Chapter 103: Blood Relations and Familial Affection

Thin mist spread, blue smoke coiled. The undulating mountains, winding narrow paths.

I stared at the strange sight before me, couldn't help but press my temples—laughing till my head hurt; I never expected that even after returning to modern times, I'd still see such an ancient immortal's hermitage. I really can't tell what era I'm in now.

I stepped forward, suddenly noticing Xiao Yu had stopped, so I turned back and asked, "Xiao Yu, what's wrong?"

"Hmm—" Xiao Yu shook her head, shrugged, and said, "Every time I step in here I get a feeling of wanting to retreat, as if being in the fog makes all my thoughts, emotions, even my future turn transparent. This feeling is truly terrifying."

"Essentially, you're someone who doesn't believe in fate!" I couldn't help laughing, took her hand and walked forward.

"What are you laughing at?" Xiao Yu quickened her steps two paces to my side and sneered, "Could it be you've started believing again?"

I thought a moment, then replied, "Although often I feel I have to believe, I'm actually, just like you, essentially someone who doesn't believe in fate."

My forward steps were suddenly blocked; I followed the pull on my hand and turned back, seeing Xiao Yu faintly visible in the thin mist. The water mist dampened her bangs; her fair face was moist and delicate, as if water could be squeezed from it. In her dark, bright eyes flashed a clear, pure light, endless vitality, constantly leaping before my eyes through the mist.

Like... sunshine. I couldn't help curling the corner of my mouth; my brother and I are easily drawn to people like that—people whose whole being radiates warmth.

"Bing Yi, I feel you've changed a lot since coming back this time." Xiao Yu stepped closer two paces, linked her arm with mine, her eyes shining bright and clear, yet she grinned mischievously, "You lucky girl, to encounter the once-in-a-millennium fortune of crossing time and space. Tell me, which era did you end up in? Did you meet the super-handsome guys and top beauties described in novels? Have you experienced a passionate, earth-shaking love? Have you been surrounded by a bunch of elegant, handsome men?"

I looked up at the sky, couldn't help sighing; after Xiao Yu finished her chatter, I glanced at her and smiled, "Xiao Yu, I'm afraid—aside from not having founded a great hegemony, I've gone through everything you just mentioned. Want to try time-traveling together?"

Xiao Yu blinked, then her sunny smile faded slightly, and she whispered, "In this world there's already someone I can't let go of—how could I cross over?"

I took her hand and we kept walking; the fog ahead grew thicker, with a faint blue tint. The mist was filled with a serene, leisurely air. I couldn't help muttering inwardly: What's wrong with living anywhere else for Shui Yu Tian Ze? He insists on staying in these mountain forests and valleys, acting like a hermit master—there's not even a taxi to hail.

"Xiao Yu, although you haven't had much contact with my brother, you should know he's extraordinarily cold-hearted. If someone isn't someone he cares about, even if they suffer terribly before him and die tragically, he wouldn't even frown. Yet he carried you on his back from An Tai Shan all the way to the city, only collapsing after watching you enter the operating room. He is Shui Bing Ye, the cold-blooded, unfeeling Shui Bing Ye. If Shui Bing Ye can do this for a woman who isn't family, don't you understand his heart yet?"

Xiao Yu's mouth twitched, unexpectedly showing a bitter smile, her voice hoarse enough to make one's heart ache: "Bing Yi, there's something you don't know. After I woke up, my father told me that Bing Ye carried me back the whole way, even though I was almost dead. At that time I didn't know how to describe my feelings; I only knew to pull out the IV and rush to his side."

"That day, you just happened to be absent." Xiao Yu's steps slowed, her soft hair brushing her cheeks, her eye sockets reddening, "He coldly asked me to leave. He said he would never allow anyone to interfere with his family, not even me."

I blinked, my long lashes wet with water, flickering before my eyes; there was a spot, faintly aching.

I took a deep breath, placed both of us in the ever-thickening fog, and said lightly, "Xiao Yu, are you going to give up?"

"How could it be?!" Xiao Yu shook off the hand I hadn't caught, flung away her tears, and swept away the gloom on her face, "Am I Ji Xiao Yu, the type to retreat when faced with difficulty? If he won't accept me for a day, I'll pester him for a day; if he won't accept me for a year, I'll pester him for a year. Unless he personally tells me he doesn't like me at all, there's no way I'll give up!"

I stared blankly at the water-soaked figure in the mist for a long time, then suddenly laughed—I hadn't laughed this happily since returning—and Xiao Yu stared, dazed, for a long while.

I wiped away the tears from laughing, and sincerely said, "Xiao Yu, in love you need to be a hundred times braver than me."

