Chapter 53 56.57. Yu Xiaogang, get out here
When he finished speaking, Yu Xiaogang paid special attention to Bibi Dong's expression. Seeing a look of longing appear on her face, the corners of his mouth curved into a triumphant smile.
But he knew the power of dripping water wearing through stone and slow, imperceptible influence. He didn't force Bibi Dong at that moment to decide whether to leave the Spirit Hall with him; instead he continued to tell her those poisonous stories.
Unconsciously, Bibi Dong began to look forward to the outside world.
Since she entered the Spirit Hall at six years old, aside from soul ring hunts, her teachers forbade her from leaving Spirit City and made her focus solely on cultivation. Only after Yu Xiaogang arrived did she make friends and occasionally get to leave the city.
Although Yu Xiaogang's stories hadn't yet made Bibi Dong want to outright betray the Spirit Hall that raised her, they did seed a sense of repression and resistance toward the Hall she'd rarely left since childhood.
One day, inside the Pope's Hall—
Qian Xunji suddenly summoned Bibi Dong.
Seeing Qian Xunji's stern face, Bibi Dong felt frightened. "Teacher, you called for me?"
"Level 64 soul power," Qian Xunji stated the current level of Bibi Dong at once. "Dong'er, you've grown lax."
"Teacher, I—"
"It's that Yu Xiaogang, isn't it." Qian Xunji said coldly. "Since that waste came to the Spirit Hall, you've been running about for him and not focusing on cultivation. You're far too close."
"Teacher, Xiao Gang is not a waste," Bibi Dong corrected softly. "He's my friend."
"Friend? Dong'er, the Holy Maiden doesn't need friends, and no one has the right to be your friend. From tonight on, you will no longer have any contact with Yu Xiaogang. Following him will only delay your training. From now on you will remain in the Spirit Hall cultivating."
"Teacher, I'm human too—can't I have friends?" Bibi Dong panicked upon hearing this.
"How many times have I told you? No one has the right to be your friend. The Holy Maiden does not need friends. It seems you haven't taken it to heart." Qian Xunji said coldly. "Fine. To ensure you can properly cultivate, it seems I must expel that Yu Xiaogang so he won't poison you."
"Teacher, you can't do that." Bibi Dong's eyes brimmed with tears. "Xiao Gang is my friend. Are you going to take away my only friend too?"
"Step back. Your current strength is not enough to influence my decision." Qian Xunji drove Bibi Dong away. Watching her run out, he said lightly, "I do this for your good. In the future many will fawn over you; whatever you want you will have. What need will you have for friends then?"
Yu Xiaogang walked out of the library and suddenly heard the sound of weeping from a corner. When he looked, he saw a delicate figure curled against the wall, burying her face and sobbing.
It was Bibi Dong. Yu Xiaogang hurried over and asked, "Dong'er, what's wrong?"
Bibi Dong looked up; her pretty eyes were rimmed with red as she looked at him. "I'm the Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden. The Teacher is great to me like a father, but—"
Her eyes fell as she said, "People around me have always been afraid to come near me and kept their distance. Because I am the Holy Maiden, I have no friends and must devote myself wholly to cultivation. You are my only friend. Now the Teacher wants to take even you away from me!"
"He wants to expel you from the Spirit Hall," Bibi Dong said through tears.
Yu Xiaogang was stunned.
He hadn't expected that, with his plan only halfway through, that bastard Qian Xunji would notice something amiss so soon.
But Qian Xunji's approach was clumsy. Dealing with a girl of Bibi Dong's age, the more he treated her like an authoritarian father, the stronger her rebellious streak. That actually played into Yu Xiaogang's hands.
If Qian Xunji wanted to drive him out of the Spirit Hall, then Yu Xiaogang wouldn't hesitate to steal away their Holy Maiden—after all, she was the capital for his future comeback, and he wouldn't allow the Spirit Hall to lay claim to her. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.
Yu Xiaogang seized the moment to speak: "It seems Qian Xunji doesn't truly care for you. He only uses you. He values you only because your twin martial souls can bring benefits to the Spirit Hall. I even think the reason you were lonely before was due to Qian Xunji's influence—he wanted to control your thoughts and turn you into a piece on his chessboard: he points east and you go east, he points west and you go west. Maybe he's afraid those around you would influence you and disrupt his plans."
