"You..."
Liuli opened her mouth, yet she had no idea what to say.
After a long while, a tear slid from the corner of her eye.
The Young Girl froze for a moment, then hurriedly raised a hand to wipe it away.
But the moment her fingertips touched her cheek, another tear fell, followed by a third, a fourth... The more she wiped, the more tears came, impossible to wipe clean.
"I-I wasn't..."
She wanted to say that she had not meant to cry, but the words caught in her throat.
Her vision blurred with tears. She could not see Xiao Yan's face clearly, only feel herself gently gathered into a pair of strong arms, enveloped by that warm embrace.
Xiao Yan said nothing. He merely held her a little tighter, one hand softly stroking her back, again and again, gentle and slow.
"Wuu..."
Liuli finally could not hold back any longer. She buried her face in his chest and began to sob.
The words she had bottled up in her heart for far, far too long, the secrets she had thought could never be spoken aloud, now poured out like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
"Xiao Yan, do you know? From the very first day I came to this world, I knew who you were. I knew you would become the Flame Emperor in the future, and I knew what you would go through..."
"But I couldn't say anything. I was afraid that saying it would change the plot. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to become a Dou Di."
"I'm sorry. I'm really selfish. I clearly knew so much, yet I could only watch you risk your life. I could only watch your father and the Xiao Family... I didn't mean to hide it from you. I