Xiao Yu's dark, bright eyes flickered in the mist for a long time, she stared fixedly at me and said, "Bing Yi, this isn't a matter of bravery or lack thereof; it's that you and Bing Ye, just like you, don't understand love."

"You don't understand—love is fundamentally different from other emotions. Doubt, possessiveness, gains and losses, sweet yet bitter, the heart feels like holding a white dove, fluttering anxiously, yet constantly afraid it will fly away; all the emotions you've experienced intertwine, and that is love. Therefore, in the world of love, there's no room for even a hint of hesitation or retreat; otherwise, the harm isn't just to the other person, but even more to yourself."

"But Bing Yi and Bing Ye, you two can be decisive and resolute about anything and anyone, yet when it comes to love you retreat, avoid, and waver—until you've wounded yourselves and others all over, regretting it too late."

"Bing Yi… hey, Bing Yi, why are you crying? I… I was just talking nonsense."

I roughly wiped away my tears, smiled, and said, "It's fine, let's hurry and go find Shui Yu Tian Ze. Even if it's truly too late, I'll still make a final effort!"

Beyond the thick fog lay a stone fortress; its arc-shaped doors automatically slid open to the sides as we arrived. Behind the stone door was that man who had appeared many times in my dreams.

My brother's and my biological father, a man from over four hundred years in the future—Shui Yu Tian Ze. I quietly gazed at this familiar yet strange man before me. In his thirties or forties, his facial lines looked carved by a knife, his eyebrows handsome, his eyes completely amber-colored.

He wasn't surprised at all seeing us; only a bright gleam flashed in his eyes as he ushered us into the semicircular stone fortress.

Inside was a laboratory that cannot be explained by current human knowledge, equipped with the most precise instruments and highest-grade materials. I glanced around, then turned back to notice Xiao Yu already seated comfortably in the soft rubber chair, as if she knew the place well.

"Little girl, have you thought clearly about the question I asked you last time?" Shui Yu Tian Ze looked at her with a smiling, warm and indulgent tone.

"Last time?" Xiao Yu blinked in confusion.

Shui Yu Tian Ze handed her the tea he had brewed, then leisurely said, "How about being my daughter-in-law?"

"Pfft—" Xiao Yu sprayed it out magnificently. I couldn't help thinking mischievously, "Is this Shui Yu Tian Ze deliberately handing her the tea first just to say that?"

"Come on, uncle, quit joking like that." Xiao Yu patted her chest, lifted the corner of her mouth, "Just look at your behavior—you can tell what kind of son you have. Even if no one wanted me, I wouldn't go for a descendant of someone as vulgar as you, uncle."

"Pfft—" This time it was my turn to spray. If I'd known… if I'd known I wouldn't have drunk this tea at all. Top-grade Junshan silver needles, what a waste!

My brother should probably know Shui's identity, after all when he left I wasn't born yet, but my brother was already seven.

Shui Yu Tian Ze then chatted aimlessly with Xiao Yu for a long while; Xiao Yu gradually started yawning, her eyes growing unfocused.

Finally, a soft snore came from the room; I gently helped Xiao Yu cover up with the thin blanket. This past month has been really hard on her—her gunshot wound hasn't healed, and she still has to worry about my brother and comfort our parents.

"You're called… Shui Bing Yi?" Shui Yu Tian Ze's voice carried a slight low, trembling hoarseness as he stared deeply at me from the side.

I turned my head, gave him a light smile, and nodded.

"You don't resemble your mother, but those eyes are exactly the same. Yun Yun… when she died, were you by her side?"

I nodded again, my heart racing. Those fragmented images, those that became clear again after the hypnosis was lifted, piece by piece reassembled in my mind.

——Bing Er, sorry. Mom abandoned you, yet still made you bear this pain. And this pain, besides you, no one can help you overcome…… sorry……

Mom…… the mother who loves me most…… my most beloved mother, you have nothing to apologize for to me. Until the very last moment of your life, you wanted to use that faint glimmer of light to warm me.

You gave me such profound love, such precious blood flowed for me—how could you possibly owe me an apology?

"Bing Yi, sorry! Sorry……" Shui Yu Tian Ze walked over and embraced me, my face streaked with tears, whispering softly, "It's all my fault as father—if… if I hadn't insisted on leaving back then, Yun Yun wouldn't have died, and you and Bing Ye wouldn't have suffered so much."

I sobbed softly, not because of whose arms I was in, but because all those years of grievance, confusion, longing, and above all loneliness burst out at once, to the point I couldn't stop myself.

