I don't understand!

Bi Ji followed behind the two children, watching Bai Yushan's back as the undercurrents deep in her eyes surged even more fiercely.

Her fingers clenched the hem of her dress, her knuckles turning white. Her breathing grew a little unsteady, her chest rising and falling more than usual. A voice in her mind whispered, screamed, and roared.

The corners of her lips trembled slightly, then returned to a gentle curve.

She drew a deep breath and suppressed everything churning inside her. Now wasn't the time, nowhere near the time. She had to wait, until her lord grew up, until that child was strong enough, until all the dust had settled.

When that time came, she would no longer have to hold herself back.

Bi Ji caught up to the two children with light steps, resting one hand on Bai Yushan's shoulder and taking Na'er's little hand with the other. She lowered her head and whispered into Bai Yushan's ear, "Xiaoshan, we're having your favorite braised pork today."

Bai Yushan murmured an assent, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

At the dinner table, Bi Ji suddenly took a deep breath and said hesitantly, "Xiaoshan, there's something I think I should tell you."

Bai Yushan was still sweeping through the food like a wind scattering clouds, devouring it like a taotie. He stuffed piece after piece of braised pork into his mouth, his cheeks bulging as though he had tucked two eggs inside, chewing twice before swallowing and reaching for another piece. He even found time to answer, "Go ahead. What can't we talk about?"

Although Bi Ji had nominally hired Bai Yushan to keep Na'er company, in reality, three years had long since changed the nature of their relationship.

It had started as a transaction worth three hundred thousand a month: Bai Yushan played with Na'er, and Bi Ji paid him.

But at some point, money had stopped mattering. She still paid the three hundred thousand, but Bai Yushan could no longer even be bothered to count it, simply tossing his card to Bi Ji and letting her manage it.

If anyone in this world could make Bai Yushan stop fighting like a madman when he was having the time of his life, it could only be Na'er and Bi Ji.

Na'er was his little shadow, his little tail, a piece of sticky candy he could neither shake off nor scold away.

Bi Ji was his safe harbor, his housekeeper, someone he could rely on to cook when he was hungry and make his bed when he was tired.

Of these two, one was his weakness, the other his armor. One made him want to protect her; the other made him feel at ease.

Bi Ji pressed her lips together, a barely perceptible trace of pain flashing through her emerald eyes.

"We might have to move away."

Bai Yushan stopped moving, his chopsticks suspended in midair. A piece of braised pork slipped from them and fell into his bowl, splashing a little sauce.

He raised his head and looked at Bi Ji. His gaze went from casual to focused, then from focused to sharp.

"Are you moving to Eastsea City with me?"

Since Aolai City had no intermediate Soul Master Academy, Chen Qingquan had recommended Bai Yushan directly to Eastsea Academy to attend as a special recruit.

Previously, when Long Hengxu, the director of Eastsea Academy's intermediate division, had come to assess Bai Yushan's strength, he had been utterly astounded on the spot and drawn up contracts offering all sorts of preferential treatment just to sign Bai Yushan.

Chen Qingquan had also chosen Eastsea Academy because Eastsea City's chief administrator was a former subordinate of his. That would make it easier for him to keep trying to steer this little brat's thinking back onto the right track.

Eastsea City had the second-most-developed economy in the East Sea region, and its intermediate Soul Master Academy also had the most comprehensive cultivation facilities.

Chen Qingquan felt that sending Bai Yushan there would benefit his growth.

Bi Ji and Na'er could move there too, buy a bigger estate in Eastsea City, and the three of them could keep living together.

That was what Bai Yushan had in mind, and he took it for granted.

Bi Ji shook her head.

"No. We... have to part with you for a while."

Bai Yushan's brows furrowed.

He did not like that answer.

Parting.

The word was so unfamiliar that he needed several seconds to understand what it meant.

In three years, he had never thought about being separated from Bi Ji and Na'er.

Not even for a single day.

In his understanding, the three of them should always be together, just like the sun, the moon, and the earth. It was natural, a law of heaven and earth.

"I don't understand!"

Bai Yushan frowned, his emotions stirring. Something flickered in his pupils, some long-suppressed emotion churning within him. Looking at Na'er and Bi Ji with their heads lowered, he asked in bewilderment, "Where are you going? Why can't I come with you? With my talent, any intermediate academy on the entire Douluo Continent would gladly take me!"

His voice was loud, but it was not anger. It was an almost instinctive resistance.

He refused to accept this fact, refused to accept this arrangement, refused to accept any reason that would separate them.

Bi Ji was saddened too. Naturally, she did not want to part with Bai Yushan either. In three years, that six-year-old little brat had grown into a youth she could not take her eyes off.

She had watched him grow taller day by day, stronger day by day, changing day by day from a crazy little brat into a youth who made her heart flutter.

But this was her lord's demand. She had no choice.

"Xiaoshan, trust us. We have reasons that leave us no choice..."

Bi Ji's voice was very soft, carrying a slight tremor. Beneath the table, her fingers clenched the hem of her dress, her knuckles turning white. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest, like a caged bird trying to burst through her ribs and fly away.

"Then tell me what reasons leave you no choice!"

Bai Yushan found it hard to accept. His voice rose an octave, and a flash of lightning flickered through his pupils and vanished. His breathing grew rapid, his chest heaving like an enraged beast's.

All his life, whether in his previous life or this one, he had been a wandering child with no fixed home.

In his previous life, he had been an orphan, with no home, no family, and no one who cared whether he lived or died.

In this life, his parents had died early, leaving him an old, dilapidated house, but he had little desire to stay there. It was empty. What reason was there to stay?

Bi Ji and Na'er had given him his first true home.

There was Bi Ji cooking, Na'er clinging to him, warm yellow lights waiting for him to come home at night, and piping-hot food steaming on the table. This estate, this villa, these two people were his everything.

Now Bi Ji was telling him they had to part.

Bi Ji remained silent.

Her lips pressed into a line, her emerald eyes lowered, not daring to meet Bai Yushan's gaze. Something churned in her chest, like magma roiling beneath a volcanic crater, ready to erupt at any moment.

Na'er suddenly stood up, threw her arms around Bai Yushan, and slowly began to sob.

"Big brother, Na'er... Na'er doesn't want to leave you either!"

Tears rolled from her amethyst eyes and dripped onto Bai Yushan's clothes, spreading into a small damp patch. Her arms hugged his waist tightly, her body trembling like a leaf fluttering in the wind.