TSFLIP Chapter 425

Fang Yue’s hand paused as he stroked the baby’s cheek. His expression grew dazed and distant as if lost in thought.

Xuanqing spoke softly, “Senior Brother… you will take Xiaoxiao to see the doctor, right?”

The small child didn’t understand why he felt so uncertain. He knew Xiaoxiao was Senior Brother’s child, and of course, Senior Brother would save her—but why… why did he feel so panicked?

After a long, long while, just as Xuanqing’s arms began to ache from holding the baby, Fang Yue finally took Xiaoxiao into his arms.

He held her quietly for a long moment. Then, out of nowhere, he smiled—just like he had a long time ago, back when he still used to smile at his junior brother.

“Of course I’ll take Xiaoxiao to the doctor. Xuanqing… you have to grow up well. Seven hundred years from now, remember to take care of Fengguang for me. I will come back—come back to the Xuan Sect.”

As his final word fell, the wind picked up again, and sunlight poured down through the blood-soaked land. And in the midst of it all, only a five-year-old boy remained.

Everyone he had known—was gone.

“I picked up the Hanyuan Sword and was raised by someone who had once received kindness from the Xuan Sect. The sect’s library still stood. Though my talent couldn’t compare to Senior Brother’s, I trained hard every day. Little by little, I managed to follow in his footsteps. I was the only one who survived that day, and I never told anyone the truth about what happened. Afterward, it took me five hundred years to restore the Xuan Sect to its former glory. And then, after many more decades, I finally found a girl named Fengguang… in the wealthy Xia family in Jiangnan.”

Fengguang froze for a moment. “That person… was me.”

“Exactly.” Xuanqingzi let out a sigh. “Finding you wasn’t easy. I can’t even count how much effort and how many resources it cost me. At the time, I wasn’t sure whether that six-year-old girl was the same person I had met seven hundred years ago. I thought it was just someone with the same name. But you were so gifted… I took you in as my disciple and brought you back to the sect. And as you grew older, your face became exactly like the one in my memory. That’s when I knew—you were the one who had returned from the past.”

That’s why he would often look at her with such heavy eyes—sometimes sighing, sometimes full of wistful sorrow.

“Master…” Fengguang sniffled. Facing the elder who had truly loved and cared for her, her eyes unknowingly turned red. “Do you… do you hate him? After all… he killed so many from the Xuan Sect…”

“Fengguang, do you remember what I told you on your first day here?” Xuanqingzi asked.

Fengguang wiped the corners of her eyes. “That everything in the world has cause and effect… and that we must keep our hearts pure, never defy righteousness, and never do what should not be done.”

Xuanqingzi nodded in approval. “I’m glad you still remember. My master gave in to jealousy and fell into darkness. My senior brothers were consumed by ambition for the position of sect leader. They pushed and pushed… until they forced a man, who once walked the righteous path with a selfless heart, into the path of ghosts. In the end, he was consumed by his power. Fengguang, tell me—was he wrong for killing them, or were those who forced him to kill at fault? Besides, I don’t think you want your master to hate that man either, do you?”

“Master…” Fengguang threw herself into the old man’s embrace, sobbing, “Why… why are you so kind?”

Though disciples often complained in private that Xuanqingzi was too hands-off, in truth, he had a remarkably open heart—so much so that he was no longer quite like an ordinary man. To both Shang Baizi and Fengguang, he was the most respectable elder they could ever hope for.

Thinking of Yimu… and then thinking of Xuanqingzi… Fengguang couldn’t help but feel fortunate that her master was him.