TSFLIP Chapter 836

Xiaoxiao had laughed lightly. “What kind of price do you want me to pay?”

“Since you’re Young Master’s daughter, I can give you an easier condition,” Qi Yuan replied. “If you can land even a single touch on me, I’ll give you the mask.”
He set that condition for one reason only—because he knew Xiaoxiao, though skilled, had a straightforward mind that never turned corners. For her to touch him, a seasoned veteran of the martial world, was nearly impossible.

But Qi Yuan miscalculated. He never imagined her “attack” would come in such an unexpected way.

Xiaoxiao simply smiled, then leapt up and planted a quick kiss on his lips. Qi Yuan froze on the spot. He had anticipated every possible move—whether she struck low or high, he had simulated her options in his mind. But he had never imagined she would “ambush” him… like that.

She had been thirteen that year.

Now, the glow of dusk fell across Xiaoxiao’s face, making her sleeping features look clean and serene.

Qi Yuan suddenly found himself thinking thoughts he never would have before.
If she woke and learned that he was the one who sent her mother to find her father, she might end up hating him for the rest of her life.

Outside the city, the carriage stopped before a small bamboo house.

“Young Master is inside,” Butler Fu said quietly. “He once instructed me that after his death, I was to use corpse-dissolving powder to destroy his body. That way…”

That way she would give up.
But Butler Fu had disobeyed.

Feng Guang looked at his deeply lined face. She still remembered how, decades ago, he had been one of Zhou Xing’s personal guards. She spoke softly, “Thank you for bringing me here, Yi Fu.”

Butler Fu’s clouded eyes trembled. He hadn’t heard that name in so many years. For a moment, it felt as though he were back in the grand Eastern Palace, serving as the chief guard.

He bowed.
“The path ahead is difficult. Please consider it carefully… Your Highness.”

Feng Guang smiled faintly. Without hesitation, she stepped lightly into the bamboo house.

On the bed, she saw him—lying there with eyes closed, face pale. As if he were only asleep. But there was no breath.

Feng Guang sat at the bedside, gently brushing her fingers across his cold cheek. She sighed.
“How many times has it been now? Facing you like this—cold and still.”

He did not answer.

“On the road back, I remembered so many things,” she murmured. “That happy year we spent in Tong County… the forced calm I showed the first time I heard news of your death… the joy and fear I felt when I carried Xiaoxiao… and the endless cycle we’ve been trapped in—life, death, resurrection.”

“Axing, do you know? When I left Tong County that day, Lord Shu told me to think carefully about the meaning of the name ‘Shu Feng.’ At the time, I never understood. Shu is your surname, Feng is your given name—what meaning could there be? But on the journey back, I finally realized: when written as a surname, ‘Shu’ should be pronounced Zhu. Not Shu Feng… but Zhu Feng—‘Chasing the Wind.’”

She lay down beside him, gently taking his cold hand in hers. “Axing… am I foolish for only understanding now?”

He had built for her a safe, peaceful Summer family… and a calm, happy Tong County. Yet she only understood it all once he was gone.

“You wanted to end this cycle… and I’ll grant that wish,” she whispered. “This curse will end with me.”

Outside, wind rustled through the bamboo forest—soft, like a quiet, lingering song.

She pressed a faint kiss to the corner of his lips.
“Axing… sweet dreams.”

When the dream ends, everything will finally be all right.