"I can tell you're someone I can trust."
"Your eyes are so gentle."
"With you here, I believe Ningguang will get better."
"I feel completely at ease leaving her in your care."
"I've lingered in this world long enough. It's time I went back."
He offered Xiu Yuan his most heartfelt thanks, then approached his daughter Ningguang's bedside.
Watching Ningguang sleep, he smiled through his tears and gently stroked her cheek.
"I'm sorry. Having a failure like me for a father has made you suffer so much."
"I'm truly, terribly sorry..."
"Please forgive your father..."
"Forgive me for being such a failure of a father..."
A translucent, glistening tear rolled down the man's cheek.
It slowly fell, finally landing squarely on the back of Ningguang's hand.
As though she had sensed something, Ningguang slowly opened her eyes and sat up.
She stared fixedly at the water on the back of her hand, an indescribable sorrow welling up inside her.
It was as if...
As if I'd lost something very important...
Was it Mora?
Well... she didn't know either. All she knew was that it hurt terribly, as though something had lodged in her chest, making it hard to breathe.
"Why... does it hurt so much...?"
Tears shimmered in her eyes, and the sorrow inside her only deepened.
Soon, her tears began streaming down uncontrollably.
"With natural disasters and human misfortunes, how could you call yourself a failure...?"
Xiu Yuan gave a bitter smile as he watched Ningguang sitting on the bed, sobbing.
He slowly approached her bedside and rubbed her head.
"Xiu Yuan... I'm so sad... I feel like I've lost something really important... I don't know what it is... but it hurts so much..."
Ningguang wrapped her small body around Xiu Yuan and kept sobbing, tears pouring out without