In the past Yu Xiaogang had often hinted and undermined Qian Xunji in Bibi Dong's ear, and she would usually refute him. But this time Bibi Dong was unusually calm. Seeing that, Yu Xiaogang smiled to himself.
He clasped his hands behind his back and said lightly, "I was born into such a big power too; nobody understands its tangled interests better than I do. In a great power there are no feelings, only exploitation. Dong'er, don't you feel the Spirit Hall is a cage and you are its golden canary?"
Yu Xiaogang's words stabbed at Bibi Dong's heart like a blade. He pressed on: "Don't you want to break free from the cage? Don't you want to fly freely into the outside world?"
Yu Xiaogang pulled at Bibi Dong's emotions. For this girl who rarely left the Spirit Hall, the outside world had enormous appeal.
"Your Teacher uses you. People around you fear you and dare not approach. The Spirit Hall binds your hands and feet. Staying will only drag you deeper until you lose control." Yu Xiaogang sighed, lamenting, "I may be the only one truly sincere toward you. As your only friend, I can't bear to see you trapped here. But the Pope wants to drive me away, and I'm helpless."
A resolute look crossed Bibi Dong's eyes; she looked at Yu Xiaogang. "If the Teacher wants to expel you, then I'll go with you." She decided to use this as a protest against the Teacher—no one, not even her Teacher, could so easily decide her life.
At those words, Yu Xiaogang was overjoyed. He suppressed his delight and feigned surprise. "Are you sure?"
"Xiao Gang, didn't you always tell me those stories about Soul Masters roaming the world?" Bibi Dong looked longingly at the world outside the Spirit Hall. "Many nights I thought—if only I could be like the heroes in those stories: supporting each other and roaming the world, experiencing all the interesting things along the way, creating our own legend. That would be wonderful."
"This is the life I want. If it's decided, why not set off together?" Bibi Dong's cheeks were streaked with tears, and she smiled at Yu Xiaogang.
So Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang planned their elopement. They agreed to meet at Okra Town, fifteen kilometers outside Spirit City.
Soon the Pope's decree arrived: Yu Xiaogang was expelled from the Spirit Hall. After leaving Spirit City he headed to Okra Town.
Meanwhile, Bibi Dong packed her luggage into a soul-guiding device and, taking advantage of the Teacher's seclusion, slipped away secretly.
Bibi Dong's plan went well; she fooled everyone and left Spirit City. But on the way to Okra Town, she was intercepted by Elder Jinzhong.
"Holy Maiden, where are you going?" Elder Jinzhong's voice made Bibi Dong's heart sink. Looking at that familiar golden figure, she had to force an answer. "Elder, I go by the Teacher's order to Tiance City's Dou Arena to compete in a duel tournament to raise the Spirit Hall's reputation."
"If that's the case, why do you, the Holy Maiden, have no escort?" Elder Jinzhong said coldly. "Coincidentally I come by imperial order to arrest the Holy Maiden Bibi Dong who attempted to elope and betray the Spirit Hall."
"What? I never intended to betray the Spirit Hall!" Bibi Dong was shocked. She truly wanted to leave with Yu Xiaogang to protest the Teacher, but she had no desire to betray the power that had raised and fostered her—deserting them would be shameful.
"Let's speak with the Pope in person," Elder Jinzhong said, and reached for her.
Bibi Dong tried to resist. Her potential might be the greatest in the world today, but potential is not power. In front of this titled Douluo Jinzhong, the Soul Emperor Bibi Dong was subdued in no time, had her soul power sealed, and was brought back to the Spirit Hall.
Two flowers bloom, each displaying its beauty.
In Okra Town, Yu Xiaogang paced nervously—his plan was about to succeed!
He could tell Bibi Dong's rebelliousness was a response to Qian Xunji's oppressive control and meant to protest. No matter; as long as she eloped with him, it would make her desertion a fact. She would have no way back and he could bind her to himself for his own use.
