Lu Chen hardly knew how to judge Qian Daoliu's choice.
The members of the Chat Group were equally speechless about that choice.
[Netherworld: I guessed as much, but I'm still speechless.]
[Spirit Cat: Fail to cut the knot when you should, and its tangles will ensnare you instead. I can already imagine how much trouble this Clear Sky Sect will cause later.]
[Yanzi: Tie up Tang Hao's siblings, parents, and relatives, then execute them publicly, one by one. I refuse to believe he could keep hiding.]
[Little Princess: I feel like he could still keep hiding. His reputation, though...]
[Xiao Wu: You humans are terrifying...]
[All the girls: Shut up, stupid rabbit!]
Feeling bullied, Xiao Wu raged helplessly. She lay on her back in bed, treating the air as the group members mocking her and kicking furiously with both legs.
[Lu Chen: If you accept that Qian Daoliu is indecisive and inconsistent, sometimes good and sometimes bad, his thinking isn't that hard to understand.
After all, he knew the real cause of Qian Xunji's death, and he had discovered early on that Bibi Dong had embarked on the path to godhood. He simply chose silence, just as he had chosen silence after learning of Qian Xunji's beastly acts.]
Reading this, Qian Renxue's eyes suddenly widened, filling with disbelief.
"Grandfather, you knew everything all along?"
"You knew what Father... and you knew Bibi Dong killed Father, too? Is that why you said she was an unfortunate woman and told me not to blame her?"
"But why wouldn't you tell me any of this? I've... suffered so much!"
Deep in Qian Renxue's heart, after Qian Xunji's glorious image had completely collapsed, tiny cracks appeared in her grandfather's gentle, kindly face as well.
The difference was that her familial love for her grandfather had not diminished in the slightest. There was simply a little more... disapproval of his choices?
Qian Renxue instinctively began thinking, as though that could lessen the pain in her heart. If she were in her grandfather's position, she would have done exactly what the group members suggested and exterminated the Clear Sky Sect to the last person!
Grandfather, were you truly unable to find any trace of Tang Hao?
Or did you know he had only severely injured Father, and your guilt toward Tang Chen made you subconsciously unwilling to search for the Clear Sky Sect's most talented successor?
Qian Renxue's gaze gradually turned icy.
"I'm sorry, Grandfather. This time, I'll have to go against your wishes."
"Tang Hao must die!"
[Lu Chen: I've always suspected that Qian Daoliu refused to spare no effort in searching for Tang Hao out of regard for Tang Chen, coupled with knowing who actually killed Qian Xunji. Otherwise, what would there be left for me to do?
What a troublesome personality... Ah Yin, I was wrong. Qian Daoliu is far more troublesome than you!
Sigh, the old geezer is useless. I'll have to handle this myself!]
[Ah Yin: ...]
Ignoring Ah Yin as everyone in the Chat Group mocked her, Lu Chen continued writing.
[Lu Chen: Fortunately, Qian Daoliu's familial love and care for Qian Renxue were completely sincere. They preserved the last of her humanity and kept her from going completely to extremes.]
Reading this, Qian Renxue, whose mind had been filled with rebellious thoughts, gradually calmed down as well.
That's right. No matter what, Grandfather wanted to protect me.
Grandfather loves me!
[Lu Chen: It was precisely this familial love that kept Qian Renxue from losing herself completely during the inheritance of the Angel Godhood, continuing to protect her even after his death.
Speaking of which, which god first passed down that idiotic rule that the ascension ritual can only begin with the high priest's sacrifice?
Supposedly, the gods can preserve the priest's soul during the sacrifice and bring it into the Divine Realm for another form of eternal life. In reality, though, those gods do as they please when it comes to something that costs divine power. Some priests really are dead once they die.
What's more, the previous Angel God had long since fallen. Qian Daoliu wouldn't even have the chance to ascend to the Divine Realm and serve his god!
They're miles worse than those true gods whose attitude is, "It costs nothing anyway, so believe a little"!
Forget it. I've joined Spirit Hall, after all, so Qian Daoliu is one of our own, at least. I'll see whether I can save him when the time comes...]
