Time slipped by quietly amid healing, bickering, and Snow Empress's cooking.
Qian Qizhou's injuries had finally healed completely.
Not only that, but perhaps misfortune had brought him good fortune. After being pushed to the brink of life and death several times,
and absorbing some of the energy from the tribulation lightning Snow Empress had faced, his Soul Power Level had unexpectedly surged to level forty-five, and his strength had improved considerably.
That day, he was getting used to his newfound power, maintaining a delicate peace of mutual non-interference with Ice Empress, who was dozing on the sofa not far away.
Guang Ling walked over slowly, his expression complicated. "Xiao Zhou, how are your injuries?"
"They're nothing serious now." Qian Qizhou lowered his hands and replied with a smile.
Suddenly, he realized something was off with Guang Ling's mood.
"Did something happen?"
Guang Ling let out a heavy sigh, his face full of complicated emotions he couldn't put into words.
He didn't answer directly. Instead, he took a letter from his robes and handed it to Qian Qizhou.
"Read it yourself." Guang Ling's voice was low. "After you finish... you might understand."
He paused, then turned to Ice Empress and asked, "Your Excellency, Ice Empress, sorry for the trouble, but could you step out for a while and give Xiao Zhou some privacy?"
Ice Empress raised her head, a clear look of confusion flashing in her eyes.
But she sensed that the gravity in Guang Ling's voice was no ordinary matter. It didn't seem like something trivial.
She hesitated, but in the end, left in displeasure.
Guang Ling watched Ice Empress leave, then went out himself and closed the door behind him.
Left alone in the room, Qian Qizhou stared at the letter in his hand, its paper made of unusual material, his mind full of questions.
"What is this? Why all the secrecy...?"
He took a deep breath and reluctantly opened the envelope, pulling out the letter.
But the moment Qian Qizhou's eyes fell on the writing, he froze.
The letter wasn't long, but its contents crashed into his mind like a series of thunderclaps:
To my son, Qizhou: I hope this letter finds you well.
After you left in a fit of anger that day, I didn't think much of it at first. But as time passed and the hall grew empty, I began to feel the loss of your presence.
After reflecting quietly, I deeply regretted scolding you that day. I also began to wonder whether I had been too cold toward you all along, and whether that was why you...
Some time ago, I intended to capture a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast myself and keep it confined. When you returned, I would give you its Soul Ring and Soul Bone, both to help you cultivate and to express my regret.
I never expected... something to go wrong along the way...
Once I have recovered from my injuries, I will find another suitable Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast for you. I will not break my word.
Qizhou, I was wrong.
It was signed—Father, Qian Xunji.
Qian Xunji?!
Qian Qizhou's hand holding the letter trembled violently. He could hardly believe his eyes.
This letter... had really been written by Qian Xunji?! Before his death?!
The words were filled with an apology unlike anything he'd ever seen from him... an almost humble remorse, self-reflection, and a father's love, cautiously trying to make amends?
This was completely different from the imposing, cold, even overbearing father in his memories...
He had gone after that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast for him?! This...
An overwhelming sense of absurdity and an indescribably bitter, complicated emotion surged through him, sweeping away every thought he'd had before.
He suddenly looked toward the tightly shut door and shouted, "Ling! What's going on?!"
Qian Qizhou clutched the letter tightly, his fingertips turning white with the force.
The Soul Power that had been calm around him surged violently out of control. Purple arcs of lightning crackled in the air, revealing the turmoil within him.
The whole room was filled with a stifling, wild aura of energy.
The door was gently pushed open, and Guang Ling walked in.
He immediately felt the violent fluctuations of Soul Power in the room and saw Qian Qizhou's expression.
His eyes were filled with shock, confusion, and pain.
Guang Ling sighed deeply, his face weighed down by complicated emotions.
"Xiao Zhou... calm down."
He walked slowly up to Qian Qizhou, his gaze falling on the letter. "This letter... was found in a hidden compartment while we were sorting through the Pope's belongings."
"Judging from the ink and its contents, it must have been written not long before he died."
"It seems he'd wanted to write it for a long time, but could never find the right opportunity—or bring himself to do it.
"Not until he decided to go... Perhaps he intended to give it to you after he succeeded, along with the Soul Ring and Soul Bone of that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, as compensation and an apology."
Guang Ling sighed. "Unfortunately, after returning with severe injuries, he wrote this letter, but before he could send it, he..."
He looked at Qian Qizhou's pale face and continued, "I only just received it myself. At first, I wasn't sure whether to give it to you. I was afraid it might unsettle you."
"But... sigh... after thinking it over, I felt you should know."
Those words struck Qian Qizhou's heart like a heavy hammer.
This letter... was real.
It was the repentance Qian Xunji had wanted to express in the final moments of his life, but never managed to say in person?
A wave of indescribable bitterness surged up his throat. Qian Qizhou shut his eyes in pain.
In his mind, his father's once-imposing yet cold face and the clumsy, cautious words in the letter, tinged with a trace of humility, overlapped again and again, until they became a tangled vortex.
Resentment, confusion, a faint but unmistakable stir of emotion, and immense sorrow and regret... emotion after emotion swept over him like a tide, drowning him.
He had once longed so desperately for his father's approval and attention that he'd even left in a fit of anger.
But after losing his father in the most final way possible, he received this belated letter, so full of remorse...
It was unbearably cruel.
Qian Qizhou slowly opened his eyes. They were bloodshot, and he muttered hoarsely, "...Why... didn't you tell me sooner...?"
Why hadn't his father told him sooner? Why had he only found out after everything was beyond saving?
His father was already dead. What good did knowing do now? He couldn't bring the dead back to life...
Guang Ling watched him in silence, his eyes full of sympathy, but he didn't know how to comfort him.
Dead silence filled the room, broken only by Qian Qizhou's ragged, restrained breathing.
He clutched the burning-hot letter in his fist, his knuckles white, his eyes bloodshot as fierce emotions crashed wildly inside him.
After a long while, he suddenly crumpled the letter in his fist, and purple lightning burst from around him with a thunderous roar.
"Xiao Zhou! What are you doing?!" Sensing that something was wrong, Guang Ling hurriedly called out to stop him.
But Qian Qizhou's figure had already turned into a streak of purple lightning. Ignoring Guang Ling's shouts, he vanished from the Pure Land of the King in an instant.
Seeing this, Guang Ling froze for a moment, then hurried toward the spatial passage, trying to catch up with Qian Qizhou.
After all, he wasn't Qian Qizhou; he couldn't leave this space in an instant like him.
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