"I, Qian Daoliu, have lived my whole life upright and honorable, steadfast and loyal in love—how did I end up with a son like you!"
Qian Daoliu wore a devastated expression and let out a long sigh.
Qian Xunji's mouth twitched slightly. He was completely speechless inside.
'Seriously?! Old man, do you even have any shame?'
'You might be upright in conduct—fine, I'll give you that—but if you claim you're loyal in love, I can't accept that!'
Qian Xunji sneered coldly and responded in a sarcastic tone.
"Father, I know all about your so-called loyalty in love."
"Your feelings for that Sea God Island High Priestess, Bo Saixi—oh yes, truly loyal."
"But tell me—how exactly was I born, then?"
"You brat! How do you know about Xixi?!"
Hearing the name Bo Saixi come from his son's mouth, Qian Daoliu's expression changed drastically. He looked utterly shocked and in disbelief.
He was sure he had never mentioned anything about her to this brat. So how did he find out?!
'Could it be…'
Qian Daoliu's expression flickered with uncertainty as he suddenly thought of Golden Crocodile Douluo, who was even older than himself.
"Xixi? Ugh!"
Qian Xunji almost gagged.
'She doesn't even like you, and you're calling her that intimately?! Old man, your behavior might be rational on the surface, but inside you're just another pathetic simp!'
Qian Xunji silently grumbled and ranted in his heart.
"Ahem…"
Now that his son had completely exposed his old scars, Qian Daoliu felt utterly embarrassed.
In fact, when it came to Qian Xunji's mother, he had always carried deep guilt.
Because in his youth, after meeting Bo Saixi, he could never forget her—his sacred, unreachable white moonlight.
Even when he later married Qian Xunji's mother, it was largely because she bore a slight resemblance to Bo Saixi, both in appearance and in the compatibility of her martial spirit with the Qian clan's Seraphim Spirit.
But truthfully, he had never truly loved her.
Qian Daoliu felt both guilty and sorrowful about it.
But love… love couldn't be forced.
All he could do was try his best to play the role of a good husband and father.
'I want to forget… but I just can't…'
"Um… Xunji, I still have things to take care of, I'll be going first!"
Unable to face his son any longer, Qian Daoliu awkwardly found an excuse and slipped away.
But he left in a huff, clearly preparing to confront Golden Crocodile Douluo.
'How could you just casually reveal my black history to Xunji!?'
…
Meanwhile, in the Clear Sky Sect.
With the date of Qian Xunji and Ah Yin's wedding drawing closer by the day…
Tang Hao had been madly training, day and night, like a man possessed. He kept saying he was going to Spirit City to rescue his third sister, Ah Yin.
No matter how much anyone tried to dissuade him, he wouldn't listen.
Tang Zhen was absolutely livid.
'Unfilial child! Truly unfilial!'
'He's going insane for a woman! What the hell kind of magic does this woman have?!'
Even Tang Xiao was deeply worried.
From the look of things, it was obvious that his younger brother Tang Hao was planning to go to the wedding too.
But with Tang Hao in this state…
How could they possibly feel at ease bringing him along?
After some discussion, Tang Zhen and Tang Xiao made a decision.
Tang Hao absolutely could not be allowed to go with them!
But simply saying no wouldn't work. After all, Tang Hao had legs—if he insisted on going, no one could stop him.
There was only one solution left:
They had to knock Tang Hao out before departure.
Then lock him in a secret chamber with Xuan Iron chains so he couldn't escape.
…
Time flew by, and there were only fifteen days left before Qian Xunji and Ah Yin's wedding.
Because the Clear Sky Sect was quite far from Spirit City, and Tang Zhen couldn't fly while bringing Tang Xiao along…
They had to take their time traveling by land to maintain the dignity of an Upper Three Sect.
Thus, they needed to set out fifteen days early.
That evening, in the martial spirit mimicry training grounds of the Clear Sky Sect, Tang Hao was once again madly training like a lunatic.
Around dinner time, Tang Xiao personally brought him food.
"Ah Hao, take a break and eat something first."
Tang Xiao remained expressionless, sighing like always as he handed over the tampered meal box to Tang Hao.
Tang Hao, completely drained from days of sleepless, unwashed, nonstop training, accepted it without a second thought.
Now disheveled, filthy, and reeking of sweat, his eyes were bloodshot with barely an hour of sleep a day.
Opening the box, he devoured the food like a starving beast.
But just as he finished eating, before he could return to training, everything started spinning—his vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Brother Hao, I'm sorry!"
"For the sake of the family and the sect, you'll just have to endure this for now."
Sighing, Tang Xiao hoisted Tang Hao onto his shoulder and carried him to Tang Zhen's residence.
In the study, after triggering a hidden mechanism…
A bookshelf full of books rumbled and slid open, revealing a dark, sloping tunnel that led underground.
Carrying the unconscious Tang Hao, Tang Xiao followed Tang Zhen into the pitch-black secret chamber.
The chamber was quite large overall.
A narrow corridor, lit by rows of torches on either side, led to multiple cramped and dimly-lit stone cells.
After picking a cell for Tang Hao…
Tang Xiao, under Tang Zhen's direction, laid him on a stone bed.
Then, they shackled Tang Hao's wrists and ankles with four extremely sturdy Xuan Iron chains.
Each chain had been precisely measured—Tang Hao could only lie down, barely able to sit up.
Even if he summoned the Clear Sky Hammer, there was no way he could break the chains or the stone bed with his own strength.
Escape was essentially impossible.
"Father, now that we've thrown Brother Hao down here… who's going to bring him food?"
Looking at Tang Hao on the stone bed, Tang Xiao still felt conflicted and couldn't help asking.
"If word of this gets out, it'll cause trouble."
"Don't worry. I've already told Yuehua to come back once a day and bring food to this brat."
Tang Zhen stroked his long beard, snorting coldly.
"One meal a day won't starve him. And keeping him hungry will lower the chances of him breaking out."
"Since you've got it all arranged, Father, I feel better."
Hearing that his younger sister Tang Yuehua would be handling the food delivery, Tang Xiao finally relaxed.
"Then, Father, we should set out for Spirit City tomorrow."
…
Time passed quickly.
Now, only a few days remained until Qian Xunji and Ah Yin's wedding.
Guests from major powers across the continent were already arriving in Spirit City one after another.
At this time, the city was decked out in red.
From the city walls, to the streets, to every building, red silk banners and lanterns hung everywhere, with red carpets rolled out across the ground.
The entire city was alive with festive joy.
And not just the city itself.
Even the soul masters within Spirit City were full of happiness and heartfelt blessings for the Pope's upcoming wedding.
However, inside a certain tavern…
There sat one figure who was completely out of sync with this joyful atmosphere.
Alone, they downed drink after drink, sorrow and heartache written all over their face, drowning themselves in alcohol.