63: How could he say such a thing!?

The manor was terrifyingly quiet, with only a gentle breeze stirring the edges of everyone's clothes.

To Xiao Tianyu, even the sunlight seemed to have lost its warmth, dappling the ground and casting an array of dark shadows.

It was like a game of chess set by fate, trapping everyone within it.

Xiao Tianyu's body trembled as he took half a step forward, his lips quivering as he stammered again, "Xuewei, why aren't you speaking?"

His voice was hoarse and cracked, as if abraded by sandpaper, the terror hidden within it threatening to burst out.

Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, tracing paths across his blood-stained, dust-covered cheek, and dripping onto the parched earth at his feet, vanishing instantly.

Just like his wavering heart at this moment.

He stared intently at Gao Xuewei, his eyes wide, the panic and helplessness in his gaze like a drowning person desperately grasping for a final straw.

Even when his life hung by a thread on the battlefield, he had never been this flustered.

Because in battle, the outcome of victory or defeat, life or death, still had a discernible path, and the blade in his hand was his confidence.

But now, facing Gao Xuewei's cold, distant gaze and Xiao Xi's timid, frightened expression...

Xiao Tianyu felt utterly lost, his past courage and decisiveness gone, his hands full of raw strength but nowhere to direct it.

Gao Xuewei, in her moon-white qipao, stood motionless in the breeze, as if completely isolated from the surrounding commotion.

Her lotus steps remained still, her clear, cold eyes seemingly frosted over.

She simply stared at Xiao Tianyu, her gaze like a sharp blade, piercing directly through his heart.

After a long while,

She parted her crimson lips, her voice so cold it seemed to carry the chill of deep winter: "It really was you..."

With that, she tilted her head slightly, as if struggling to swallow the bitterness in her heart.

Her brows furrowed slightly, and a faint redness appeared at the corners of her eyes, revealing deep disappointment.

Even in the manor room, an ominous premonition had flashed through Gao Xuewei's mind.

Now, that premonition had come true, striking directly at her heart.

Past memories surged like a tide.

Drifting back to that warm spring when she first met Xiao Tianyu.

At that time, the streets were adorned with blooming flowers, and the gentle sunlight cast a golden glow on everything in the world.

Xiao Tianyu, in his neat, fitted attire, accidentally bumped into her as she was buying flowers by the street.

The flower basket tipped over, scattering delicate blossoms across the ground. His slender fingers frantically gathered the flowers and offered them to her, saying softly, "Miss, I apologize, I was clumsy."

When he looked up, his eyes were clear and sincere, as if holding sparkling stars, and they directly captivated Gao Xuewei's heart.

After that, they gradually developed feelings for each other.

Under the moonlit flowers, Xiao Tianyu once solemnly promised her: "Xuewei, I will protect you throughout this life, ensuring you suffer no grievances or hardships. In the days to come, even if there are mountains of daggers and seas of fire ahead, I will stay by your side and be with you year after year."

His voice was deep yet firm, conveying a reassuring strength. Gao Xuewei, blushing with shyness and anticipation, committed his words firmly to her heart.

But who could have known that life is unpredictable?

Suddenly one day, Xiao Tianyu said he had something very important to do and had to leave.

So he chose to leave without hesitation.

After he left, there was no news, leaving only her and her unborn child to endure the hardships of time.

She didn't even dare to tell her family who the child's father was, because even she couldn't find him.

So, enduring all sorts of insults and accusations, she was driven out of the Gao Family, struggling to survive alone with her pregnant belly.

During her pregnancy, she faced difficulties; during childbirth, she encountered dangerous situations. Just as she managed to raise her daughter with great effort, she was imprisoned by the Gao Family, and her daughter was also in that dark dog kennel, constantly hungry and subjected to beatings and scolding.

Those past promises were like a dream, vanishing without a trace.

The bitterness of those dark, imprisoned days and the humiliation she suffered surged into her heart, and Xiao Xi's trembling appearance beside her was like a branding iron, igniting a furious anger within her.