Gradually I cried myself out; tears soaked his front, but were immediately evaporated and dispersed by the special fabric fibers, leaving on my body a faint, warm scent. Blood relation? I couldn't help chuckling—after all there is still some effect, that sense of reassurance, comfort, as if returning home.

Shui Yu Tian Ze pulled me to sit on a sofa-like soft bed, his eyes full of relief and joy at our reunion, he exclaimed excitedly, "Bing Yi, from now on, let Dad take care of you and Bing Ye, okay? Dad will absolutely not let you suffer any more grievance."

"Shui…… Tian Ze." I looked at him and softly called his name; his expression froze.

I curled my lips into a faint smile: "I truly have never hated you. Before, I didn't hate because I didn't know I had a father; how could you hate someone who doesn't exist? Now I don't hate because when I realized I could hate you, I already didn't want to anymore."

Shui Yu Tian Ze seized my hand in one grip, his palm sweaty, voice trembling, "Bing Yi, I……"

"I know you have your reasons; everyone has their own." I lightly turned my hand to clasp his smooth, callus-free hand, recalling the person who toiled and worried for me and my brother—his hand was no longer smooth and clean. I lifted my head and said softly, "So I truly don't blame you anymore. I also won't treat you as a stranger, after all, blood is thicker than water—this kinship can't be erased. Just……"

I gazed into those amber eyes, where the same light as mine shone. I raised my hand to stroke the dim silver cross on my chest, smiling gently, "Just… I can't call you Dad. Because in my and my brother's hearts, there will forever be only one person who can be called Dad. That person unconditionally reached out, pulling us from darkness into light; that person, unwilling to compromise or indulge, yet protected us like precious treasures."

I released his hand, looking at my own white, delicate palm, yet thinking of that pair of hands gradually growing old, "The warmth of those hands I still remember vividly to this day. I truly am fortunate to be able to call that person…… Dad."

The door suddenly opened without warning; I startled and turned back, seeing my brother's cold face, his gaze light.

"Brother, how did you come here? Did the doctor allow it……" My gaze flicked to his white-and-blue striped patient garb under the suit jacket, and I couldn't help sighing—does permission even matter? Thinking of that assassin, covered in wounds yet rushing to save me, his expression slightly dazed, yet I found it funny—really, one or two acting so willful, is that the nature of assassins?

My brother said nothing, walked past me, picked up the sleeping Xiao Yu in his arms, looked at me, his gaze softening slightly, "Let's go back."

Shui Yu Tian Ze grabbed him with one hand, "Bing Ye, I……"

"What I want to say," the older brother gave him a cold glance, his voice low, his gesture gentle, afraid to wake the person in his arms, "Bing'er has already said it just now."

"Let's go." The older brother glanced at me.

I shook my head hard, expression firm: "Brother, take Xiao Yu first and leave; I have something to do finding him."

The older brother's brows tightened, he stared at me coldly for a long time before speaking in a low voice: "Bing'er, have you made your decision?"

"Decided." I nodded, thinking: I had decided long ago, yet I hesitated over my own decision. Seeing the older brother's grim face, about to speak, I quickly added, "I won't regret it! Absolutely not!"

The amber light in the older brother's eyes dimmed; after a long while, he looked at me without saying a word. Although the older brother said nothing, I knew I had disappointed and saddened him.

This, after all, is the world where I grew up; this, after all, is where my beloved kin reside. The older brother and father have guarded and pampered me for seventeen years; now, however, I must abandon them and leave. But…

"Older brother, please let me go." I blinked, dispelling the misty vapor, and gazed at the older brother, voice choked: "That world truly has someone I cannot let go of. I don't want to end up like Shuiyu Tianze, regretting it for a lifetime."

Inside the Stone Fortress, it was so quiet only our suppressed breaths could be heard; then I heard the older brother sigh helplessly, his voice full of reluctance and indulgence, yet plain and cold: "Before leaving, remember to go see father."

Having said that, he didn't look back, holding Xiao Yu as he strode away; the Stone Gate, as if obeying his command, spontaneously slid open to the sides. In the thick fog, only that aloof silhouette remained.

"Bingyi, have you really decided to go back?"

Startled, I snapped out of my daze, gave Shuiyu a faint nod, and said, "So, please help me."

Shuiyu Tianze had already shaken off his recent dejected expression, turning deeply solemn. "Bring the cross for me to look at."

I did as he said, removed it and handed it to him, then waited silently while he used those precise instruments to probe for a long time; my mind was empty of anything. Occasionally filling with that peerless visage, occasionally as empty as a black hole—this is the state of mind I often find myself in these days.

