The cave was still in chaos.
Lin Huan was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
Wu Ye looked like he was considering throwing him into a snowstorm.
Wu Yin happily sat beside Bai Xueyin, holding her sleeve tightly.
Meanwhile, the cubs had completely surrounded their mother.
No one intended to give her up.
Not even a little.
Bai Xingyuan had wrapped himself around Xueyin’s arm again.
Bai Shuyi occupied her lap.
Bai Qingluo sat beside her.
The twins guarded both sides.
Wu Yin claimed her shoulder.
The result was a mountain of cubs.
Xueyin couldn’t even move properly.
“…Am I being held hostage?”
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Impossible.”
The cubs answered immediately.
Xueyin wasn’t convinced.
Suddenly—
Bai Qingluo frowned.
The fox cub slowly stood up.
Everyone noticed.
Unlike her siblings, Bai Qingluo rarely reacted strongly.
“What is it?” Xueyin asked.
The fox girl looked toward Wu Yin.
Then toward the adults.
“…Has anyone noticed something strange?”
The cave quieted.
“What?”
Bai Qingluo folded her arms.
“All of them say Mother promised to come back.”
Silence.
Wu Ye froze.
Lin Huan stopped smiling.
Even Xue Linyuan looked up.
The cub continued calmly.
“Father Lin said it.”
She pointed at Lin Huan.
“Father Xue said it.”
She pointed at Xue Linyuan.
“Now Raven Father too.”
She pointed at Wu Ye.
The adults exchanged looks.
Bai Qingluo’s blue eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
No one answered immediately.
Because she was right.
The same pattern kept appearing.
Every reunion.
Every story.
Every memory.
The same words.
Xueyin’s heart suddenly beat faster.
Because she had noticed it too.
At first she thought it was coincidence.
Now…
It felt important.
Very important.
The cave became quiet.
Finally, Wu Ye sighed.
“…Because she left.”
Xueyin blinked.
“Left?”
The raven nodded.
His playful expression was gone.
Years ago, before her disappearance—
Bai Xueyin had suddenly begun traveling between territories.
Visiting different clans.
Meeting different people.
Searching for something.
Then one day—
She told them all the same thing.
> “I need to go somewhere.”
When asked where—
She never answered.
Only smiled.
And promised:
> “I’ll come back.”
Wu Ye’s golden eyes darkened.
“But you never did.”
Lin Huan looked away.
Xue Linyuan remained silent.
Years passed.
No messages.
No traces.
No clues.
Nothing.
Until now.
Xueyin frowned.
Something didn’t make sense.
“If I disappeared…”
She hesitated.
“Why didn’t anyone find me?”
The cave fell silent.
The adults exchanged looks again.
Because that question haunted them too.
The answer should have been impossible.
These men weren’t ordinary beasts.
One ruled the frozen north.
One traveled across continents.
One commanded information networks stretching everywhere.
Finding one snow fox should have been easy.
Yet none of them found her.
Not for years.
Almost as if… The source of this chapter is g.com.
Someone had hidden her.
The realization made the atmosphere colder.
Even the cubs sensed it.
Then Bai Chen suddenly spoke.
The quiet twin rarely interrupted adults.
Which made everyone listen.
“…Mother.”
Xueyin looked down.
The cub hesitated.
Then reached into his small pouch.
“I found something.”
He pulled out a worn object.
A small silver pendant.
The moment it appeared—
Xue Linyuan stood abruptly.
Wu Ye’s eyes narrowed.
Lin Huan’s smile vanished.
The adults instantly recognized it.
Xueyin didn’t.
“What is it?”
Bai Chen placed the pendant in her hand.
“It’s yours.”
The moment her fingers touched the silver surface—
Pain exploded inside her head.
A flash.
Moonlight.
Blood.
A circle of strange symbols.
Several figures standing around her.
Voices shouting.
Someone crying.
Then—
A woman’s voice.
Cold.
Terrified.
Desperate.
> “Seal her memories now.”
Xueyin gasped.
The pendant slipped from her fingers.
The vision vanished immediately.
The cave spun.
Everyone rushed forward.
“Mother!”
“Xueyin!”
“Mama!”
But Xueyin barely heard them.
Because for the first time—
The memory wasn’t warm.
It wasn’t romantic.
It wasn’t a fragment of a lost relationship.
It was fear.
Someone had sealed her memories.
On purpose.
And somewhere in those missing memories…
Was the reason why.