Doha had chanced upon it by mere coincidence.
More than a decade into the future, when Doha is thrown into the wilderness to fend for his own, he would come across an exotic leaf that would fix his weak constitution. He ate it as a means of survival. Within the wild, where the strongest hunt the ferocious inhabitants of the jungle to survive, Doha was frail to follow that simple path. Even if he had the strength, I doubt if he would ever hurt an living being.
The first few days of hunger were sated by eating the moss that grew near a lake and the thirst by its water. When that didn't seem to hold him on for long, he decided to change his course and search for actual food in some other areas. He was actually determined to find them, which is very surprising coming from him. Doha didn't care to live on but he was afraid of death. Especially a painful death. His whole life was filled with tragedies after tragedies, and he was always on the hurtful, receiving end. So he wished to die a death that didn't hurt him.
That determination lasted him for two weeks before his body gave up on its own. It would be a lie to say he hadn't seen it coming. Doha knew it himself, how weak he was. Not just in body, but in every aspect of life. He always wanted to be useful to others in some way, just like his siblings had been. But he knew that was never going to happen.
That day he was supposed to die. But it seemed like the ones that pulled his strings of fate had another ending for him.
The Solace Leaf that blooms every three thousand years. It was a bright gold leaf that emitted the radiance of the sun. A rare herb that collectively offered people a body reformation by exuding the impure poison that grew within them.
For Doha, it was the perfect remedy for fixing himself.
He ate it just because it seemed to welcome him. In the damp and ugly scent of the wild, it produced a sweet scent that reminded him of warmth. It was the only beauty in a place that reeked and grew of corpses and blood.
Well, I'm happy that it ended up that way for him.
Now all that's left for me is to eat it as well.
The Solace Leaf despite being a very rare herb, is pretty accessible in places that people usually tend to ignore. Like, the Miso Garden.
I am dumbfounded that such a precious plant is growing in the wild, but then again, it seemed like it only grows in the wild.
Though the Miso Garden was burned down to its core, it seemed like they maintained this place well. There are neither traces nor any poisonous plants growing here, but just random plants you can find anywhere within the world. There are also exquisite flowers and even though it was only a silly guess, there really were butterflies as well.
I don't know how long it had been since I saw a simple, elegant, harmless butterfly. Being a former Hunter, the only ones I remember are those that sucked on blood and ravaged the whole nation for human flesh.
But these are really cute. There are a few pink ones sitting atop flowers while the blue ones are scattered throughout. One of the pink butterflies comes close enough to me, and before I could touch it or offer it a seat on my hands, it fluttered away.
"Tch, that's a shame," I sighed, feeling sad that it left. Has the kid mindset finally taken over me?
I wouldn't have minded sitting around here and wasting time, but it's going to be dark soon, so I decided to postpone that thought to another day.
If my memory serves right, the Solace Leaf is somewhere near the extreme end of the Miso Garden, near the Hwa forest. It's the forest that Hwan warned me not to go near. I would have followed his advice if only I hadn't had something important to do. The reason why the Hwa forest is dangerous is known only to the Tang Clan. But I have a cheat and that's this guy's memory.
Hwa Forest was once home to a small village with less than twenty residents. The forest fetched them their daily food and water and provided them shelter under its trees. It was a peaceful cohabitation between nature and humans, but humans are not the only residents within a forest. Though it was the thorough plan of someone, the Hwa Forest was soon rampaged by unknown beasts that feasted upon the humans. And somehow strangely, these beasts started to multiply and breed in numbers.
The Tang Clan had once sworn and promised no hindrance to the Hwa residents, and since their demise, they had decided to take over the forest to protect others from the same fate. The martial warriors within the clan hunt these beasts to prove their prowess. Since the Tang residence is focused in the centre, it could eventually gather the produce that Hwa offered, including the poisons of various wild beasts.
I heard that most disciples of the Tang Clan come to the Hwa Forest to hunt. Hunting itself isn't the hard part, but the structure of the forest. The forest is designed like a maze that traps you at a dead end or, leaves you on further paths that could take you to your death, or to the desired exit. One had to be at least a third-rate martial warrior to hunt the low-tier beasts.
Well, I'm not going into the forest and planning to get lost.
The Miso Garden and the Hwa Forest are separated by a fence, or so they say. It's more like a poison mist that wouldn't let common people without ki or cultivation in. The fence is just there as a warning since if you enter without permission you could get poisoned.
