"Yes! Your Holiness! I'll see to it at once!"
As though granted a pardon, Crimson Flame Douluo hurriedly rose and strode out of the Pope Hall.
The hall doors slowly closed, and the sternness in Bibi Dong's eyes receded like the tide.
In its place came an indescribable tangle of feelings. Gazing at the documents scattered across her desk, she lightly brushed her fingertips over the edges of the pages. "Xiao Yu, where on earth have you gone? I'm so-"
Before she could finish those last few words, the heavy doors of the Pope Hall were suddenly pushed open from outside, stirring a gust that swept some of the chill outside into the hall.
Bibi Dong did not even raise her head, a trace of impatience lingering in her voice. "Didn't I tell you to find the Saint Son? Why are you back so soon?"
"Teacher! I'm back!"
A boy's clear voice rang out, carrying a little of the lightness of travel, yet instantly piercing the stillness within the hall.
Bibi Dong abruptly raised her head. A flicker of astonishment crossed her amber eyes before they filled with a light of disbelief.
There stood Su Yu at the entrance, still bearing traces of dust from his journey, yet standing as straight as ever, smiling at her with a famil-
iar smile.
"Xiao Yu?"
She rose instinctively, the hem of her papal robes sweeping an arc as she moved, her voice trembling without her even realizing it.
"You-you're back?"
Su Yu strode into the hall and stopped before her, inclining his head slightly. "Sorry for worrying you, Teacher. I'm back."
Seeing the boy standing safe and sound before her, Bibi Dong felt the taut strings of her heart suddenly slacken.
All her earlier anxiety and anger now turned into irrepressible joy.