Falling Dreams of Fang Hua ✔

Chapter 063: Falling Dreams of Fang Hua

Day after day, month after month, until ten months had passed, I kept using my blood to feed Fang Hua. He'd consumed much of my essence until I was at my breaking point. A human life had countless memorable springs and autumns over the course of their life, but these ten months were forever engraved with gratitude into my bones and heart.

I think, I was already getting old...

I could remember when it was a simple thing to scale up the sides of cliffs. At that time, my body was strong and powerful. There wasn't even a need to climb them. With one push off the ground, I could leap high into the air and fly to the top of the cliff where the best medicines and grasses grew.

But now there was no way for me to reach those cliffs. Ever since the last time I tried and nearly fell off, I never went again. Though I had a safety tie around me to prevent myself from careening off the cliffside, I just had no more strength for climbing. I could only plant a few grasses and seedlings in the courtyard of the house instead. Sometimes I couldn't help but think that I wouldn't last until the day Fang Hua recovered his human body. In the past, I believed that no amount of flowers or morning dew could compare with my blood, and that I'd always be around...to feed Fang Hua until he was full.

Fang Hua, I've nearly given you all my blood. But why won't you wake up?

A bitter smile rose on my lips. I wiped away my sweat with my sleeves to look up at the sky, where the strong sunlight forced me to shade my eyes. Perhaps I was too tired, but all I could feel was my head turning numb and my feet getting unsteady. The warm sun was welcoming, but I still couldn't help but feel cold. A sudden unease rose in my heart-a strong feeling that filled up  my entire body-as if something had happened without me there. I shut my eyes, resting a hand against my knees as I pushed myself. I plucked off a medicinal plant and tossed it into the basket on my back, leaning against my walking stick as I hurried towards the mountain path...

Panting and gasping for breath, I made it to the yellow earth grave mound where I stood in shock. There was only a broken branch where the Fang Hua wood used to be, but the little Fang Hua that had formed was nowhere to be seen. Ignorant and confused, I couldn't help but look around as I called out.

"Fang Hua, Fang Hua where are you?"

An endless field of grass surrounded me on all sides, waving gently in the wind. My heart seized up as my breath caught, a hand raising to cover my mouth with an involuntary cry. A raw taste filled my mouth as something seeped past my fingers and stained my palm. When I removed my hand again, all I saw was blood. I couldn't help but force a smile, carelessly wiping the mess away with a white handkerchief.

The smell of blood filled the air.

Suddenly, something moved in the thick cover of grass. It wasn't the wind, but the strands had trembled anyways. I was lost for a minute before slowly raising my mouth into a genuine smile. Holding back my rising happiness, I went to brush aside the mess of weeds and branches. There was a pair of bright, limpid eyes looking at me from the grass, measuring me up with his gaze. For a long time, my heart had felt like someone was squeezing it in a vise-like grip. Today, some of that pressure finally relaxed, and now it was only beating in joy. There was deep pain as well, with a sharp and stabbing edge.

It made me recall a scene long in the past, when Fang Hua met the younger me for the first time. Back then, he had looked at me in the same way, except he'd been smiling and at peace. This little fellow seemed to be hiding in the grass, looking both curious and timid.

"Fang Hua..."

Though I'd said his name many times before in my heart, this was the first time I was speaking it to him. My words sounded both hoarse and pained. I knelt down, slowly extending my hand towards him. The little fellow seemed to be frightened, and gave me another nervous look. His entire naked form was hidden in the grass like a small and startled animal.