"So you deliberately waited for me just to threaten me over these few beasts?" Bibi Dong said stubbornly.
"That's not what I meant, Dong'er. What I meant was that these four Soul Beasts are connected to—"
"Connected how?"
Yu Xiaogang immediately clammed up. Could he say that one of those four Soul Beasts was his disciple's future wife, one was his future daughter-in-law's mother, and the other two were Soul Beasts reserved for his beloved disciple in the future? If she touched any one of those four Soul Beasts, then someday he would have to choose between his beloved disciple and his beloved woman.
On one side was the beloved disciple who could make him famous and change his fate of never breaking through level 29. On the other was the woman he loved, who could take him to the God Realm. Why should he have to choose? Couldn't he have them both?
Gangzi immediately began to resent Bibi Dong. Wasn't one Hundred-Thousand-Year Death Spider Emperor enough for you? How could you be so selfish? Couldn't you give a little? You wouldn't even yield a single Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, yet you still had the nerve to say you loved me!
"Or are you planning to save those four Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts for someone?" Bibi Dong pressed.
Unable to defend himself, Yu Xiaogang could only say, "Dong'er, I'm doing this for your sake, for our future. There are some reasons I can't explain right now, but don't touch those four Soul Beasts. We still have a wonderful future ahead of us. Over the next few years, I'll also keep an eye out for news of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts and make it up to you properly."
Bibi Dong looked dejected, but finally nodded. "If this is what you ask of me, then I agree."
Watching the Spirit Hall convoy disappear into the distance, Yu Xiaogang let out a sigh of relief. The great weight in his heart had finally been lifted.
As long as Xiao Wu's mother did not die, Bibi Dong would not become Tang San's enemy.
Once he took Tang San as his disciple, he could mediate the relationship between Bibi Dong and Tang San. In this life, the Angel Clan would be his only remaining enemy.
Even if Tang San still ended up becoming an unfilial, rebellious disciple in this life, he would have Bibi Dong, the Rakshasa God, as a second safeguard for ascending to the God Realm.
A heavy hand landed on Yu Xiaogang's shoulder. A decadent voice, as though it had come from hell itself, whispered in his ear. "Yo, what are you thinking about that's making you so happy? Were you thinking about me?"
Yu Xiaogang's maggot-like body stiffened, and he mechanically turned his head. Behind him stood a man a full two heads taller than him, broad and powerfully built, his muscles bulging. Yu Xiaogang was only as tall as the man's massive pectorals.
He did not have Scar's ferocity, yet he still looked every bit as vicious and menacing. His frame was even larger and more muscular.
"Dragon... Dragon Brother!"
"Long time no see. I'm impressed you still remember me." Dragon Brother licked his lips and looked at Yu Xiaogang lewdly as he spoke, pinching Yu Xiaogang's narrow shoulders one after another with his hand.
Yu Xiaogang tried to break free, but Dragon Brother held him firmly in place.
Remembering Dragon Brother's background, Yu Xiaogang hurriedly warned him, "Y-you... what are you trying to do? I belong to the Saintess. Aren't you afraid—"
"Our Ginseng Fruit has grown wings and gotten hard. You actually dare use the Saintess to threaten me?" Dragon Brother gave a strange laugh. "Yu Xiaogang, you shady nobody. You dared approach the Saintess of our Spirit Hall—are you trying to abduct our Spirit Hall's Saintess again? I'd better investigate you thoroughly and see what improper motives you have!"
As he spoke, Dragon Brother dragged Yu Xiaogang into the small woods beside them.
"No—" Yu Xiaogang reached toward the direction Bibi Dong had gone, screaming himself hoarse, "Save me! Don't..."
Then Dragon Brother dragged him into the woods and conducted a rigorous, highly productive investigation.
On the way back, Bibi Dong's heart warmed whenever she thought of Yu Xiaogang.
Although Gangzi's acting had been utterly clumsy and his purpose obvious to anyone with eyes, the filter of love was simply too powerful.
Bibi Dong had originally set her sights on the four Soul Beasts in the Lake of Life, but after Yu Xiaogang's warning, she could only abandon the idea.
No matter what you become, I will love you! Bibi Dong automatically interpreted Little Vat's words as: Even if your body is no longer pure, even if you already have children, I will still love you. Her heart immediately overflowed with sweetness.
"Little Vat, just wait. It won't be long. I will definitely kill Qian Xunji and destroy the Angel Clan. When that time comes, no one in this world will be able to stop us from being together. No one." Bibi Dong silently swore to herself.
As Bibi Dong dreamed of her beautiful future with Little Vat, she had no idea that her lover, Yu Xiaogang, was intermittently letting out miserable cries of "Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh—" while undergoing Dragon Brother's investigation in the woods.
And she, like a useless partner, knew nothing of it.
Bibi Dong returned to Spirit City. The moment she saw Qian Xunji, killing intent spilled uncontrollably from her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.
Qian Xunji caught that moment. After so many years, he felt nothing about it anymore.
Ghost Douluo reported what had happened on the road with Yu Xiaogang.
A vein immediately throbbed on Qian Xunji's forehead.
"This damned Lung Mist really is impossible to get rid of..." he said furiously.
"Your Holiness Pope, shall I—" Elder Golden Bell made a throat-slitting gesture.
"If handling things were as easy as you say, that would be wonderful." Qian Xunji shot Golden Bell Douluo a glance. "Right now, that Lung Mist is Bibi Dong's weakness. I'm using that weakness to keep Bibi Dong in our Spirit Hall."
"But that also restricts me in turn." Qian Xunji looked at Golden Bell Douluo. "If we kill Yu Xiaogang, Bibi Dong will completely lose control. Even if Spirit Hall can suppress the out-of-control Bibi Dong, all the investment Spirit Hall has made in the Saintess over these years will have gone down the drain."
Qian Xunji looked deeply at the four elders below and said, "You should all know that I, Qian Xunji, hate wasting things most of all. I always clean every grain of rice from my bowl. I want Bibi Dong's body, and I want her heart too."
"Th-this..." Golden Bell was dumbfounded.
"Killing Yu Xiaogang is possible, but there is one condition: Bibi Dong must completely give up on Yu Xiaogang." Qian Xunji asked, "Do any of you have a good idea?"
Golden Bell Douluo's eyes rolled as he said, "Your Holiness Pope, I do have an idea. Yu Xiaogang is, in the end, merely a level 29 Lung Mist. What can he give the Saintess? He can provide nothing. But Your Holiness can give the Saintess status, power, even the Soul Rings and Soul Bones she wants. You can provide all of that. Compared to you, that Lung Mist is nothing."
"You only need to promise the Saintess that when she becomes a Title Douluo, you will provide her with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Surely no one in this world could resist a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. No one!"
"Then, once the Saintess accepts Your Holiness's gift, she will certainly be grateful and fall deeply in love with you."
Qian Xunji stroked his chin. "You have a point."
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