If not for Lu Chen, she and her daughter would probably still be trapped in the Gao Family, suffering torture.

But now Xiao Tianyu suddenly appeared and even said he wanted to destroy the Lu Family?

How could he be worthy of saying such a thing!?

"You just said you wanted to destroy the Lu Family?"

Gao Xuewei straightened her back, her hands unconsciously clutching the sides of her qipao, knuckles white, her exquisite face now as stern as an ice sculpture.

As soon as Xiao Tianyu heard the words "Lu Family," he nodded heavily without thinking, took a step forward, clenched his fists, and said in a deep voice:

"That's right, I'm going to destroy the Lu Family and rescue you. Don't worry, Xuewei, I won't let you suffer any more grievances."

At this point, his eyes flickered, and a trace of what he believed to be tenderness welled up in them. He then extended his hand towards Gao Xuewei, palm up, full of eagerness and a desire to please:

"Come with me, Xuewei."

Seeing this, Gao Xuewei's eyebrows rose, and the coldness in her eyes intensified, as if the person before her was not a past lover, but a complete stranger, an evil villain.

She took a light lotus step, deftly moving aside to avoid Xiao Tianyu's hand, her skirt swishing in a decisive arc.

"Grievances?"

She let out a cold laugh, a sound like clashing ice shards, clear yet chilling.

"These years, the grievances our mother and daughter suffered, did you ever know? When Xiao Xi was thrown in a dog kennel, starving and being beaten and scolded, where were you? Now, with a fleeting promise that you won't let me suffer grievances again, you expect to wipe the slate clean?"

"Do you still remember the promises you once made to me? How much of them did you keep?!"

By the end of her words, Gao Xuewei's voice was utterly cold, and her eyes were filled with disappointment.

Behind her mother, Xiao Xi's peeking head retracted.

Her small hands clutched the qipao even tighter, her eyes filled with tears, her lower lip bearing a row of faint teeth marks, and her body trembled like a leaf in the wind.

Xiao Tianyu's hand froze in mid-air, the color draining from his face.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed several times, yet no sound escaped him.

After a long moment, his eyes reddened, and he stammered, "I... I was on the battlefield at the time, it wasn't my choice..."

As the words left his mouth, even he felt their powerlessness.

Looking at his wife and daughter's distant expressions, the fear in his heart grew like rampant vines, choking him almost to suffocation. He had never been so flustered even when facing thousands of troops on the battlefield.

Outside the manor, the trees rustled, and the birds in the branches fell silent.

The distant ruins after the smoke of battle had cleared cast lonely shadows in the setting sun, resembling their crumbling relationship, scarred and filled only with sorrow.

Gao Xuewei closed her eyes slightly, took a deep breath, calming her surging emotions. When she opened her eyes again, only determination remained: "Battlefield? All these years, did you send a single letter home, a single thought of us? The Lu Family has been kind to my daughter and me, yet you want to destroy them. Such actions are truly disgusting!"

With that, she raised her hand and gently stroked Xiao Xi's head, as if to comfort her.

Xiao Tianyu's body swayed, and he took two steps back, his heel catching on a stone, almost making him fall.

His face was filled with despondency, his hands hanging limply, his palms still retaining the empty sensation of not having touched his wife and daughter.

At this moment, he suddenly realized.

The bitter fruit of past neglect was far more deadly than the swords and spears of the battlefield.

Filled with panic, yet unable to remedy the situation, he could only watch helplessly as his wife and daughter drifted further and further from him, separated by that cold, icy wall of indifference.

Lu Chen's mood improved significantly upon seeing this scene.

If he didn't want to maintain his image, he would have even asked Chen Mengyao to grab him some melon seeds so he could crack them while watching.

He looked at Gao Xuewei and Xiao Tianyu, his eyes subtly shifting.

He wondered if he should add more drama to their scene, perhaps some juicy revelations?