"huff!"
Yun Buizha huffed as he swung the axe with his entire strength, and it hit the log with a swift sound separating one into two.
Then he did it over and over until he was left with many pieces of firewood.
The dawn was only breaking but he was already drenched with sweat, his robes hanging on his waist, his torso exposed to the cold.
His sweat made his body glimmer as the sunlight hit the village, bringing the much anticipated light after the dark.
Wiping his sweat he had a big smile on his face, satisfied with his work.
After all, for him, a simple woodcutter there was no bigger joy like breaking sweat while chopping woods that would warm the entire village.
Although he didn't remember much from his early years, he still remembers the person who had taken him in, and it was also his house where he was living now.
His face was now a blur but as far as he recalled, he was a kind man who also chopped woods every morning while occasionally going to the nearest forest to chop more trees for firewood in order to ensure the villager's survival in this harsh place.
He was a very respectable person in the village, and he was loved too, so it was no wonder that he ended up following in his footsteps and became a woodcutter too.Chopping firewood for the villagers every morning.
Wiping his forehead he exhaled deeply, the silence was wonderful, as the sun warmed his body amidst the snow kissed roofs and streets.
Dropping the axe gently, he closed his eyes while directly facing the direction of the sun, it had been a while since he did that after getting lost in the woods
He finally felt alive once more.
He missed this morning ritual of his.
As he felt the steam rising from his body.
He loved to imagine that the sun was kissing him and that he too was loved by something.
After hydrating himself, he took a quick bath after melting a couple buckets of snow, the warm yet cold feeling it gave was something he loved after feeling the sunrise.
Soon, he divided the logs for each house, carrying them on his back as he began knocking on each house's door.
Standing with a bright smile
"Good morning," he greeted with a smile.
As he delivered each bundle one by one.
It was a fulfilling task, and because of this, he would sometimes get money or food in return too since he was a boy, after all he'd often follow the previous woodcutter and when the villagers saw him they would give him some candy or snacks with each visit,
Now he had grown, but they still continued doing that, it had become a routine for them, although it felt pretty embarrassing for him to accept it but this was how he had survived till now after the previous woodcutter's death when he was a teen.
Miraculously he still wasn't used to it even more so after hitting puberty.
The chief was a very kind man, who gave him something similar to a monthly salary for this after he started visiting the forest for woods after he turned seventeen, his predecessor didn't need such things because he wasn't only a woodcutter but also a great craftsman so he could provide for two months easily, unfortunately he didn't manage to inherit his set of skills.
But even so, he could now proudly refuse the villagers gifts and proudly proclaim how he could now provide for himself, although he was teased a lot for this in the beginning but everyone got used to it.
"Hello!" He greeted the passing old folks who waved in return, their expressions lit with cheerfulness and life.
Smiling he continued visiting different houses,
Then pausing for a moment he glanced at the direction of the chief's manor.
They must be awake by now too
He thought to himself, still his mind wasn't fully free of worry, after all, last night was a bit of a mess.
He knew logically that there was no need to worry, but he couldn't help it.
And every time he thought about them guilt would creep in through the crevices of his flawed heart and overshadow him, a flicker of that dying cultivator's shadow had carved itself into his mind, appearing often and haunting his conscience.
Despite his efforts to smile and be cheerful, he'd catch his lips quivering every time he recalled that man, so much that he'd end up biting himself just to stop it.
His heart shook strongly but there was hardly anything he could do now, after all what had happened had happened and he had already made his choice back then.
To leave him to die.
But he couldn't help but keep hoping that maybe, that somehow, someone found him, someone far kinder, someone with a heart unlike him.
For some reason, he could still see him vividly, the body laying on the snow bed unmoving, he didn't look clearly but his figure showed that he was someone of similar age to him back then, he still remembered the cultivator's frame, there was no way he could've lived after that, he was already dying but…
He deluded himself, repeating that someone must've saved him.
He was consumed with guilt that time when he returned so he spilled it out to the old men in the village but when he did, they didn't scold him,
They only said,
"He must've deserved it"
They murmured,
Old Jie grabbed his shoulder and spoke,
"Don't worry you just gave him what he deserved"
But…
That man was young… just like him,
He couldn't understand how he managed to forget about it till now.
He wished to blame his immatureness but his own reasons wouldn't let him,
He wanted to say that it was merely because he was young.
But then he'd see that dying silhouette standing before him.
"Hah..."
He sighed, looking up at the sky,
Then he happened to walk past old gramps Bu, he used to make paper toys for kids and sell them whenever someone nearby village children would come by.
But now his stall was closed and he lived alone. It was strange but there hadn't been any visitors from Hanling for a while now. Did something happen?
He didn't know where that village was because there was hardly any need for him to go out.
Maybe he had gone there in the past with the previous woodcutter, but he couldn't be sure now.
Gramp's wife had already left him in the past when he was still healthy and strong according to some folks and their child was in another territory.
So he was a very lonely man, much like any other in the village, the storms in the past have taken many lives just as it continues to do till now.
But thankfully there haven't been any deaths for a while.
It was wonderful,
Whenever he could, Yun Buizha would try his best to be with Gramps Bu and keep him company but as an outsider, there were things he cannot do, the emptiness he couldn't fill.
It was the same with others too, even though they enjoyed his company, laughed with him and joked around, the emptiness in their chest longed only for their children, waiting for them to return and fill it, it longed for them.
