Although Ye Qinglan rarely showed much expression and always seemed cold and unapproachable to others, he was as gentle as he knew how to be with her. Now, his face was even colder, like ice that had remained frozen for a thousand years atop a snowy mountain.
Ye Qinglan was deeply distressed. All those years ago, Ye Chuqi had been swallowed by a spatial vortex while still in her swaddling clothes, vanishing right before his eyes. The spatial vortex had disappeared too, before he had even had time to react.
Countless times, he had wondered whether he could have caught up with Ye Chuqi if he had reacted just a little faster. At least then she would not have spent so many years without her family, growing up all alone far from home. That she had still turned out so extraordinary filled him with more heartache than pride.
His heart had trembled the moment he saw that spatial vortex. Only his extraordinary self-control had kept him from losing his composure in front of everyone. But when the entrance disappeared and the storm began to rage, he could no longer hold back. Unwilling to risk even the slightest chance of losing her, he had pulled Ye Chuqi straight into his arms to shield her.
Ye Chuqi's disappearance all those years ago had left a scar on his heart. Even now that she had returned, that scar had not faded, and it still ached from time to time.
Ye Chuqi sighed inwardly, wrapped her arms around Ye Qinglan's back, and patted him gently. She understood that fleeting vulnerability he had shown her. Although she could not promise she would never encounter another accident, she could promise to take good care of herself no matter what happened. But she could not say that