Bibi Dong could protect him on the road. Her massive talent would let her reach Title Douluo sooner; with her help he could break past Level 30. Her excellent host body could bear gifted offspring who might inherit the Golden Saint Dragon bloodline—years from now he would return home in glory, and Bibi Dong's incomparable strength would justify taking back everything that belonged to him.
The more Yu Xiaogang imagined, the more ecstatic he became—until an angry voice cut through the town's air and reached his ears in a booming, enunciated shout:
"Yu Xiaogang, get out here."
Hearing that, Yu Xiaogang froze and his legs trembled. He recognized the voice—it was Qian Xunji.
He had only considered the benefits of his plan, not the consequences.
Now, at the moment of victory, Qian Xunji showed up. That could only mean something had gone wrong with Bibi Dong's side. Qian Xunji was the Spirit Hall's Pope and a Title Douluo—what should he do?
Suddenly Yu Xiaogang felt a warm wetness between his legs; the ground made a soft dripping sound.
He looked down and saw his pants were damp—he had wet himself upon hearing Qian Xunji's voice. Embarrassment flooded his face.
"What are you doing? You have ten minutes—get out here." Qian Xunji's voice, full of killing intent, made Yu Xiaogang's legs go weak and he dropped to his knees.
"Y-yes, Your Holiness." Yu Xiaogang stammered.
Despite his wet pants, Yu Xiaogang hurried toward the edge of town; he dared not delay.
On the way his mind raced, thinking of how to handle Qian Xunji.
Kidnapping the Holy Maiden was a grave crime; Qian Xunji would certainly be calculating how to kill him.
What to do? Press the Blue Electric Tyrannosaurus Sect to pressure Qian Xunji? But I've already been expelled by that sect!
Or pin everything on the Holy Maiden Bibi Dong—after all, it was her idea to elope, not mine. Yes, it's all Bibi Dong's fault.
At last, heart pounding with unease, Yu Xiaogang arrived at the woods outside town. He saw Qian Xunji—and saw Bibi Dong, bound by hand and gagged with cloth so she could not speak.
"You actually wet your pants." Qian Xunji looked at the dampness on Yu Xiaogang's trousers with surprise. A faint scent of urine lingered. He taunted Bibi Dong, "I don't know what virtue that waste possesses that would make you keep thinking about him."
Yu Xiaogang's face burned red.
Qian Xunji suddenly unleashed a wave of soul-power pressure. Under that tide-like oppression, Yu Xiaogang immediately knelt.
"Tell me: why did the Holy Maiden attempt to elope with you? I need an explanation." Qian Xunji looked down at Yu Xiaogang with utterly emotionless eyes.
Shivering under Qian Xunji's pressure, Yu Xiaogang stammered, "I-it was the Holy Maiden's idea to leave the Spirit Hall. It was all her idea—nothing to do with me." Yu Xiaogang saw clearly that if he didn't answer correctly, Qian Xunji would have him killed without hesitation. In the face of life-or-death, he shoved all the blame onto Bibi Dong.
At the moment the words escaped his mouth, tears fell from Bibi Dong's eyes.
"Hear that, Dong'er? Yu Xiaogang says it was your plan to desert." Qian Xunji said coldly to Bibi Dong.
Because her mouth was gagged, Bibi Dong could not utter a sound and could only gaze at Yu Xiaogang with heartbreak.
Yu Xiaogang lifted his head and looked at Bibi Dong with guilt. In his heart he thought: Dong'er, I'm sorry, but I want to live. If we both survive this, I'll explain everything to you—after all, I'm the only man in this world who truly loves you.
"You've been brainwashing the Holy Maiden, instilling ideas harmful to the Spirit Hall. You even confessed to her in secret. Do you think I'm blind?"
"Yu Xiaogang, don't think I don't know your little schemes. You approached Dong'er to solve your martial soul's malignant mutation using our Hall. When you couldn't find a solution, you tried to achieve your illicit ends by abducting the Holy Maiden."
An even mightier wave of soul pressure crashed down. Yu Xiaogang's thin frame trembled violently in the roaring ocean of soul power.
(END CHAPTER)
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