Chapter 1866: Chapter 1861: Change of Mental State

After leaving Cao Lingbing, Xiaobei’s expression grew a little complicated.

Soon, Xiaobei once again returned to the deep pool.

From a distance, Xiaobei saw a man in deep black clothes sitting blankly by the deep pool.

Looking at that back, before Xiaobei could say anything, he heard a low voice, "I already guessed earlier that you’d found me, but at the time I still held on to a sliver of luck. Now it seems you really did discover me back then."

"Yeah. Before, you hid yourself very well, but once Cao Lingbing appeared, your heart was thrown into turmoil, so I noticed you."

After replying, Xiaobei took a step forward and said coolly, "Tell me, should I be calling you ’old sir’ right now, or should I be calling you the Cao Family Head?"

The instant he saw that back, Xiaobei recognized him as the man he’d once met briefly before.

To be honest, Xiaobei’s impression of him had been pretty good back then.

But now, after learning more information and details, Xiaobei’s impression of him had dropped a lot...

You could even say Xiaobei now felt a strong disgust toward him.

"A name is nothing more than a code."

Hearing that, Xiaobei let out a cold laugh and said, "I don’t know why you’re still here, but I’d advise you to get lost as soon as possible. In Cao Lingbing’s heart, you’re already dead, so stop dreaming about patching things up. That’s absolutely impossible."

"I know. I’ve never thought about any ’broken mirror made whole.’ I know full well how much sin I piled up back then. The only reason I’ve stayed here all this time is because I knew she’d been poisoned and wanted to find a way to cure her, but I’m useless. All these years, I’ve never found a good solution."

He sighed, quietly explaining...

From beginning to end, he had never thought about any reconciliation, because he knew the sins he’d committed ran deep.

Back then, the Cao Family was at its peak, and he was revered by tens of thousands.

That reverence stirred him, and made him hunger even more for greater admiration.

He knew the only way to reach that quickly was through a political marriage. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Under those circumstances, he sought out many powerful families, planning to use his daughter Cao Lingbing to forge marriage alliances with them.

At the time, he thought only of himself and completely ignored how desperate this would make his own daughter...

In the end, because of his coercion, Cao Lingbing took poison to kill herself.

When that news came, he still resented Cao Lingbing.

He felt Cao Lingbing was unworthy to be his daughter...

Later, he realized it wasn’t that she was unworthy to be his daughter, it was that he wasn’t qualified to be her father...

He just understood that far too late...

His daughter had already withered away like a fallen blossom...

Knowing this, he sank into despair and came back here again.

He’d originally planned to properly atone before his daughter’s grave, but when he arrived, he discovered his daughter hadn’t died.

She’d been saved by the Yao Ling...

When he learned this latest news, he was overjoyed...

He wanted to go see Cao Lingbing, but he didn’t dare. He knew he was the source of all her misery, so he had no face...

Giving up on seeing Cao Lingbing, he started trying to find a way to heal her, but the results were dismal.

Hearing that bitter explanation, Xiaobei studied him for a moment and finally noticed something was off about his complexion.

Taking a step forward, Xiaobei looked at him and asked in surprise, "You’re poisoned?"

Earlier, Xiaobei hadn’t noticed.

But now, Xiaobei saw it...

He really did look poisoned...

And it was clearly a very deep poison...

"Yes, I’m poisoned, but it’s nothing more than what I deserve."

At that, he sighed and said, "Don’t worry. I’ll be leaving here very soon. With you by her side in the future, I truly feel at ease."

Before, he’d stayed here all this time simply because he could never be at ease about his daughter.

But now that there was Xiaobei, he could rest easy...

He knew Xiaobei would cherish her even more than he did.

Hearing him, Xiaobei gave him a long, deep look and spoke calmly, "Earlier, you must have deliberately poisoned yourself, then used your own body to test out antidotes, didn’t you?"

After voicing that deduction, Xiaobei looked at him intently.

But Xiaobei received no response...

Xiaobei knew his guess was probably correct.

Just as he was about to say something more, he heard that indifferent voice, "None of that matters anymore. I’m going to disappear completely anyway. I’ll be counting on you from now on."

Seeing him struggle shakily to his feet, Xiaobei nodded. "Mm. You really should disappear. But before you do, I’ll cure you."

The man, who had been wearing a mask of indifference, looked at Xiaobei in some astonishment. "You’re willing to save me?"

"Yes, I’m willing. But you must promise that once you recover, you’ll disappear completely, and never make Cao Lingbing remember any of those painful things again."

"All right."

"Then it’s settled. I’ll sneak back here tonight. When the time comes, I’ll carefully take your pulse. Once I’ve figured everything out, I’ll help you clear the poison from your body."

"Thank you."

"No need for that. That’s enough. If I go back too late, she’ll get suspicious."

"All right."

...

After giving him one last deep look, Xiaobei turned and ran off quickly...

Watching Xiaobei leave, a trace of complexity flashed through his eyes...

"Back then, I only ever thought about myself. And he, even in a situation like this, is still thinking about me. Looking at it now, the gap between us really is enormous."

By the end, he lifted his head to the sky, his gaze filled with bitterness...

...

"Xiaobei-ge, you’re finally back! I was getting impatient waiting for you."

Hearing Cao Lingbing’s words, Xiaobei deliberately teased, "It’s only been a little while. Your patience is way too bad."

Knowing she really had been a bit impatient, she stuck out her pink tongue and quickly asked in return, "Forget that for now. You said you dropped something just now. Did you find it?"

Looking at her, Xiaobei came up with an excuse. "I went back and searched for quite a while before I realized I hadn’t lost it. I’d left it in my room earlier."

"Xiaobei-ge, you really are scatterbrained!"

"Haha."

Xiaobei chuckled, then looked into the distance and主动 changed the subject. "I went over there earlier and thought it was pretty interesting. Let’s go check it out now."

Following the direction of Xiaobei’s pointing finger, Cao Lingbing smiled lightly and said earnestly, "No problem. Wherever you want to go today, I’ll go with you. I’m your guide, so I have to take responsibility for you."