Falling Dreams Of Fang Hua

Chapter 17: The Mystery of My Father

I didn't know a person could smile like that.

The expression on his face was obviously a smile, but it was filled with a grief that stirred my feelings to a point where my heart ached. The more beautifully he smiled, the more intensely I felt that pain.

"You guessed right. This is Fang Hua Wood, but not just any variety. Ordinary people know that Fang Hua Wood can nullify tens of thousands of poisons in the world, but they don't know that there are two types. One type comes after the death of a Fang Hua Beast, and it can expel 100 poisons. The other type comes from the wood left behind in the dirt after a Fang Hua Beast is born and takes on human form. That one can only keep away pests and snakes, but it's even harder to find."

I knitted my eyebrows and asked him, "How come?"

He gave a mysterious smile. "It's the same principle as a baby being born. Preserving the placenta is like burying the wood in the soil."

"So then..."

"This really is something very valuable, so you should take good care of it."

I was speechless. In other words, this thing couldn't dispel any poisons at all.

"You don't like it?" he looked at me, speaking softly. "But I really wanted to give it to you." He smiled again, and it felt like I was struck by lightning. I felt a bit unclear.

"Yifu, don't change the topic."

He was briefly alarmed before taking a seat on a long bench, calmly looking outside the window. I sprawled by his legs, nestling up as I looked up with the hairpin clutched in my hands. "Tell me about my father."

His hands slowly stroked my hair, his voice as gentle and soft as a woman's. But the sound left me cold. "Don't you already know...?"

Shocked, a sense of unease rose in my heart, and I made a move to leave. But his hand found the back of my head again and pulled me lower and closer.

"You went to the grave at the yellow earth mound, didn't you...the corpse nestled by its side was your father. Good Shao'er, you've forgotten this despite having such a good memory. Do you remember what was written on the sheepskin cloth in his robes? You've read it yourself." His hands unhurriedly stroked my cheeks, reciting it word by word.

"When those days ended, I felt disconsolate and empty over the fact that we couldn't meet. The happy times of then are now as distant as the divide between Heaven and Man. Early on, a thousand li already existed to keep us separate. I was the one who didn't treat you well enough back then. Now I'll use my own life to make it up to you. I just hope that after you return from the grave, you can look after that child. This way, even if I die...I will be content."

His eyelids drooped, and with every sentence he spoke, the cinnabar mark at the corner of his eye trembled.

I didn't know what kind of tone he was using to make those few lines sound so cold. I just knew the Fang Hua speaking now made my heart ache, and I quickly grabbed his hand. "Yifu..."

He grew aware of my presence and turned his head to smile at me. "My memory isn't very good. But I've remembered those words for a lifetime, so I'll never forget them again."

A truth like this was crueler than any lie.

It made my head spin...

My father acted wrongly towards Fang Hua out of personal feelings...what kind of entanglements did they get into in his past life?

"Shao'er, I've already been through a cycle of rebirth. I've forgotten a lot of things in my past life. I can only dimly recall your father's face and the letter he left by the grave before he died. I went to take care of you, his child and only son."