...
Actually.
Isn't she deceiving herself?
As a peerless Douluo and the inheritor of the Rakshasa God, how keen is her perception of people's hearts?
In fact, she had already noticed Xuan Hao's unethical and even somewhat abnormal feelings for her a long, long time ago.
But she chose to pretend she didn't know.
She buried her head in the sand like an ostrich, greedily savoring the warmth this affection brought.
She enjoyed Xuan Hao's unique indulgence and dependence on her, and the stark contrast between his wild and unruly nature outside and his gentle and docile nature in front of her.
However, she only dared to enjoy it, but dared not confront it directly.
She could only pretend to be stupid day after day, using the names of "master and apprentice" and "siblings" to maintain this extremely dangerous balance.
What is she afraid of?
What she feared was that her heart, which had already been thoroughly corrupted and eroded by the evil thoughts of the Rakshasa in the secret room, would tarnish this pure and passionate emotion.
She feared that once she took that step, this beautiful thing would be torn to shreds and disappear completely, like a fragile bubble, in the collision between reality and the past.
Therefore, she dared not touch it.
Even with a thousand desires and ten thousand heart palpitations in her heart, she could only suppress them tightly, not allowing herself to cross the line even slightly.
But now.
That unreasonable brat, that bastard who never plays by the rules, insisted on using the most brutal and direct method to tear apart the thin veil separating the two of them!
He blocked all escape routes and forcefully placed a bloodied, unsuspecting heart into her hands.
Force her to either catch it.
Or... destroy him completely, along with the person himself.
"Greedy bastard..."
Bibi Dong buried her face in her hands, murmuring softly.
Tears silently streamed down her face.
Her hands, which had held the papal scepter for years and controlled the life and death of half the continent, trembled slightly at this moment because of an unbearable emotion.
...
On the other side.
After leaving the Pope's bedroom, Xuan Hao did not leave Wuhun City directly, but instead went directly to Hu Liena's residence.
The morning sun had just begun to shine into the courtyard when Hu Liena sat at the stone table, her chin resting on her hand, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, clearly having had a sleepless night.
Last night, such a commotion occurred at the Pope's palace.
Although the specific battle scene was sealed off by the Extreme Cold Realm, the terrifying energy fluctuations alerted even a Title Douluo. How could she have been completely unaware?
"Senior sister."
Xuan Hao floated down from mid-air, looking at the somewhat haggard Hu Liena, a pang of apology flashed through his heart, and he tried to make his voice sound as light as possible:
"What are you spacing out for?"
"Xuan Hao!"
Upon seeing Xuan Hao appear, Hu Liena abruptly stood up.
She quickly walked forward and scrutinized him from head to toe.
Although Xuan Hao's face looked paler than usual, thankfully there were no obvious injuries on his body, which eased her anxiety somewhat.
"What exactly did you do last night? What happened in the palace..."
Hu Liena bit her lip, her alluring fox-like eyes filled with worry and doubt.
She wanted to ask what had happened last night, what was going on with the strange atmosphere between him and the teacher, but when the words reached her lips, she didn't know where to begin.
After all, the terrifying clash of level 99 power last night was simply beyond her comprehension as a Soul King.
Seeing Hu Liena's hesitant and conflicted expression, Xuan Hao smiled helplessly and reached out to ruffle her hair.
"fine."
"Last night... something went wrong while the teacher was cultivating, and he was in a bad mood and lost control of his emotions.
I helped out a little and it's all settled now."
Xuan Hao used an extremely perfunctory yet irrefutable excuse to lightly gloss over last night's life-or-death battle:
"Don't worry, she just needs to be alone.
Let her rest for a while and clear her head. Don't bother her these next few days, and definitely don't ask her about last night, okay?"
Hu Liena looked at him with a mixture of belief and doubt.
Although she felt the explanation was somewhat far-fetched, since Xuan Hao was unwilling to elaborate, she could only obediently nod.
"And what about you?"
Hu Liena tugged at Xuan Hao's sleeve, her voice tinged with reluctance:
"Now that you're back, could you... stay in Wuhun City a little longer?
We haven't been together in so long..."
"I'd like to stay a few more days."
Xuan Hao sighed, then grasped Hu Liena's soft, boneless hand in his own, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes:
"But that won't work. I came back in a hurry this time. Ning Rongrong and the others are still waiting for me to meet up in Soto City in the Star Dou Great Forest.
I'm not comfortable leaving them there alone."
"Moreover, I have a minor health issue myself and need to go back to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well in Sunset Forest to take care of it."
"Is there something wrong with your health?!"
Upon hearing this, Hu Liena's heart, which had just settled, jumped again.
She gripped Xuan Hao's hand tightly, her voice trembling, "What happened? Is it serious?
Did you get hurt while helping the teacher last night?!"
"Don't worry, it's really not a big problem."
Xuan Hao quickly patted the back of her hand to comfort her, saying, "It's just that your soul power is a bit overdrawn, and your meridians are a bit overloaded.
Go back to a place like the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, where spiritual energy is abundant, soak in the spring water for a few days, and rest quietly, and you'll recover. Don't scare yourself unnecessarily."
Hearing him say this, Hu Liena, though still somewhat worried, knew that the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was indeed a sacred place for Xuan Hao's body to heal.
She gave Xuan Hao a deep look and no longer tried to stop him.
"Then you must take good care of yourself.
If you encounter trouble that you can't handle, even if it's the Heaven Dou royal family, don't try to tough it out.
Remember to go back to the Spirit Hall.
Your teacher and I are here."
Hu Liena stepped forward and, quite naturally, stretched out her arms and hugged Xuan Hao tightly.
She buried her head in the boy's chest, listening to his strong heartbeat, her voice filled with affection and reluctance: "Be careful in everything."
"Don't worry, your junior brother is very tough."
Xuan Hao chuckled and patted her back, greedily inhaling her alluring fragrance before gently pushing her away.
"I'm leaving now. Take good care of the teacher."
Without dwelling on personal feelings, Xuan Hao waved to Hu Liena.
The next second.
With a swift movement, he vanished from the spot in a flash.
With several consecutive spatial teleportations that consumed a great deal of soul power, Xuan Hao's figure appeared like a ghost thousands of meters above Wuhun City.
"call..."
A biting wind swept through the high altitude, instantly shattering Xuan Hao's feigned ease.
His face paled, and he couldn't help but clutch his chest, coughing violently a few times.
"Kid, don't push yourself too hard."
In his mind, the Ice Dragon King's voice sounded extremely weak and tired: "Last night, in order to suppress that crazy woman, the dragon soul energy of me and Old Man Fire was completely overdrawn."
"Now, if you encounter any powerful Title Douluo or even a 100,000-year-old soul beast, the two of us won't be able to help you at all.
We can only watch helplessly as you are torn to shreds. You are now just a paper tiger with no substance!"
"I know."
Xuan Hao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes becoming extremely serious.
Last night's near-suicidal outburst came at an extremely high price.
Not only were the energy bars of both dragon souls completely depleted, but his own physical body was also in an extremely weak and torn state.
"So, I need to charge my phone first."
Xuan Hao took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the surging blood and qi within his body.
"Buzz—!"
With a sudden burst of magnificent golden dragon wings unfurled behind him, Xuan Hao, having identified the direction of Sunset Forest, no longer held back, transformed into a golden meteor and flew at full speed toward the direction of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye.
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