# Chapter 15: Reconciliation of Angels
## Three Days Later - Guest Manor
The sealed letter sat on Luo Yan's desk like a physical weight. Bibi Dong had delivered it personally that morning, her hands trembling as she placed it before him.
"Please," she'd said, her voice—usually so commanding—barely above a whisper. "Give this to Renxue. And... if she's willing to see me, arrange a meeting. Somewhere private. Somewhere we can speak honestly without the weight of our roles crushing us."
Luo Yan had agreed immediately. Now, holding the letter, he could sense through his enhanced perception the emotional residue clinging to the paper—hope, fear, desperate longing, and bone-deep regret.
*Twenty years of pain, compressed into a single letter,* he thought. *Time to end this cycle.*
He stood and activated his spatial abilities. The world folded around him, and he stepped from Spirit Hall directly into Qian Renxue's private chambers in Heaven Dou Empire.
---
## Heaven Dou Palace - Qian Renxue's Chambers
Qian Renxue was reviewing military reports when reality tore open beside her desk. She didn't flinch—she'd felt him approaching through the Heart's Dominion bond seconds before he arrived.
"Luo Yan," she breathed, abandoning the reports immediately and standing. Then she was in his arms, holding him tightly. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, my angel," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Through their bond, he felt her emotions—love, relief, and beneath it all, nervous anticipation. She knew why he'd come.
"My mother," Qian Renxue said, pulling back to look at his face. "You said you'd freed her from the corruption. Is she... how is she?"
"Processing," Luo Yan replied gently. "For the first time in two decades, she can think clearly. Feel her own emotions without divine manipulation amplifying the worst of them." He pulled the letter from his pocket. "She wrote this for you."
Qian Renxue stared at the sealed envelope like it might burn her. Her hands shook as she reached for it. "What if... what if she still hates me? What if freeing her from the corruption didn't change how she feels about—"
"Read it," Luo Yan interrupted softly. "Then decide."
With trembling fingers, Qian Renxue broke the seal and unfolded the letter. Luo Yan watched her face as she read—watched the tears begin to fall halfway through, watched her hand fly to her mouth to muffle a sob, watched her entire body shake with the force of emotions she'd suppressed for twenty years.
When she finished, she couldn't speak. Could barely breathe. The letter fell from her numb fingers as she collapsed into the nearest chair, weeping openly.
Luo Yan knelt beside her, pulling her into his arms. "She wants to see you," he said gently. "To apologize face-to-face. To try to build something real between you. Are you willing?"
"Yes," Qian Renxue choked out immediately. "Yes, of course yes. When? Where?"
"Tonight," Luo Yan replied. "I know a place. Neutral territory where you can both be yourselves without masks or roles."
Through the Heart's Dominion bond, he felt her terror and hope warring—fear that this might be another rejection, hope that maybe, finally, she might have a real mother.
"I'll be there with you," he assured her. "Every step of the way. You're not alone in this."
Qian Renxue nodded, wiping her tears with shaking hands. "I need to... I need a few hours to prepare myself. To figure out what to say to her."
"You don't need a speech," Luo Yan said. "Just be honest. That's all either of you needs."
---
## The Neutral Ground - Secluded Valley
Luo Yan had chosen the location carefully—a small valley deep in the wilderness between Heaven Dou Empire and Spirit Hall territory. Remote enough for complete privacy, beautiful enough to soothe frayed nerves. A clear stream ran through it, and ancient trees provided a natural canopy overhead.
He'd transported both women there separately as evening approached, giving each time to compose themselves before the meeting.
Bibi Dong arrived first, dressed not in her papal robes but in a simple, elegant gown of deep purple. Her hair was unbound, falling in dark waves around her shoulders. She looked younger like this—vulnerable in a way the Pope never allowed herself to be.
She stood by the stream, hands clasped tightly together, her entire body radiating nervous tension. "Is she coming?" she asked without turning. She'd sensed Luo Yan's arrival.
"She's here," Luo Yan confirmed.
Bibi Dong turned sharply to see Qian Renxue emerging from behind a cluster of trees. Her daughter wore a simple white dress, her long golden hair unbound. Without the Crown Prince disguise, without the spirit techniques that altered her appearance, she looked achingly young and impossibly beautiful—her mother's features refined by her father's bloodline into something angelic.
Mother and daughter stared at each other across twenty feet of grass, neither able to move or speak.
