sunny—wasn't that the personality Qian Renxue should have had?
Rather than becoming the deeply calculating, profit-first Qian Renxue who lurked within Heaven Dou Palace after having her original self erased.
"Oh, right, Uncle. There's something I need to tell you. Tomorrow, Xiaoxue will ascend to the position of Pope."
"So they really are letting you succeed the position?" Qian Xunye's expression immediately turned serious. "Xiaoxue, you should focus on cultivation now. You shouldn't waste your cultivation time on Spirit Hall's trivial affairs. Have Qian Daoliu govern in your stead, understand?"
"Mm, Xiaoxue will speak to Grandpa about it."
"Alright, go back and cultivate."
"Mm, goodbye, Uncle." Qian Renxue waved and left.
Time passed into the dead of night.
Before Bibi Dong's properly buried grave, the tombstone suddenly shattered, and a deathly pale hand violently thrust out from the earth!
At this moment.
Qian Xunye was also preparing to escape Pope's Palace.
"My injuries have mostly recovered. It's time for me to leave Pope's Palace and make a trip to Sunset Forest."
"Dark Night Power!"
Qian Xunye's spiritual power instantly increased tenfold, and the range of his spiritual perception directly expanded beyond ten thousand meters.
He could practically grasp every movement within Pope's Palace with perfect clarity.
Yet at that moment, he unexpectedly received some information.
A Soul Master hurriedly arrived before Qian Daoliu. "Report!! This is bad! Great Enshrined One, Bibi Dong's and Young Master Xun Ji's graves have both been dug up! Their corpses are gone!! But none of the burial items were taken!"
"What did you say!!"
"Who would dare steal their corpses!!" Qian Daoliu raged. "Investigate! Find out who is so brazen!"
"Guang Ling! Azure Luan, go at once! Get to the bottom of this!"
"Yes!"
Enshrined Guang Ling and Enshrined Azure Luan immediately set off.
"What is going on? Who would steal two useless corpses for no reason?" Qian Xunye's expression changed drastically as a bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
If they were grave robbers, they would only want money and treasures. Who would steal corpses?
When Bibi Dong had been carried away, everyone had confirmed that she was completely dead.
"No, I need to go take a look."
Using Dark Night Power to conceal his aura, Qian Xunye quietly slipped away without Qian Jun or Jiang Mo noticing.
He secretly followed Guang Ling and Azure Luan, the two Enshrined Ones sent to investigate, and arrived near Bibi Dong's grave.
Guang Ling and Azure Luan investigated carefully, but found no traces at all.
Yet Qian Xunye also sensed something unusual.
There was an extremely faint trace of evil death aura in the surrounding space and soil.
Qian Xunye's face instantly darkened as he clenched his fists. "Damn it! Could it be that Bibi Dong isn't dead!"
He pushed his spiritual power to its limit.
He discovered another extremely faint remnant of formation power, as well as a lingering Divine Power that was deathly and evil.
Because he possessed an ultimate darkness attribute, he was more sensitive to these powers.
"Damn it!"
"It's the Death Spiral Formation! And the power of Rakshasa God Power!"
"Bibi Dong really isn't dead!"
Qian Xunye's expression became somewhat grim.
In the original story, Bibi Dong could indeed use the Death Spiral Formation and Rakshasa God Power to bring people back from the dead, but that was an ability she only possessed after becoming the Rakshasa God.
As long as a dead person's bones remained, they could be resurrected and turned into undead.
Ordinary soldiers and low-ranked Soul Masters would become mindless undead puppets controlled by Bibi Dong.
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