TSFLIP Chapter 428

“Xiaoxiao, you truly are my child…” Fengguang said, overwhelmed with emotion, and hugged the little girl tightly. “When I left, you were so small… I was so reluctant to leave…”

“You… you’re really my mother?” Xiaoxiao suddenly choked up. “Then why didn’t you come see me all this time? Daddy doesn’t care about me. Do you not like me too?”

“No… I have my reasons,” Fengguang replied gently. “Xiaoxiao, trust me. I never wanted to leave you and your father. I’ll explain everything to you in time. But now, can you tell me about your father’s situation?”

Xiaoxiao stared at her for a long while, but looking into Fengguang’s eyes, she saw no deceit or lies. In the past, Fengguang would look at her with affection, but now, that affection had only deepened, filled with the tenderness a mother would have for her daughter.

Perhaps it was the natural bond of blood, and Xiaoxiao decided to believe her.

“Daddy… he…” Xiaoxiao lay her head on Fengguang’s shoulder, sobbing as she spoke. “He’s been ignoring me more and more lately. He stays in his room and doesn’t come out, and he doesn’t let anyone in. I thought Daddy didn’t want to see me anymore, so… so I thought I should go find my mother and bring you back. That way, Daddy will be happier and won’t stay locked up in his room.”

The child’s innocent words made Fengguang’s heart soften like a pool of water. “Now that Xiaoxiao has found her mother, do you think we can go see your father together?”

“You’ll come back with me, Mother?” Xiaoxiao lifted her head, looking delighted. She had thought that since her mother had been gone for so long, she wouldn’t want to leave again.

Fengguang kissed her cheek. “Wherever you are, I’ll be too. Let’s go together and see your father. I’ll ask him to come out of his room and play with Xiaoxiao. How about that?”

“Okay!” Xiaoxiao smiled sweetly, immediately shaking the bell at her waist. The bell rang, and all the snacks she’d been collecting inside spilled out onto the ground. Among the pile of treats, she picked out a small brown wooden token. “Mother, this is my homecoming token. The gatekeeper ghost uncle said that if I show this token, he will open the gate and let me in.”

Fengguang looked uncertain. “The gate… will open to let you in?”

“Yes, this is what I agreed on with Uncle Ghost,” Xiaoxiao said, not understanding why her mother seemed so confused. She held the token up to her face and shook it. “Uncle Ghosts, Xiaoxiao found her mother! Please open the gate and let me come back!”

As the child spoke with such innocence, a sudden shift in the air occurred. From the spot where Fengguang and Xiaoxiao were standing, a circle of black mist began to form beneath their feet. A large red door slowly opened within the dark fog. As the wind swirled, two skeletal hands reached out—one grabbed Fengguang’s foot, the other grabbed Xiaoxiao’s. They were both pulled into the mist.

In an instant, the door slammed shut, and everything returned to normal.

Who could have imagined that the Ghost Gate, which was said to open once every seven hundred years, would open just because of a little girl’s words?

Shang Baizi closed his gaping mouth and turned to his master, Xuanqingzi, who had been napping. “Master… my junior sister and your disciple just fell into the Ghost Realm. Don’t you think you should show some concern?”

“Mmm…” Xuanqingzi lazily opened his eyes and murmured.

Just when Shang Baizi thought his master might be reliable, he heard him say, “It’s time for my nap.”