"Dad, you've been watching all along? Then why didn't you help me?" Xu Xinghe looked up with tearful eyes. "If you had appeared sooner, would I have avoided suffering so much?"
The father gave a bitter smile. "Xinghe, I'm sorry. Those are your karma, the hardships you must endure. I can't interfere. Everyone's life has its own trajectory; the path you're meant to walk, the suffering you're meant to suffer, you can't escape them."
"Cause and effect?" Xu Xinghe was stunned. A thought suddenly flashed through her mind. She grabbed her father's hand and asked urgently, "Dad, what do you mean by that? Could it be... that my rebirth was your doing?"
Her father looked at her, nodded, and said with satisfaction in his eyes, "That's right, it was Dad who did it. Dad can't give you much, but I can give you this space and a chance to start over. Fortunately, you are smart and brave, and you have not let Dad down. Now you have really grown up and can stand on your own."
"This space was also left to me by you?" Xu Xinghe's tears welled up again. It turned out that her father had been her only support all along. "Then why did you only tell me now? Why didn't you show up all this time?"
"Dad has always been watching over you." The father's voice softened, and his figure began to become transparent. "From the moment Dad died, Dad stayed by your side. After being reborn, Dad watched you grow stronger little by little, watched you get rid of the shadows of the past. Now, you can protect yourself, and it's time for Dad to truly leave."
"No! Dad, you can't leave!" Xu Xinghe grabbed his hand tightly, trying to hold onto this brief reunion, but her father's hand, like smoke, gradually disappeared from her palm. "I haven't had a chance to talk to you properly, I haven't had a chance to tell you how much I miss you and Mom..."
Her father looked at her, a gentle smile on his face, his voice as soft as a breeze, "Silly child, don't be sad. In the next life, you will still be your parents' daughter. Then we will give you a carefree life, and you will understand everything."
As soon as he finished speaking, his father's figure completely disappeared into the bamboo forest, and the surrounding scenery began to distort and blur.
Xu Xinghe suddenly opened her eyes, her chest heaving violently, her face covered in tears, the wetness in the corners of her eyes reminding her how real the dream had just happened.
She sat up, raised her hands to cover her face, and tears slid through her fingers. "Dad, is it really you who gave me a second chance at life? Did you really leave me this space? Are you and Mom... really alright?"
A breeze suddenly arose in the space, rustling through the herbs.
It's like a response.
Xu Xinghe looked up at all of this and cried even harder.
She didn't know how much time had passed before she felt her emotions gradually calm down, and then she raised her hand to wipe away her tears.
She raised her wrist and glanced at it; the clock showed seven o'clock, and it was already light outside.
Xu Xinghe took a deep breath, suppressing the throbbing and longing in her heart.
Now is not the time to wallow in grief. The situation in Shiwa Village is still unresolved, and Jiang Linchuan and the villagers are still waiting for rescue.
Xu Xinghe quickly tidied up, making sure all her equipment was there. Instead of using medicine to draw a birthmark like before, she took out a clean face towel from her bundle and tightly covered most of her face, leaving only her eyes exposed.
This way, one can conceal their identity and make subsequent actions easier.
After making all the preparations.
She left the space and returned to the forest.
The rain stopped and the sun came out.
Apart from the moisture in the air and the damp earth, everything is different from yesterday.
Xu Xinghe pushed aside the branches in front of her, left the woods, and returned to the sloping road.
She slowly descended the slope, her steps extremely light, her face covered by a veil, only her eyes visible, fixed intently on her feet.
The dirt road was very slippery after last night's rain.
She carefully stepped on protruding rocks or tree roots to avoid slipping.
Her hearing is very sharp; she can clearly hear even the slightest sound.
She had been focused on the road conditions and hadn't paid attention to anything else until about half an hour later when she vaguely noticed something was wrong.
There seemed to be a very faint sound behind me, not like the hoofbeats of a wild animal, nor the rustling of leaves in the wind, but more like the footsteps of someone deliberately keeping their footsteps light, following me from a distance, barely perceptible.
Xu Xinghe's heart jumped, and she stopped abruptly in her tracks.
She didn't turn around immediately, but held her breath and carefully tried to discern the sound.
Yes, it was definitely the sound of human footsteps!
The even frequency and gentle landing clearly indicate someone skilled at concealing their movements.
Who is it?
Spy agents and lookouts in Shiwa Village?
Or are they other people with ill intentions?
Xu Xinghe turned sideways without making a sound, using a thick pine tree beside her to conceal her figure, and slowly turned around, her gaze fixed on the path behind her.
In the morning mist, visibility was obstructed, and only the blurry outlines of grass and trees could be seen; no human figures could be seen.
But the footsteps continued, growing ever closer.
Xu Xinghe gripped the short knife at his waist, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.
She wanted to see who dared to follow her!
On the other side...
Yi An was following Xu Xinghe at a distance.
He came out of the cave in the early morning, and his clothes were already dried.
He followed the faint traces left by Xu Xinghe and tracked her all the way here.
Hearing clear footsteps ahead, he was overjoyed, knowing he hadn't lost them. He quickened his pace, wanting to confirm Xu Xinghe's safety.
As he walked through a patch of low bushes and was about to peek out to see the figure ahead, he met a pair of cold eyes.
"Yi'an?" Xu Xinghe looked at the figure emerging from the mist, quite surprised. "What are you doing here?"
She never expected that it was Yi An who was following her.
Shouldn't he be in Lijia'ao?
How did they end up following me all the way here?
Did he discover me when I left?
Seeing that Xu Xinghe was safe and sound, Yi An finally felt relieved. "I... I was worried about you. Last night, when I saw you leave alone, I thought you might still go to Shiwa Village, so I followed you."
"You've been following me all this way?" Xu Xinghe's tone turned colder. Did he see her enter the space? "You've been following me since last night?"
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