The Secrets of That Year"Don't worry, I won't leave this time."
Dai Yao's words were like a muffled thunderclap in Bibi Dong's heart, and a strong warmth, like a volcanic eruption, instantly filled her entire heart.
The heart, which was originally riddled with holes and dead, has been revitalized.
"I...I will never let you leave again..."
Bibi Dong said in a trembling voice.
Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Dai Yao, as if afraid he would leave.
Dai Yao's hand, which was supporting Bibi Dong's waist, was somewhat stiff. If he moved it upwards, although it would be Bibi Dong's jade back, his arm would inevitably touch the peaks in front of Bibi Dong. If he moved it downwards, it would be her pert and round buttocks.
Bibi Dong is his close friend, but isn't this posture a bit too intimate? Neither upward nor downward is quite appropriate.
Dai Yao glanced at the bleeding hole in Bibi Dong's chest, coughed lightly, and said:
"Get up first, and use your soul power to heal the wound on your chest."
To Dai Yao's astonishment, Bibi Dong nodded obediently, then mobilized her soul power, and the bloody hole in her chest began to heal at a visible speed.
This is the current Pope of the Spirit Hall, who is above all others and will soon be the ruler of the entire continent. Yet he is showing such a docile attitude in front of me. It is really too unbelievable!
Moreover, in the original novel, Bibi Dong was always the one who had the final say, and no one dared to contradict her. The incident in the secret room deeply influenced her, making her actions somewhat domineering. Only Yu Xiaogang could slightly influence her mind.
But now, the fact that she obeyed his every word filled Dai Yao with a sense of pride.
But he quickly erased that sense of smugness.
He had managed to get close to Bibi Dong's wounded heart and gain her trust and reliance. How could he be complacent about that? If he acted recklessly because of Bibi Dong's trust in him and thought that Bibi Dong was his for the taking, that would be disrespectful to her.
He would feel sorry for Bibi Dong.
Under Dai Yao's watchful gaze, Bibi Dong's wounds gradually healed, and finally she was completely transformed, her fair and smooth skin as flawless as the first snow.
Especially the towering peaks, so white they were almost dazzling.
Although Dai Yao had acted like a child countless times and was used to it, he and Bibi Dong were, after all, just friends. He quickly covered his eyes and turned his head away, not wanting to look at anything improper.
"Find some clothes to cover yourself up first!"
Dai Yao said hurriedly.
Upon hearing this, Bibi Dong's eyes softened even more. Dai Yao's gesture, which showed respect, filled her with immense joy and gratitude.
With a flicker of her eyes, she gently removed Dai Yao's hand that was blocking her view and said softly:
"It's alright, the tear in the clothes isn't big, nothing's leaking out. Besides, it's fine for you to see."
Dai Yao slowly opened his eyes and looked into Bibi Dong's burning gaze. It was as if he saw a vibrant young girl who trusted him without reservation.
"Thanks."
Dai Yao paused for a moment, then said heavily.
Bibi Dong smiled; she hadn't smiled so happily in years.
Holding Dai Yao's hand, she jogged slowly to the steps below the papal throne. The sound of her high heels was almost cheerful.
Let's sit here!
Bibi Dong turned her head to the side, her long hair, which wasn't adorned with a purple-gold crown, cascading down like a waterfall, and said with a radiant smile.
Her beautiful face, hidden away for decades, was now exceptionally captivating when she smiled. Like a flower blooming in the morning sun, she radiated warmth and vitality.
Dai Yao nodded.
The two sat down on the steps. In the past, many bishops and elders could only stand in front of the steps, looking up at the cold Bibi Dong on the papal throne. No one would have thought that the cold Bibi Dong in their hearts could have such a happy side.
She did not sit on the papal throne, which symbolized her power and status but also her painful past. Instead, she sat on the ground, as if a few rays of sunlight were shining into the hell in her heart.
"Tell me now, what exactly happened these past few years? Why did you let that soul beast hiding in the Hall of Worship go?"
Dai Yao looked into Bibi Dong's eyes and asked.
Bibi Dong pondered for a moment, then relaxed her body against Dai Yao, her beautiful eyes lost in memories, and replied:
"After you left, I got the letter you left behind and learned the secret behind it."
"I initially intended to kill Lion Douluo outright. Even with the protection of the Hall of Offerings, I was confident I could eliminate him. However, just as I was about to make my move, someone changed my mind."
At that time, the battle between the Spirit Hall and the two great empires was imminent. Bibi Dong disregarded all the previous preparations and chose to attack the Hall of Offerings, which was really crazy.
At that time, the internal strife between the two temples of the Spirit Hall will greatly deplete the Spirit Hall's strength, making it impossible to launch another war.
