Snake Lance Douluo was about to continue persuading her, but when he saw the cold glint in Qian Renxue's eyes, he wisely shut his mouth and did not speak further.
However, that Soul Emperor clearly did not understand Qian Renxue as well. Only now did he roughly realize what she intended to do.
With a serious expression, he said, "Young Mistress, how can you be so impulsive? If you return to the Spirit Hall like this, how will you explain it to the Pope?"
The moment the word "Pope" was mentioned, Qian Renxue's expression turned even colder.
Her figure flashed, and in an instant she appeared in front of him.
She pointed out with her fingers like a sword, the movement swift as lightning. Before he could even react, her fingertips were already less than an inch from his throat.
Killing intent surged in Qian Renxue's eyes, yet the corner of her lips curved into a faint smile."Have I been too easy to talk to lately?"
"..."
Cold sweat streamed down the man's temples. Bone-chilling killing intent surged toward him like an overwhelming tide.
The peerlessly beautiful face of the Young Mistress before his eyes seemed to fade away, leaving only the speck of crimson in her eyes, magnifying endlessly.
"Young Mistress!" Snake Lance Douluo shouted urgently.
He did not dare to step in to stop her, only watching Qian Renxue anxiously, afraid she might do something irreparable.
If it were merely the failure of the infiltration mission and a withdrawal, they would inevitably face criticism from Bibi Dong and others later, but with the backing of the Hall of Elders, it would not be a serious issue.
But if she truly killed a Spirit Hall soul master, and the Pope's Palace discovered it, things would escalate drastically.
Unlike that Soul Emperor, who belonged to the Spirit Hall, Snake Lance had always been a die-hard supporter of Qian Renxue's faction and naturally did not want such a thing to happen.
At the same time, he could clearly sense that although Qian Renxue appeared calm on the surface, her heart was already in turmoil—killing intent, rage, resentment, and all kinds of negative emotions were rapidly swelling.
At such a moment, only words could possibly help her calm down on her own.
If he rashly intervened, it would only add fuel to the fire and further enrage her.
She really would kill someone!
At the same time, he understood that Qian Renxue's mind was already made up—there was no way to shake her decision now.
After hearing Snake Lance's shout, Qian Renxue glanced at him, then looked back at the man in front of her without saying a word.
The Soul Emperor's Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he spoke with difficulty, "Young Mistress… I understand."
Only then did Qian Renxue withdraw her gaze, turn around indifferently, and leave the study.
Soon after, Xue Qinghe's masculine voice sounded from outside the study.
"Uncle She, immediately pass down the order. Notify all Spirit Hall personnel to withdraw from Tian Dou City within three days. The three of us will head to the Sunset Forest!"
Half a day later, Qian Renxue, Snake Lance Douluo, and Porcupinefish Douluo had already traveled nearly forty li outside Tian Dou City. This area was no longer far from the Sunset Forest.
Even now, Porcupinefish Douluo was still somewhat confused. He only knew the general outline of the situation, but not the specific details.
Meanwhile, his old partner Snake Lance wore a deliberately inscrutable expression, occasionally sending him looks he couldn't quite understand, making him feel inexplicably baffled.
"Uncle She, you stay here and keep watch on the movements of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, in case anything unexpected happens," Qian Renxue said.
Their current location was about ten li from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, right between the Sunset Forest and the sect.
Hearing this, Snake Lance Douluo secretly let out a sigh of relief.
With one Titled Douluo and Qian Renxue—whose true strength far exceeded her cultivation level—this mission was more than sufficient to deal with Su Cheng and Ning Rongrong.
Since the Young Mistress still remembered to guard against Chen Xin and Gu Rong, it meant she had already calmed down and regained her rationality, rather than acting blindly.
Seeing Snake Lance nod, Qian Renxue turned to Porcupinefish Douluo and said in a deep voice, "Uncle Cixue, you'll continue the pursuit with me."
At the same time, Su Cheng and Ning Rongrong had already entered the outskirts of the Sunset Forest. There was still some distance to go before reaching the meeting point they had agreed upon with Dugu Bo.
Su Cheng was quietly thinking about how Qian Renxue would respond.
The timing of the letter he sent had actually been perfect.
Unlike before, when Qian Renxue's foundation was still solid and she enjoyed the deep trust of Emperor Xue Ye, even sudden changes could be handled with ease.
But now, with shifts in the empire's core power structure, Qian Renxue was already struggling to manage things on her end. Exposing the truth at this moment was very likely to catch her completely off guard.
If she responded blindly, it would instead make it easier for her to reveal flaws.
Given how things had developed, the best possible outcome would naturally be for Qian Renxue to realize that her identity had been exposed and, seeing that the situation was untenable, decisively withdraw from the quagmire of the Tian Dou Empire.
However, the sunk costs she had invested in Tian Dou over the years were far too great. It would be difficult for her to make such a decision lightly.
After more than ten years of infiltration and management, even knowing that it might take several more decades of effort to complete the usurpation, unless there was absolutely no hope, someone with Qian Renxue's temperament would almost certainly still try her best to push forward.
Coupled with directives from the Spirit Hall, as well as her long-standing desire to prove herself to Bibi Dong and the subtle emotions tied to that, her inclination to continue doubling down might even be amplified.
That said, even if Qian Renxue was unwilling to give up in the short term, she would inevitably find herself in a dilemma and behave much more cautiously.
With that as a foundation, Prince Xue Xing and the others would gain sufficient initiative.
After a few more days, once the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect also entered the fray, the overall situation would essentially be settled. And with that letter laid as groundwork, Qian Renxue would naturally raise her guard and would not place herself in danger.
As for the possibility that his own existence might be detected behind all this, Su Cheng barely considered it.
After discovering that the situations involving Qian Renxue and Xue Beng differed from his original expectations, he had deliberately worked to downplay his own presence. Everything was handled indirectly through Dugu Bo, allowing him to remotely influence matters from behind the scenes.
In the eyes of outsiders, he was merely a genius soul master whose talent and strength far exceeded those of his peers.
If anyone claimed that the political upheaval in Tian Dou's upper echelons had anything to do with him, no one would believe it.
Even Qian Renxue herself, before receiving that letter, had only harbored occasional doubts when the thought crossed her mind.
That was because, during this period, Su Cheng's behavior had been far too well-behaved.
Aside from making a huge splash when he first entered the academy and being directly promoted into the Imperial Team, he had thereafter completely ignored worldly affairs and focused solely on cultivation.
Even his first meeting with Dugu Bo had ended on bad terms, and afterward, there was rarely any visible contact between them in public.
Even in Yu Tianheng's eyes, the two were nothing more than parties to a transaction. And Yu Tianheng himself harbored fear toward Dugu Bo, making it impossible for him to imagine that someone younger than himself, like Su Cheng, could establish a connection with an extremely reclusive Titled Douluo like Dugu Bo.
Moreover, when Su Cheng sent that letter to Qian Renxue, out of caution, both the wording and handwriting were deliberately made vastly different from his usual style.
No matter how one looked at it, there was no way to associate it with him.
........................
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