Qian Renshang stared intently at the Papal Palace for a moment before quickly looking away.
He took a deep breath and looked at Gu Yuena and the others behind him.
"Nana... Uncle Di Tian, let's find a hotel to rest for a while.
The competition is in two days."
Gu Yuena looked at the seemingly normal Qian Renshang with surprise and doubt.
"Qian Renshang... are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Qian Renshang said calmly, his clear eyes seemingly without a trace of sadness.
Qian Renshang seemed to be the same Qian Renshang, unchanged at all.
However, Gu Yuena always felt that Qian Renshang seemed to have changed, but he didn't seem to have any major problems, so she didn't ask anything.
Qian Renshang would tell her if anything happened.
Gu Yuena didn't say anything, and Di Tian naturally didn't say anything either. Soon, the group followed behind Qian Renshang and found a hotel to stay in after half an hour.
The people from Chuanling Academy naturally followed as well.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling had been very quiet lately, especially on the way to Wuhun City.
They sensed that Qian Renshang seemed preoccupied.
After arriving at the hotel, everyone was quickly assigned rooms.
With the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Finals approaching, hotel rooms were extremely scarce.
They were among the later arrivals, so there weren't many rooms left.
"There are only a few rooms left... so you'll have to make do,"
Qian Renshang announced apologetically.
"Let's separate the men and women... two people per room!"
Qian Renshang casually arranged things.
Dugu Yan would share a room with Ye Lingling, Chi Wang with Xiong Jun, Yu Tianheng with Wan Yao Wang, Di Tian with himself, and Gu Yuena with Bi Ji.
Qian Renshang thought this was fine and announced it directly, but at that moment, a crisp, youthful voice rang out.
"I have a problem..."
Qian Renshang looked at Gu Yuena with a puzzled expression.
"Nana... what's wrong with you?"
"I want to share a room with you!"
Gu Yuena said expressionlessly. As soon as she said this, everyone's eyes turned strange and accompanied by amused smiles.
"Tsk tsk... Are you all forgotten now?"
"Tsk tsk... My lord, my lord."
Xiong Jun and the others squinted and chuckled.
During their time back, Gu Yuena had actually been staying with Bi Ji.
In front of the Beast Kings, she seemed quite embarrassed to show such intimacy with Qian Renshang.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, however, turned pale.
So it was true? ...The relationship between these two was that kind of relationship!
"Nana..."
Qian Renshang looked at Gu Yuena with complicated eyes.
He knew that Gu Yuena had sensed something was wrong with him, so she was trying to get closer to him.
"Bi Ji and Di Tian will share a room... Anyway, their relationship is like that."
Gu Yuena announced with a serious expression.
"Qian Renshang and I will share a room... Everyone else should go back and rest early, and wait for the finals in two days!"
"That's it..."
Gu Yuena said, already pulling Qian Renshang in a certain direction, opening and closing the door in one smooth motion!
Everyone exchanged strange glances!
...
Inside the room!
After closing the door, Gu Yuena turned to look at Qian Renshang, her silver hair fluttering behind her, a breathtaking sight.
"Qian Renshang...look at me!"
"Look at...you...what are you doing? Nana..."
Qian Renshang was still a little unaccustomed to calling Gu Yuena "Nana" instead of "Sister Nana," after all, he had been calling her that for over ten years!
"You're very sad, aren't you..."
Gu Yuena suddenly said, and Qian Renshang's eyes darted away.
"How could I be...I'm not sad, didn't I tell you a long time ago that I've already let go?"
"Liar!"
"Really...have you seen me shed a single tear?
What right does that mother, that sister, have to make me sad!"
"Liar!"
"I don't care...I really don't care..."
"Liar!"
"Why...why..."
Drip, drip!
After 19 years, Qian Renshang shed tears once again, large drops streaming down her face.
Gu Yuena watched expressionlessly.
"That's right… I care deeply, so much. How can I just let go of three years' worth of obsession?
For that one word, 'Mom,' that maternal love… I gave everything for three years."
"Last time, he said he'd let me go back to her… and she'd treat me like a normal mother… Nana… Sister."
"I really fell for her? You know that?"
Qian Renshang was in tears, as helpless as he had been at three years old.
He had always resisted the past, and resisted returning to Wuhun City!
His previous life was tragic; he had watched his mother being humiliated. This life was the same.
He knew Bibi Dong was just as tragic as his mother from the previous life.
He carried his obsession with saving his mother from the previous life into this one.
He wanted to make amends… he wanted to do something?
But… it seemed to be useless?
He was wrong, utterly wrong.
Qian Renshang didn't know what he was sad about; he was just heartbroken.
"Cry...it'll be alright if you cry it out, everything will be over once you cry it out."
Gu Yuena hugged Qian Renshang tightly and comforted him softly, just like she had comforted that three-year-old child who would always cry for his mother in his sleep.
Qian Renshang held Gu Yuena and cried, unconsciously releasing his emotions...until he fell into a deep sleep.
Gu Yuena looked at Qian Renshang with a face full of heartache...this child's life was truly too bitter.
He didn't know how much time had passed!
It wasn't until a ray of sunlight shone on his face that Qian Renshang slowly opened his eyes and woke up.
Gu Yuena was still holding him.
"How long have I been asleep?"
Qian Renshang asked, and Gu Yuena answered.
"A day and a half!"
"I was afraid they would disturb you, so I told them you weren't feeling well...the competition should be starting soon, are you feeling better now?"
Gu Yuena asked, and Qian Renshang took a deep breath.
"I feel great now, better than ever before!"
The two of them tacitly avoided discussing what had happened the night before, as if nothing had ever happened that night.
Qian Renshang returned to normal.
"Let's go to the competition venue!"
"Okay!"
...
The competition venue for this year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Finals was none other than the Spirit Hall headquarters.
As the Spirit Hall's headquarters, it was spacious enough... and it would allow the participants to deepen their impression of the Spirit Hall's power.
Based on past experience, many participants would choose to join the Spirit Hall, the strongest force on the continent, after this competition.
Because today was the day of the finals, Spirit City was extremely bustling, and the road to the Spirit Hall's main venue was packed with people.
Gu Yuena and Qian Renshang practically squeezed through the crowd to get there, and by the time they arrived, the competition had already begun!
(End of Chapter)
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