TSFLIP Chapter 245

“So that’s how it is,” he murmured, his hand wrapping gently around the hand of the slumbering girl resting on her chest. His voice was soft as he whispered, “If you were still here, you’d ask me to help him, wouldn’t you?”

Before his eyes, it was as though he could see her smiling and nodding at him. After all, long ago, she had adored Qingyu like a child.

He sighed deeply. After pressing a kiss to her cold lips, he reached into her clasped hands and retrieved a translucent, crystalline pearl. As his sigh lingered, her body dissolved into a pile of bones in the blink of an eye.

Beauty to white bones, gone in an instant.

Xiaoxiao stood abruptly, covering her mouth as she let out a small scream.

He said calmly, “Didn’t you come here for the Ice Crystal Fruit?”

Xiaoxiao stared at the fruit he extended toward her, hesitant to take it. Guilt filled her voice as she said, “I never wanted it to happen like this…”

“You must understand, there is no gain without sacrifice.” There is always loss in gain—this truth he had learned sixteen years ago. A faint smile played on his lips as he added, “Someone is waiting for you at the foot of the mountain.”

Xiaoxiao was momentarily confused but quickly realized who he was referring to. Her earlier excitement faded, replaced by a somber tone. “What about you?”

“I will be as I should be,” he replied with an ease that showed his acceptance, his expression serene.

Finally, Xiaoxiao accepted the Ice Crystal Fruit, clutching it tightly in her hands. “Uncle… I’ll come visit you again.”

He did not look at her, his calm gaze fixed instead on the red-clad skeleton. “You should go.”

Turning reluctantly, Xiaoxiao began to walk out of the ice cave. At the entrance, she couldn’t resist looking back one last time. But all she could hear was the whispering wind-carrying snowflakes—no other sound.

With a strange, inexplicable heaviness in her heart, she pulled her collar closer and began descending the mountain. Near the base of the mountain, someone had been waiting for her for a long time. The man stood tall and graceful, his dark robe understated yet exuding an air of quiet elegance. Even in the icy snowfields, his refined aura stood out. It was as if an invisible wall surrounded him, keeping others at bay.

But when the girl dashed forward and threw herself into his arms, that wall crumbled.

Xiaoxiao brushed the snow off his shoulders and scolded him gently, “Your health isn’t good. Why did you come all the way here?”

“If you hadn’t run away from home, I wouldn’t have had to come after you.” Beneath his long, slightly curled lashes, his eyes held deep exasperation. “Xiaoxiao, I’ve told you—you’re grown now. You shouldn’t cling to me like this anymore.”

As soon as Qingyu tried to push her away, she clung to him again. “It’s cold here. Hugging you is warmer.”

“Xiaoxiao…”

“Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao! You keep calling me that, but you never smile at me.” She pouted and stretched out her hand as though asking for praise. “Look what I got!”

Qingyu froze for a moment before his expression darkened. “He gave it to you.”

“Qingyu, do you know that white-robed uncle?” she asked, puzzled.

After a pause, he placed a hand on her head and replied, “No, I don’t.”

“Oh…” Xiaoxiao didn’t doubt him but soon looked dejected again.

“What’s wrong?” Qingyu asked.

“I just… seeing how much he loved his wife made me think… If only you could love me like that, then even if I died…”

“Stop talking nonsense!” Qingyu grabbed her wrist, his voice low and commanding.

She had never seen him so angry and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of fear. “Qing… Qingyu, you’re scaring me…”

It looked as though she was about to cry. Normally, Qingyu would give in unconditionally the moment she shed tears, but this time he didn’t. Instead, he pulled her tightly into his arms. Lowering his voice, he said firmly, “Xiaoxiao, listen to me. I will never treat you the way he treated her.”

“Why not?” she asked, her face filled with hurt. “Don’t you love me?”

Because he would rather hurt himself than ever walk the path that led to her destruction.

Qingyu hated seeing her on the verge of tears. Bowing his head, he couldn’t help but kiss her lips. Even though the intimacy made him want more, he whispered gently, “You’ll live a long life, Xiaoxiao. We’ll never be like them.”

“Mm…” Her face flushed, her mind swirling with happiness. She was too dazed to think clearly. Whatever he said, she would accept.

Qingyu smiled faintly. “Let’s go home.”

She nodded obediently. “Okay.”

Hand in hand, they walked across the frozen expanse, leaving a trail of footprints in the snow that were soon covered by the wind and falling snow.

Not long after they left, a deafening sound shook the air. Amid the endless snowstorm, the towering mountain crumbled. The howling wind resembled a sorrowful cry, and in the blink of an eye, everything was buried under the snow.

The snow in the Northern Region seemed to fall even heavier.

In the best hospital in City A, a busy scene unfolded inside a private ward. After what felt like an eternity, the heart monitor finally displayed a stable rhythm, and the medical staff collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

As the others gradually left the room, only two people remained. The middle-aged man couldn’t contain himself any longer and grabbed the younger man by his collar, shouting in anger, “I told you your method wouldn’t work!”

The thin man slowly pried the hands off his collar. He was dressed in a white doctor’s coat over a shirt and calmly straightened his rumpled collar. “She’ll be fine.”

His composed demeanor only stoked the other man’s fury. “My daughter almost died!”

“I won’t let her die,” the man replied in a soft, refined tone, a faint, charming smile gracing his lips. But in his eyes—hidden from anyone’s view—a cold glint surfaced. He hadn’t had enough of her yet. How could he possibly let her die?