And I'm sure the Solace Leaf might be somewhere around it. I just have to make sure I don't come in contact with the mist or go past the fence.
I hope I could find it quickly and get this over with.
***
"Finally, found it~" I grinned, examining the Solace Leaf.
It's truthfully a very beautiful leaf. The gold colour it emits really signifies the sun contrasted with the murky environment of the Garden. Though I did say they managed this place pretty well, it seemed like the areas towards the extreme end, which you have to cross by a small bridge, were used as waste disposal. It isn't surprising considering how rotten the Tang Clan is, but still, isn't this too much?
Everywhere I look, there are only rotting corpses with white foam and blood oozing out of them. Are these the people who tried to enter the Hwa Forest? They look like bandits.
'The blood's still fresh,' I thought, looking at one of the dead bandits. 'There are signs of fighting as well...'
A few paces away from him, lay another bandit. Both of them had the same slash across their body as if it was the last trace of a fight. Did they fight amongst themselves? Or are they from a different group and got in each other's way? The latter seemed more likely.
Seems like these both weren't affected by the mist poison unlike the others around them. Just standing a few meters away from the fence is giving me a headache. The mist is scattered like a dome engulfing the Hwa Forest, just an inch outside the wooden fence. It seems harmless but once you get close enough, it paralyses the person and starts affecting their internal organs.
And it's extremely dangerous for someone like me.
'Well, let's just focus on the task...' I sighed, turning back to the Solace Leaf.
I wonder if I should just eat it? Doha consumed it out of hunger without any second thoughts, so maybe I should just do it as well. Right, I need to act just like my senior even though I'm not hungry.
Plucking it out from the wet ground, I took one last look at it. It didn't scent sweet as Doha remembered, it just looked like it would smell sweet.
"Well, whatever," I said, before eating it as a whole. Then I chewed it slowly, trying to figure out its taste but it just tasted very bland. And I mean, extremely bland.
Tch, so much for a leaf. I can't believe I used my tiny body to walk all the way here just to eat something bland.
After swallowing it, I waited for something to happen. I waited for a minute, and then a whole ten minutes.
"Hm? Why isn't it working? Did I take it the wrong way? I'm sure he simply ate it---"
Just then, I felt a crack in my body. It took me three seconds to understand that my bones were starting to break.
Another two seconds before I landed on my knees, grasping onto my throat that seemed to burst.
It hurt.
It hurt like the worst pain I could imagine.
Which was getting butt injections when I was fourteen in my past life.
"Huk..." I pulled on my hair, as blood started oozing out of pores from my body. "D-daamn...huk...i-it...huk...I..."
It felt as if someone was breaking every single bone in my body. Pain coursed through my veins as if they were being hammered. My head seemed like it was about to burst. My heart throbbed rigorously while I vomited a pool of blood unlike ever before.
"U-guh...s-stop..."
My throat felt like it was being sucked away and flame seemed to engulf my eyes.
"Huk...huk...da..mn...ehk guhh," I croaked, as I felt an intense heat rising from my feet and rushing towards my head. "Ahhherrghrweug-"
Damn this kid's mouth. Damn that leaf.
I clenched onto my heart which seemed to want to rip out from my body.
'Doha...you didn't mention any of this,' I internally cursed, half-regretting my choice of eating it.
I don't remember what happened next.
I think I was losing consciousness and me thinking:
'Sh*t...'
[...]
'No, get yourself under control,' I heard a voice say.
It was my teacher, from my past life. He was standing atop a cliff while watching the world in front of him.
'How come you can't even endure the pain that's binding you? You might as well be a toddler.'
Then why don't you try it instead? That leaf---
'A mere leaf! The fact that you couldn't consume a mere leaf without the thought of death; how disappointing!'
This old geezer...why am I seeing him now? Did I die as well?
'I can't believe I took you in as a student. I'm embarrassed that I have a student that cries in pain.'
Damn you, old man. I'm not crying. I'm just sweating.
'Did you just talk back to me?'
What the--
Can he read my mind? Was that a skill he had?
'Skill, my ass.'
Language, old man.
'Your too easy to read to the point that I wouldn't doubt you were just a baby.'
I'm four, heck I haven't been more adult.
'Four? Four, you say? Tch, kids these days don't have manners at all. Talking back to someone as old as me; how unfathomable!'
The only thing that's old is your---
'Well, you are right.'
Hm?