Luo Yan could feel both their emotions through his bonds—mirror images of terror, hope, longing, and painful uncertainty.
"I'll be nearby if you need me," he said quietly. "But this conversation is yours."
He vanished, though he didn't go far. Just far enough to give them the illusion of complete privacy while remaining close enough to intervene if necessary.
For a long moment, neither woman moved. The silence stretched between them, heavy with two decades of unspoken pain.
Finally, Bibi Dong broke.
"Renxue," she whispered, and the name on her lips—spoken with such raw emotion—shattered the paralysis.
Qian Renxue took one step forward. Then another. Then she was running, closing the distance between them with desperate speed.
She crashed into her mother's arms, and Bibi Dong caught her, holding her daughter for the first time in years—really holding her, without the internal war between love and revulsion, without the Rakshasa corruption poisoning every emotion.
They collapsed to their knees together, clinging to each other as two decades of suppressed grief poured out.
"I'm sorry," Bibi Dong sobbed into her daughter's hair. "I'm so, so sorry. You never deserved what I put you through. You were innocent, and I made you pay for someone else's crimes. I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry."
"I thought I was unlovable," Qian Renxue wept. "I thought there was something fundamentally wrong with me. That I was a mistake you couldn't bear to look at."
"No," Bibi Dong pulled back just enough to cup her daughter's face, forcing their eyes to meet. "Never. You were never a mistake. What happened to create you was a violation, yes. A horror that broke me in ways I didn't know how to heal from. But *you*—you were always innocent. Always deserving of love. And I failed you. The corruption made it worse, made healing impossible, but even without it..." Her voice broke. "I should have been stronger. Should have separated you from my trauma. You deserved better than what I gave you."
"You tried," Qian Renxue said, remembering the vision Luo Yan had shown her. "I saw it. You tried to love me even when it hurt you to look at me. You tried."
"Not hard enough," Bibi Dong said bitterly. "A real mother would have—"
"You were raped," Qian Renxue interrupted fiercely. "Violated by someone you trusted. Traumatized so deeply that a parasitic god found perfect purchase in your pain. And you still tried to love me. That's more than most people could have done."
Bibi Dong stared at her daughter in shock. "How can you not hate me? After everything—"
"Because I understand now," Qian Renxue said simply. "Luo Yan showed me the truth. Showed me what happened to you, what that monster did. And I understand that your hatred was never about me. It was about him. About the trauma. About the divine corruption that wouldn't let you heal."
She wiped tears from her mother's face with trembling hands. "I spent twenty years thinking I was the problem. That if I could just be perfect enough, strong enough, successful enough, you'd finally love me. But it was never about my worthiness, was it? It was about your pain."
"Yes," Bibi Dong whispered. "It was always about my pain. Never about you."
"Then let's stop letting his crime define us," Qian Renxue said. "He's dead. Grandfather is dead. The corruption is gone. It's just us now. Can we... can we try to build something real? Start over?"
Bibi Dong pulled her daughter close again, holding her like she should have held her as a child. "I don't know how to be a good mother. I don't know if I can make up for twenty years of failure—"
"You don't have to make up for anything," Qian Renxue interrupted. "Just be here. Be present. Try. That's all I've ever wanted."
They held each other as the sun set, painting the valley in shades of gold and purple. Twenty years of pain couldn't be erased in a single conversation, but the foundation for healing had been laid.
Eventually, they pulled apart enough to really look at each other—not as Pope and Crown Prince, not as mother and disappointing daughter, but as two women who'd both survived terrible things and were trying to find their way back to each other.
"Tell me about your life," Bibi Dong said, her voice steadier now. "The real you, not the Crown Prince. What makes you happy? What are your dreams? What..." She smiled slightly through her tears. "What's happening between you and Luo Yan?"
Qian Renxue blushed despite everything. "Is it that obvious?"
"He looks at you like you hung the stars," Bibi Dong replied. "And you look at him like he's your entire world. So yes, it's obvious." She paused. "Is he good to you?"
"He saved me," Qian Renxue said simply. "Not from danger—from loneliness. From believing I was fundamentally unlovable. He saw through my disguise, understood my pain, and chose me anyway. Completely. Without reservation."
"And you love him," Bibi Dong stated rather than asked.
"With everything I am," Qian Renxue confirmed. "Body, mind, and soul. He's mine, and I'm his. Forever."
