Frightened to Tears

"Lin Fan!" Bibi Dong cried out in alarm.

She glanced at Qian Xunji again, worry in her eyes.

Qian Xunji said nothing. He only stared at Lin Fan.

The longer he stared, the colder the air in the room grew.

None of them had expected Lin Fan to describe Qian Xunji that way, much less call him a beast to his face.

With his mouth covered, Lin Fan could only make muffled sounds. Clearly, he hadn't expected such a strong reaction.

Yue Guan's grip was firm. Lin Fan struggled twice before pulling his hand away and catching his breath. "What's wrong with you? I just insulted a character in a novel. Why are you so worked up?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were the Qian Xunji and Bibi Dong from the novel."

Qian Xunji's face darkened completely. Icy killing intent locked onto Lin Fan.

Ghost Douluo stepped up beside him. "Your Holiness, this boy's words are unforgivable. We cannot let him live. Allow me to kill him!"

Bibi Dong hurried to explain. "Teacher, Lin Fan is blind. He can't see us. He may not have meant anything by it. Besides, we asked him to tell the story. Even if he knew who we were, he wouldn't dare insult you to your face."

Yue Guan added, "Your Holiness, the Saintess is right. She has only just become a Soul Emperor, yet in his account, she's a Titled Douluo. Either the boy made up the story, or it concerns the future."

"And even if these events will come to pass, killing him now won't spare Spirit Hall its eventual destruction."

Qian Xunji took a deep breath. Under their persuasion, the killing intent that had risen in him slowly subsided.

More than anything, he wanted to know how Spirit Hall, now at the height of its power, could possibly be destroyed.

Lin Fan shivered. "It's cold. Has the weather changed again?"

"Village chief, why has everyone gone quiet?"

Lin Fan had no idea the weather hadn't changed. Killing intent had lowered the temperature in the room.

Without realizing it, he had come within a hair's breadth of death.

Suppressing his killing intent, Qian Xunji answered slowly, "Forgive us, young man. What you just spoke of is forbidden in this village."

"Discussing such a violation of moral decency here, even in private, is punishable by death."

Lin Fan understood at once. "No wonder you reacted like that... I'm sorry, village chief. I didn't know you had that rule here."

He went on, "People outside the village despise that sort of thing too. That's why readers of Douluo Continent hate Qian Xunji so much."

"It's all right," Qian Xunji said. "You didn't know. Just be careful next time."

Lin Fan nodded and promised he would, but inwardly he thought, I never imagined this village's rules would be so strict. You can't even talk about it without risking execution.

No phones, no television, and they kill people on their own authority, ignoring the law. What kind of primitive tribe is this?

That's strange. Did I really travel that far?

Unless... I fell into a river when I went over the cliff, and the current carried me out of the country?

After waiting quietly for a while, Lin Fan said, "Village chief, if you don't like Douluo Continent, how about I tell you about a different novel? I remember others, like Shrouding the Heavens and Swallowed Star. They're both very good."

"No need." Qian Xunji forced the words through clenched teeth, then managed to make his next sentence sound mildly polite.

"The Douluo Continent story is fine. I still want to hear how a force as powerful as Spirit Hall was destroyed."

"But it's getting late, and you've only just recovered from your injuries. We can leave the rest of the story until tomorrow."

"All right, village chief." Lin Fan hunched his shoulders. "It really gets cold in these mountains. The temperature drops so fast at night."

"It does get cold here at night," Qian Xunji said, then left the room.

Though Lin Fan's injuries had healed, he still couldn't see. After everything that had happened, he was exhausted.

He lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

In the Pope's Palace, Qian Xunji sat on the main seat, his face dark as he looked at Bibi Dong and the other two.

"Let's hear what you think." His voice echoed through the hall, carrying a stifling pressure.

Ghost Douluo spoke first. "Your Holiness, I used my Soul Power to examine the fluctuations in his mind. His soul remained steady as he spoke, with no sign of a lie. Only when he mentioned Your Holiness and, ah... that matter did his expression change. It seemed more like he felt the character's fate was unjust."

"In other words, he believes everything he said," Yue Guan added. "At least, as far as he knows, those events really happened in the novel."

"How could an ordinary man with no Martial Soul know these things?" Qian Xunji's gaze swept over the three of them. "Unless someone deliberately told him. And that person would have to know Spirit Hall inside and out."

"Since my father passed the Pope's seat to me, he has lived in seclusion. Only a few powerful figures in the Soul Master world even know he exists."

Bibi Dong raised her head. "Your suspicions are reasonable, Teacher. But I don't think this boy was trying to deceive us."

"Why?"

"Because of his attitude," Bibi Dong said. "When he said your name, there was no reverence or fear. He sounded like an ordinary person casually cursing a villain in a storybook. If he knew who we were, he would never dare do that."

Yue Guan added, "The Saintess has put my thoughts into words. When he cursed... that name, it was as though he were cursing a character in a story. To him, we aren't living people."

Qian Xunji closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. A long while passed before he spoke. "He said Bibi Dong was the Pope of Spirit Hall at the start of the story, while I was already outside it."

"That means I was dead before the story even began."

Bibi Dong's heart lurched. She immediately bowed. "I would never dare, Teacher. You've taught me since I was little and treated me like your own child. I would never do what the story says."

Yue Guan stepped forward. "Your Holiness, there's no use speculating here. Perhaps we can ask Lin Fan tomorrow."

"Leave." Qian Xunji waved a hand.

"Yes!"

Bibi Dong and the other two left the Pope's Palace.

When Bibi Dong returned to the courtyard, she looked up at the night sky for a long moment before entering her room. "I hope that story isn't true."

The next morning, Bibi Dong woke Lin Fan.

"Lin Fan, breakfast." Bibi Dong held a bowl of porridge.

"It's you, Miss Dong'er. Is it morning already?" Lin Fan asked as he sat up.

"The sun's just come up."

Lin Fan had nearly finished his porridge when Qian Xunji came in with Yue Guan.

"Young man, we're back to hear more of your novel." Qian Xunji sat down opposite Lin Fan, his tone gentle.

"Sure. Shall I start from the beginning?" Lin Fan asked with a smile.

"No. You didn't finish telling us about Spirit Hall yesterday. I want to know what happened to Qian Xunji," Qian Xunji said.

Without giving it a second thought, Lin Fan blurted out, "He died. Bibi Dong killed him herself. Good riddance—"

Crash!

Startled by his answer, Bibi Dong unconsciously released her Soul Power, breaking the stool beneath her and sending herself tumbling to the floor.