Chapter 165 (2/2)

“Lift your arms.”

“Oh, okay.”

Xue Qilin raised her arms and let Xihe fiddle around and wrap the white cloth strip around her.

Then, there was silence.

With the two at a loss for words, only the sound of friction of the fabric remained.

“Hey, why are you doing this?”

In the end, Xue Qilin, who could no longer hold back this question, was the one to break the silence.

Xihe didn't answer. She just continued the bandaging work in silence.

Xue Qilin turned her head, but Xihe's bangs are covering her face, making it impossible for her to see the other party's expression.

“… what do you mean?”

After a moment of silences, Xihe asked back.

“You understood me well. I'm asking about the matter with Martial Demon Realm.”

“This question is a bit redundant, don't you think?”

“We just don't want to sit and wait for death. Or do you think that we should silently accept the bullying and humiliation?”

Xihe's tone is slightly indignant, and the movements of her hands aggravated unconsciously. Xue Qilin didn't notice that the fur on Xihe's tails has creased.

“That's not what I mean… But, is it worth it?”

Xue Qilin pressed Xihe's slightly trembling hand and stopped her movements.

“Did you know? Although you guys have made so many sacrifices, the outcome may not be the one you desire… In the worst case, the situation may worsen, and the relations.h.i.+p between us and you will become even more strained.”

Xue Qilin emphasized.

“Or, do you not care about the fate of the martial demons?”

Xihe remained silent.

Her silence was longer than Xue Qilin imagined.

“– Xue Qilin, what is safeguarding what you love to you?”

Xihe finally spoke.

What came out of her mouth was a rhetoric question. She doesn't seem to be looking for an answer.

What does it mean to safeguard what you love? Xue Qilin was stunned, and the chaotic thoughts that instantly sprang out in her mind made her unable to speak.

To protect them at all cost — this is Xue Qilin's answer. But her intuition tells her that this is not the answer Xihe regards as correct.

“To be able to safeguard what you love must be a refres.h.i.+ng feeling… But, aren't you mistaken about one point?” Xihe's tone became distant, “To safeguard is not to protect, but to 'fulfill'. To fulfill your loved ones' thoughts, expectations, and desires — this is what to safeguard means.

Not letting your will guide you, but give your all to fulfill your loved ones' thoughts and turn their wishes into your own — is this Xihe's answer? Xue Qilin mused.

“I don't want to see my comrades suffer anymore, and so do they… Do you understand? What we want fulfill — to safeguard — even at the risk of dying?”

Xue Qilin drooped her eyes, and a few strands of silver hair brushed in front of her eyes.

“What is it…?”

— it's like there is some kind of brilliance.

Xihe extended her hand, as if to capture something. The hand that reflected in Xue Qilin's eyes makes one feel that the thing it wants to capture is very far away, to the point that one practically cannot see it.

“– it's security, homeland, future.”

Xihe's words contain a flavor.

The flavor of yearning.

What she pursues — pursues at all cost — must be a beautiful vision.

Not to be discriminated against, bound, or hated; to be able to walk in the world with your head held high; to no longer fear death and malice strike at any time.

That's all.

An extremely ordinary dream.

However, that must be the future that all martial demons dream of.

Um, that's what Xue Qilin thinks.

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