Chapter 137: The Darkening of Bibi Dong
"What do you mean by 'not good at it'? It's just that my wife is too understanding." Qin Xuan glared playfully at Nong Yu, tightening his embrace on Jingni. "Other women wish their men would only love them, but my wife thinks of me in every way, even encouraging me to find companions. Do you understand what it means to be touched? I am deeply, deeply touched."
"But… isn't it normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines?" Nong Yu, who came from the Warring States period, tilted her cute little head. Her worldview was not one of modern romance, but of clan alliances and strengthening a lord's bloodline. "A powerful man should have many descendants."
"Oh?" Qin Xuan's playful smirk widened. "Since you're so traditional and understanding... then I think you should serve me tonight."
He got up from Jingni's arms, walked over to the startled Nong Yu, and put his arm around her shoulder. She froze instantly, her entire body tensing up. He leaned in and said softly, "Wife, what do you think? Nong Yu is so dedicated to our family's future."
"Nong Yu is a good girl," Jingni said, her voice serene as ever. She didn't care if Qin Xuan was joking or not; she simply analyzed the statement. "She is loyal, kind, and manages the household well. I think she's good."
Nong Yu instantly turned bright red, from her neck to the tips of her ears. She became a steaming, flustered beauty, utterly incapable of forming a word.
Just then, as if sensing her caretaker's plight, little A Yan suddenly cooed beside them. It seemed she was hungry.
"Ah! W-Wife, A Yan is probably hungry!" Nong Yu seized the excuse like a lifeline. "I'll take her inside to feed her Spirit Beast milk."
She didn't dare to speak to Qin Xuan again. She said a hasty goodbye to Jingni, picked up A Yan's cradle, and scurried back to her room, leaving Qin Xuan with only the charming silhouette of her retreating figure.
"She's truly a reserved little girl." Looking at Nong Yu's disappearing back, Qin Xuan chuckled and shook his head. He returned to his comfortable spot, lying back into Jingni's soft, fragrant arms. He let out a long, contended sigh, enjoying the peace he had built.
But the moment of peace brought his mind back to the day's other, darker business.
He found that after so many things, his feelings for Bibi Dong had cooled considerably. The initial impulsiveness, the desire to "save" the tragic heroine, was gone.
Bibi Dong now seemed to have become an... dispensable existence in his heart. A tool he had acquired, one that he was now polishing for a future purpose.
If Qin Xuan's perception of Jingni had changed from initially using her more than liking her to now liking her far more than using her, then Bibi Dong was the exact opposite.
The reason he saved Bibi Dong, besides the basic human decency of not wanting to watch a young girl be defiled, was more to use this opportunity to quietly, and permanently, eliminate Qian Xunji.
It was a cold, calculated move.
After all, there was only one Godly Revival Coin. That item was his ultimate insurance policy, but it could only be used once. Qian Xunji, as the Supreme Pontiff, was never truly alone. He was constantly flanked by Yue Guan and Gui Mei, those two inseparable troublemakers.
To kill Qian Xunji also meant having to kill them. A frontal assault was suicide.
The sudden disappearance of the Supreme Pontiff and two Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall at the same time was too big a matter. It couldn't withstand the inevitable, furious investigation from the High Priest, Qian Daoliu.
This was also why Qian Xunji, out of concern for the High Priest's reaction, didn't dare to act openly against Qin Xuan back when he was in his sights. Even Qin Xuan, who was "merely" a Spirit King at the time, was like this, let alone two Titled Douluo.
Qin Xuan couldn't possibly waste Godly Revival Coins on Yue Guan and Gui Mei.
Therefore, he had needed a perfect opportunity. A moment when Qian Xunji was isolated, vulnerable, and acting in a way that would force him to keep silent. The secret chamber, and his lust for Bibi Dong, was that perfect, singular opportunity.
Jingni's assassination ability, combined with Mo Ya's sound-blocking, created a kill zone where Qian Xunji could be eliminated without alerting anyone.
As for Bibi Dong... now she was a problem to be managed.
Let everything be as fate dictates.
No, that wasn't right. Qin Xuan would not allow fate to decide. He would decide.
In short, Qin Xuan would not allow Bibi Dong to be with Yu Xiaogang, or any other man besides himself.
In Qin Xuan's own words, he never considered himself a good person, and he was always the one to cuckold others; no one else could ever cuckold him.
Since Bibi Dong already bore his mark—the mark of being "his" project, his "saved" asset—whether to take her or not was his business, and his alone. No one else could lay claim to her.
In a dark, endless void, Bibi Dong's consciousness drifted in a daze. In this pitch-black, freezing environment, there seemed to be no concept of time or space. She floated aimlessly, like a homeless, lonely soul, utterly desolate.
The terror from the secret room replayed in her mind. The feeling of her spirit power being sealed, the helplessness, the monstrous look in her teacher's eyes.
At a certain moment, within the dark space, a dazzling golden flame suddenly rose. It was not the holy, hypocritical light of the Seraphim. It was something else. A light filled with an ancient, noble, and overwhelmingly powerful draconic aura.
Its emitted light, warm and pure, completely dispelled the surrounding darkness, blanketing her cold consciousness in a soothing, healing embrace.
A moment later, in a quiet, luxurious room within the Elder Hall, Bibi Dong's slightly pale face, resting on a soft pillow, rapidly began to regain its rosy color.
