After a bout of intimate playfulness, Longjiu didn’t loosen her embrace on the bed.
Instead, she pulled Bai Li even closer, holding her tighter and firmer than before.
That strength carried a paranoia born of regaining what was once lost, an underlying fury from being betrayed, and a deep-seated insecurity.
It was a silent declaration that allowed for no struggle or escape
‘This time, don’t even think about leaving…’
Bai Li’s entire body stiffened.
It wasn’t shame or annoyance, but an overwhelming sense of helplessness and bitterness that seeped from the very depths of her bones.
“Who had she been?”
She was the Father who had raised Longjiu single-handedly.
She was the elder who had sheltered this girl when she was still weak and ignorant, protecting her and giving her a home.
She was a person whose words carried the weight of gold, standing tall with a dignity and gaze that brooked no violation.
She was the widely admired and illustrious Great Human Magic Instructor.
“But now?”
She had become a delicate, small, and helpless figure, stripped of all power.
The sturdy arms that once safely shielded Longjiu were now so thin they felt like they would break at a single touch, utterly fragile.
The upright body that once held up the heavens and stood firm between heaven and earth was now curled in her daughter’s arms, making even her struggle look pathetic and weak.
What made her chest feel even tighter and her dignity shatter was the reality that once, she had held Longjiu in her arms to nurture her.
Now, it was Longjiu who held her with overbearing dominance, refusing to let her go for even a single step.
The roles were reversed; the World Order was overturned.
Time played cruel tricks.
Her dignity was so shattered that she couldn’t even pick up a single piece.
“Let me go…”
Bai Li’s voice trembled slightly.
It wasn’t fear, but a sense of grievance, resentment, and a stubbornness born from having her most painful spot pricked.
“Longjiu, don’t go too far!”
She still tried to maintain that pitiful, final shred of authority that belonged to a “Father.”
However, this small and weak body, coupled with that youthful, flushed, and adorable face, made her scolding sound soft and powerless.
It only made one find her more endearing.
Longjiu looked down, her golden eyes falling heavily upon Bai Li’s face.
There wasn’t a hint of her usual playfulness or mischief; there was only a suppressed, extreme fury and insecurity ignited by Bai Li’s attempt to run away.
“Too far?” she repeated in a low voice, her tone so cold it made Bai Li’s heart tremble.
“When you disappeared without a word, forcing me to search every corner of The Four Seas and Mountains, unable to rest for even a single night… When I couldn’t find you no matter how hard I tried, why didn’t you think about what was too far then?”
“You were afraid of me, so you fled? You weren’t used to this, so you just left? Did you ever think about how panicked I was? How terrified? Did you ever consider how much I hated you for being so heartless and cold when I finally found you?”
Every word was like a heavy hammer smashing against Bai Li’s heart.
It was heavy and bitter, making it hard to breathe.
She had nothing to say in her defense. She really had fled.
She really had been afraid.
She had indeed chosen to hide from everything that confused and overwhelmed her in the most cowardly and irresponsible way.
But her grievance, her resentment, and her shattered dignity — who could truly understand those things?
Bai Li bit her lower lip, her eyes gradually reddening.
Tears welled up uncontrollably, blurring her vision.
“I wasn’t trying to run away…”
“I just… I just couldn’t accept looking like this! I couldn’t accept becoming so small and useless that I can’t even protect myself! I couldn’t accept that I was once your Father, but now I have to be… be trapped in your arms like this!”
She practically sobbed out those last few sentences.
Her voice was broken and trembling, carrying a bitterness and despair she couldn’t suppress.
She had once been a dignified and majestic Father.
Now, she was circled in her daughter’s arms, powerless to resist and left to her mercy.
She had always forgotten — Bai Li wasn’t an ordinary young girl who was born with this small and weak appearance.
She was the former Father.
She was the one who had raised, educated, and protected her, treasuring her for over ten years.
She was the elder who had once been high and mighty, majestic and reliable, the one Longjiu could lean on and act spoiled toward.
And now, she had turned that very person into someone who needed to be held and protected by her, even forcibly restrained.
She had won the battle of distance, she had won possession, and she had won the peace of mind of having regained what was lost.
However, she had ruthlessly crushed the last of Bai Li’s pride and dignity.
Longjiu’s fingertips trembled slightly, and her heart ached.
But when she thought of those days spent searching for her, the sleepless nights and the agony of not being able to eat or rest — when she thought of how Bai Li had fled regardless of the consequences — her moment of soft-heartedness was immediately overwhelmed by an even more powerful possessiveness.
She couldn’t let go.
She could never let go again.
She couldn’t endure the pain of losing her a second time.
“I know you’re resentful.”
Longjiu lowered her head, her forehead gently resting against Bai Li’s.
Her voice was deep and forceful, carrying an undeniable obsession.
“I know you’re still thinking of yourself as my Father, thinking about your former identity and how you shouldn’t be held by me like this. But so what? The fact is — you are in my arms right now. The fact is — I can easily hold you, trap you, and keep you here. The fact is — you can’t run or hide.”
“Bai Li, accept reality. Right now, I am strong and you are weak. I will protect you, and you will rely on me. I am the one keeping you, and you are the one who can only stay by my side.”
Every single sentence was a precision strike against Bai Li’s most painful, sensitive, and unwanted truths.
She squeezed her eyes shut, large tears rolling down and splashing onto Longjiu.
This was the most cruel, heartless, and soul-crushing reality — the child she had once carefully sheltered under her wings had grown into someone hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of times stronger than her.
The little girl she could once easily lift with one hand could now wrap her in a firm embrace with a single movement, making escape impossible.
The child she had once painstakingly taught with authority and love now used force and possessiveness to lock her away, never letting her leave her side.
It was a total and utter defeat.
She had lost to power, lost to the changes in her own body, lost to this absurd and heartless reality, and even more so, she had lost to this suffocatingly heavy obsession that she could neither respond to nor escape.
“You bastard… Longjiu…”
Bai Li sobbed, her voice completely broken.
“I am your Father… I’m the one who raised you… how could you do this to me…”
“Precisely because you are the one who raised me, I can’t afford to lose you even more.”
Longjiu’s voice trembled slightly.
She tightened her arms, yet carefully adjusted her strength for fear of hurting her.
“Precisely because you were once my Father, I have to keep you by my side and protect you for the rest of my life.”
“Before, you protected me. From now on, I will protect you. Before, you held me. From now on — it’s only fair — I will hold you.”
‘Fair?’
Bai Li laughed miserably in her heart.
Bitterness spread through her. It wasn’t fair at all.