Blushing

"An inborn condition?"

Hearing Bai Ye's explanation, Qing Yanjing frowned.

"You've never mentioned this before."

It was clear that Aunt Jing, who was usually so poised, gentle, and approachable, was somewhat angry.

In Qing Yanjing's eyes, Bai Ye was practically treating his own life as a joke.

Although she had not been there herself, Ling Xi's description and the children's condition afterward were enough for her to understand just how dangerous the situation had been.

The Great Thousand World was vast; its countless territories were no exaggeration.

In such a great world, all kinds of strange ailments emerged endlessly. Finding a specialized treatment for them was already incredibly difficult. Bai Ye's concealment would only be irresponsible toward himself.

Hearing Qing Yanjing's anger, Ling Xi beside her lowered her head. She secretly looked at Bai Ye's calm face and hurriedly signaled him with her eyes.

Who would have thought that Bai Ye, upon receiving Ling Xi's signal, merely smiled and shook his head? His expression remained as calm as ever.

That calmness even made Qing Yanjing think of the little fellow she had first met.

"Aunt Jing, there's no cure."

Bai Ye recalled the sensation of being frozen. Though a long time had passed, to him, that feeling seemed etched into his mind, replaying over and over.

Pain, extreme cold, devastation.

Whether it was his body or his soul, every memory he had told him that he was about to die.

According to Bing Yu, that feeling would repeat itself throughout the rest of his life. Such pain would accompany him for a lifetime.

It was an illness, yet not an illness.

Throughout the Great Thousand World's history, from the Ancient Era until now, there had been very few people with an Ancestral Vein. Yet no one had ever heard of a way to cure such a thing.

It was heaven's punishment, a curse, something no one was willing to touch.

"How can we know without trying?"

Qing Yanjing had clearly noticed that Bai Ye's state after waking this time was somewhat different. After coming so close to death, something seemed to be missing from the boy's eyes, yet something else had been added.

Qing Yanjing could not say whether such a change was good or bad. But at the very least, as long as Bai Ye was still her child, she had to see this matter through.

"I'll go find you some doctors."

With the connections she had built up in the past, finding a few highly skilled physicians was still within her capabilities.

But the instant she rose to her feet, Bai Ye stood up and caught her hand.

Bai Ye was already six years old now. He was no longer so short that he had to raise his arm above his head just to hold her hand.

Qing Yanjing turned back to look at him. For some reason, tears gradually welled up in her eyes.

She was one of the Great Thousand World's foremost experts. How could she cry so easily?

But, but this was a child she had raised bit by bit by her side. Why did he have to suffer such hardship from birth?

Even now, she would occasionally remember those big ice-blue eyes from when they had first met.

Why did something like this have to happen to such an adorable little fellow?

The moment Bai Ye saw the tears in Qing Yanjing's eyes, the calmness on his face instantly crumbled.

He panicked. It was his first time seeing Aunt Jing cry.

"Aunt Jing, I..."

"Don't say anything. Aunt Jing will go find you a doctor."

Qing Yanjing restrained the emotions in her heart and revealed a dependable smile.

She gently patted the little hand gripping hers and said softly,

"But..."

Bai Ye raised his head and looked at her.

"But isn't Aunt Jing in a hurry to travel?"

Hearing Bai Ye's words, Qing Yanjing froze slightly. She realized that she seemed to have underestimated this clever child all along.

At some point, the little fellow had begun silently paying attention to her.

They were not far from the clan now. If she went searching for treatment, she would inevitably miss the final time to return to the clan.

If that happened, then what meaning would there have been in her leaving that father and son?

There was not much time left until her return to the clan...

The agitated Qing Yanjing had actually forgotten about this.

Yet Qing Yanjing did not hesitate for long. Memories from the past three years flashed through her mind.

She smiled faintly at Bai Ye. "It's fine. There's still time."

Bai Ye froze. Qing Yanjing easily pulled free from his grasp. As he watched her back walk out of the room after saying those words, his nose inexplicably stung.

He really, really wanted to cry.

Though he did not know the exact circumstances, after three years, combining the stories Qing Yanjing had told with the expressions she involuntarily revealed when she was alone, he could roughly piece together some of the truth.

And precisely because he understood, he knew all too well the weight contained in Qing Yanjing's decision.

"Are you going to cry? You can borrow my shoulder."

Ling Xi's indifferent voice came from beside him. Bai Ye turned around to see that the girl had already stood up. She looked at him calmly and joked.

Though Ling Xi looked the same whether she was joking or not.

"Sure."

To Ling Xi's surprise, Bai Ye actually nodded and agreed.

"I'm so sad. Ling Xi Sister, hurry and let me lean on you."

As he spoke, Bai Ye turned toward her and put on a sorrowful expression.

"In your dreams."

Ling Xi hurriedly retreated two steps, putting some distance between them.

That previous hug was still vivid in her mind. Whenever she thought of it, she would instinctively avoid dwelling on the memory. It had to be because she had been standing too close to this guy.

Mm, so she definitely had to keep her distance from him from now on.

But why did that thought make her somewhat unwilling instead?

Sure enough, it was all this guy's fault.

Ling Xi nodded to herself, her face remaining perfectly composed as she looked at Bai Ye.

Bai Ye smiled faintly and said nothing.

Though he had lost consciousness for a while earlier, by some coincidence, every single thing Ling Xi had done for him was still etched in his mind.

He quietly watched the girl before him.

Then he shook his head.

He had no idea what this emotion filling his chest, unable to find release, was. Over the years, he had learned many things, but there were still many things he did not understand.

He still had room to improve.

A faint breeze blew into the room, carrying the scent of seawater and sand. It cleared one's mind in an instant. Bai Ye closed his eyes and sat upright on the bed, feeling the long-lost coolness amid the scorching summer.

Long-lost?

Uh, hadn't he just been thoroughly "cooled off" not long ago?

Forget it. Why think about that? Things were fine as they were now.

With that thought, Bai Ye's mind slowly sank, his body relaxed, and he actually fell asleep again.

Ling Xi sat beside the bed, quietly looking at that handsome face, which was already beginning to take shape.

Without realizing it, she could not take her eyes off him.

Slowly, for some reason, a faint blush crept across Ling Xi's pretty face...

She was utterly adorable.

"Where is this?"

Bai Ye looked at the white world before him, his gaze calm.

Again, this endless expanse of white. Again, this familiar place.

But this time, there was no chill invading him, nor the pain of having his soul frozen.

There was no one here. As far as the eye could see, there was only endless whiteness.

Bai Ye did not foolishly stand there and wait. Instead, he walked forward step by step.

There was no sun here, no moon, no sky, no mountains—only ice and snow covering the ground.

It was bright here, bright enough for Bai Ye to clearly see every bit of scenery around him.

But what difference did seeing it make?

It was all the same color anyway.

Bai Ye did not think about anything. He did not contemplate anything.

At a time like this, simply moving forward without a care was the perfect answer.

This time, he felt no loss of strength, nor any exhaustion of his mind. For a moment, it even made him think this was a dream.

The two experiences before and after were completely different.

But even if it was a dream, he had no way to wake up just like that.

So he could only keep moving forward, forward, forward.

He did not know where his destination was, nor did he know what lay at the end of the snowy plain.

But he knew that as long as he kept moving forward, he would surely see the truth.