Bibi Dong studied her daughter carefully, seeing the absolute certainty in her eyes. Part of her—the protective mother she'd never been allowed to be—wanted to object. Qian Renxue was only twenty-one, Luo Yan was a being of incomprehensible power, the power imbalance was staggering.
But another part recognized something in her daughter's expression. The same fierce, possessive devotion she herself had once felt for someone—before that trust had been shattered by violation.
"Does he make you happy?" she asked finally.
"Deliriously," Qian Renxue replied. "Even when he's infuriating. Even when his plans are insane. He makes me feel safe, seen, and cherished. He makes me happy."
"Then that's all that matters," Bibi Dong said softly. "Your happiness. That's all I should have cared about from the beginning."
They talked for hours as night fell and stars emerged overhead. Qian Renxue spoke about her life as Crown Prince, the loneliness of maintaining the disguise, her hopes for the future. Bibi Dong spoke about Spirit Hall, about the burden of leadership, about slowly rediscovering who she was beneath the corruption.
And gradually, tentatively, they began to laugh together. Small jokes, shared observations, the kind of easy conversation they'd never been able to have before.
When Luo Yan finally reappeared—sensing through their bonds that the critical emotional work had been done—he found them sitting close together by the stream, Qian Renxue's head resting on her mother's shoulder.
"Thank you," Bibi Dong said when she saw him. "For everything. For freeing me. For showing Renxue the truth. For giving us this chance."
"You don't need to thank me," Luo Yan replied. "Your daughter's happiness is reward enough."
Bibi Dong stood, pulling Qian Renxue up with her. She approached Luo Yan, studying him with the intensity of a mother evaluating her daughter's chosen partner.
"You love her," she stated.
"Completely," Luo Yan confirmed.
"And you'll protect her? Keep her safe?"
"With my life and everything I possess."
"And you'll never..." Bibi Dong's voice hardened. "Never do to her what was done to me? Never violate her trust or harm her?"
"Never," Luo Yan said with absolute certainty. "She gave herself to me freely. I would destroy myself before I'd betray that gift."
Bibi Dong held his gaze for a long moment, reading the truth in his eyes. Finally, she nodded. "Then you have my blessing. For whatever that's worth."
"It's worth everything," Qian Renxue said, coming to stand beside Luo Yan and taking his hand. "Thank you, Mother."
The word—spoken naturally, without the weight of years of pain—made Bibi Dong's eyes well up again. "Thank you, daughter. For giving me another chance."
**[BIBI DONG - FAVORABILITY INCREASED]**
**[CURRENT FAVORABILITY: 38 → 73]**
**[MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVED]**
**[STATUS CHANGE: INTERESTED AND GRATEFUL → DEEPLY MOVED AND TRUSTING]**
**[ANALYSIS: Target has undergone significant emotional healing through reunion with daughter. Views Host as savior who restored her family. Maternal instincts now focused on daughter's happiness. Strong foundation established for deeper personal connection. Estimated timeline to Level 3 (Deep Connection): 2-4 weeks with continued positive interaction.]**
Luo Yan felt the surge in favorability through his perception, satisfaction warming him. The plan was working perfectly.
"It's late," he said gently. "And you both need rest. Bibi Dong, I'll return you to Spirit Hall. Renxue, back to Heaven Dou Palace?"
"Actually," Qian Renxue said, glancing between her mother and Luo Yan. "Could we... the three of us... have dinner together first? Nothing formal, just... family?"
The word made Bibi Dong's breath catch. "I'd like that very much."
---
## Impromptu Dinner - The Valley
Luo Yan created a simple but elegant dining setup using his spatial abilities—a table, chairs, and food he'd prepared in advance knowing they might want to extend their time together.
The three of them sat around the table as night deepened, conversation flowing naturally now that the worst of the emotional catharsis had passed.
Bibi Dong found herself genuinely laughing for the first time in years as Qian Renxue shared stories about maintaining her Crown Prince disguise—the absurd situations she'd found herself in, the ridiculous political maneuvering she'd had to navigate.
"And then," Qian Renxue said, grinning, "Minister Zhao tried to set 'Prince Xue Qinghe' up with his daughter. I had to pretend to be interested while dying inside because she would *not* stop talking about her spirit ring collection."
Bibi Dong burst out laughing. "How did you escape?"
"I claimed urgent military business and literally ran," Qian Renxue admitted. "Very dignified. Very princely."
