Thoughtful...

As it was already late at night, Lu Feng did not make a sound to disturb the Bottle Spirit Sect disciples. He wheeled himself over to the table in the room and drank some sobering tea.

His gaze swept around the room.

Si Kongtong's room was very simple, yet within that simplicity lingered a touch of warmth.

Most of the furniture was made from materials such as Hongyang Wood and Rosewood Peach Wood, all of which contained a considerable aura of Sun Essence and could ward off evil, dispel calamity, and block baleful intent.

Using such wood to make furnishings was fairly common among forces specializing in the Tomb Realm. Lu Feng had heard of it before.

He made his way to a wooden rack. Each little compartment upon it held a different handcrafted ceramic item, with a small wooden plaque beneath every piece detailing its origins.

Through those plaques, Lu Feng learned that the twenty or thirty objects of varying sizes on the rack had all come from Tomb Realms and treasure vaults Si Kongtong had personally experienced.

Some had been led by her father or elders, while others had been explored by herself alone.

Each time she survived a place, she would return and privately mold an imitation of it to place in her room, reminding herself of the dangers she had faced, as well as the oversights and shortcomings she had encountered.

These were her most precious treasures, bearing witness to the experiences of her life.

Yet the compartment belonging to Sword Obsessed Doubtful Tomb held no imitation at all. There was only an exquisite nanmu Brocade Box.

The wooden plaque bore only eight elegant characters.

"Lost to it, fated;" "Gained from it, my fortune."

Lu Feng murmured the words, and for some unknown reason, an indescribable bitterness and ache rose within him at those eight characters.

As though he had missed something immensely important.

Out of respect, Lu Feng did not pry into what was stored within the Brocade Box.

He assumed it was also something Si Kongtong treasured most dearly.

His eyes inadvertently drifted toward the far-right section of the rack.

Several of the empty compartments there were filled with books, scattered haphazardly in a mess that stood starkly at odds with the neatly arranged items in the other compartments.

Lu Feng leaned closer for a look and found that they were all books concerning cultivation in the Five Elements Realm. Flipping through them, he discovered that every volume had marked out possible methods that might help a Five Elements Pure Body soulmaster break through. Yet at the end of every marked passage were the words: not feasible.

"She..."

The tip of Lu Feng's nose suddenly stung. He abruptly recalled how, within Sword Obsessed Doubtful Tomb, Si Kongtong had taken such notice of his abruptly surging strength.

At the time, Lu Feng had casually fobbed her off by saying it was something similar to a Five Elements Pure Body. He had never expected her to take it so deeply to heart, to search through all manner of information for him and silently devote herself to helping him all along.

And he had known nothing of it.

Beside that pile of books, Lu Feng also saw quite a few intelligence scrolls purchased from Jun Man Restaurant.

Before he could inspect them, he spotted his own name on one of the scrolls.

Clearly, these intelligence scrolls were all about him.

Ever since they had parted in the Eastern Origin Mountain Range, Si Kongtong had silently cared about everything concerning him.

"You've truly put your heart into this..."

A wave of guilt welled up in Lu Feng's heart. He thought that he was the one who had promised her father to take good care of her, yet looking at everything now, it seemed she cared for and concerned herself with him far more than he did with her.

He had not even known that such a huge internal upheaval had occurred in the Bottle Spirit Sect, leaving her to bear so much bitterness alone.

He had truly been negligent in his duty to care for her.

The softest part of Lu Feng's heart had been touched, and he suddenly felt a measure of heartache for Si Kongtong.

Inside Ge Rong's room.

Ge Rong looked at Si Kongtong with a heavy expression. There was regret and reproach in her eyes, but even more than that, loving heartache.

"What have you decided?"

Ge Rong's voice was grave as she reminded her, "Tonight is the best opportunity to tell him everything. Whether for you or the child in your womb, it is the best choice."

"Aunt Rong, I... I haven't thought it through yet."

Si Kongtong lowered her head helplessly and at a loss, her exquisitely graceful face full of sorrow.

She feared that the consequences of revealing everything would be more than she could bear.

She feared Lu Feng did not hold feelings between a man and a woman for her, and that it would become a burden upon him.

She feared even more that Bai Xue would misunderstand her upon learning of it, harming the sisterly bond between them.

"Tong Tong, you can't go on like this!"

Ge Rong earnestly urged her, "You need to think about your future. Do you want your child to be like Xiaoshu, born into this world without a father?"

"Xiaoshu's father was only absent because he was no longer alive..."

"But your child's father is alive and well. He has the right to know that this bloodline exists!"

Si Kongtong stared at the ground, looking so aggrieved that tears seemed ready to fall.

"Aunt Rong... I..."

"I don't know how to begin telling him."

"Back then... I was the one who sealed away his memories."

Ge Rong let out a deep sigh. "If you find it difficult, Aunt Rong will explain it all to him for you!"

"No!" Si Kongtong hurriedly shook her head, so flustered that tears swirled in her eyes.

Her Phoenix Eyes were so pitiful and delicate that the sight of them could break one's heart.

Feeling Si Kongtong's emotions, Ge Rong was also seized by an agonizing pain, as though her heart were being twisted by knives.

The rain in the sky gradually stopped, but the night grew ever deeper and darker, much like the weight pressing upon Si Kongtong's heart at that moment.

The two remained silent for a long while.

Si Kongtong's gaze gradually became firm. As if she had made an enormous decision, she said seriously, "Aunt Rong, after a few days, accompany me to the Snow Region. I want to see Xue Er first."

Ge Rong nodded in agreement. "It would be good to explain things clearly to her first. We stand upright and act upright; we need not fear what others say."

"Mm." Si Kongtong smiled bitterly. "When the time comes, no matter how Xue Er sees me or treats me—whether she insults, curses, or strikes me—I will accept it."

"And him?" Ge Rong glanced through the wooden window toward the room across the water where Lu Feng was staying.

Si Kongtong said in a deep voice, "After we return from the Snow Region this time, I'll find a suitable opportunity to explain everything to him. Whether or not he has feelings between a man and a woman for me, he truly has the right to know of the child's existence."

Ge Rong nodded kindly and instructed, "Go and do what you must. No matter what happens, remember that Aunt Rong will always stand behind you. If he dares question the child in your womb, tell Aunt Rong, and I'll make sure to break both his hands as well."

"Brother Feng isn't that kind of person."

Si Kongtong smiled softly. She still had considerable faith in Lu Feng's character.

That was, in truth, also what worried her. She did not want Lu Feng to come to like her because of this responsibility. She wanted him to shoulder that responsibility because he liked her.

"What about his family? What if they have doubts..."

Ge Rong was still somewhat uneasy.

Si Kongtong shook her head. "If his family has doubts, once the child is born, we can conduct a bloodline verification ritual with him."

In truth, Si Kongtong had another method. Inside the Brocade Box in her room was the intimate cloth that had been laid beneath her at the time. It bore her bloodstains and traces left behind by Lu Feng.

But to her, that was her most precious possession. She did not wish to use it as leverage and tarnish the beauty within her heart.

At that thought.

Si Kongtong suddenly panicked. "He won't discover that Brocade Box after waking up, will he?"

She then hurried out of Ge Rong's room and headed straight for Ge Shu's room at one side.