"Ah, so he didn't come today as well. I wonder if he left the forest. It would be good if he did. He should be thankful that nothing happened to Cho Byeol, or I don't know what I should have done to him." Yang Zhai muttered to himself whilst looking at the flowers.
He would come here every day to check on the flowers after Cho Byeol fully healed. That was about two weeks after Cho Byeol got injured, but they still didn't let Cho Byeol out of bed for a whole month, just to be safe.
He didn't see anyone today either. The flowers were also in good condition. He was relieved to see that.
"I wonder if the flowers will be able to fully grow in three years, or maybe it will take four. I should probably return back to the cave. I am already late today."
With that, Yang Zhai left the place. He was late today. Usually, he would return after seeing the condition of the flowers. But today, he took a little more time than usual.
After thirty minutes or so, he was standing in front of the cave. After entering many caves, he stood in front of his own cave's entrance. But before he could enter the cave, he heard someone's crying voice. Thus, he hid behind the wall, with his back against the wall.
"I can't take it anymore, I can't. I am dying every day. You know, what, what it, …feels like,… It feels like,...like someone is, ..peeling off my skin,...cutting it into pieces, …and,., .and burning it. You know, …you, ..know how pain,.ful, .. it is. I, I want, ..to, ..die. But, I can't, ..even, …do that"
The voice of the one crying was filled with pain. It was stuttering because of the crying and pain. Yang Zhai knew who the voice belonged to.
"Miss, you have to hold on. I am sure you will be fine. And you don't even let me leave this place to find something to heal you." The one who replied was also crying.
"And, ..how much time,... would it take, …us to find something, …that can heal, heal me. I feel like dying. I want to, ..die. But,…I promised, ..mother that, that, …that I would, …never kill, myself. And also,... If I die, … I fear, .fear that Yang Zhai, Zhai would be left, ..all alone, ..again. I know that…he was, ..betrayed by the ones he, ..he trusted the most. You know, …how, ..difficult it is to, ..smile in front of, ..him, … every day."
"Miss, forgive me that I am unable to do anything to help you. Just why won't you let me tell Yang Zhai?! I am sure that he would be able to think of something" Bae Ah tried to persuade Cho Byeol with tears falling down her cheeks.
"What can, …he do? He already, ..used a Rank5 method, ..on,...me. Even he can't, …do anything, …, so I don't, …want him to, …be worried for, for nothing. And, if, …we move out of, …the forest,., to find a method, ..to heal me, how, …how,., much time, ..do you think would, would it …take us. I might, …die in pain,., before even, …finding the, …method. I don't, I don't, …"
With that, Cho Byeol fell to the ground, unconscious. Her face was covered in tears. Her hands were trembling. It could be seen how much pain she was in. It seemed that the technique Chen Ki used was a nemesis of Cho Byeol's fragile body.
Even after her wound healed, she was still enduring the pain. Maybe, the effects that accumulated in her body for so many years were showing their ramifications now. Her body remained fragile even after she became immortal, which meant that someone was using some kind of method to make her body weak. She was not treated in time, which resulted in the accumulation of negative effects.
Even if a Rank 8 method was used now, she may not be able to recover now. And what triggered the negative effects that were dormant for so long? It may have been the technique Chen Ki used on her.
Bae Ah grabbed her right hand and was also crying,
"Why, just why, Miss, why would this happen to you? Why are you so unlucky? You never thought bad for anyone, but still, you were betrayed by the one you loved, lost your mother to him, lost your cultivation, and even left your clan. But now, when you were finally happy again, this happened. I hope you were never born. This way, you wouldn't have to endure anything. And even now, you are thinking about others!"
She muttered to herself whilst looking at Cho Byeol, who was unconscious.
Yang Zhai left silently, without making a sound. He now knew why Cho Byeol had been acting weird recently. It turned out that she was enduring more than he could imagine.
It turned out that her smile was hiding a pain behind it. It turned out that he had once again failed in his life.
…..
At night,
Yang Zhai returned to the cave. He saw that Cho Byeol and Bae Ah were sitting near the table on opposite sides.
When Cho Byeol saw that Yang Zhai had returned, she smiled and said,
"You're back. What took you so long? You know that you made us worried"
When Bae Ah saw this, she turned her head to the left. She was sad to see Cho Byeol in this condition. Cho Byeol was still trying to smile in front of Yang Zhai. But she would always cry whenever they were alone after she regained consciousness two weeks ago. She was enduring so much but was still trying to smile. Bae Ah could not see her state.
