Fate leaves no room for human choice.

The Tong Residence, study.

Incense drifted through the room, yet it could not dispel the suffocating gloom in the air.

Tong Qiannian sat behind a desk carved from a single piece of golden-thread nanmu. Unlike on ordinary days, he was not leafing through account books.

He simply sat there in silence. The face that usually wore a smile of genial prosperity was now utterly bloodless.

“Father.”

Tong Xiaoxiao pushed open the door, her voice cool and clear.

Behind her, Aunt Yun cast her a worried glance before tactfully closing the door and standing guard outside.

Tong Qiannian slowly raised his head. His eyes, squeezed into narrow slits by the folds of fat around them, held a weariness that seemed to have seeped into his very bones.

“You’re back.”

His voice was hoarse, as though he had aged ten years overnight.

Tong Xiaoxiao did not answer. She merely walked to the desk, placed a freshly prepared list of auction items on it, and pushed it toward him.

“This is the auction schedule. Please look it over.”

Tong Qiannian did not even glance at it. He only stared at his daughter with those murky eyes.

He watched her for a long time—so long that Tong Xiaoxiao began to feel uncomfortable. At last, he let out a sigh.

“Xiaoxiao, do you resent your father?”

Tong Xiaoxiao’s delicate body trembled. She lowered her eyes, her long lashes veiling the emotions within.

“Your daughter wouldn’t dare.”

“Is it that you wouldn’t dare, or that you don’t?” Tong Qiannian gave a bitter laugh. He extended his thick palm, as if to take his daughter’s hand, but Tong Xiaoxiao avoided him without making it obvious.

His hand froze in midair before he awkwardly withdrew it.

“The Shu family won’t let this go,” Tong Qiannian said, rubbing his temples. “Fang Zheng of Imperial Court Mountain is a stubborn man who recognizes rules, not people. And those lunatics from the Kui Tian Holy Land will do anything for materials.”

“As for Tianshui City now…”

“Your father knows that you announced the auction as a desperate measure to save the Tong family.” Tong Qiannian paused, his voice growing lower. “But have you thought about what happens afterward? Once the sword is sold, will those who failed to obtain it simply accept it? Will the Shu family just let this humiliation pass?”

“The Tong family will still be a slab of fresh meat that anyone can sink their teeth into.”

“Child, you’ve grown up. You have to take responsibility for the words you’ve spoken.”

Tong Xiaoxiao suddenly raised her head, her almond-shaped eyes filled with stubborn resolve. “Then what would you have me do? Hand the sword over to the Shu family and let Shu Yufeng humiliate me as he pleases?”

“Of course not!” Tong Qiannian slammed his palm onto the desk, making the teacup rattle.

He broke into a violent fit of coughing and took a long while to recover.

“Your father… doesn’t have many years left.” Tong Qiannian slumped against the back of his chair like a deflated ball. “My injuries date back to when I was doing business. An enemy ambushed me and damaged my cultivation foundation. I’ve survived all these years by relying on heavenly treasures and earthly wonders to sustain me. But now, I’m at the end of my strength.”

Tong Xiaoxiao’s heart clenched. Her lips moved, but no words came out.

“If I die, how will a weak woman like you protect this immense fortune? How will you keep all those starving wolves at bay?” Tong Qiannian looked at her, and for the first time, a trace of pleading appeared in his eyes.

“So your father has thought of a way out for you.”

He took another document from the drawer.

It was a… dowry inventory.

At the very top of the list was the family’s ancestral sword.

“The auction will go ahead as planned.” Tong Qiannian’s voice was terrifyingly calm. “But the final lot won’t be the sword.”

Tong Xiaoxiao stared at the inventory. The blood in her body seemed to freeze in an instant.

“It will be you.”

Tong Qiannian forced out the final words.

“Whoever can protect the Tong family at the auction, whoever can offer your father a ‘betrothal gift’ that satisfies him—whoever that is… will marry you.”

“That sword will be your dowry.”

Boom!

Tong Xiaoxiao felt as though something had exploded inside her mind.

She staggered back two steps and stared at the man before her in disbelief.

The man she had called “Father” for twenty years.

“W-What did you say?” Her voice trembled.

“This is the only way.” Tong Qiannian closed his eyes, unable to look at his daughter’s deathly pale face. “Rather than passively waiting to be torn apart by a pack of wolves, we might as well choose the strongest tiger as our protector!”

“Use you as the bait and the sword as the hook, and we can land a true dragon capable of shielding the Tong family!”

“Absurd!” Tong Xiaoxiao shrieked. Tears finally broke free and streamed down her face. “What am I to you, then? A commodity that can be traded?!”

“I’m your daughter!”

“Precisely because you’re my daughter, I have to secure your future!” Tong Qiannian suddenly opened his eyes. They were bloodshot, filled with anguish. “Xiaoxiao, your father has no choice! The Tong family has no choice!”

He struggled to rise from his chair and walked over to Tong Xiaoxiao. For the first time, vulnerability appeared on his plump face.

“Your father is begging you…”

The richest man in Tianshui City, a man who could command the winds and clouds with a word, now looked as helpless as a child.

Tong Xiaoxiao gazed at him, her heart twisting with pain.

She understood her father’s suffering. She understood his helplessness.

But…

She slowly raised a hand, preparing to wipe the tears from her face.

Then she realized, to her surprise, that she had not shed any tears at all.

“I understand.”

Tong Xiaoxiao remained silent for a long time.

She held the man’s gaze for a long time.

Then she picked up the dowry inventory.

After that, she knelt and kowtowed to Tong Qiannian three times.

Only then did she rise and walk toward the door one step at a time.

With her hand wrapped around the doorknob, she stopped. She did not look back.

Only at that moment did tears finally slide down her cheeks.

The door opened, then slammed shut.

Inside the study, tears slipped from the corners of Tong Qiannian’s eyes as he collapsed into his chair.

What else could he do?

Being weak was the original sin.

Fate was never in one’s own hands.