The man's eccentric behavior startled Li Yangyi. "Uh, was I not supposed to say that?"
"N—No, it's uh, how do I say it," the man cleared his throat, "Uhm, did you meet the witch in the house?"
Li Yangyi brow raised in confusion. "The witch? No, not that I know of."
The man then breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Then it's fine." His eyes then turned serious. "Let me give you this reminder then—never step into the flower field, you got that?"
"Huh, why should I take commands from someone like you? If you say it like that, it just makes me want to go all the more." Li Yangyi squinted his eyes.
"Quick to judge, aren't ya? A young man like you should be more gullible, or how else would he be able to enjoy life," the man reprimanded him, though he did not feel insulted. "How about I simply show you what I mean?"
"Show me? No need, I'm good." Li Yangyi was quick to deny, and his sister Li Yinyi watching through the screen simply rolled her eyes.
"Well, I guess you are the type that needs things decided for you," the man said and laughed. He stood up and cleared his throat by coughing twice. He reached for the sash around his robe and swiftly pulled it out, undressing himself.
Li Yangyi almost fell from his chair and immediately turned around in disgust. He shouted, "How the hell does taking your clothes of have anything to do with this? Don't suddenly start exposing yourself, that's nasty!"
"You idiot, as if I'd do that just to be funny, now come on and take a look."
"Hell no," Li Yangyi furiously shook his hands while facing the other way, "Do you have any idea how shady you sound right now?"
The man turned louder, and in a self-righteous tone, he said, "You are too distrusting! This is a teachable moment for you. If you could just be more trusting like a normal person..."
"You seem to have a drastic definition of 'normal' here!"
"I'm coming closer."
"Police, police! Help, I'm being assaulted!"
In the end, the man grabbed the screaming Li Yangyi and forced him to look. Li Yangyi tried struggling, but the man seemed to have an unnatural amount of strength within him and his arms were like bolted logs.
Li Yangyi—against his will—looked the man in his eyes. He saw a dimming light, weather-beaten and somewhat old, but nevertheless ceaseless shining back from within the two irises. He might have just shown a sliver of interest in the mans story, was it not for the bare chest hiding right below. The small glimpse caused Li Yangyi to groan in disgust and he struggled even harder. Thank goodness, the man at least decided to leave the lower part on.
The man showed no signs of budging. "Take a look at my shoulder," he asked.
Li Yangyi reflexively stared at the neck, and before he even had the choice to regret it, his sight fell on the darkened scar flowing from his collarbone, crossing the shoulder and then splitting in two—one embedded on his chest and the other winding down his right arm. The scar looked terribly invasive with its pitch-black color, and throbbed faintly, as if having a life of its own.
Li Yangyi—stunned silent—stopped moving and the man finally let him go.
Sitting down, the man said, "Not the most aesthetically pleasing thing, right?" He grabbed his black shoulder and sunk his hand in, he smiled, but it failed to reach his eyes. "The witch did this to me. Gave it as a little greeting gift."
Li Yangyi's mood was complex. He stared at the man, and then looked at the scar again.
He didn't know what to say to this man, this stranger, he had just met. Was he supposed to console him? Was he supposed to stay silent? In the first place, should he care? He wasn't good at such things. But when he remembered the light within the mans eye, he felt that it couldn't be brushed off like he'd do so many other times.
"Why," Li Yangyi asked the man. A rather weird question for this young boy, who never trusted anyone. "Why did the witch do such a thing?"
"Why? Seems like you finally show some interest. It's not much, but progress takes time." The man laughed heartily, irritating Li Yangyi.
"Fine, forget I ever asked! If you don't want to talk, just say so."
"It's not that I don't want to, it's more like I can't." The man shook his head. "Perhaps only the witch knows the truth, however, I doubt you'll find an answer from her." his voice then turned solemn, "The flower-field, the burnt house and the witch they have been here before I was born. In that time, nobody has ever heard her voice, let alone talked to her."
Li Yangyi's eyes opened wide, as he stared at the man who looked older than his father. "Is this even possible?"
"Of course, why would it not be? The world is big, you haven't seen anything yet." He sighed. "She has lived for more years than you and me combined. And my shoulder is probably one of the reasons."
"Your shoulder?"
"Yes, I can't move it anymore you see." He tried lifting his arm, but anything beyond his hand and forearm would stay still as if petrified. "The witch took it from me." The man silently gritted his teeth. "Some years ago—I can't be bothered to remember when exactly—I went outside the village and stumbled upon this flower-field. Even though I had never been there before, I immediately recognized it from all the cautionary tales and warnings the village elders would give. However, the me back then was too adventurous for his own good and I walked further. There, I saw a masked woman taking a stroll through the field. It's still embedded in my memory, the bright light, the loud noise, and the last thing I saw, the ephemeral picture of that woman clad in black walking away before I fainted." His voice turned chilly. "When I woke up, my shoulder had already turned into... this thing. Necrotic flesh, or something like that. Something without a hint of life."
Li Yangyi, listening to the story, felt a chill run down his spine. Looking at the dark scar of the man in front, all his hair stood up. "Does it mean—"
The man nodded. "Anyone who enters the flower-field and meets the witch loses a part of their body. Your legs, your eyesight, even your... even your heart," he paused, "she takes it all and assimilates it as a part of her."
"But that shouldn't be possible, Those are evil arts of legends!" Li Yangyi frowned, and struggled hard to comprehend what he had heard.
"You think I call her a witch just for fun? Youngling, you should remember this, what some call fiction, might just be history for others."
"I, uh..." No words came out his mouth. He was stumped. Usually, he would be quick to deny such stories. Never mind that it sounded like an outlandish fairy-tale, even if it was a more believable one, he would not trust it. It was in his nature to do so—
"Why would you feel the need to tell me this?"
"I thought I should warn you at least."
"But why tell such a story? Why not just leave it at a warning?"
"I don't know? Would you have believed me if I did so?"
"No. No I wouldn't have, but I'd have no one but myself to blame for that."
—but today was different. Time and time again, his distrust had proven to be the wrong choice. Even his naive little sister seemed more mature than him, right now. His beliefs wavered, and at the zenith of it all the man delivered a test. A story.
The man smiled faintly. "You know, I learned with my long life, no human is born distrusting. Just because you don't believe, doesn't make you a bad person; so why should I not try to save you from suffering not worth living through?"
Li Yangyi remained silent. He took—for the first time in life—a small leap of faith, and chose to believe the tale. Not all of it of course, but at least the essence. And the small dent in his beliefs was thus mended. For the better, for the worse—only time would be able to tell.
"Well, it's not all bad," the man interrupted Li Yangyi's thoughts. "Look what I can do now." He poked his darkened shoulder, his finger sunk in, leaving a hole the size of a few centimeters. After a few seconds, it sprung back to normal. "Isn't that cool?" He laughed happily.
Li Yangyi's eye twitched uncontrollably. "Dude, that's disgusting..."