Chapter 198.2 - I Missed

198.2 – I Missed

As if her chest was hit by a heavy fist, Xue Qilin couldn’t help but hold her breath. The pain in her heart makes it so she cannot respond.

— she is not Little Qing!

Suddenly, a voice shouted loudly in Xue Qilin’s head.

It was a cry of cowardice.

If you listen to this voice, you will be able to ease your pain.

Deep down, however, Xue Qilin has a faint feeling that if she retreats here, she will lose the lass before her forever.

By missing this opportunity, the chance to touch the heart will be lost. Once the chance slips away from the palm of the hand, it may never return to your hand. In this way, the destination waiting quietly for her will be “lost”.

This is the only thing she cannot permit to happen, because she regards important people as an integral part of her self, an important element of her “ego”.

Well, for Xue Qilin, nothing can damage her ego more than “losing” her self.

Furthermore —

How can I turn a blind eye to the true thoughts deep in your eyes? Idiot Little Qing. Xue Qilin sighed bitterly.

As if all the gloominess inside her dissipated with this sigh, Xue Qilin patted her face and reinvigorated her spirit.

Perhaps because of this, she saw Gong Tianqing stare at her blankly, a sad expression on her face that conveys — “I already made myself clear, so why haven’t you left yet?”.

This expression is reason enough — is reason enough for Xue Qilin to lend a helping hand in this pitfall.

“Fool, just because you tell me to leave, I have to leave, just because you tell me to not care, I have not to care? Wouldn’t that be shameful of me?”

Although the wording is slightly frivolous, but the smile on Xue Qilin’s face is brimming with tenderness and brilliance.

At this moment, huge tears slid down a cute, delicate face.

Gong Tianqing shed tears.

She bit her lower lip so as not to sob, yet she couldn’t stop her tears.

“Whether it is Big Sister Temple Master or Young Ancestor, you are so kind…”

This whisper of Gong Tianqing has the effect of evoking affection.

“It’s because we like you.”

Xue Qilin came up to her, bent down, and held her gently.

The delicate body in her arms is slightly cold and stiff, yet it still gives off warmth and softness. Gong Tianqing is still alive. This is already enough for Xue Qilin to feel relieved.

“If you wake up in the middle of the night, I will be by your side; if you cry, I will give you a hug; if you feel dejected, I will console you in a soft voice. No matter when, no matter where, as long as you “need”, I will do anything to get to you.”

Xue Qilin took a deep breath and made a firm declaration, “This is my promise to you.”

As long as someone is lodged deep in her heart, Xue Qilin is ready to do everything in her power to give them happiness.

She is selfish and has limited capability, and thus can only safeguard the people around her. Because of this, she will do her utmost to protect them.

“So tell me, okay?”

Xue Qilin raised Gong Tianqing’s face and gently wiped the tears way from the corners of her eyes.

“What made our adorable Little Qing so callous that she doesn’t won’t me to come see her?”

Faced with the warm, penetrating gaze, Gong Tianqing lowered her head and finally started speaking slowly.

“My brother…”

Probably hesitating, Gong Tianqing suddenly closed her mouth.

“Your brother?”

“He… my family needs me.”

“Why does he need you?”

Gong Tianqing, who doesn’t seem to want to speak of the reason, just shook her head.

It looks like I’m very close to the answer — Xue Qilin thought.

It is said that Little Qing’s brother is seriously ill. Did he ask his grandfather to call her back because he misses his sister? However, if this is the case, then why was Little Qing deliberately hidden, why did she refuse to meet me and Little Seven? Xue Qilin feels that something smell fishy, but the current information at her disposal is too little to understand the whole picture.

“Little Qing, is it that you can’t tell me –“

Xue Qilin tried to ask, yet she didn’t get what she wanted.

Because she sensed a faint smell of blood.

Where does it come from? Xue Qilin frowned and twitched her nose.

The suddenly interrupted question surprised Gong Tianqing. In front of her eyes, Xue Qilin, as if a cat smelling food, squinted and looked around.

“Young, Young Ancestor?”

Feeling uneasy, Gong Tianqing finally reverted to her usual self that flinches easily.

However, Xue Qilin has no time to feel happy about this. The smell of blood has taken hold of her attention.

Her eyes finally focused on Gong Tianqing’s right arm.

Gong Tianqing suddenly froze. In the next moment, she twisted her body desperately and broke away from Xue Qilin’s embrace.

“Don’t!”

Hiding her right arm behind her, Gong Tianqing retreated slowly and refused strongly.

Xue Qilin suddenly fell silent, and her eyes flashed with uncertainty. She stood still as if rooted to the ground.

While staying in endless darkness, if a hole that you don’t know whether it is the exit or the abyss appeared before you, you would probably make the same expression Xue Qilin is making right now.

However, if the truth is hidden in the hole, then even if it is the abyss, Xue Qilin will jump in without hesitation.

Therefore, she took a light step.

With just this step, she came to Gong Tianqing’s back and grasped her hand.

“No!”

No matter how intensely Gong Tianqing protested, she couldn’t stop Xue Qilin’s following action.

Even though the difference in size between them is not large, but based on the difference in realm, the disparity in power between them is huge. No matter how hard Gong Tianqing struggled, Xue Qilin remained still.

As if a criminal whose crimes are about to be announce, fear, unease, and panic appeared on Gong Tianqing’s face. No matter how she begged and struggled, Xue Qilin didn’t falter at all.

Without saying a word, Xue Qilin practically heartlessly pulled up Gong Tianqing’s sleeve. However, neither Gong Tianqing nor Xue Qilin herself realized that Xue Qilin’s hands were shaking at the time.

When the secret hidden under the sleeve was finally revealed, Xue Qilin held her breath… not out of anger, not out of surprise, but out of pure disbelief.

As if she fell naked into an ice cave, Xue Qilin trembled.

“This… what’s going on?”

Gong Tianqing’s arm is covered with a blood-stained white cloth. There are new and old bloodstains. Clearly, she has been sustaining some kind of injuries.

The moment she understood this, rage engulfed her. Xue Qilin almost frantically tore off the white cloth, revealing the darkness that tightly bound Gong Tianqing.