Watching them interact—seeing the natural warmth developing between mother and daughter—Luo Yan felt genuine satisfaction. Yes, this served his purposes for the harem plan. But it was also simply *right*. Two women who'd both suffered terribly were finding their way back to each other.
"Luo Yan," Bibi Dong said suddenly, her tone becoming more serious. "I need to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"What you did to the Rakshasa God..." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "You didn't just suppress it. You commanded it. Terrified it into absolute obedience. I've been bonded with that divine inheritance for over twenty years. I know its power, its arrogance. Yet you made it grovel with two words."
"Your point?" Luo Yan asked mildly.
"Who are you really?" Bibi Dong leaned forward. "And don't give me the simple answer. I want the complicated one."
Luo Yan glanced at Qian Renxue, who nodded slightly—permission to share what he'd already told her.
"I'm from very far away," he began. "A place where the power scale is completely different from this world. What you call gods here would be considered weak where I come from. I came to this universe following certain... connections. And I've stayed because I found something worth staying for."
He looked at Qian Renxue as he said the last part, and she blushed beautifully.
"So you're not just powerful," Bibi Dong said slowly. "You're fundamentally from a different reality. Operating on completely different rules."
"Essentially, yes."
"And you can travel between these realities?"
"When necessary."
Bibi Dong sat back, processing this. "Will you leave? Eventually? Return to your world and take Renxue with you?"
"Mother—" Qian Renxue started.
"It's a fair question," Luo Yan interrupted. "And the answer is: I don't know. My plans are long-term and complicated. But I can promise you this—wherever I go, whatever I do, Qian Renxue's happiness and safety will always be my priority. If she wants to stay here, we stay. If she wants to travel with me, we travel. Her choice always comes first."
Bibi Dong studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "That's all I can ask for."
The dinner continued until late into the night, the three of them talking about everything and nothing. Eventually, exhaustion caught up with both women—emotional catharsis was draining even for powerful Spirit Masters.
"Time to go home," Luo Yan said gently. "Both of you need real rest."
He transported Qian Renxue back to her chambers first, kissing her goodnight and feeling her love and contentment through their bond. Then he returned for Bibi Dong.
Before he could activate the spatial transfer, she stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "Not just for freeing me from the corruption, or arranging this meeting. Thank you for loving my daughter the way she deserves to be loved. For seeing her, truly seeing her, when I was too broken to do so myself."
"She makes it easy," Luo Yan replied honestly. "She's extraordinary."
"She is," Bibi Dong agreed. "And so are you, apparently." She paused, something vulnerable flickering in her eyes. "Would you... come visit me sometimes? At Spirit Hall? I'd like to get to know the man my daughter has chosen. And perhaps..." She smiled slightly. "Perhaps learn more about these other realities you come from."
**[BIBI DONG - FAVORABILITY INCREASED]**
**[CURRENT FAVORABILITY: 73 → 78]**
"I'd be happy to," Luo Yan said warmly. "I'm staying at Spirit Hall anyway. Hu Liena would be devastated if I left before properly saying goodbye."
Something shifted in Bibi Dong's expression at the mention of her student. "Nana has been acting strangely since you arrived. Very... devoted. Should I be concerned?"
"She's safe with me," Luo Yan assured her. "I promise you that."
Bibi Dong searched his face, then nodded slowly. "I trust you. Which is remarkable, considering I haven't truly trusted anyone in over twenty years."
With that, Luo Yan transported her back to Spirit Hall, depositing her gently in her private chambers.
Alone finally, he allowed himself a moment of satisfaction.
*Three women in Douluo Dalu, all progressing beautifully. Qian Renxue at Perfect Harmony. Hu Liena at Close Bond and climbing. Bibi Dong now at 78 and actively seeking more interaction with me.*
*A few more weeks of careful cultivation, and I'll have all three secured. Then I can consider moving to the next universe.*
*Battle Through the Heavens. Queen Medusa. The timing should be perfect.*
Through the Heart's Dominion bond, he felt Qian Renxue's sleepy contentment. Through the newer bond with Hu Liena, he felt her peaceful dreams.
And now, through careful observation of Bibi Dong's emotional state, he felt her cautious hope and growing trust.
*Victory,* he thought with satisfaction. *Absolute, overwhelming victory.*
The night deepened over both Spirit Hall and Heaven Dou Empire, and Luo Yan stood alone in his guest chambers, a god among mortals, successfully rewriting the fates of the most powerful women in this world.
---
**To Be Continued**