The Ice Demoness Loves

Chapter 14: Regret

It was a full moon. After two days of being in the forest alone, a young girl wearing tattered white clothing was sitting down, while warming her small body with the fire she built. A cloth was tied around her arm and was stained with dried blood that had seeped through.

Her nails were coated with dirt and she gulped, swallowing her saliva as her stomach growled. Her usual pretty face looked tired, with dark bags under her eyes from not having slept well for the past few days. She stared intently at the rabbit that was sizzling on the side by the fire.

She was able to hunt for her own food and build her own fire to keep herself warm, but it was more difficult than she thought.

On her second day in the forest, she fought against a wolf and almost died. Yet her stubborn nature kept her from returning home right away. Luckily, she was a smart girl and she was able to treat herself since her parents still taught her that much.

As the girl wiped the tears falling down her delicate cheeks, she decided to return home after the night was over because she knew that it was her mistake. The girl missed her parents and she missed home. She was still a child and knew she couldn't make it out alone.

When her parents' faces appeared in her mind, the girl suddenly felt apologetic and sensed the tears re-emerge but managed to hold herself back. She was willing to withstand any punishment when she returned as long as her parents took her back in. So, once dawn arrived, she used all the cultivation she had to go back as soon as possible.

By the time she entered her hometown, it was already a full moon and the third day had passed. She was exhausted, thirsty, and hungry. But she missed home much more. The feeling of her mother and father's hugs kept her going. Oddly, for some reason, the night felt eerie and her heart was unsettled.

No one could be seen out and the full moon looked alive as it shone its light into the city, allowing her to find her way home quicker. She looked up at the moon, wanting to thank it as she smiled, being one step closer to her family.

When she finally saw the manor she lived in all her life, she breathed out in relief. All the aches of her body seemed to vanish and there was a comfortable throb in her chest as her eyes watered and nose ached. She ran inside, opening the door that was unlocked for some reason, and was too overjoyed to notice the white paper and ribbons hanging around the manor.

"Mother! Father! QiaoHua! I'm back! I'm home!" But there was no answer. She kept calling for her parents even as she ran out of breath, but there was only silence that accompanied her.

"Mother? Father?" she whispered, breathing in and out heavily as her heart thumped against her chest. She reached her parent's bedchambers and knocked. No one answered. "Mother! Father!" She suddenly felt anxious and quickly pushed the door open.

The little girl heard a cough and hurried inside, feeling slightly frightened by how dark the room was, as if it were uninhabited.

She finally spotted a woman with a thick blanket covering her body. Her mother was lying in bed, coughing weakly, with only a small candle beside her bed table to accompany her.

At first, she sighed in relief, but then noticed her mother's weak body that was unable to get up to hug her.

"Mother? What's wrong?!" She ran to her mother's side and held her hand that felt as cold as a winter night. Why was she so cold?

Her mother coughed a few times again before she finally was able to open her trembling eyes. The girl bit her lips when she met her mother's beautiful dark pupils that had such little shine in them, it frightened her. Her beautiful mother...