Chapter 98: The Candy is No Longer Expired

The young girl was still crying, weeping out the grievances in her heart and the guilt within her soul.

From those intermittent words…

Xu Xi finally understood the true reason why Mo Li had been so reluctant to meet him for so long.

It was the remorse of witnessing a loved one's death and being powerless to stop it; it was the escapism of becoming a heavy burden and being unable to accept the cruel reality.

"I'm sorry… I'm really sorry…"

"It's all my fault. I'm the one who harmed my elder brother…"

"Clearly I was the one in the wrong, clearly I was the one who caused my elder brother to lose his life. The one who truly should be apologizing is me…"

Xu Moli's voice grew more mournful, gradually turning into pure sobbing.

She leaned against Xu Xi's back, burying her head into his shoulder. All her remorse transformed into crystalline tears, soaking the shoulder she relied upon.

The once sickly young girl had already become an existence that transcended eternity.

But even today.

She still could not forgive herself.

She could not forgive the self who had caused her brother's death, who had been powerless throughout the ordeal, and who could only howl in despair.

"Mo Li."

Xu Xi's voice rang in the girl's ear once more, making her body tremble.

Was her elder brother going to scold her?

Would her elder brother not accept the changes in her?

Everything the Female Immortal feared did not happen.

Slow and gentle words, like warm spring sunlight caressing her cheek: "It must have been hard all this time, being all alone, right?"

"I'm sorry, I'm too late."

The man had no intention of blaming her. On the contrary, his voice was full of pity and love, constantly comforting the insecure girl.

But such words were like a sharp, piercing thrust.

Reaching straight into and piercing through Xu Moli's chest and heart.

It made her cry even more uncontrollably.

Autumn was cold, and the coming winter would be even more heart-chilling.

The passage of time brought external changes.

Compared to when the First Simulation ended, Xu Moli's appearance had changed slightly—a change called maturity, and also called loneliness.

Xu Xi felt gratified by the girl's growth, but also pitied the price paid for it.

Once.

Twice.

Sitting there, Xu Xi reached out his hand and placed his palm gently on that small, sorrowfully weeping head on his shoulder.

He rubbed the top of her head slightly, just as he had comforted his younger sister when they were children.

"It's good that you're back. There's no need for self-blame or guilt. Let the past be the past."

Xu Xi's voice was very gentle.

The girl did not answer.

Only the sound of her crying grew fainter, while the strength with which she hugged Xu Xi increased. That sense of weight and closeness meant that the helpless, weeping little girl once again had someone to rely on.

Once again, she had her "hero" who would tread through thorns and face the scorching sun to save her with unwavering determination.

"Will Brother leave Mo Li again?"

A trembling, uneasy voice came from behind.

"…Never again."

It was not a lie, but the truth.

Having received the answer she wanted, the girl's emotions seemed to ease significantly, but she still tightly hugged Xu Xi's neck, resting her head on his shoulder from behind.

She was completely unwilling to let go.

Inexplicably, Xu Xi felt that the scene before him was somewhat familiar.

Why was that?

"I remember experiencing this somewhere," Xu Xi searched his memory and soon discovered that there were several times he had woken up in the morning feeling a heavy pressure on his body.

That feeling was the same as it was now.

In other words, the so-called sleep paralysis didn't exist; the discomfort he had always felt was because of his sister's secret behavior in the middle of the night?

Xu Xi smiled.

He smiled both at the truth behind this farce and at his younger sister's petty behavior.

After an unknown amount of time, under Xu Xi's gentle stroking and comfort, the girl finally stopped crying. Held by Xu Xi's hand, she sat down on the other side of the wooden table.

Now.

Xu Xi finally saw the girl's full appearance.

Was she a stranger? Not at all; she was still that familiar, crybaby little girl.

Was she familiar? Not entirely, it seemed.

Unlike the Witch who was eternally seventeen, although Xu Moli's appearance remained youthful due to her immortal cultivation, her body still grew.

She was a bit taller, her hair was longer, and she was a bit colder than in Xu Xi's memory.

The sister who back then used to chase Xu Xi, asking about the ups and downs of life, had now, with the passage of time, grown to the point of experiencing life for herself.

It was dazing.

"So beautiful."

Xu Xi spoke softly, helping the girl wipe away the tear stains on her face, restoring her face to cleanliness.

"Thank you, Brother…"

Familiar words, but a different tone.

When Xu Moli was young, her voice was incredibly lively, possessing a child's innocence.

But now, the grown-up girl was somewhat reserved. The long-awaited reunion made her slightly constrained, to the point where she didn't even know what to say.

"Mo Li, have a piece of candy."

Xu Xi decided to ease the awkward atmosphere.

He opened the sugar jar again, took out a brown gummy candy, and handed it to Xu Moli, who was sitting beside him.

"Mm."

The girl responded obediently, taking the gummy and putting it in her mouth.

The taste of the candy was not extraordinary.

But one thing was special.

The feelings contained within it would never expire again.

Because the person who gave the candy meaning, the only brother she cared about in her heart, was sitting beside her right now, watching her tenderly.

"Brother, the candy is delicious. Mo Li likes it very much."

After finishing the gummy.

Xu Moli smiled at Xu Xi.

This time, the expression on her face was somewhat familiar, with a bit of the playfulness from her childhood and the flawlessness from when she was sickly, as if she had returned to the past.

Only, as she smiled.

Two lines of clear tears uncontrollably slid down again.

Making her cheeks wet once more.

"As long as you like it. There's still plenty of candy; we can eat it slowly in the future." Xu Xi's movements were meticulous as he slowly wiped away the tear stains on his sister's face, erasing the pain left by the past years.

How happy the siblings' childhood life was in the First Simulation.

How much grief Xu Moli felt in her heart after the simulation ended.

Xu Xi tried to mend that heart riddled with holes.

But the girl shook her head.

It no longer needed mending, and it no longer needed hiding. The moment she truly appeared before Xu Xi, her cold heart gained warmth once again.

As long as she looked at Xu Xi, as long as she gazed at him, the girl would feel immense satisfaction.

"Is that so? Anyway, it's good that you're okay."

Xu Xi smiled.

Subconsciously, he wanted to pat the girl's head.

But he suddenly remembered that the sister before him had grown up and had gone through long years of cultivation and slaughter; perhaps she no longer liked this kind of child-coaxing trick.

Thus, Xu Xi withdrew his hand.

Unexpectedly, Mo Li took the initiative to grab Xu Xi's wrist and lowered her head, letting his palm rest gently against the top of her head.

"Does Brother still remember?"

"Remember what?"

"When I was little, I used to complain to Brother, thinking he patted my head too many times, which prevented me from growing tall."

"There was such a thing. Then why are you still…"

"Now, Mo Li has grown up and doesn't need to get any taller."

The girl spoke softly.

Her eyes were looking at Xu Xi, yet she also seemed to be gazing at something across the void.