"But what else can we do if we don't leave?"
Dai Mubai's voice sank as well.
"Stay here and wait to die? Tang San, I admit we all underestimated Ning Lin. But the facts are staring us in the face. We've lost, utterly and completely!"
"It's all your fault!"
Tang San suddenly pointed at Dai Mubai and shouted himself hoarse.
"If you hadn't insisted on provoking him back then, how would we have gotten into all this trouble?"
Furious, Dai Mubai slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet.
"Tang San! Get your facts straight! You were the one who said we should stand up for Fatty, so we followed you! Now that things have gone wrong, you're dumping all the blame on me?"
"Am I wrong? If you hadn't been so arrogant and blown things out of proportion from the start, how would it have come to this?"
"Bullshit! You're the useless one! You couldn't even deal with Ning Lin, and you dragged every last one of us down with you!"
Seeing the two on the verge of a full-blown quarrel, Zhu Zhuqing, who had remained silent all this time, finally stepped forward.
"Enough!"
Her cool voice seemed to lower the temperature throughout the hall.
"Is this the time to point fingers? We're a team! Whatever problems we have, we should face them together, not shirk responsibility and blame each other like this!"
Tang San and Dai Mubai both panted, their chests heaving, but neither continued the argument.
The hall fell into suffocating silence once more.
The shadow of defeat hung over everyone's heart.
The Shrek Seven Devils, once brimming with confidence and proclaiming that they would create miracles, looked so wretched and pitiful at that moment.
It was a stark contrast to the gloom hanging over the Tang Sect.
In the rear garden of the City Lord's Residence, moonlight flowed like water, and the fragrance of flowers drifted through the air.
Ning Lin and Bibi Dong walked side by side along a cobblestone path, enjoying this rare moment of peace.
"This place is still just as it was before. Nothing has changed."
Bibi Dong gazed at the familiar scenery around her, a trace of nostalgia in her eyes.
"If you like it, I'll keep it this way."
Ning Lin answered softly.
Bibi Dong stopped before a bed of violets in full bloom.
She reached out with her slender, delicate hand and gently stroked the tender petals, a soft smile unconsciously curling her lips.
"I remember that this was where we first met."
She spoke.
"Mm."
Ning Lin's thoughts seemed to drift back more than twenty years as well.
Back then, he had been only a boy who had just awakened his martial soul.
And she had been Spirit Hall's dazzlingly gifted Saintess, visiting Heaven Dou City on a mission.
A chance encounter had entwined the fates of two people whose paths should never have crossed.
"You were such a fool back then."
Bibi Dong turned to look at Ning Lin, a teasing glint in her eyes.
"I was admiring the flowers here, and you walked straight up to ask whether I was trying to steal your family's flowers."
Ning Lin couldn't help laughing.
"Well, I thought you were a spy sent by some other family to gather intelligence."
"Hmph. Have you ever seen a spy this beautiful?"
Bibi Dong gave a soft snort, yet there was a girlish coyness in her expression.
Before Ning Lin, she never needed to pretend to be the ruthless, decisive Pope.
She could simply be herself.
Simply Bibi Dong.
They chatted like this, trading memories of the past.
The sweetness and bitterness buried deep within their memories all became the joy of reunion that night.
Beneath the moonlight, Bibi Dong's exquisite face seemed bathed in a sacred glow, her beauty breathtaking.
Ning Lin's gaze gradually deepened.
He stopped, turned, and looked earnestly into Bibi Dong's eyes.
"Dong'er."
"Hmm?"
For no apparent reason, Bibi Dong's heart skipped a beat.
"I won't let you leave again."
Ning Lin's voice was quiet, yet it carried an unquestionable resolve.
Bibi Dong's eyes instantly reddened.
She had waited far, far too long to hear those words.
She said nothing, merely rising onto her toes and wrapping her arms tightly around Ning Lin's neck.
Then she kissed him.
This kiss was no longer the fleeting taste they had shared in the room.
It held twenty years of longing, the wild joy of regaining what she had lost, and a resolve that cast everything else aside.
Ning Lin held her tightly as well, responding with passion.
It was as though they meant to fill those twenty empty years in this single moment.
Moonlight and flower shadows wove together into a moving tableau.
Only after a long while did their lips part.
Bibi Dong's cheeks were crimson and her breathing hurried. Her beautiful violet eyes shimmered with moisture, naturally alluring.
She leaned against Ning Lin's chest, her voice carrying an almost imperceptible tremor.
"Lin..."
"This time, I'll be the one to protect you."
"From this day forward, you are my man, Bibi Dong's man, and the future imperial consort of my Spirit Hall Empire."
Her voice brimmed with an empress's imperiousness and possessiveness.
"If anyone dares touch you, I'll annihilate them, body and soul!"
Early the next morning.
A piece of news powerful enough to shake the entire Douluo Continent swept out from Spirit Hall like a hurricane, reaching every corner.
Bibi Dong, the Pope of Spirit Hall, issued a papal decree proclaiming it to the world!
She would wed the Heaven Dou City Lord, Ning Lin, the Marquis Who Guards the Nation!
The wedding would take place in one month's time!
The venue: the Papal Hall in Spirit City!
This papal decree was neither a proposal nor a request, but a notification.
With the full majesty of Spirit Hall, it announced to the entire continent that she, Bibi Dong, was claiming Ning Lin as her man!
The news threw the world into an uproar!
"Heavens! Did I hear that right? His Holiness the Pope is getting married?"
"And to Ning Lin, no less! The ruthless guy who pinned Tang San to the ground and wiped the floor with him in Heaven Dou Square yesterday!"
"Good grief! What a union of powerhouses! One rules the continent's greatest force, and the other is a fierce man who even dared to put Clear Sky Douluo on trial!"
"I could tell all along! The way His Holiness the Pope looked at Lord Ning yesterday wasn't ordinary at all! Her eyes were overflowing with affection!"
"A hero and a beauty, a perfect match! I support this marriage!"
"Exactly! How could a hypocrite like Tang San measure up to a hero like Lord Ning? His Holiness the Pope truly has an eye for pearls!"
For a time, teahouses, taverns, and Soul Master Academies across the continent were all discussing this earth-shaking event.
The vast majority of commoners and ordinary soul masters offered their blessings to the marriage while enjoying the spectacle.
After all, Ning Lin's actions the day before had already won him considerable prestige.
His firm stand against the Tang Sect, his kindness in protecting the city's people, and his legendary romance with Bibi Dong all gave people plenty to talk about with relish.
The two great empires and the remaining forces of the Upper Three Sects, however, reacted very differently.
The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
"Xue Qinghe" stared at the intelligence in his hand, his expression so dark it seemed ready to drip water.
"Damn it!"
He viciously hurled the copy of the papal decree in his hand to the floor.
Before you continue