TSFLIP Chapter 835

“Physician Qi.”
It was the first time she had ever called him that—and the first time she’d addressed him so formally.
“Tell me where Axing has gone.”

Xiaoxiao immediately shouted, “Quack doctor, you’re not allowed to tell my mother!”

“Do I need your permission?” Qi Yuan replied coldly, the chill around him deepening.

But Xiaoxiao didn’t back down. Her voice hardened as well.
“Father said no one is allowed to reveal his whereabouts.”

“So the young lady is such an obedient child,” Qi Yuan said with a mocking curl of his lips. “Or rather… compared to letting her father live, she would much rather let her mother live.”

Xiaoxiao pressed her lips together and said nothing. Qi Yuan wasn’t wrong. That was how she felt. If one were to dig down to the truth, she had no real sense of fatherly love toward Zhou Xing. What she felt for him was reverence and fear. In her heart, her mother was far more important. That was perfectly normal to her.

Feng Guang stepped forward, her tone brooking no refusal.
“Qi Yuan, tell me where he is.”

“Mother!” Xiaoxiao protested unhappily.

But in the next instant, a silver needle pierced the side of her neck. Xiaoxiao’s vision blurred; her body went limp. Feng Guang caught her quickly, glaring at Qi Yuan.
“What did you do to her?”

“She was too loud. This will keep things quiet.”
Qi Yuan hesitated for a moment, then walked over and lifted Xiaoxiao from Feng Guang’s arms into his own. The gesture made him feel awkward, but outwardly he remained composed.
“When I was five, Young Master took me in. Everything I know about medicine, he taught me. In my heart, he is no different from a master.”

Which meant that if he had to choose… he would choose to let Feng Guang die.

She hadn’t expected him to explain himself. She stared for a moment, then said, “I understand. You and Xiaoxiao both have your own choices to make.”

“These past years… Young Master tried countless methods,” Qi Yuan continued. “He used medicines, poisons—conducted experiments on himself—all in an attempt to extend his life. But it was all useless. When those sixteen years are up, no one can change the outcome.”
He wasn’t sure why he was saying so much. After a moment, he added quietly,
“You’re the one he wants to protect. If you choose to keep living… no one could blame you.”

Feng Guang cut him off.
“There’s no need for all this. I’m prepared for everything. Just tell me where he is.”

Qi Yuan looked toward Butler Fu, who had been waiting silently at the side.
“Butler Fu. Take her.”

Fu Bo nodded.

Feng Guang took a few steps, then looked back at the unconscious Xiaoxiao. The reluctance in her heart twisted painfully, but she forced herself to sever it. Without turning again, she followed Butler Fu away.

Under the loquat tree, only Qi Yuan and Xiaoxiao remained.

Qi Yuan stood quietly for a long, long time before he suddenly remembered he was still holding someone. He raised a hand and peeled off the human-skin mask from her face, revealing a small, pale countenance made even fairer from years without sunlight. Her delicate features resembled Feng Guang’s by five or six tenths.

Qi Yuan muttered irritably,
“That human-skin mask—you begged it off me, yet you still have the nerve to shout at me?”

The older Xiaoxiao grew, the more she looked like Feng Guang. To avoid arousing suspicion, she had begged Qi Yuan for a mask.

Qi Yuan recalled that night and let out a cold laugh.
“Has the young lady forgotten? To get anything from me… you have to pay a price.”