[Lu Chen: Wait... there seems to be an exception. Bibi Dong didn't seem to get that treatment when she inherited the Rakshasa Godhood. Never mind having someone guide her, the Rakshasa God was exerting a negative influence throughout the entire process.
The Rakshasa God deserves at least a third of the blame for her crazed, paranoid mental state later on.]
Bibi Dong: ...
Qian Renxue: !!!
[Qian Renxue's affection: 60 (friendly) → 79 (admiration)]
Leaving aside Bibi Dong's complicated reaction to those words for the moment, Qian Renxue's affection surged dramatically, leaping to 79 points and putting her directly on par with Ah Yin.
However, because the mission rewards were still being calculated, the Fortune Points for surpassing 70 affection could not be credited yet.
Who could understand? When she saw that her grandfather would choose to sacrifice himself so she could become a god, the panic and helplessness in Qian Renxue's heart nearly pierced the heavens.
She knew all too well how fanatical her grandfather's faith in the Angel God was. If she truly had a chance of becoming the Angel God, and his sacrifice really was required to begin the ascension ritual...
Qian Renxue was almost certain that her grandfather would absolutely do it!
Under these circumstances, Qian Renxue almost instantly seized upon the kindness Lu Chen displayed, clutching it like a drowning person's last straw.
Lu Chen was different from everyone else. He really was so good!
All her composure and wariness vanished. She had to build a good relationship with Lu Chen and have this reborn God King save her grandfather!
[Lu Chen: I'll leave it there for Qian Daoliu and Spirit Hall for now. Anything earlier had little effect on the original worldline.
I've really gone off on a tangent. I'd already decided beforehand that today I'd record how Gangzi set Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong up.]
Reading this, Liu Erlong, who had yet to recover from the electric shock to her soul, felt her heart lurch.
So there was no escaping it after all...
After seeing the earlier account of Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang's past, she had already had a bad feeling.
And now, that bad feeling seemed about to become a tragic reality.
Lu Chen did not "disappoint" her, either. His very first sentence tore open her scars.
[Lu Chen: Liu Erlong was born to Yu Luomian, the current second-in-command of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and a prostitute.
Because her background was too humble, Yu Luomian did not dare bring her back to the clan to raise her. Instead, he arranged accommodation for the two of them outside the clan and provided their basic necessities, ensuring that Liu Erlong's mother could raise her daughter.
But this second-in-command chose to conceal rather than publicly acknowledge their status and Liu Erlong's identity. Not only did he have Liu Erlong take her mother's surname, Liu, but he rarely even visited the mother and daughter in person.
Later, around the time Liu Erlong awakened her Martial Soul, her mother died of illness. Losing her mother, combined with the lack of paternal love throughout her childhood, finally caused a drastic change in her temperament. She developed a volatile, irritable, cruel, and merciless disposition, even committing the atrocity of slaughtering the inhabitants of a small Soul Beast forest.]
[Ah Yin: You beast!]
[Xiao Wu: Evil woman!]
[Liu Erlong: Do you two traitors to Soul Beasts have any right to criticize me?]
[Yanzi: Just a reminder: those two aren't entirely traitors to Soul Beasts yet, whereas you're already a butcher.]
[Little Princess: True.]
[Liu Erlong: ...]
Lu Chen merely glanced at the group as the women showed signs of tearing into one another.
So lively. It's fine. They won't be able to keep fighting in a moment.
[Lu Chen: By the local customs of the Douluo Continent, it's hard to call Yu Luomian irresponsible.
Unfortunately, I'm not a local, so he's still a scumbag...]
[Liu Erlong's affection: 5 (disgust) → 20 (new acquaintance)]
Just seeing the substantial change in Liu Erlong's affection told Lu Chen that she had probably begun to waver.
Merely condemning Yu Luomian shouldn't have had such a good effect. After all, he had viciously lambasted her beloved Gangzi earlier~
Although Liu Erlong might not even be willing to admit it herself, she had actually realized it long ago: couldn't everything Bibi Dong had experienced happen to her as well?
Before you continue