Liu Erlong was just as incredulous as Qian Renxue.
That damned bit-
That woman should have been an ungrateful, coldhearted bastard who would hurt Xiao Gang's innocent feelings for the sake of her own future.
Yet, for Xiao Gang's safety, she had actually...
Liu Erlong dared not think any further, because she realized she had actually admitted in her heart that she fell short of Bibi Dong!
The Chat Group had erupted into an uproar.
[Ah Yin: This really is... such a tangled relationship.]
[Netherworld: It really is complicated. For a moment, I don't even know how to judge Bibi Dong.]
[Spirit Cat: Hateful, tragic, pitiful, terrifying...]
[Yanzi: The previous Pope actually had a daughter. Judging by her age, she's even an adult already.]
[Little Princess: Right! By all rights, shouldn't she be the legitimate heir to the papacy? She's the real princess!]
[Xiao Wu: But Bibi Dong is the one in power now. Maybe Qian Xunji's conscience woke up before he died, and he felt he owed Bibi Dong, so he let her inherit his position?]
[Netherworld: Then how do you explain why there have never been any rumors about this princess of Spirit Hall anywhere on the continent?]
[Spirit Cat: That should be easy to explain, shouldn't it? If you were Bibi Dong, would you really welcome this child?]
[Netherworld: ...]
Qian Renxue understood everything.
Why she had been handed over from birth to her grandfather, who lived year-round in the Worship Hall, to be raised. Why the person who should have been her mother had never paid her any attention. Why, no matter how well she did, that woman would only look at her with those cold, disgusted eyes...
But...
"Why did everyone have to keep it from me?"
Two trails of clear tears flowed from Qian Renxue's eyes as she curled up at the foot of the bed, like a little beast abandoned by the whole world.
[Lu Chen: Bibi Dong really is a hateful and tragic woman. Hateful because she's ungrateful, and tragic because the two people she valued most kept her in the dark from beginning to end.]
When those words appeared in the Notebook, everyone in the Chat Group froze for a moment. Then a distinctly ominous premonition arose.
The words that appeared in the Notebook next completely confirmed their suspicions.
[Lu Chen: First, Gangzi. There's not much to say about his character. Pure garbage. Inside, he's utterly hypocritical and riddled with inferiority, yet he insists on wrapping himself in a shell of wisdom, erudition, and exceptional composure.
Was Bibi Dong, who had received Spirit Hall's finest education since childhood, really attracted by Gangzi's knowledge? Was she won over by a Soul Grandmaster's theories, nothing but armchair strategizing riddled with mistakes and omissions?
She had simply suffered cold looks in her early years and recognized that same inferiority in him!
Gangzi discovered Bibi Dong's pity for him and used it to package himself as a scholar who had weathered countless hardships yet refused to bow to fate, drawing the innocent girl in so deeply that she couldn't escape. In truth, he only wanted to use Bibi Dong's status and knowledge to climb higher.]
[Lu Chen: If Gangzi really loved Bibi Dong, he should have considered her interests. But what did he do?
This genius actually proposed asking Qian Xunji to approve their relationship once Bibi Dong became a Soul Saint. Later, he even planned to elope with her!
He'd suffered cold looks since childhood for being useless. Could he really not understand the consequences of doing this? Yet he pushed Bibi Dong into a pit of fire so easily?
I even suspect that, by then, he was already thinking of ditching Bibi Dong and even making her live with guilt for the rest of her life. After all, his original intention was merely to have Bibi Dong use her position as Saintess to help him borrow Spirit Hall's core documents.
Looking at it now, although he overplayed his hand a little, he really did succeed!
Yu Xiaogang, you really do think only of yourself in everything you do~]
[Lu Chen: Then there's Qian Xunji, Spirit Hall's previous Pope. Were those really his only sins?
It looks as though he merely lost his head in anger at his rebellious disciple and chose the wrong way to handle things. But what if his aim from the very beginning was to possess Bibi Dong?]
