Bibi Dong trembled all over, cold sweat streaming down her forehead.
Within her sea of consciousness, that thought was peeled open inch by inch by the divine light.
Memories surged out like a tide: the scene that night, that man drenched in blood, the six spider wings behind her, and those eyes that had remained filled with disbelief even in death...
"Ah!"
Bibi Dong let out a piercing scream, clutched her head with both hands, and collapsed to her knees.
This scene did not appear as an image within the Pope's Palace.
Yet it swiftly pierced everyone's hearts.
Yes.
Everyone inside the Pope's Palace.
Everyone covered by the Divine Envoy Domain.
At that moment, it was as though their minds had all been linked together, allowing them to see clearly the scene Bibi Dong dreaded most.
It appeared in their minds, frame by frame.
A deathly silence filled the hall.
A long time passed.
Qian Chenming withdrew his right hand. The Angel Phantom slowly faded, the holy light dissipated, and he descended into the hall.
He lowered his head to look at Bibi Dong, who lay curled on the floor. His gaze was indifferent, but his voice fell like a heavy hammer:
"Qian Xunji died at your hands. Is that right?"
Bibi Dong did not answer. She knelt on the floor, her long hair hanging in disarray and obscuring her face. Her shoulders trembled, and her breathing was rapid and ragged.
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan turned deathly pale and murmured, "It... it really was true..."
Neither he nor Gui Mei had ever imagined that His Holiness Qian Xunji, the former pope they had served with such devotion, had truly died at the hands of one of their own.
After all, Qian Xunji had recognized their talents and raised them up.
This also caused most of the reverence they had built up for Bibi Dong over the past few years to vanish in an instant.
Just then.
Filled with grief and fury, Azure Luan Douluo slowly stepped forward, his Soul Power surging. "Bibi Dong, what else do you have to say?"
"Who would have thought, Bibi Dong? You were actually vicious enough to do something like this."
Jiang Mo and Qian Jun both snorted in contempt, wishing they could kill Bibi Dong on the spot.
Bibi Dong slowly raised her head.
Her face had lost all color, but an exceedingly dark flame burned in her eyes.
She looked at Qian Chenming and suddenly smiled. Her smile was bitter and mocking, sending a chill through people's hearts.
"Yes. I killed him."
The hall erupted.
"I killed him with my own hands." Bibi Dong enunciated every word, her voice utterly clear. "That beast deserved to die. Do you self-righteous people know what he did?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression changed. "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" Bibi Dong sneered. "Did any of you ever ask what your beloved Great Enshrined's fine son did to me back then?"
The hall fell into deathly silence again.
Qian Chenming's gaze shifted slightly, but he said nothing.
Bracing herself against an armrest, Bibi Dong slowly stood up. Despite her disheveled state, she still clung fiercely to her last shred of dignity:
"I killed him because he deserved to die. The pope of Spirit Hall, the bloodline of the Qian Family-nothing but a pack of beasts draped in divine light. You want justice for Qian Xunji? Fine. Come take my life."
As she spoke, she suddenly burst into laughter. Her shrill laughter echoed through the spacious hall.
Golden Crocodile Douluo's face was livid and his fists clenched, yet he still did not strike.
He looked toward Qian Chenming, awaiting the old pope's decision.
Qian Chenming remained silent for a long time.
He looked down at Bibi Dong, and a trace of profound amusement actually appeared in his holy eyes. After a long while, he slowly spoke:
"Bibi Dong, have you done nothing wrong?"
Bibi Dong stiffened, then sneered. "Wrong? What was wrong with killing a beast?"
Qian Chenming did not respond to her words. Instead, he took a step forward, his voice calm yet carrying an unquestionable pressure. "I asked you, have you done nothing wrong?"
The air in the hall seemed to freeze.
Bibi Dong stared fixedly at him, her lips trembling slightly, but she did not speak again.
"If you won't speak, then I'll speak for you."
Qian Chenming stood with his hands behind his back. "Back then, Spirit Hall chose you as its Holy Maiden, poured its resources into nurturing you, bestowed its highest legacy upon you, and let you stand at the very pinnacle of the Douluo Continent. Do you deny any of that?"
Bibi Dong's pupils contracted slightly, but she still did not answer.
"But what did you do?" Qian Chenming's voice abruptly deepened.
"As Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden, you privately pledged yourself to an outsider, disregarded the debt you owed the sect for nurturing you all those years, and even planned to simply walk away. Tell me, was there nothing wrong with that?"
Those words were like a knife, stabbing viciously into the wound Bibi Dong least wanted to touch.
Her fingertips trembled slightly, but she still straightened her back. "That was my private business."
"Private business?"
Qian Chenming sneered. "The position you held meant you never had any private business.
"If the Holy Maiden eloped, Spirit Hall's reputation would be swept into the dust, and the sect's prestige would plummet a thousand fathoms. Tell me, is that what you call private business?"
The Titled Douluo in the hall exchanged looks.
A trace of complexity appeared in Chrysanthemum Douluo's and Gui Mei's eyes.
They were not entirely ignorant of what had happened back then. It was just that no one had ever dared lay it out so bluntly.
"The way Qian Xunji dealt with you was indeed wrong."
Qian Chenming's voice suddenly lowered a little, yet became all the heavier. "But as the pope of Spirit Hall, his decision to deal with a Holy Maiden who had betrayed the sect was not, in itself, wrong."
Bibi Dong abruptly raised her head, her eyes reddening. "So you think everything he did to me was right?"
"I said his methods were wrong." Qian Chenming looked straight into her eyes, his gaze steady.
"He was wrong to use despicable means and rob you of your chastity. But his stance in upholding Spirit Hall's rules and defending the Qian Family's dignity was not wrong."
Bibi Dong's breathing quickened, her nails digging deep into her palms.
Even now, she still hated all of it.
Yet Qian Chenming's words made her begin to doubt, again and again.
"You were willing to abandon everything Spirit Hall gave you, including its kindness, for a reputation-fishing good-for-nothing. That hardly makes you anything decent yourself."
At that moment, Qian Chenming spoke mockingly.
Those words wounded Bibi Dong's heart far more deeply than anything he had said before.
She gritted her teeth hard. "Don't you dare speak about him!"
"Heh."
Hearing this, the smile at the corners of Qian Chenming's mouth deepened.
A love-addled fool was a love-addled fool. Beyond saving.
Then Qian Chenming's gaze turned cold, his face frosty. "Whatever hatred or grievances you had, Ji'er has already died at your hands. Now add all these years you have sat worry-free on the papal throne."
"If all of that was atonement to you, then I, the pope, will tell you plainly now: at this point, you are the one who owes my Spirit Hall!"
"I owe Spirit Hall?"
Upon hearing this.
Bibi Dong murmured, her expression seeming to descend into madness.
"I owe Spirit Hall? Laughable. Laughable!"
Before you continue