I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 50 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Free Members will get 10 Chapters Ahead of the schedule on Patreon!!!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—
...Qian Daoliu could almost foresee that the truth would be like the most venomous curse, completely destroying the beliefs and pride Qian Renxue had always upheld, and might even cause her to... completely collapse.
The more he pondered, the more he felt a sense of despair, a powerlessness to change anything.
As a firsthand participant in that tragedy, and to some extent, an observer who tacitly allowed Qian Xunji's actions, what right did he have to comfort or enlighten Qian Renxue?
No matter what he said, in the face of that bloody truth, it would appear pale and powerless, and might even have the opposite effect.
He seemed to already see that the moment the truth was fully revealed, Qian Renxue's proud Soul would be shattered, the glory of the Angel extinguished in her eyes, leaving only boundless darkness and pain. That was a sight he absolutely did not want to see.
What should he do? Who could help him? Who could help Xiao Xue?
"Xuan Ming..."
That's right, perhaps only he could. The man who personally pushed Xiao Xue into the abyss, yet seemed to have some complex bond with her.
He had to go talk to Xuan Ming.
At midnight, deep within the Supreme Pontiff Palace, Xuan Ming stood silently by the window, gazing at the deep night outside. His aura was restrained, blending with the quiet night.
A barely perceptible golden streak of light swept across the night sky, accurately landing inside the hall behind him. The golden light dissipated, revealing Qian Daoliu's slightly weary and heavy figure.
Xuan Ming didn't turn around, still looking out the window, his indifferent voice breaking the silence in the hall: "Why are you here?"
It wasn't a question, but carried a hint of imperceptible annoyance.
Qian Daoliu looked at Xuan Ming's tall and solitary back, opened his mouth, and for a moment didn't know how to speak. The other party's cold aura, pushing people a thousand li away, made the words he had prepared choke in his throat.
Xuan Ming slowly turned around, his icy-blue eyes appearing exceptionally profound in the night. He looked at Qian Daoliu, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate people's hearts.
"Is it for Qian Renxue?" Xuan Ming directly stated, his tone devoid of any surprise, only a coldness that saw through everything. "Do you think, at this point, what use is there in finding me?"
Qian Daoliu's heart tightened; Xuan Ming had indeed guessed his intention. He took a deep breath, trying to make his tone sound sincere: "Xuan Ming, I know many things in the past... it was Spirit Hall, it was the Qian family that wronged you. But Xiao Xue is innocent! Her current state is very bad, I'm worried... I'm worried she won't be able to bear it after knowing the truth. You... you and her, after all..."
"After all what?" Xuan Ming interrupted him. "After all, we knew each other? After all, I was once a pawn under your control? Or after all... I personally beat her half to death in the end?"
Qian Daoliu was choked by his words, his face turning pale and then green.
Xuan Ming took a step forward, an invisible oppressive feeling spreading. His voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a knife, scraping Qian Daoliu's heart:
"Qian Daoliu, you are always like this. Always standing high up, watching coldly. You watched Qian Xunji commit evil without stopping him, watched Bibi Dong fall into despair without extending a hand, and now watching Qian Renxue heading towards collapse, you want to come and beg me, an outsider?"
"Your self-proclaimed benevolence and adherence are nothing but excuses for your cowardice and hypocrisy! What you protect has never been justice or kinship; what you protect is merely the ridiculous glory of your Angel clan and your own pathetic dignity!"
"Standing at the pinnacle of the continent, enjoying the legacy of the gods, your Qian family has long been rotten to the core!"
Xuan Ming's voice carried a deep disgust. "Now you're anxious? Scared? Remembering to seek me out, this variable, this calamity in your eyes?"
Qian Daoliu remained silent, unable to utter a single word of refutation.
Because what Xuan Ming said was almost all bloody truth. What he had always insisted on, what he had always protected, appeared so pale and ridiculous in those eyes that seemed to see through everything.
Xuan Ming looked at his distraught appearance, without a trace of pity in his eyes, only deeper coldness.
"Go back to your Angel God Temple."
"Qian Renxue's matter is her own tribulation; she must overcome it herself. If she can't, then that is her fate."
"As for you... you are not qualified to beg me, and even less qualified to plead for her."
Qian Daoliu's figure appeared particularly desolate in the night. He ultimately couldn't say anything, only gave Xuan Ming a deep look, then silently turned and transformed into a faint golden light, disappearing outside the Supreme Pontiff Palace.
Silence returned to the hall, with only the clear moonlight spilling through the window lattice.
After a while, another figure quietly walked in.
Bibi Dong wore a simple purple long dress, having shed the Empress's authority of the day, with a hint of imperceptible fatigue and worry between her brows.
She walked to Xuan Ming's side and looked with him in the direction Qian Daoliu had disappeared, remaining silent for a moment.
"Did he tell you everything?" Bibi Dong's voice was very soft, breaking the silence.
Xuan Ming did not answer, tacitly agreeing.
Bibi Dong sighed slightly, her gaze somewhat distant: "I know, in this matter, I have no right to ask anything of you. That old thing, Qian Daoliu... he has even less right."
She paused, her voice carrying complex emotions, pain, and a rare, maternal softness: "But... Xuan Ming, Qian Renxue... she is indeed innocent in this whole affair. Her birth was not her choice, her father's death, her mother's... hatred, these heavy grievances should not become the shackles that crush her."
She raised her head, looking at Xuan Ming's sharp profile, her tone almost pleading: "Qian Daoliu doesn't dare tell her the truth, and I... I can't bring myself to speak. This matter, perhaps only you, at the right time, in your own way, can make her accept it, make her... move past it."
"Just consider it..." Bibi Dong's voice became even softer, with a barely perceptible tremor, "Just consider it a small... insignificant compensation from me, an unqualified mother, to her. I hope you can help her overcome this difficulty."
She knew this request was selfish. The relationship between Xuan Ming and Qian Renxue was already complex and entangled, and just now, Xuan Ming had personally pushed it to a breaking point. Now, to ask him to heal Qian Renxue's inner wounds, how difficult and ironic was that?
But she truly couldn't think of a better solution. Watching Qian Renxue hover at the cliff edge of hatred and truth, she couldn't remain completely indifferent.
Xuan Ming remained silent, his icy-blue eyes gazing at the dark night outside, so deep they were bottomless. Moonlight coated him with a clear sheen, yet it couldn't dispel his innate coldness and solitude.
After a long while, just as Bibi Dong thought he wouldn't respond and her heart began to sink, Xuan Ming gently sighed.
"I understand."
No promise, no guarantee, but for Bibi Dong, this was already enough.
She knew that since Xuan Ming said "I understand," it meant he would take this matter to heart.
As for what he would ultimately do, and when, that was his business.
She let out a soft sigh of relief and whispered, "Thank you."
Then, she no longer disturbed him, quietly turned and left the great hall, returning the silence to Xuan Ming.
Inside the hall, Xuan Ming slowly closed his eyes. In his mind, Qian Renxue's golden eyes, burning with rage and despair, flashed, along with her final roar—"Is it only by killing me that you two can truly be a complete family!"
He gently exhaled, his breath condensing into white mist in the cold air, then slowly dissipating.
Trouble.