Beside her, Qin Xuan sat, his hand pressed gently to her forehead. He was continuously supplying her with his own spirit power, meticulously healing her meridians and calming her spiritual sea. Seeing her change, he let out a slight sigh of relief.
He couldn't help but curse Qian Xunji in his heart for his heavy hand.
That strike with the hand knife wasn't just a simple knockout. It was filled with a Titled Douluo's power, meant to shatter her spirit power and inflict severe internal injuries, ensuring she couldn't resist. He was truly a beast.
After another moment, Bibi Dong's long eyelashes trembled slightly. She finally, slowly, struggled to open her eyes.
Instantly, the glaring, soft light from the Spirit Tool lamps in the ceiling poured into the room, making her squint her eyes slightly again. The world was blurry, warm, and safe.
"Are you awake?" A leisurely, faint chuckle sounded in her ear.
Bibi Dong slowly turned her head. She saw Qin Xuan, a gentle, unreadable smile on his face, sitting beside her. She murmured, her voice hoarse, "Is this… a dream?"
"Yes, it's a dream," Qin Xuan spoke nonsense with a perfectly straight face. "Congratulations, the surgery was very successful, and you are now a boy."
"It... it seems like a dream. How could Qin Xuan say such foolish things?" Bibi Dong's mind was still groggy. She tried to sit up, but a sharp, stabbing pain shot through her neck and chest.
A flood of memories—cold, terrifying, and immediate—from the secret chamber earlier surged into her mind.
Her eyes widened in terror. She wasn't dreaming.
Her first, frantic movement was to look down, her hands flying to her own body, checking her clothes. The crimson robe was still on, slightly disheveled but intact. She frantically felt her body beneath it.
After confirming there was nothing... unusual... the tension that had held her in a state of absolute terror snapped.
Bibi Dong burst into tears, a raw, desperate, animalistic sob. She threw herself forward, collapsing into Qin Xuan's arms and sobbing loudly, her hands gripping his robes as if he were the only solid thing in the world.
Qin Xuan did not speak. He did not pat her back or offer platitudes. He simply sat there, letting Bibi Dong cry, letting her purge the terror from her system.
After a long, long while, her sobs finally subsided into shuddering breaths.
"I'm... I'm sorry," Bibi Dong reluctantly pulled herself up from Qin Xuan's arms, her face stained with tears, her eyes red and swollen. "I lost control."
Qin Xuan raised his hand and used his sleeve to gently wipe away her tears, his smile still gentle. "It's alright. After all, you've been through something like that."
"But everything is over now. This is the Elder Hall, my residence. No one can harm you here."
He paused, letting his words sink in before asking the critical question.
"What are your plans for the future?"
A cold, terrifying glint, one that had never been there before, appeared in Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes. She said with reddened, swollen eyes, her voice shaking with hatred, "My teacher—no, Qian Xunji—he's a shameless beast. Sooner or later, I will kill him."
Has she already turned dark? Qin Xuan sighed softly in his heart. This was the turning point. He got up, poured her a cup of warm tea, and handed it to her.
"And then? After you kill him? Destroy the Angel Clan? Destroy Spirit Hall? And then destroy the entire world because it wronged you?"
After crying for a good while, Bibi Dong's emotions had stabilized considerably. She took the tea, her hands still shaking. She raised her beautiful eyes to glare at him, her voice stuffy. "Am I that bad?"
"Not bad," Qin Xuan said, nodding earnestly. "I'd say extreme."
"How am I extreme?" Bibi Dong asked, intrigued despite herself.
Qin Xuan sat back down, his expression turning serious. "Love-struck. To put it nicely, it's being naive; to put it bluntly, it's being a naive airhead. You build your entire world around one person, one idea. And once you suffer a major setback from that, you turn dark and want to drag everyone else down with you."
"I don't! The one who hurt me is Qian Xunji. I won't implicate other unrelated people," Bibi Dong retorted, her pride stung.
"That's hard to say." Qin Xuan's gaze was sharp, cutting through her defenses. "Think carefully. If I hadn't saved you this time, what would you have done after experiencing... that? Also, reflect on the foolish things you did before."
"Just by carelessly leaking Spirit Hall's core secrets to Yu Xiaogang—your 'twin spirits,' our meditation techniques, our internal faction politics—if it were anyone else, you would have been executed for treason countless times over," Qin Xuan said, his voice cold.
Bibi Dong fell silent upon hearing this, her face paling. She couldn't deny it.
She couldn't deny that if Qian Xunji had truly succeeded, she might indeed have dragged everyone in Spirit Hall down with her, just as Qin Xuan said. Her hatred would have been all-consuming.
Furthermore, she realized, if the person who saved her hadn't been Qin Xuan... and if Qin Xuan hadn't been from Spirit Hall... even if saved, she would have thought about retaliating against the entire Spirit Hall.
He was right. Her world had been small, naive, and centered on one man. Now it was centered on one consuming hatred.
"Alright, let's get back to the main topic." Qin Xuan, seeing he had broken her, skillfully skipped the previous subject and began his persuasion mode. He was here to offer a new path.
"Regarding Qian Xunji, you can rest assured."
He leaned in, his voice low and confidential. "I made a deal with him using an Immortal Herb. From now on, he won't bother you again."
This was, of course, a complete lie. But it was a necessary one. He couldn't have her running around trying to kill a man who was already dead. More importantly, he needed her revenge to be "handled" by him, placing her in his debt.
"However, in return, you now have two choices."
He held up one finger. "The first choice is to marry me—"
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