The pain of the family she was born into

The sound of water heating soon came from the kitchen.

Qian Renxue stood before the stove, watching the water gradually bubble in the pot, her expression somewhat peculiar.

She truly had never done anything like this.

Fortunately, cooking noodles was hardly complicated.

Following what she remembered seeing, she put the noodles into the pot. Once they cooked, she would add some salt, and that should do it.

Just then, two figures slowly materialized behind her.

"Young master, that boy knows too much. If he ruins the plan... should we take him into custody?"

Porcupinefish Douluo sounded somewhat anxious as he came straight to the point.

Another voice followed immediately.

"Now is not the time.

If this boy truly learned this information through some special channel, acting rashly against him would only cut off our leads.

We must investigate that so-called novel thoroughly."

Snake Lance Douluo was clearly much calmer than him.

Qian Renxue lowered her eyes to the water boiling in the pot and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument:

"Leave him alone for now. As for whether that novel is true or false, I will find out myself."

Especially where Bibi Dong was concerned.

Her relationship with this mother of hers had never been anything one could call close.

It could even be called hatred.

But since Xu Fan could speak of the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul and the Angel Soul Bone Set, perhaps he also knew things she had never heard before.

Qian Renxue ladled the cooked noodles into a bowl and carried the tray out of the kitchen.

Inside the room, Xu Fan was resting with his eyes closed.

His consciousness had only just recovered and was still unstable. He kept feeling as though wisps of spiritual power were rebuilding themselves inside his brain.

Hearing footsteps, he immediately raised his head.

Qian Renxue set the noodles before him, a displeased expression flashing across her face.

"Eat."

Looking at the steaming noodles in the bowl, Xu Fan immediately broke into a beaming smile.

"Thanks, bro!"

He picked up his chopsticks and blew on the steaming noodles. He had barely taken two bites when he heard Qian Renxue ask casually:

"You said just now that Qian Renxue was the Pope's daughter?"

"Yeah."

"Which Pope were you talking about?"

Xu Fan paused in the middle of picking up his noodles, then answered as though it were obvious:

"Who else? Bibi Dong, of course-the current Pope of Spirit Hall, who stands above everyone."

Qian Renxue's gaze settled on his face as she probed:

"Bibi Dong?"

"Mm."

Xu Fan swallowed the noodles in his mouth and continued:

"But that mother and daughter don't have much of a relationship. Think about it-what mother would push her own daughter into a pit of fire?"

Qian Renxue said nothing. She merely sat beside him, quietly waiting for him to continue.

Since he even knew her family relationships so clearly, surely he knew something more.

Xu Fan did not think much of it.

Since his brother was interested in Qian Renxue, he was naturally happy to keep talking.

"When Bibi Dong was young, she was incredibly gifted too, with twin Martial Souls and innate full Soul Power.

That was why she caught the eye of Qian Xunji, the Pope of that generation, so early on. He took her as his disciple and personally nurtured her.

Unfortunately... that ungrateful wolf was blind enough to fall for a good-for-nothing called Yu Xiaogang."

Qian Renxue's eyelashes stirred slightly.

Yu Xiaogang.

This was the first time she had heard that name.

Xu Fan did not notice her reaction, however, and kept talking as he ate:

"That Yu Xiaogang wasn't even rank thirty. To put it nicely, he was a Grandmaster of theory.

To put it bluntly, his theoretical knowledge was either plagiarized from Spirit Hall's classified files or common knowledge in the Soul Master World.

He couldn't accomplish anything with his own Martial Soul cultivation, yet he was proud and arrogant.

And Bibi Dong actually fell for someone like that. She even wanted to elope with him.

All I can say is that Bibi Dong's judgment was worse than a dog's."

For some reason, hearing Xu Fan complain about Bibi Dong gave Qian Renxue a faint, secret sense of satisfaction.

Xu Fan curled his lip and added:

"Besides, quite a few readers thought Yu Xiaogang might not have been as innocent back then as he claimed.

Someone with little ability, but a real talent for making excuses for himself-did he truly love Bibi Dong,

or did he just enjoy being admired by a gifted young girl? Who could say?

Anyway, I don't believe he was all that devoted."

"What happened after that?" Qian Renxue hurriedly asked.

"After that, to stop them from being together, Qian Xunji sexually assaulted Bibi Dong, and she became pregnant with Qian Renxue as a result.

The readers even bestowed a title on Qian Xunji for it: Secret Chamber Douluo."

At this point, Xu Fan's tone gradually grew somber.

"From the moment she was born, Qian Renxue was caught up in the grudges of the previous generation.

She had no choice in the matter at all, yet she had to bear the consequences of all that crap."

The room suddenly fell silent.

Qian Renxue's hands, which had been resting on her knees, slowly tightened.

Xu Fan did not deliberately dramatize that past, much less describe any disturbing details. He simply continued:

"So Bibi Dong's attitude toward Qian Renxue was always very complicated.

Qian Renxue had clearly done nothing wrong, yet because of her birth, she bore the pain her mother could never let go of."

He sighed softly.

"Tell me, isn't she pitiful?"

Qian Renxue did not answer.

She stared at the noodles in Xu Fan's hands, her fingers tightening little by little, as though this were the only way she could maintain her outward composure.

Bibi Dong.

Qian Xunji.

And herself.

These names belonged to the life she knew, yet coming from Xu Fan's mouth, they seemed like another, unfamiliar and cruel story.

She had always known Bibi Dong disliked her.

Ever since she was little, she had never understood what she had done wrong to make her mother unwilling to grow close to her.

Later, after enough disappointments, she gradually stopped thinking about it.

If she did not want to be close, then they would not be close.

She had her own path of cultivation, missions she had to complete, and ambitions she could not reveal to anyone.

But she had never imagined that such a past lay hidden behind that coldness.

"You mean..."

Qian Renxue raised her head, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Bibi Dong never liked this daughter, so she sent her to the Heaven Dou Empire as a spy?"

Xu Fan thought for a moment.

"You can't really say she didn't like her at all.

Anyway, judging by how their relationship was portrayed in the novel, her feelings toward Qian Renxue were incredibly complicated-resentment, pain, and other things all mixed together."

Qian Renxue asked no more questions.

She was unwilling to believe that a boy of unknown origins could reveal these secrets based on nothing but a novel.

Yet she could not easily dismiss his words as nonsense either.

Especially since there was not the slightest hint of fabrication in Xu Fan's expression as he spoke.

He was even worried that talking too much would leave his noodles soggy.

"Bro, why aren't you saying anything?"

Xu Fan lifted a chopstickful of noodles and looked up at her.

Only then did Qian Renxue realize she had been silent for a long time.

"Nothing."

She looked away.

"Keep going."

Xu Fan nodded.

"Oh. Then next, we have to talk about Qian Xunji."

This time, Qian Renxue did not urge him on.

But her attention was more focused than ever before.