4997

Chapter 4997: 5.0749 Fleeing in Disarray

"Duan Yue..."

She didn't know how to comfort him; any words of comfort felt empty and powerless. Without having experienced it firsthand, how could she truly empathize? It was like when the Divine Water Sect left her; she also felt suffocated by the pain, unable to easily say, "I can let go."

In fact, it was simply impossible to let go! They were all just ordinary people in the world, not those lofty, resolute beings who had seen through everything. Life's eight great sufferings, the pain of separation from loved ones and the agony of not getting what you desire, were precisely this. No one could help; only by walking through it themselves, releasing their own emotions...

"Duan Yue," the little stoic called out to him, like a small cat's paw, gently scratching at his heart's lake, stirring ripples.

Duan Yue suddenly turned and quickly stepped forward, abruptly reaching out and wrapping her in his embrace, his arms tightening. This embrace had nothing to do with romance; it was merely a sense of profound loss.

The little stoic froze, subconsciously wanting to push away his hands and break free from his embrace. But then she heard him murmur indistinctly beside her ear, "Don't move, just a hug will do."

This life, only this one embrace. Let this be an indulgence just for tonight... He had actually known for a long time that to miss for a moment was to miss for a lifetime. Even if time reversed, even if spilled water was recovered, a miss... was a miss. It could never be forced again in this life.

When the little stoic returned to her room, it was already deep into the night. The single lamp inside was dim, a faint silhouette lingered outside the door, tree shadows danced by the window, and the rustling of rain accompanied by the wind stirred an unbearable vexation in her heart.

Qiao Mu sat by the bed for a long time, then suddenly raised her hand and slapped her thigh forcefully. Serves you right for being curious and going out. Serves you right for not controlling your legs. She abruptly flopped onto the bed, letting herself sink into the soft brocade quilt. What now? After that walk, I'm even more awake. The little stoic rolled back and forth in bed, secretly annoyed. She felt she absolutely couldn't face him tomorrow... That embrace, even for a thick-skinned person like her stoic face, she understood now just how deep and profound this man's feelings for her were.

The little one rolled over and over in the soft brocade quilt for most of the night. Finally, unable to hold it in, she suddenly threw off the quilt and jumped out of bed.

Taking out paper and pen from her inner realm, the little stoic sat at the table. She held the brush, hesitating for a very long time, wrote a few words, crumpled it up, wrote a few more words, and crumpled those up too. This went on for about half an hour. Looking at the sky, it was almost fully light.

In the end, she couldn't procrastinate any longer. The little Crown Princess took a deep breath, wrote only one line of words on the paper, then covered the paper and quickly walked out, closing the door behind her.

Through the window, the morning breeze blew in, and under a paperweight lay a thin piece of paper with four characters written on it:

回家,勿念! (Go home, don't worry!)

When she went out, the rain had already stopped. The puddles on the ground, however, had not yet dried up. Looking up at the sky, it was a dull gray, without a trace of sunlight.

The little stoic hadn't closed her eyes all night and felt a bit listless. She followed the long, carved, flower-adorned corridor eastward, intending to release her flying beast once she was out of the palace gates. But unexpectedly, she rounded a corner and stopped, gazing at the figure standing under a tree in the central courtyard, a strange sense of guilt rising in her heart.

That's right, she was a coward, fleeing in disarray. She hadn't expected that this person already knew her every move and was waiting for her here!

The little stoic's steps faltered. She mushroomed behind a pillar, unsure of what to say.

Qiao Mu is clearly struggling with the emotional weight of Duan Yue's vulnerability. What do you think will happen between them now that she's been caught trying to leave?