Chrysanthemum and Ghost Betrayal?

Qian Renxue threw back her head and laughed. "Hahahaha! Bibi Dong, it seems you know you're nothing but a substitute. You just don't want to admit it."

Though her face stung fiercely, Qian Renxue had never felt so relieved.

Bibi Dong's eyes turned bloodshot. Her gaze nearly split with rage as she raised her hand again, ready to teach Qian Renxue a lesson.

At the sight, years of pent-up hurt erupted inside Qian Renxue.

She stepped toward Bibi Dong and shouted:

"Bibi Dong, you hit me over a disgusting, two-faced waste of a man!"

Tears slid down Qian Renxue's cheeks. This time, she would not back down.

Her gaze held a resolve it had never shown before, and her voice rang out like thunder:

"Bibi Dong, I'm your family!"

Bibi Dong's hand froze in midair. A little clarity returned to her eyes.

Family. What an unfamiliar word.

Looking at Qian Renxue's tear-drenched face, Bibi Dong felt as though a knife twisted in her heart. The pain was almost unbearable.

How could Qian Renxue say that?

Didn't she hate me most of all?

Bibi Dong lowered her hand and turned away, unwilling to look at Qian Renxue again.

"Get out! Get out of here now!"

Soul Power burst from Bibi Dong and swept in every direction.

Like an invisible hand, it struck Qian Renxue square in the chest.

Guang Ling and Azure Luan flew forward and caught Qian Renxue as she hurtled backward off the raised platform.

At the sight of five red finger marks on her left cheek, Guang Ling's heart ached.

"Young Mistress, are you all right?"

With Azure Luan and Guang Ling supporting her, Qian Renxue stood straight and shook her head.

Then she looked up at the platform. Bibi Dong stood with her back turned, feigning composure.

Qian Renxue knew she had said what needed saying. There was no point arguing further.

She turned and walked toward the hall's exit.

Azure Luan and Guang Ling exchanged a glance and followed close behind.

Sensing Qian Renxue leave, Bibi Dong felt a tangle of emotions.

She stared at the papal Throne before her, her gaze drifting as she sank into thought.

After a couple of steps, Qian Renxue suddenly looked back and said coldly, "Bibi Dong, you're a Joker!"

With that, she strode out of the Papal Hall.

Bibi Dong did not know what "Joker" meant, but she had no desire to respond.

Her heart was in turmoil.

Time passed, minute by minute, and Bibi Dong settled back onto the papal Throne.

About a quarter of an hour later, two figures appeared outside the doors.

One had shoulder-length blond hair and delicate, feminine features;

the other had deathly pale skin, his face covered in dark netherworld markings.

They entered the Papal Hall, placed a hand over their chests, and bowed together. "Greetings, Your Holiness."

"Yue Guan, Gui Mei, what has your investigation into Qian Zong uncovered?"

Bibi Dong sat upright on the Throne, her usual cold severity restored. Yet her complexion was poor, betraying a faint, weary helplessness.

"Your Holiness, Gui Mei and I have investigated everyone within a two-hundred-li radius. We still haven't uncovered the Young Hall Master's origins or found the two guards who were on duty at the city gates that day."

Bibi Dong's heart grew heavier. Her fingers tapped the armrest without pause.

Three months ago, Qian Zong had appeared without warning at Spirit City's gates.

The guards had stopped him, but Qian Renxue had happened by and taken him straight to the Worship Hall.

After that, Elders Ci Xue and She Long had been detained in the Worship Hall. Even when Bibi Dong intervened, the Worship Hall had shown no intention of releasing them.

The two guards on duty that day had also vanished into thin air the night they met Qian Zong, leaving no trace.

Qian Daoliu had publicly claimed that Qian Zong was Qian Xunji's illegitimate son, but Bibi Dong did not believe a word of it.

If Qian Zong truly were an illegitimate son, Ci Xue and She Long would not have been detained in the Worship Hall, and the two guards who had met him would not have vanished so mysteriously.

Qian Zong had to be hiding a secret.

And that secret clearly mattered a great deal to the Worship Hall.

But now every lead had gone cold, leaving Qian Zong's origins an unsolvable mystery.

Bibi Dong's gaze sharpened, and an accusing edge entered her voice:

"Three months. Two Titled Douluo, and you still can't find two people.

"Yue Guan, Gui Mei, you aren't hiding something from me, are you?"

Cold sweat broke out on Yue Guan and Gui Mei as they rushed to explain:

"Your Holiness, please see for yourself. We have concealed nothing.

"These past three months, Gui Mei and I have searched every territory in the empire. We haven't slackened for a moment."

The two had plenty to complain about. Since pledging themselves to Bibi Dong, they had barely had a moment's rest, taking on every dirty and exhausting task.

Still, their fortunes were bound tightly to Spirit Hall, and they enjoyed the highest treatment it offered. However much they grumbled inwardly, they swallowed their complaints.

At heart, both men truly believed in Spirit Hall.

"In that case, I won't pursue the matter further.

"I heard Qian Zong approached you in private two months ago. What did he want?"

Bibi Dong's suspicion toward the two of them stemmed mainly from how they had grown noticeably cooler toward her after meeting Qian Zong. They were less diligent in their work, too.

"The Young Hall Master likes flowers and plants. He heard I knew a little about them, so he came to ask me a few questions."

"That was all?"

Yue Guan nodded. "I wouldn't dare deceive you."

Yue Guan's love of flowers and plants was common knowledge among Spirit Hall's leadership. Seeing nothing amiss, Bibi Dong accepted his explanation and turned to Gui Mei.

Gui Mei answered truthfully:

"The Young Hall Master explained the nature of my Martial Soul to me and pointed out a path for my cultivation. We discussed nothing else."

Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow in astonishment and asked:

"Oh? You're a Titled Douluo, while Qian Zong is little more than a cripple. He could actually guide you?

"Tell me how he advised you to cultivate."

Gui Mei fell silent.

Anxiety flashed across Yue Guan's face. "Gui Mei, don't be disrespectful in front of His Holiness the Pope."

Ever since Gui Mei had met Qian Zong, he had been utterly captivated.

Yue Guan supported Gui Mei, but he could not make it so obvious.

We're still in the Papal Hall!

"Your Holiness, according to the Young Hall Master, my Martial Soul isn't a Tool Martial Soul. It's an extremely rare Body Martial Soul.

"If I keep tempering my body and refining my soul, I may have a chance to reach level 99 and become a Peerless Douluo after a Second Awakening."

Because it concerned his own secrets, Gui Mei had wanted to brush the question aside. But recalling Qian Zong's instructions, he chose to reveal part of the truth.

"A Body Martial Soul? A Second Awakening? What are those?"

Deep confusion flashed in Bibi Dong's eyes. She had never heard of such things. Where had Qian Zong learned of them?

And when she heard Gui Mei claim that tempering his body and refining his soul could take him to level 99, her brief shock gave way to contempt.

Level 99 was not so easily reached.

He was already old and stuck at level 95, unable even to touch the threshold of level 96. His potential was long exhausted, yet he still dreamed of becoming a Peerless Douluo.

Bibi Dong still needed the two men to work for her, so she did not mock them.

A goal was a good thing. It gave her something to use to keep them in hand.