The Teacher Did This So I Could Atone! The Teacher Loves Me!

"Ha ha ha... ha ha ha!" Bibi Dong threw back her head and laughed bitterly. "Yes... I should have thought of it long ago. How could I have been so foolish?!"

"I let myself be deceived like an idiot for so many years, yet I still stupidly considered his feelings? I even betrayed Spirit Hall for his sake."

"I hate him! I hate him so much! Why did Yu Xiaogang deceive me like that? Why?!"

As she vented her hatred for Yu Xiaogang, a twisted, frenzied thought rose uncontrollably within her. But I hate my teacher too!

"Why didn't Teacher expose that worthless bastard sooner? Why did he have to use such a cruel, heartless method to intimidate me and trample my dignity beneath his feet?!"

"Why... why couldn't Teacher forgive me just once?" Bibi Dong's heart brimmed with resentment.

Watching Bibi Dong laugh one moment and cry the next, looking nearly insane, Gui Mei frowned, growing somewhat impatient. "Yue Guan, why are you wasting words on her? She's no longer Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden. She's just a traitor!"

"Traitors deserve no mercy! His Holiness the Pope's decree does not allow us to waste time here!"

Having said that, Gui Mei stepped forward and seized Bibi Dong's tattered robe without the slightest trace of pity.

Like dragging a dead pig, he brutally dragged her toward the central square of Spirit City.

Bibi Dong had completely given up struggling.

She allowed the hard flagstones to scrape against her body and the rain to wash over her without end. Along the way, she passed all kinds of Spirit City residents.

Feeling their gazes, Bibi Dong instinctively used her ragged sleeve to cover her ugly face.

At that moment, an absurd thought even arose in her heart: it was fortunate that Teacher had ruined her appearance.

Otherwise, if the people of the entire city recognized that the once lofty Holy Maiden had become this miserable sight...

Before long, Gui Mei dragged Bibi Dong to her destination.

This was the busiest and most prosperous place in Spirit City, where all kinds of grand ceremonies and celebrations were usually held.

Like tossing away trash, Gui Mei roughly flung Bibi Dong into a dark corner by the wall.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he tossed a pure gold bowl in front of Bibi Dong. Immediately afterward, Gui Mei summoned two Security Team members patrolling nearby.

"This woman is the Holy Maiden who betrayed Spirit Hall," Gui Mei said hoarsely. "By decree of His Holiness the Pope, she is to hold this golden bowl and beg here!"

"From now on, your Security Team will be responsible for guarding her! Remember, no one is allowed to take this golden bowl, and no one is allowed to kill her. Watch her at all times every day, and don't let her starve to death."

"If anything goes wrong, I assume you Security Team men don't wish to suffer His Holiness the Pope's wrath, do you?"

The two Security Team members stared at Bibi Dong, whose face was blackened and hideous in the corner, and were completely dumbfounded.

This was the Holy Maiden who had once stood above all but one person?! They could not understand why she would abandon her position as Holy Maiden and betray Spirit Hall!

"Please rest assured, Elder Gui! We will guard her day and night and ensure nothing happens to her!" the two Security Team members immediately bowed and promised.

"Let's go, Yue Guan. Don't waste any more time here," Gui Mei said blandly, then left with Yue Guan.

As the two lofty elders departed, the expressions of the two Security Team members immediately soured.

"Pah!"

One of the Security Team members looked at Bibi Dong, who was curled up in the corner and shivering. A deep look of disgust flashed through his eyes.

He stepped forward and spat directly onto Bibi Dong's face, then cursed, "You ungrateful piece of trash!"

"His Holiness the Pope and Spirit Hall showed you kindness as great as a mountain, yet you dared betray Spirit Hall? If it were up to me, I'd have someone like you, who bites the hand that feeds you, sliced into a thousand pieces!"

With that, his face darkened. He raised his heavy leather boot, preparing to kick Bibi Dong viciously.

"Hey! What are you doing? Have you gone mad?"

The other Security Team member's face changed drastically. He hurriedly grabbed him and lowered his voice. "Didn't you hear what Elder Gui just said?"

"She is someone His Holiness the Pope personally ordered us to guard. She absolutely cannot die, even if she is a traitor who bites the hand that feeds her!"

"If you kick her without knowing your strength and kill her outright, both our heads will be rolling."

They both knew how miserable and weak Bibi Dong was at that moment. One kick might very well take her life.

The Security Team member reluctantly withdrew his foot and said coldly, "Tch! I was only going to kick her once to vent. How could that possibly kill her so easily?"

"His Holiness the Pope is far too merciful. He's actually letting a traitor like this keep her miserable life? I really don't understand!"

"Enough. Say less."

The Security Team member who had pulled him back said in a low voice, "How can insignificant people like us possibly fathom the thoughts of those above?"

"Since His Holiness the Pope punished her, he clearly did not directly order her death!"

"Perhaps His Holiness the Pope only wants her to suffer here for a while. Maybe one day, when she truly repents, His Holiness the Pope will remember their old bond and take her back so she can turn over a new leaf?"

"What did you say?" The Security Team member who had wanted to kick her swept his gaze over Bibi Dong. She had been reduced to such a miserable state—truly miserable—and His Holiness the Pope would still take her back? How could that be possible!

"But what if that day really comes? If you offend her beyond repair today, will either of us have any way to survive afterward?"

"All we need to do is guard her, make sure she doesn't die, and make sure no one takes the golden bowl. We don't need to concern ourselves with anything else!"

Bibi Dong, whose heart had already turned to ashes, heard those final words, and a glimmer of hope seemed to flash through her lifeless eyes.

"That's right... that's right... Teacher used to love me so much. He held me in the palm of his hand as though I were his own daughter."

"How could he truly not want me anymore? How could he truly be so heartless toward me? He did this because what I did before hurt him too deeply."

"So he used the harshest possible method to punish me and make me atone... As long as I obey Teacher, stay here obediently with this golden bowl and atone, act obedient enough, remorseful enough, sincere enough..."

"One day, when Teacher's anger fades, he will definitely come here in person and take me back to the Papal Palace!"

Bibi Dong gave herself this almost pathological reassurance in her heart, and a smile actually appeared on her twisted, hideous face.

"She's actually still smiling? I think she's gone mad. Going from Her Highness the Holy Maiden to a foul-smelling beggar in a single day—anyone would probably be unable to accept that, wouldn't they?!"

The Security Team member who had wanted to kick her leaned against the wall to avoid the rain and looked at Bibi Dong with contempt.