Yang Zhai looked at Cho Byeol's smiling face and smiled back, saying,
"Cho Byeol, just know this, I love you more than anyone in this life and will always love you."
"Huh, why would you say this all of a sudden and in front of Bae Ah too! You're making me blush!" Cho Byeol blushed and lowered her head, covering her face with her hands.
"No reason, just wanted to say this! And I had something to take care of, so it took me some time to return." After saying this, he went to his bed to meditate.
For the next few days, Yang Zhai would always go to check the condition of the flowers. This continued for a week. It seemed that Chen Ki had left the forest. There were still no improvements in Cho Byeol's condition as well. Instead, it was becoming worse with the passing day, but she still didn't tell Yang Zhai.
Yang Zhai could not see her in this condition. He tried to look for a method to heal her, in the previous days, everywhere in the forest. But he couldn't find anything. He sometimes even got injured. But he knew as well that one of the reasons for her current condition was the method used to make her body fragile.
The negative effects accumulated for so many years were not something that a mortal method could eliminate. He understood that his attempts were in vain. He was just throwing a rock into the ocean.
…..
One such fated night,
The sun was setting, the dusk was almost over. The sky was red. There was a slight wind in the air. A beautiful lake that extended into the horizon contained a beautiful waterfall in it. There were blue and pink flowers near the lake, containing a little black color in them. They were dancing graciously with the wind.
There stood a woman, looking at the flowers. Her long black hair, which extended to her knees, was swaying gently with the wind. She wore a beautiful blue Qiyao-Ruqun, with flower patterns on it. It fluttered with the breeze. Its sleeves were wide and nicely made. And looking from behind, it was as if a fairy had landed in the mortal realm.
"Why are you here at this time?" A man's voice came from behind her.
"Just wanted to enjoy the scenery today." The woman answered without looking back.
"Didn't Bae Ah stop you?" The man asked.
"She is sleeping. So, I didn't wake her" the woman replied.
"Aren't you scared of the Rank5 beast and Chen Ki?" The man asked again.
"You said that the Rank5 beast doesn't come out of his home on this day. And Chen Ki didn't appear for more than a month. Maybe he has left the forest." The woman answered.
"What if he didn't leave?" The man asked.
"I don't care anymore. I am tired of everything." The woman replied.
There was no sound after this for a while. The man kept quiet after hearing this.
"Why are you here?" This time, the female questioned the man.
"Do you love me?" The man didn't answer and asked a question of his own.
"I do, more than myself, more than anyone. I can even give my life for you." The woman replied without looking back.
"Then, can you die for me?" The man asked.
"Sure," The woman replied without any hesitation, in a calm voice.
The man didn't reply. He fell silent again.
"Tell me, you already know about me, right?" When the woman didn't hear the man's voice, she asked instead.
"Yes," the man spoke.
"Then, thank you." The female's voice contained a trace of happiness when she said this.
"Why?" The man asked, uncertain or maybe certain.
"For freeing me," the female replied.
"Do you remember what you said to me when the two birds were injured by the Blue vulture," the man asked about the incident a few months ago.
"Yes, I remember," the woman answered.
"So you remember when you asked whether killing the birds would put them out of misery." The man said.
"Yes, I said that"
"Do you think it was fated," the man asked in a deep voice.
"I don't know. But do you?" The woman replied and asked.
"Me too, I don't know either," the man answered.
"But, if it is fated, do you think, was I ever meant to be happy?" The woman asked.
"I don't know." The man gave the same answer again.
"Go ahead then." After the woman said this, silence fell over the place.
Then suddenly, blood splattered on the blue and pink flowers. She looked down and saw a sword piercing out of her chest, that had pierced through her heart. She spat out a mouthful of blood. Right at that exact time, the Yellow Moonlights started to rise from the lake.
The sun had set. The flowers were swaying with the wind. The woman started to fall down on her back but was caught by the man's right arm. She was in the man's arm, and the man was sitting down on the ground, holding the woman in his hand. The woman's face was looking at the sky, her legs were touching the ground, and the man was holding her a little down her neck in his right arm. He could not grab her with both his arms because his left arm was missing.
The scene was breathtakingly beautiful. A man holding a woman in his right arm whilst the yellow lights rose in the sky and were everywhere in the air. A beautiful waterfall fell into a lake that was displaying the night sky clearly in it and a bright moon.
The sky was filled with stars and was crystal clear. The woman's long black hair touched the ground. A man, whose tears fell on the woman's cheeks. A woman, who was smiling whilst tears fell down from the corners of her eyes.
A Man, Whose Kindness Resulted in a Regret.
**********