Despite not remembering his parents, he could feel the heartbreak and grief of gramps Bu, even though he couldn't feel anything towards his parents.
Parental love was one of the strongest forms of love so it always puzzled him why he couldn't remember them nor feel sad.
It was as if instead of a hole in his chest an entire chunk had been cut off and thrown somewhere.
The sun was starting to rise high in the sky and settle, and he took was finally done with delivering all the logs, but when he delivered them to the chief's house he had learned that yue ran and xue hua had already gone out,
Probably wandering the streets. Honestly, he was looking forward to showing them around the village and coming to visit them in the morning but he seems to have been a bit too late.
But it was his own fault for not taking into account the time he's taken to deliver all the logs to the villagers.
Making his mind he smiled,
"I should look for them!" He firmly said to himself,
He was free for the entire day now, so he could do it
His work was done and he wouldn't need to visit the forest for a couple more days.
Raising his arms towards the sky he stretched his body,
He felt a little hot from walking around the entire morning despite wearing lighter clothes than usual, the sun too felt warmer, but that-
Just might've been his illusion.
Walking around he took in the village's scenery once more, even though he grew up in this place he still loved it, walking around like a new visitor every morning.
The streets were bare but not empty, the villagers were all outside doing their thing while chatting with each other, some older ladies would flock together sitting in the bench outside the inn and talking about some gossips, but unfortunately he never managed to become a part of their group despite his desperate attempts he had always been pushed away saying it was adult talk when he was young then changing it to women talk as he grew up.
Then his wondering eyes stopped in front of a closed clinic,
Lady Shu's clinic...
She had been away for a while now, she said that she needed to collect herbs and materials for medicines because her stock was running low, I could've searched for them while chopping woods but she didn't allow me to do it, turning my offer down,
Even though I was just worried about her and wanted to help her, she was probably the only person in the village who was closest to my age in general so I believed that we had formed some special bond but it seems it was just my wishful thinking.
It was a bit sad, but he was glad that she didn't turn him away whenever he barged into the clinic after his morning routine and blabbered about all sorts of things.
He knew that she wasn't listening but just the thought of someone being close to him made him feel incredibly comforted.
So when she left to go look for herbs he couldn't help but feel down, and shamefully the villagers seemed to have taken notice as they later dragged me to the inn and had me drowning in wine.
That was also my first taste of wine, and it probably contributed hugely for my future love for wine.
But he still felt a little shy about it, for some reason the old ladies shook their heads sighing whenever I delivered wood for them for a few days after that.
He had this nagging feeling that there had been some misunderstanding, but they never opened their mouth when I asked and would just look at me with pity,
For some reason he could only feel embarrassed without knowing why,
But that was all before the storm blocked the only path connecting to the other villages, even if she had returned she wouldn't be able to enter so she must be residing in the nearby villages or towns waiting for the people to clear the snow.
Unfortunately, the amount was way too much for the people of Siquan and being mostly elderly people didn't help.
They could only wait and hope for the workers outside to swiftly finish their work.
From the passing conversations he had picked up that it would require help from the sect,
But that was all he knew.
Probably why the chief didn't make any official announcements only telling us to wait it out and that the situation would be sorted out.
Well, it was understandable with how the villagers would've reacted.
But now that he thought about it...
Why did they hate the cultivators so much?
Whenever even whispers of them were uttered, they would all go silent, while their eyes fixed on the speaker, they would wait for the other to crumble before they talked or rather raged about how unjust, or evil they were.
He himself had believed it for so long, but now he wasn't so sure.
How could they be so sure that they were as evil as they said they were? How could they be sure that they were correct ?
They couldn't be sure of it.
That was the only truth, but why were they filled with confidence over their views and beliefs?
But he couldn't get any answers, so he simply mumbled those questions to himself, only frustrating himself till the end.
Soon, he saw two familiar silhouettes, his eyes narrowing with his smile,
Yeah, how could they be evil?
When this powerful immortal cared so much for a child whom he merely found a month back.
They were under the only tree in the village, the one in the middle of the place, the village, it was beautiful, it was forever blooming, he didn't know why,
But he didn't question it,
It had been the case since he could remember.
So it wasn't surprising that they found it beautiful too.
"How's your stomach?"
He asked xue hua, who flinched, glancing at yue ran before mumbling his answer,
"It's better..."
He looked at Yun Buizha with a rather wary face, it was funny,
Since he could guess why that was so.
Was he that upset over me sitting between them?
It was quite adorable, but the immortal unfortunately for him didn't seem to have a single clue or probably was just indifferent.
He felt this urge to pull his cheeks which he barely manage to keep it in,
Yue Ran sat beside the both silently and so Yun Buizha spoke,
"The blossoms are truly beautiful aren't they?" He grinned, as they stood underneath the tree.
He didn't expect any reaction, merely a crude 'yes' or a nod, but he only received silence
Yue Ran's brows twitched as he shared a glance with Xue Hua,
"Is it?" Xue Hua asked, standing close to him,
"What?" He chuckled,
"Do you not think so? This is the tree I told you about when we were in that cave!"
He exclaimed dramatically with a teasing tone.
He still remembered the look of amaze in his eyes when he spoke about this blooming tree, whose leaves never fell and whose barks were never bare.
But what followed was only grave silence.
...