The Rakshasa God's Temptation

["What happened afterward was much as your aunt told you, so I won't go over it again."

Qian Renxue lifted the finished dish into a white porcelain plate. "Dinner's ready. Let's go out."

With that, she carried the plate out of the kitchen.

Before long, a feast was neatly laid out on the dining table. Just eight dishes and a soup, with meat and vegetables in perfect balance. The colors were tempting, and the presentation rivaled a banquet at a grand hotel.

Qian Renxue lightly clapped her hands and called, "A Xun, Mushuang, come eat."

"Coming, Xue'er."

"I'm coming, Mom."

Li Xun and Li Mushuang answered at the same time.

Once Li Xun sat down, he picked up a bite and tasted it. His face lit up. "Xue'er, your cooking might be better than a five-star hotel chef's."

"Just eat your dinner. Enough flattery." Qian Renxue chided him with a smile.

But Li Xun wasn't done. He slipped an arm around Qian Renxue's slender waist and drew her closer. "I'm not joking. It really is delicious. I want to eat the meals you make for the rest of my life."

Qian Renxue quickly caught the hand wandering across her waist and stomach. A faint blush rose to her cheeks. "Stop fooling around," she murmured. "The children are right here."

"Heh, I didn't do anything." Li Xun grinned innocently, withdrew his hand, and picked up his bowl and chopsticks. "All right, let's eat. Dinner first."

"What am I going to do with you?"

Qian Renxue rolled her eyes at him, though they were full of tenderness.

Across the table, Li Qingyang and his sister Li Mushuang kept their heads down and focused on their food. In perfect agreement, neither looked up, pretending not to see their parents' shameless display of affection.]

Comments raced across the Heavenly Screen as the warm family dinner played out.

[Wait, eight dishes and a soup for an ordinary dinner at home? How much must one meal cost?]

[Brother, did you forget? The future Li Family is one of the wealthiest families around.]

[And Qian Renxue's family is Spirit Hall, the strongest force on the continent.]

[When you put it that way, eight dishes and a soup sounds downright modest!]

[Hehe, those two are so in love.]

[They already have two kids, and they still flirt all the time.]

[I'm so jealous I could cry.]

[+1, insanely jealous.]

[+1.]

The comments kept flooding in. Some marveled at the Li Family's wealth, while many others envied the enduring passion between Li Xun and Qian Renxue.

Beneath the Heavenly Screen, in the Worship Hall.

The elders had gathered in the hall, all gazing up at the Heavenly Screen. Their aged faces, usually placid, now showed a range of emotions.

After watching Li Xun and Qian Renxue's affectionate domestic life and recalling the secret past just revealed, a peculiar mood settled over the Worship Hall.

Elder Lionheart slowly stroked his beard, realization and admiration in his eyes. "So Xiao Xue's meeting with Asura God Li Xun wasn't love at first sight by chance at all. She planned it carefully, step by step. Well done. She found herself a fine husband."

Elder Lightbow nodded, moved. "No wonder Xue'er is willing to let other women approach Li Xun in the future. She knows she's already won his heart."

"Win his heart, and you win everything."

Seated above them, Qian Daoliu watched the Heavenly Screen quietly, his golden eyes deep and calm. "Xue'er is wise and knows what matters. She never wanted to keep him to herself every moment. She wanted his true love and his heart to belong to her."

The elders nodded in agreement.

As they watched the family of four share a warm, peaceful everyday life, the elders understood at last.

The chance encounter Xiao Xue had arranged all those years ago had brought her a lifetime of peace and happiness with the partner she loved.

The elders exchanged glances, each genuinely relieved.

Spirit Hall had a future leader, and the angelic legacy had found a worthy match. It was a great blessing.

The mood in the Papal Hall was nothing like the relief that filled the Worship Hall.

Inside the Papal Hall.

Bibi Dong sat upon the Pope's throne, her cold, narrow eyes fixed on the happy family on the Heavenly Screen. Every tender, peaceful moment stung her eyes and sent a fresh ache through her chest.

Why?

Why had her own life been full of hardship and helplessness? She had loved Xiaogang and been torn from him, suffered every cruelty fate could devise, and spent her whole life longing for what she could never have.

But Qian Renxue?

That ungrateful daughter of hers had somehow found perfect happiness.

A husband who loved her, and two lively, sweet children.

How could heaven be so unfair?

Fierce jealousy and bitter resentment wound around her like poisonous vines, eating away at her mind.

There was no wind in the hall, yet the air around Bibi Dong grew colder and more oppressive. Her Soul Power stirred erratically, while obsession, gloom, and madness churned in her eyes.

Her composure had shattered. She was dangerously unstable.

Just then, a cold, hoarse whisper full of temptation sounded deep within her Sea of Spirit.

It was the divine will of the Rakshasa God, dormant in her Sea of Consciousness.

"So unfair... How terribly unfair..."

"Bibi Dong, Bibi Dong. Why was that ungrateful daughter Qian Renxue born noble and blessed, only to gain a perfect family and every tenderness the world has to offer?"

"Why does she get everything while you have nothing?"

The ethereal, evil voice circled endlessly in her mind, magnifying every dark and obsessive thought in Bibi Dong's heart and consuming what little reason she had left.

"Destroy her... Destroy that ungrateful daughter's happiness."

"Kill Li Xun. Sever every bond that brings her joy."

"Take away her husband and her sweet children. Only then will she fall from her lofty perch and taste the suffering, loneliness, and regret you've endured."

The Rakshasa God's will coaxed her on, stoking her bloodlust and rage.

On the Heavenly Screen, Qian Renxue's gentle smile and her family's joy had become the cruelest mockery in Bibi Dong's eyes.

Her fingers clenched so hard that her long nails dug into her palms, drawing blood. An eerie darkness veiled her black pupils.

A vast killing intent erupted from the Pope's throne and swept through the hall.

Yes.

If Qian Xunji had tormented her and left her life in ruins, why should Qian Renxue get to be happy?

Then she would destroy it all!

Destroy Li Xun. Destroy everything that made her happy!

Just as the thought of killing Li Xun took complete hold of Bibi Dong's mind.

The cold, seductive will of the Rakshasa God deep in her Sea of Consciousness vanished without warning.

The whisper that had filled her ears fell silent. The sinister force that had fed her jealousy and incited her rage disappeared as abruptly as it had come.

Without the Rakshasa God's will driving her on, the frenzy born of her darkest emotions ebbed away like a retreating tide.

Bibi Dong went limp and collapsed against the broad, cold Pope's throne, her shoulders heaving as she gasped for breath.

Fine beads of cold sweat formed at her temples and slid down her beautiful face. The surging black Soul Power around her slowly settled.

Her clouded reason returned little by little. Recalling her desire to destroy everything sent a chill through even her own heart.

Silence returned to the Papal Hall. Only her ragged breathing echoed softly through it.