However, Bibi Dong's choice means giving up the opportunity that the Spirit Hall has been waiting for for tens of thousands of years.
That's a madman.
One can only say that she truly lives up to her reputation as Bibi Dong.
However, what Bibi Dong said next surprised Dai Yao. It was truly unbelievable that someone could change Bibi Dong's mind.
He knew Bibi Dong's personality well; she was the type who wouldn't back down until she hit a wall, and once she made up her mind, she wouldn't easily change it. For someone to change Bibi Dong's mind, this person must have been troublesome even for her. He frowned and asked:
"A person? Who is it?"
A look of seriousness flashed across Bibi Dong's eyes.
"It's Golden Crocodile Douluo."
Upon hearing this, Dai Yao's heart skipped a beat.
Golden Crocodile Douluo, currently the Second Elder of the Hall of Worship, is a peerless powerhouse at level ninety-eight, whose strength is among the best in the entire continent. If Golden Crocodile Douluo stood in Bibi Dong's way, then Bibi Dong's decision to give up killing Lion Douluo would indeed make sense.
But why would Golden Crocodile Douluo stand in front of Bibi Dong?
"What is the connection between Golden Crocodile Douluo and Lion Douluo? If you want to get rid of Lion Douluo, why are you involved with Golden Crocodile Douluo?"
Dai Yao asked.
Bibi Dong's expression darkened slightly. She was no longer the innocent girl she once was, but had returned to the aloof and cold pope she once was.
"Do you still remember when the Heaven Dou Palace Coup took place, the Hall of Offerings clearly sent Golden Crocodile Douluo to the Clear Sky Sect to block the Clear Sky Sect's path down the mountain, but in the end, the Clear Sky Sect's five Title Douluos suddenly appeared in Heaven Dou City, causing the palace coup plan to fail at the last minute?"
"Of course I remember."
A shadow crossed Dai Yao's face.
If it weren't for the sudden appearance of the Haotian Sect, would the palace coup plan have failed? How could he have developed a relationship with Qian Renxue, ultimately offending Bibi Dong?
In a sense, the direct factor in his departure from the Spirit Hall was the failure of the Heaven Dou Palace Coup, which meant that Golden Crocodile Douluo failed to stop the Clear Sky Sect and allowed them to re-emerge!
"If I remember correctly, Golden Crocodile Douluo was attacked by a mysterious person and was seriously injured, barely managing to return to Spirit City. This led to the Clear Sky Sect's emergence and the failure of the Heaven Dou Palace coup plan. But wasn't it said that the mysterious person was a level 99 Peerless Douluo?"
Dai Yao recalled.
Bibi Dong said solemnly, "You're right. Back then, we all thought that the person who injured the Golden Crocodile was Tang Chen."
"But I later discovered that there were several inexplicable points of doubt in this matter."
What's suspicious?
Dai Yao asked.
"First, although Tang Chen is a level 99 Peerless Douluo, Jin E is at least level 98. He is not without the power to fight back. How could he be beaten so badly that he couldn't even send out a message?"
"Our Spirit Hall branches are all over the world. Didn't he have the opportunity to send messages? He couldn't possibly be unaware of the importance of the Clear Sky Sect's emergence to the entire Spirit Hall."
"This will change the entire continent's situation!"
"If you had received this message, you wouldn't have been caught off guard in Heaven Dou City. We wouldn't have only sent two Title Douluos, Serpent Spear and Porcupine Douluo! The palace coup plan might still fail in the end, but it wouldn't have been so disastrous that it would have forced you and Xue Qinghe to flee thousands of miles away."
"I even suspect that Golden Crocodile Douluo was deliberately hiding this information."
"Secondly, if that mysterious person is Tang Chen, Tang Chen must know the identity of the Second Elder. Once the Second Elder is injured, it will create an irreconcilable hatred with the Hall of Offerings, which means that the Haotian Sect and the Hall of Offerings will go to war. For the Haotian Sect, which has been in seclusion for many years, this is tantamount to asking for trouble."
"Although Tang Chen is domineering, he would never do something so inconsiderate of the Haotian Sect."
"Most importantly, if Tang Chen really decides to go to war with the Spirit Hall, he will never let the Second Elder go and let him come back alive."
"Besides Tang Chen, who else injured the Second Elder? If such an unparalleled expert truly existed, our Spirit Hall would know, but we truly know nothing about him. Therefore, it is highly likely that Golden Crocodile Douluo is lying!"
"Although it is unclear what Jin'e's purpose is, considering that the Fourth Elder wanted to force you to leave the Spirit Hall and form an alliance with the spirit beasts, Jin'e's actions just happened to help the Fourth Elder achieve his goal."
Bibi Dong stared intently at Dai Yao. Although she didn't continue speaking, her meaning was already very clear.
