The Smiling Red Panda 微笑的红熊猫

11. Mo Xiu, Mo Jingtang Won't Die Yet

Just how is it that a child like Su Jingtang managed to have a bud of a Flower of Everlasting Hatred in his heart? Shi Mei's head rang and a migraine was coming on, he was so confused.

Even if he had several from his mother, he's already crushed them all with his bare fist. He remembered being exhausted after using the little amount of spiritual energy in him to destroy them. Then how?

The one question that remained unanswered when he gave up on planting a flower in Chu Wanning's heart was: would it even work, what if he had no hatred after all?

A part of Shi Mei's mind wondered what would happen to Jingtang if it stayed there, would he succeed? But the rest of Shi Mei shut those thoughts down, to the present him, such a thought had become terrifying. Letting the flower fester in such a pure heart? No matter where it came from, Shi Mei was determined to remove it.

What he did wonder though, was how long the flower has been there. It seems recent since the bud hasn't even budged yet, but he realized the flower has been there for a while, it just won't bloom. He was a little amazed, I... guess I should've expected that from you.

Even if Jingtang was truly pure of heart and was unable to bloom even a Flower of Everlasting Hatred, it's already showing signs of messing with him because it can't grow, it was determined to trigger his hatred. Shi Mei needed to pull it out before anything happens. No matter what.

Jingtang stirred in his sleep.

"Jingtang, leave it to Shixiong okay?" Shi Mei whispered, "I know how to stop your nightmares now. They'll stop soon, I swear."

Shi Mei crumbled, he held Jingtang's hand with both of his hands and bowed his head, droplets of gold fell onto their hands as he stared at the pretty black ring Jingtang gave him.

"A token of our friendship!" He said.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Shi Mei sobbed helplessly, "How could this happen to you? It doesn't make sense."

Shi Mei didn't know when he became so emotionally invested in Jingtang, but all he knew was that if anything were to ever happen to this child, he didn't know what he would do to himself.

———

Shi Mei was serious when he promised a sleeping Jingtang he would do his best to remove the bud, he went as far as to ransack his own room, flipping and scanning through his mother's notes for remedies, but all he could find were how to make it worse. He settled with battling fire with fire, he painstakingly created a weak half of a Flower of Hatred in an attempt to invite the bud in Jingtang's heart out, to combine them then destroy them together.

It was a good theory, but a little lacking, so it didn't work.

Then he tried sneakily feeding Jingtang medicine, and when that caused Jingtang to fall ill, he was quick to give up on that too.

Mo Ran immediately noticed how Shi Mei became increasingly overbearing and protective these past few days… at the slightest hint of danger, Shi Mei would tense up, and whenever Jingtang left his sight for too long, Shi Mei was quick to question everyone, then when Jingtang experiences discomfort, Shi Mei appears out of nowhere to pamper him. It was like everything was a danger to Su Jingtang.

It was weird, but everyone waved it off as Shi Mei's favouritism.

Now even no one bothered to bully Jingtang, with Shi Mingjing hovering around him like a hawk.

Xue Meng thought it weird, the boy he considered his best friend was suddenly so protective over their youngest Shidi, what wasn't there to raise a brow at?