TSFLIP Chapter 220

Xue Ran sat with Feng Guang for a long time before the corpse of the Summer Lord, staying there for hours. What began as sobbing eventually turned into quiet sniffles, and then, an eerie calm overtook her.

Her head rested on his chest as she murmured, “Xue Ran, I want to bury him properly.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of it,” Xue Ran’s hand gently caressed her back. Even though she had stopped crying, he still felt she was frighteningly fragile.

He hired people, as Feng Guang had requested, to bury the body in the back mountains of Zhe Jian Lou. Those who were paid didn’t ask questions; in the world of martial arts, there were countless blood feuds, and the government was as good as nonexistent.

Feng Guang coldly watched as one body after another was placed in coffins and buried in the earth. In a detached voice, she asked, “Xue Ran, tell me honestly, what’s the deal with the poison I was given?”

Xue Ran paused for a moment, and after a heavy sigh, he said, “The poison was from Lord Xia. He wrote to me asking for protection for you for a month and a cure for the poison, but that was just an excuse to keep you from suspecting anything.”

She wasn’t surprised by this answer. Before learning of Zhe Jian Lou’s troubles, she had thought it was Guan Yueyue who had poisoned her, causing the red marks on her face that wouldn’t fade. Even when Guan Yueyue claimed the poison would only last for three days, Feng Guang didn’t believe it. She should have realized something was off when they entered the Gu Ren Valley… but at the time, she had been too confident in her understanding of the plot.

Xue Ran took her hand. “I know it hurts… but this isn’t your fault. The real culprit is the demonic sect. Don’t blame yourself anymore.”

“Can you understand…” She choked back a sob, “What it feel like when everyone around you is dead, and you’re the only one left?”

“I understand.” His eyes darkened, and in the depths of his gaze, hidden stories no one would ever know lingered. He softly brushed her cheek with his cold hand, his usual gentle voice soothing her. “Even if everyone else is gone, I will always be by your side.”

“Xue Ran…” She collapsed into his arms, not seeing the look in his eyes that was so intense it might have been frightening.

It was… just too gentle.

The fall of Zhe Jian Lou and the loss of her father meant that Feng Guang was no longer the bold, carefree young lady she once was. Dressed in white, she stood in the courtyard, staring at the lifeless Zhe Jian Lou. The lively scenes of the past were gone, leaving only her—alone in the world, burdened with a sense of guilt.

Because of the mourning period, she had exchanged her favorite red clothing for plain white, a stark contrast to the flamboyance she once embraced. It was as if the wind could knock her over with how fragile she appeared.

Xue Ran disliked seeing her this lifeless. He embraced her from behind, his head resting next to hers as he softly whispered, “Come back to Gu Ren Valley with me, please?”

“Gu Ren Valley…” She murmured.

“It might be quieter than the outside world, but I’ll do everything I can to make you happy. Feng Guang, I want to take care of you. Qing Yu… he needs a teacher’s wife too.”

Though it was exactly what she had hoped to hear, hearing it now didn’t bring her joy. She frowned, wondering if the fall of Zhe Jian Lou and her father’s death were merely part of a larger plan to push her toward her ultimate mission.

She stayed silent for a long time, which made Xue Ran uneasy. “Feng Guang… don’t you want to?”

“No…” She turned to him, offering a smile. “I want to.”

The system’s voice chimed: “Mission successful, timeline pushed forward by eighty years. Host, prepare to leave this world…”

For others, the passing of eighty years would feel like a long time, but for her, it was merely the blink of an eye. In every world, she lived an entire lifetime in a flash.

However, this time, she told the system in her mind, “I refuse to leave this world.”

Since the communication was only in her mind, Xue Ran couldn’t hear their conversation.

“Host, this mission has earned eleven points,” the system’s voice, unexpectedly tinged with an unfamiliar emotion, echoed in her mind.

With the world’s points and her own 89 points, she could finally go home.

Feng Guang’s voice was calm, “I will leave this world, just not yet.”

How could she… just let the murderer go free?