Deep affection knows no origin; remember the polar bear's love for you.

Chapter 121 Parting
Her decisive agreement truly surprised the two bear cubs. The little guy was stunned for a moment, then sincerely said to Guo Mi:

"That's great, Guo Mi, you can go home now."

The two little ones had droopy ears and wet noses. Although they tried their best to hide it, their dark, beady eyes couldn't conceal the disappointment in them.

Guo Mi knew that their disappointment wasn't that she had agreed to their request and decided to leave them, but that they were about to part ways.

She tilted her head:

"How about I take you back a bit?"

The little bear's eyes lit up, but then dimmed again, and it refused:

"No need, Guo Mi. We've already come this far. If you take us back, it will only waste more time. Aren't we supposed to get to a warm place before winter?"

Guo Mi laughed:

"It won't take much time. Indeed, according to the route Bada mentioned, I wouldn't be able to reach the forest before winter. But didn't we pass by the human town? That shortened the journey considerably."

The little bear began to waver, and Guo Mi continued:
"Let's go, it's too hot here. If one of you gets heatstroke, the other won't have the strength to drag him into the water to cool him down, will they?"

Hearing this, the little bear was completely persuaded and obediently followed Guo Mi. The three bears then started walking back.

The two little bears felt that this was the last time they would be together, so they cherished it very much. They stopped playing around Guo Mi's feet and instead clung tightly to her sides, feeling the warmth of her presence as she was by their side.

Guo Mi led them to a place with a water source to avoid them getting heatstroke again.

The two little bears were afraid that she would be late in returning to the forest, so even though they were exhausted, they refused to rest and were panting heavily.

Guo Mi, no longer caring that her fur would get wet and smell of the stagnant, foul water, simply waded through the damp puddle.

Presumably, the detour is no longer necessary, and the journey is shortened.

Two days later, Guo Mi could clearly feel the surrounding temperature dropping again.

She watched the flocks of migratory birds flying overhead and murmured:
"It's already late autumn..."

Little Bear overheard this and, no matter what, refused to let Guo Mi see them off any further. He firmly insisted that they part ways there and that Guo Mi should hurry towards the forest.

Guo Mi had no choice but to accept their kindness:
"I'm leaving?"

The little bear looked at her with reluctance, and spoke with unwavering resolve:
"it is good."

Guo Mi turned around and started walking back, but stopped after taking only two steps, turned back again to confirm:

"Am I really leaving?"

Fishbone was about to cry, burying her little face in her sister's back.

He was already a whole size bigger than the salmon, and the contrast was even more obvious when he sat behind the salmon.

The salmon managed to hold back, his voice trembling slightly:

"Go, Guo Mi. Don't worry, we'll take good care of ourselves."

Guo Mi then said no more, walked over and licked the foreheads of the two little bears one last time, and then turned away.

This time she didn't look back.

Fishbone finally raised its head, and the two little bears sat there watching Guo Mi's figure part the bushes and disappear into a swaying canopy of shadows.

After an unknown amount of time, Fishbone suddenly let out a whimper. This sound was like opening a floodgate, and the half-grown bear cub immediately collapsed to the ground and began to wail.

The bear cub's sharp, piercing cries could travel far. The salmon lowered its head and licked his ear, trying to comfort him while suppressing its own tears.
"Fishbone, don't cry. If other large carnivores hear us, we'll be in danger."

Fishbone's sobs paused briefly, but she quickly regained control, and suppressed cries escaped again. If this continued, Salmon herself wouldn't be able to hold back either. She felt that as the older sister, she had to take care of Fishbone; if she cried too, Fishbone would feel even worse. So, in a hoarse voice, she said:
"If Guo Mi hears this, she will definitely come back. Didn't we agree to let her come home?"

Fishbone's sobs choked, and he forced them back down, finally managing to sit up and look at the salmon through teary eyes.

The salmon moved closer, its forehead pressed tightly against his nose.

There was nothing she could do; the fishbone was already much taller than her, so she had to stand up and crane her neck to barely touch the seated fishbone's forehead.

"Fishbone, from now on we will rely on each other. We must protect each other well."

Fishbone sobbed twice:
"But polar bears don't live together. I... I'm timid, and I eat a lot..."

“It’s okay, we can be like Caesar and Slok, but Caesar is too fierce, I won’t treat you the way he treated Slok.”

The salmon had decided to play the role of Caesar, but Caesar was clearly a negative example for her.

But for Fishbone, Slok wasn't a bad example. He whispered:

"Then I'll learn a lot of hunting skills like Slok, and I'll find lots of food!"

He paused, then quietly added:
“I won’t be as lazy as him.”

Well, in some ways, Slok is definitely a bad example.

The two bear cubs looked at each other, and the salmon was the first to laugh:

"Okay, it's a deal."

Fishbone burst into laughter a second or two later:

"keep your word!"

Guo Mi, who was hiding not far away, listened quietly, a helpless smile in her eyes.

The bear cub's words were innocent and childlike, but the promise made in childhood was the most sincere.

Guo Mi suddenly realized that her journey was not "a journey she knew would end in failure," but rather a meaningless attempt to end her regrets. Perhaps for the little bear, it was an unforgettable adventure.

After comforting each other, the "lone" bears resumed their journey back to the snow mountain, with Guo Mi secretly following behind.

She always consciously walked against the wind, or separated from the two bears by a large pond, using the mixed and multiple scents of the pond to mask her own presence.

The two bear cubs retraced their steps, using the lingering scents to find their way back.

The salmon raised its head, looked around, and hesitated before saying:
"This place seems familiar..."

Fishbone scanned the surroundings:
"It does seem familiar, but could it be because we already walked this route before we arrived?"

The salmon thought this made sense, and then lowered its head to sniff the barely perceptible scent left on the grass, saying rather impatiently:
"The smell has become much fainter; in a little while, we might not be able to smell anything at all."

Fishbone also stepped forward and sniffed:

"It has faded a lot."

However, it didn't seem as exaggerated as the salmon said; he could still smell the lingering scent even after an afternoon.

The salmon was in a hurry to move forward, quickly darting into the withered grass, not caring about its wet claws, and rushed into the low-lying puddle.

Fishbone sniffed it repeatedly and noticed that the scent left by Guo Mi on the grass had faded considerably, while the scent left by them was quite strong.

Just as I was about to call out to the salmon, I realized she had already run to the middle of the puddle, so I quickly followed her.

Not far away, Guo Mi watched as the two bear cubs passed by the same patch of withered grass for the third time and sighed with worry.