He turned back to face me. He had the same expression on his face before he left me; a smile laced with gratitude.
Why? Why are you showing me that face? Haven't you had enough of torturing me with guilt?
'Haru...'
I flinched at the name. It's been a while since I heard it.
Haru; that was my name.
'You need to live.'
I am.
'You definitely need to keep living.'
I am, damn it. So stop saying the same thing you said that day.
'You need to survive so that I can rest in peace.'
Why am I your insurance for peace, old man---
'Haru,' he smiled, and that poked me right in the heart. 'Don't cry.'
'....'
'There are people who need you,' he said, his smile intact. 'You need to save them.'
Right. It was always about that. It was always the people, people and people.
'Haru.'
Stop.
'Haru, I'm sorry.'
Stop.
'I am sorry for leaving you.'
I get it. So stop.
'There are people waiting for you, unlike me.'
Don't....
'So please forgive me.'
....leave me
'And wake up, Haru.'
[...]
"What do you mean you let him inside the Miso Garden?!" A woman's voice. It's familiar, and it seemed like she was frustrated. "How could you?! My only son isn't waking up and this is your excuse?!"
It seemed like she was crying, but her anger overwhelmed the tears.
"Why...what did we both do wrong to you all? I know I'm incompetent but what did my son do wrong! He is only a child huk...how could you huk...'
It was my mother.
And looking at the grim expression everyone in the room held, I think they figured out what had happened. Unlike the pretty appearance the leaf holds, the pain from the process hurts every part of the body. I knew eating the leaf would get me unconscious since it's the process of body reformation is not a simple process. But this is not the first time I have blacked out. And judging by how the current situation is taking place, it seems like this was way more dangerous than I had figured.
It's good now that it's over, but I think the fact that my mother has the scariest expression is the worst problem at the moment. I had never seen her so angry or determined in my four years of life.
This feeling...is that what it feels like to have a mother?
"Mrs Haeran, the Young Master asked if he could---"
"Stop! Don't make any excuses! And get out of my sight!"
Then, I like this feeling.
"Mrs Haeran---"
"I said, stop---"
"Mother."
It took her some time, but she slowly turned to look at me. Maybe she wasn't expecting me to wake up anytime time soon. I would have thought the same since that dream was the closest I would have ever gotten to the memories of my past life.
"M-my...s-son..." She said, before rushing to embrace me, with tears that doesn't seem to stop. She tightened her grip around my back, almost as if she was afraid to let go. Sometimes, I wonder if she is the child instead. It's weird. I am not her son, but why do I feel so comfortable?
"W-why...why did you..." She cried, and it sounded so painful. "I told you not to...to not go outside...why..."
I'm sorry, mother.
Behind her, stood Hwan and the other guard. They both had their face masked in guilt and stared down hard at the floor.
"I wanted to see the garden," I said, giving her a smile, which made her cry louder than before.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry, Doha...if only...huk...if only you didn't have the same disease as mine...I'm sorry...huk...it's all my fault."
"It's not your fault, Mother," I hugged her back. "Also, I don't feel sick anymore!"
"You...are...huk...lying," she said through tears. "It's alright...huk...I won't leave you...huk...again..."
I sighed internally thinking it was all over now. My mother and the others wouldn't know but I didn't feel as weak at all. If anything, I could feel vitality surging through me. The Solace Leaf surely did the magic it was supposed to do.
"Madam, I think he is right."
I looked up at Physician Song, who stared at me confused. As expected of a physician; he knows.
"I think the Young Master's constitution has cured by itself."
Upon hearing that, my mother suddenly stood and grabbed the physician by his shoulders.
"What are you saying?"
Physician Song looked away half-smiling, half-nervously, as mother leaned in as if she were interrogating him. "I am not sure of the reason but it seems his body has healed. Almost as if, they have rebuilt themselves and exuded the contaminant that blocked his meridians."
Everybody in the room appeared surprised and stared at me wide-eyed, and I just averted my eyes away from them.
"It's truly a miracle, my lady,"
Mom came down and sat next to me again. I tried looking away from her as well, but she lightly pushed my cheeks towards her and I had to give in.
Tch, if only it wasn't for these fat cheeks.
"My son..."
For one second, she seemed so calm and we kept staring at each other.
And the next second, she started crying again.
"My son...huk...I'm so happy...huk...so happy..."
I sighed again, putting a light smile on my face.
She was such a child.