Father, I…"
Hearing Xiao Zhan's words, Xiao Yan froze, hesitation flickering in his eyes.
"We did our best."
Xiao Zhan's gaze fell on his son's bruised face, and a sigh escaped his lips.
"Father, I suspect that the beast Galeo kidnapped Xun'er…" Xiao Yan's voice trembled with anger and unwillingness.
"Enough, Yan'er!"
Xiao Zhan's expression hardened instantly.
"Hasn't this matter already stirred enough trouble? These past few days, the Xiao family has offended more than a few forces because of Xun'er.
If we keep pressing, how will the Xiao family survive in Wutan City?"
Seeing his son still brimming with the urge to act, Xiao Zhan's tone grew heavier.
The Jialie family and the Xiao family were both counted among the three great families of Wutan City ..... yet in terms of strength, the Jialies still stood above them.
Without solid proof, how could the Xiao family dare to directly search the Jialie estate? Unless… the two families went to war outright.
But that was a price the Xiao family could not afford.
"Father, are we just going to give up on looking for Xun'er?" Xiao Yan's voice rose, his anxiety spilling over.
The thought of his sister Xun'er possibly enduring unspeakable torment made his heart twist painfully, robbing him of sleep night after night.
"Yan'er," Xiao Zhan said quietly, "Xun'er should be fine."
"If my guess is correct… she should have gone back."
Xiao Zhan's gaze grew distant, his mind drifting to that day years ago when Xiao Xun'er was first sent to the Xiao family.
The people who had brought her .... their strength was beyond anything the Xiao family could ever hope to contend with.
From the start, he had known Xiao Xun'er's identity was Not Simple.
That was why he had been so indulgent toward her over the years… one could even say there was a hint of fear in his heart.
And now, her sudden disappearance .... no noise, no trace ..... could only mean one thing: the forces behind her had come to take her away.
"Going back?" Xiao Yan blinked, his confusion clear. "Back… to where?"
"Yan'er," Xiao Zhan said slowly, his tone carrying a weight it rarely held, "you should know by now .....Xun'er was never truly a member of the Xiao family.
She has an extremely powerful force behind her… a force we cannot afford to provoke."
He exhaled heavily, a faint trace of disappointment in his eyes. "I suspect she returned to her clan. That's all there is to it."
Xiao Yan froze, the truth settling uncomfortably in his chest.
"Is that so…?" he murmured. He wanted to believe it ... and in part, he did .... yet something in him resisted. If she had left of her own will, why had she not told him?
Why didn't she say goodbye? Didn't he matter enough for her to say even a single word before leaving?
An ache spread in Xiao Yan's chest, the sting of disappointment sharper than he expected.
Do you think you're being too sentimental?
Perhaps, in Sister Xun'er's heart, her brother Xiao Yan is nothing more than an optional presence.
That thought stung. Xiao Yan's lips tightened, a faint bitterness welling up inside.
"Alright, Yan'er," Xiao Zhan said gently, seeing the dejection in his son's eyes, "don't dwell on Xun'er's affairs anymore."
His gaze softened with a trace of pity.
"Tell me, how have you been feeling lately? Has the elixir had any effect?"
The mention of the elixir from Ye Chen finally pulled Xiao Yan from his gloom.
"No… except for feeling a little heat in my body the night I took it, nothing else happened," Xiao Yan admitted with a sigh.
"Father, do you think Young Master Ye Chen tricked us?"
After so many days without change, doubt had begun to creep into his heart.
Xiao Zhan frowned slightly. "Logically, it shouldn't be.
He's a true disciple of the Yunlan Sect and a direct descendant of the Mitel Family.
Why would someone like that go out of his way to harm our Xiao family?"
Still, the thought lingered in his mind. If the elixir turned out to be worthless, they truly would have been played for fools.
Although Xiao Zhan didn't care much about the broken engagement with Nalan Yanran, he could not easily stomach the idea of being deceived.
"Didn't Master Ye Chen say the medicinal properties would take about three months to show results?" Xiao Yan recalled.
"Maybe I just need to wait a bit longer. Once the medicine takes effect, my talent might return."
Xiao Yan still clung to a shred of hope in his heart.
He could only force himself to think in a positive direction.
If his talent could not be restored… then what awaited him was nothing but endless despair.
"I hope so," he murmured.
Hearing this, Xiao Zhan gave a slow nod, a faint sigh escaping his lips.
My poor son… fate has been far too cruel to him.
"The wind is strong on the mountain," Xiao Zhan said after a pause.
"If you have nothing else to do, go back."
His eyes lingered on Xiao Yan's figure, standing alone at the edge of the cliff. Inwardly, he worried the boy might, in a moment of hopelessness, leap without a second thought.
———
In the small world.
A blur moved across the rugged terrain, so fast that ghostly afterimages trailed behind it.
In the blink of an eye, the figure halted...and Ye Chen's face emerged from the shadows.
"As expected of an Earth-level fighting skill," Ye Chen breathed out lightly, a satisfied smile curling his lips. "Truly powerful."
Over the past days, while indulging in the Dragon and Phoenix Art with Xiao Xun'er and Ya Fei, he had never neglected his own cultivation.
From Xiao Xun'er's private treasury, he had taken an Earth-level fighting skill....its name: Like a Shadow.
It was this technique he had been refining just now, and its ghost-like swiftness left him thoroughly impressed.
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