I couldn't help but wryly shake my head. Qiran…

"Good!!" Shuiyu Tianze handed back the cross, now gleaming with silver light, and sighed, "Fortunately, the energy source still has more than one cala left, and the data of that space has already been recorded in this Spacetime Key. However, the structure of this Spacetime Key is so intricate that even I cannot extract the data from here. Bingyi, if you truly decide to return, you must hurry. Perhaps… in less than a year, the Spacetime Key's energy will be exhausted. At that point, no one will be able to open the nexus of that spacetime."

"You can only wear the clothes you came in and bring the things you brought; nothing else can be taken, or rather, cannot be taken away. By then, Dad… I will see you off."

I raised my hand to caress the cold cross necklace, lifted my head to look at him, and nodded firmly.

Perhaps because I had made the decision, perhaps because I would soon see him again, at this moment my heart was filled with peace and joy, along with a faint sorrow of parting.

This month, not only I and Xiao Yu are exhausted, but Father as well. While the older brother had accepted my blood yet had not left the danger period, no matter what he refused to go rest. Even if he fell asleep in the ward, any slight disturbance would wake him. If not for Uncle Liu shoving him in to rest, he would probably still be…

My chest faintly ached as I recalled Father's pale face, sunken cheeks; I wondered whether Father would be disappointed and upset upon hearing my decision.

I was about to push the door open when it swung open by itself. Uncle Liu stepped out from the inner room lightly, startled to see me, then made a silent gesture signaling me to follow him.

Walking beside Uncle Liu, I saw his solemn, worried expression and felt a surge of unease.

Uncle Liu, Liu Ying Shi, is one of Father's sworn brothers. Before Father adopted us, he was, aside from the Dark Black Street, the underground boss of the largest gang in Shanghuai City—the Flame Group.

Later, Father, due to his promise to Mother, demanded to quit the gang and started from scratch in the business world.

His brothers also grew tired of the blood‑stained life, so they gradually whitened most of the gang's assets, each going their own way; the parts that couldn't be whitened were left to their subordinates.

When Father took us in, it was shortly after he quit the gang, at his most destitute and difficult time. Yet, besides taking us out of Dark Street, he gritted his teeth and refused to accept any help from his brothers.

Until… until… I was beaten unconscious and nearly died that time. That was the first—and last—time I saw Father unleash his killing intent. Afterward, he finally accepted that those brothers could offer any help, and at the fastest pace he rose to the pinnacle of the business world.

Looking back now, every decision Father made, every concession he gave, was actually for me and the older brother, yet he never did anything for himself.

Uncle Liu sat in the swivel chair, one hand holding an X‑ray, the other gripping a cigarette, occasionally taking a deep drag.

After a long while, he nodded and said, "Bingyi, your rib fracture has basically healed. The phenomenon of heart and lung compressing blood vessels, I've also helped you recover through magnetic therapy. How does it feel now—does your chest still hurt?"

I shook my head, trying to squeeze out a smile but failing; after a while I asked hoarsely, "Uncle Liu, lately you've been using the excuse of going elsewhere to keep me and the older brother away from Father. Are you hiding something from me?"

Uncle Liu looked at me, let out a long sigh, snuffed out the cigarette in his hand as if suddenly making a decision, and said in a low voice, "Bingyi, I had actually planned to tell you; I need your help."

My heart tightened, I clenched my fists, and slowly rose to my feet.

"Ling Min has… leukemia, commonly known as blood cancer."

I felt my brain buzz and explode, my temples throbbing, while my heart seemed to suddenly stop.

I barely supported my swaying body, my dry, tearless eyes staring ahead, and after a while uttered, "Advanced stage?"

"No! Not advanced!" Uncle Liu's eyes reddened a little as he shook his head fiercely, "I hadn't realized Ling Min's condition was already this dire; if he were truly at an advanced stage, I wouldn't have the face to keep living in this world."

I gasped out a breath, slumped back against the chair, my face turning icy cold, and tears finally fell at this moment.

Recalling Uncle Liu's words, hope surged in my heart; I nearly jumped up, hands bracing on the table edge, and asked in a trembling voice, "Is my bone marrow a match for Father's?"

Uncle Liu stared, then looked at my bright eyes and actually showed a bitter smile, calmly saying, "In theory, yes. Regardless of white blood cells, platelets, or anything else, yours are far more compatible than Bingye's. However, bone marrow donation differs from blood transfusion; even the best match cannot guarantee no rejection. Moreover… sigh, Bingyi, please sit down; this is exactly what I need to discuss with you."

In the infirmary, an old, massive clock ticked away, its sound jangling and making my chest feel irritable. Uncle Liu's voice gradually echoed in my ears, reverberating.

(End of chapter)