Bitterness and helplessness filled every word Mei Hanqing just said.

She really, really didn't want to leave. She had only just reunited with her parents, and now they were going to be separated. Who knew in what year they'd meet again!

She hadn't even had time to properly enjoy her parents' care before she had to lose it again. Who could understand the bitterness in her heart?

Who could possibly feel what she felt!

And once she left this time, she had no idea when she'd see Ye Xunhuan again, or whether he would end up forgetting her.

"But I also don't want to be a burden!" Mei Hanqing said, her face full of mixed emotions.

Ming Yue let out a soft sigh. "I know this is cruel. If you really don't want to go, then go back."

Ming Yue could clearly see that Mei Hanqing truly didn't want to leave with her at all. She wanted to stay.

"I don't want to go, but I have to. Otherwise I'll only ever be dead weight, dragging him down for the rest of his life!" Mei Hanqing said painfully. "Even if he ends up forgetting me, I'll still go with you!"

"Girl, you'd better think this through. Until you finish your training, I won't let you come back." Ming Yue said, her expression solemn and serious.

"I know." Mei Hanqing slowly let out a stuffy breath from between her lips.

Because of the cold weather, the breath she exhaled turned directly into a faint white mist.

"You've really thought it through?"

"Let's go." Mei Hanqing said softly.

From the depths of her heart, Mei Hanqing didn't want to leave. Rationally, too, she knew she shouldn't leave, otherwise no one knew what might happen in the future, or whether Ye Xunhuan would be able to remember her.

But at the same time, there was another voice telling her, Mei Hanqing, if you don't leave, this is how you'll be for the rest of your life—destined to be a burden!

Just as she'd said to Ming Yue, she didn't want to be a burden. She really didn't.

And during the time she had been with Ye Xunhuan, she could feel that his life was like being in the middle of a raging sea, one storm after another, never a moment's calm. All she could do was watch helplessly as wave after wave crashed over him, completely unable to help at all!

This wasn't what Mei Hanqing wanted. What she wanted was to be able to help Ye Xunhuan; and even if she couldn't, she at least didn't want to add any burden to him.

So she chose to leave.

Hearing Mei Hanqing say this again, Ming Yue stopped asking questions and directly took Mei Hanqing away from there.

She followed Ming Yue and left, like a lone wild goose vanishing into the distance, trace unknown.

No one knew that Mei Hanqing had left this city—this city she had lived in for over twenty years!

...

Jian Yunong and Su Bingzhi sat upstairs, waiting and waiting, but Mei Hanqing still hadn't come back. This made both their hearts jump into their throats. Could something have happened?

Just as Jian Yunong and Su Bingzhi were about to call Mei Hanqing, Jian Yunong's phone suddenly chimed!

It was a text message alert!

Immediately, Jian Yunong fished her phone out from her clothes and opened the message. When she saw it was from Mei Hanqing, she instantly began reading it carefully.

The next second, Jian Yunong's face turned ugly.

"Mom, by the time you see this message, I've already left. I've left this city. Don't overthink it, nothing happened to me."

"Too much has happened lately. I want some time alone to calm down, to travel around a bit…"

"The weather's getting cold. You and Dad take care of your health. Don't worry about me!"

The message was very simple. She only said she was going out to travel and didn't mention Ming Yue at all. She really was gone without a trace!

Jian Yunong was dumbfounded, staring at the text on her phone in utter disbelief.

Mei Hanqing was gone. The daughter she had just found had left her side like this!

This was something Jian Yunong simply couldn't accept. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The next moment, almost by instinct, Jian Yunong dialed Mei Hanqing's number, but all that came from the receiver was a cold mechanical voice!

This made Jian Yunong's heart instantly sink to rock bottom.

"It must be Ye Xunhuan. It must be that bastard who bullied Han Qing; otherwise how could Han Qing leave for no reason!" Jian Yunong said through gritted teeth. "I'm going to settle this with that bastard!"

As she spoke, Jian Yunong was about to get up and leave to go find Ye Xunhuan.

But the next second, she was stopped by Su Bingzhi.

"You're going to find Ye Xunhuan—what are you going to say to him?" Su Bingzhi said heavily. "And we haven't even figured out what's going on yet. How do you know it's Ye Xunhuan?"

"Who else could it be besides Ye Xunhuan?" Jian Yunong was like a lioness with her fur standing on end, glaring at Su Bingzhi, her eyes full of hostility. "Other than him, does Han Qing have any reason to leave? And where would she even go, she…"

"That's exactly why we need to get things straight, otherwise it'll just be another wild goose chase!" Su Bingzhi said forcefully. "If it turns out it has nothing to do with Ye Xunhuan, and Han Qing comes back in a couple of days, then the two of them end up having a falling-out—who are we going to blame?"

Last time, when Mei Hanqing was taken away by First Overbearing, they had already deeply wronged Ye Xunhuan once. Now, Su Bingzhi really didn't want to misunderstand him a second time.

And this time, it was Mei Hanqing who left of her own accord, not someone kidnapping her.

"What kind of spell did Ye Xunhuan put on you that you're speaking up for him like this…"

"I'm just talking based on the facts. You're worried about Han Qing—do you think I'm not?" Su Bingzhi directly cut Jian Yunong off. "I'm worried too. But even if we're worried, we should still figure out what actually happened first…"

"The cause is obvious. It has to be Ye Xunhuan bullying my daughter. Otherwise, my daughter wouldn't have left like this…"

"Su Bingzhi, if you won't go find Ye Xunhuan, I'll go myself!"

"I'll go. You stay home and wait." Su Bingzhi said helplessly.

He knew that if he didn't go ask Ye Xunhuan what was going on, Jian Yunong definitely wouldn't calm down tonight. And if he let Jian Yunong go find Ye Xunhuan, who knew what might happen!

So it was better that he go instead.

"I'll go with you!"

"What are you coming with me for? What if Han Qing comes back later?" Su Bingzhi exhaled a heavy breath.

When Jian Yunong thought about it, that did make sense, so she agreed. "Fine, I'll wait for you."

After that, Su Bingzhi immediately left, heading toward the Tingxiang Waterside Pavilion villa to find Ye Xunhuan and get some answers!

At this moment, Ye Xunhuan still had no idea that Mei Hanqing had already left. Right now he was playing chess with Qiu Shuihan.

Just as Ye Xunhuan and Qiu Shuihan were about to decide the winner, Qiu Ruoxi suddenly came running in from outside in a panic. "Xunhuan, come quick, something's happened…"