Just then, Su Che, who had been silent all this time, suddenly lifted his little face and shouted at Lu Yuan's retreating back, "Big brother, don't bully my sister! She was only trying to protect me!"
His childish voice rang especially clear through the woods.
Lu Yuan stopped, but didn't turn around.
Su Wan'er jumped in fright and hurriedly covered her little brother's mouth. Nervously, she said to Lu Yuan, "Senior, Che doesn't know any better. Please don't take offense!"
She was afraid that if Lu Yuan got annoyed, he would leave the two siblings behind in this desolate wilderness.
The air froze for a few seconds.
Only then did Lu Yuan start walking again. His voice gave no hint of his mood. "Kid, remember this: words alone won't protect anyone. If your sister were really capable, would she need to put on an act in front of me?"
Su Che was taken aback. His little face flushed red, but he couldn't come up with a single word in reply.
Su Wan'er felt a jumble of emotions: shame at being exposed, along with a hint of inexplicable bitterness. She took her brother's hand and silently followed behind, not daring to say another word.
After walking a while longer, the surroundings began to grow strange.
At some point, the mist in the woods had thickened into a white expanse, reducing visibility to less than five meters. The trees' outlines twisted and warped in the fog, like grasping, clawed ghosts.
Stranger still, Su Wan'er seemed to hear a familiar voice calling to her again and again.
"Wan'er... my daughter..."
It was unmistakably the voice of her mother, who had died long ago!
Su Wan'er shuddered and stopped abruptly, staring in disbelief toward the voice.
Deep in the thick fog, a gentle figure