[Lu Chen: Why did Qian Xunji keep insisting that Bibi Dong couldn't get too close to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan? Didn't he know Yu Xiaogang had already been expelled?
Didn't he know that, with Spirit Hall's methods, someone like that only needed a little courting to become the sharpest sword against the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan in the future?
Even if he disdained Gangzi's feeble strength, couldn't he see through Gangzi's childish deception?
If he'd laid everything out before Bibi Dong, was there really no chance at all of bringing her to her senses?
In truth, he simply saw Gangzi as a romantic rival~]
[Yanzi: It fits. Everything fits!]
[Little Princess: Gangzi had wanted to get away for ages, so a few words from Bibi Dong "broke his heart," and he seized the chance to leave. Later, he could exploit her guilt to grab even more.]
[Xiao Wu: Qian Xunji had coveted Bibi Dong for ages and treated Gangzi as a romantic rival. That's why anger went to his head, and he chose the most extreme way to break them up, satisfying his own ugly desires in the process!]
[Netherworld: If that's the truth, then Bibi Dong really is...]
[Spirit Cat: That's why Lu Chen called her both hateful and tragic.]
[Ah Yin: So which of us had it worse, her or me?]
[...]
[Lu Chen: The biggest winner in this whole affair was undoubtedly Gangzi, a textbook example of extracting with a million in loot.
And no one had it worse than Qian Renxue.
Although it's understandable that Bibi Dong dislikes Qian Renxue, a baby is innocent, after all. If you don't love her, please don't hurt her...
The harm Bibi Dong did Qian Renxue was anything but shallow. Not only did she never show her any concern or affection, she often treated her coldly, hurling abuse at the slightest displeasure, and heartlessly sent the young Qian Renxue to the Heaven Dou Empire on an undercover mission.
She even killed Qian Xunji with her own hands and devoured his Six-Winged Angel origin, coincidentally activating the Rakshasa God Trial.
She's the one who truly killed Qian Renxue's father. Tang Hao and the Clear Sky Sect really took the blame for one hell of a crime on her behalf~]
Lu Chen finally spoiled the greatest secret, but Bibi Dong paid it no attention whatsoever.
Because right now, all she could see was the passage Lu Chen had just written about Yu Xiaogang deceiving her.
Scenes from the past surfaced before her eyes. The young man's gentle, smiling face gradually faded, leaving only his impatience and wild delight as he took Spirit Hall's documents and files from her hands.
The Bibi Dong of today could already tell what that look represented...
It was carefully concealed desire and ambition!
Every time Yu Xiaogang had said "we," he had been the only one to benefit in the end!
What had been in his eyes when she hardened her heart and broke up with him?
Had it been grief?
Or regret that he could no longer use her, and the relief of finally being able to get away?
"Hehehe... Hahahahaha!"
Her laughter echoed through the empty Pope's Hall. Bibi Dong moved, appearing upon the lofty Pope's Throne. Slowly stroking the patterns on this seat that represented the most exalted position on the Douluo Continent, she could no longer hold back her tears, and they burst from her eyes.
"So... all of this was just my own wishful thinking!"
"Xiao Gang... Xiao Gang... we still have plenty of time. Since you love scheming so much, I'll play this game with you properly..."
A terrifying atmosphere gradually brewed within the Pope's Hall, while Lu Chen's hands were not idle either.
[Lu Chen: Unfortunately, there's not much point in writing all this down.
If Bibi Dong saw this, she'd probably just wallow in her own world and go off the rails, never considering how much her actions have hurt Qian Renxue, would she?]
[Lu Chen: Just because she's been drenched in the rain herself, she has to tear apart her daughter's umbrella and make Qian Renxue taste life without a father or mother too?
I was an orphan in my last life as well. That feeling of having no one to rely on-does Bibi Dong actually enjoy it?]
[Lu Chen: Oh, Qian Renxue has it a little worse than an orphan. She has a mother, but her mother is the person who hates her most in the world~]
Bibi Dong: !!!
"Xue... Xue'er..."
Before you continue