Golden Crocodile Douluo and Lion Douluo are in cahoots!
Dai Yao's mind exploded!
The Hall of Worship, one of the two highest temples in the human soul master world, has had two of its elders infiltrated by soul beasts—it's utterly ridiculous! What's more, these are the fourth-ranked Lion Douluo and the second elder, second only to Qian Daoliu!
"If that's the case, then we're in trouble."
Dai Yao murmured to himself, lost in thought.
Although Bibi Dong's reasoning was flawed, her conclusion was quite reasonable.
As far as he knew, apart from Qian Daoliu, there were only two powerful individuals on the entire continent at that time who could injure Golden Crocodile Douluo.
One is Tang Chen, and the other is Di Tian.
Tang Chen was still in Hell City at the time, as its King, and couldn't possibly leave Hell City...
No, that's not right. It's possible that his butterfly effect caused Tang Chen to wake up earlier.
It's just that the possibility is very small.
The most likely culprit is Di Tian, since this was originally a conspiracy by the soul beasts to drive him to a dead end, so it's understandable that Di Tian would intervene.
However, the biggest question is why Golden Crocodile Douluo returned severely injured!
If it were truly Di Tian appearing, Golden Crocodile Douluo, sensing the overwhelming aura emanating from him, would naturally know he couldn't stop the Clear Sky Sect from leaving the mountain; the mission would have failed, and he could choose to retreat. Moreover, the Clear Sky Sect's five Title Douluos were also watching closely; if he were injured by Di Tian, he would most likely lose his life!
Therefore, out of caution, Golden Crocodile Douluo will definitely leave immediately upon discovering Di Tian.
However, not only was Golden Crocodile Douluo seriously injured, but he also did not mention the Clear Sky Sect at all during subsequent questioning.
This does not match Dai Yao's deduction.
Moreover, even if Haotian Sect was cautious and dared not pursue a level 98 expert who was seriously injured, fearing that he would make a desperate counterattack, why did Ditian let him go after seriously injuring him?
According to Golden Crocodile Douluo, he was no match for that mysterious man at all.
In other words, Di Tian could have easily killed him!
But isn't this unnecessary? Why bother severely injuring him? Why not just have Di Tian show himself, reveal his strength, and make Golden Crocodile Douluo back down, allowing the Clear Sky Sect to emerge from seclusion?
Thinking further, even if there were concerns about the information being leaked, wouldn't it still be possible for the information to be leaked if Di Tian injured Jin E and then let him go?
The best way to keep a secret is to have someone dead.
Killing Golden Crocodile Douluo directly would have been the best way to prevent the information from leaking. Di Tian couldn't possibly be unaware of this, yet he let Golden Crocodile Douluo go.
This line of speculation reveals far too many suspicious points. Each point in itself is unimportant and seemingly unrelated, but as Dai Yao deduces, they begin to connect, converging and ultimately pointing to one person!
Golden Crocodile Douluo!
Di Tian's injury to Jin E was nothing more than a ruse!
Give a reasonable explanation for making Jin E leave Haotian Sect!
"Although Bibi Dong's reasoning was wrong, her conclusion is very likely correct! Golden Crocodile Douluo is also a soul beast, the one hidden deepest within the Hall of Worship!"
"No wonder Lion Douluo was so confident in revealing his identity to me; it turns out they had a trump card up their sleeve!"
"Even if I choose to perish together with Lion Douluo, it won't be a significant loss for the soul beasts! Moreover, Lion Douluo's willingness to reveal his identity and his honest and open demeanor would surely move anyone..."
"But this honesty is entirely an act!"
In an instant, Dai Yao understood many things!
Those seemingly insignificant illogical points suddenly appeared jarring and flashed wildly through Dai Yao's mind. However, combined with his previous deductions, all of these illogical points found a reasonable explanation.
There can't be that many coincidences in the world!
Dai Yao's face was ashen. After a long silence, he suddenly grinned, smacked his lips, and black flames seemed to burn fiercely in his golden pupils.
"That's great! So these guys have been making a fool of me all along!"
Under Bibi Dong's astonished gaze, Dai Yao's golden hair slowly turned into an extreme black, as if it could devour all light.
Those golden pupils turned black.
Dai Yao's entire demeanor changed drastically; the slightly upturned corners of his mouth gave off a sinister and awe-inspiring feeling.
"Yeah, these guys have been making a fool of us. Now it's time for them to pay the price!"
Bibi Dong's relaxed expression vanished instantly; the haughty queen was back. She sprang up from beside Dai Yao, nine spirit rings silently rotating around her. She gripped the papal scepter again, pointing it directly at Dai Yao, her tone wary and icy:
"Who are you?! Dai Yao, where did you go?!" (End of Chapter)