Sons of Nature

4 The Last Rose of Winter (13)

Straightening up again, Yue Ji needed a moment to calm his breathing. He had known that this would happen and he had seen it coming for a while. And yet, the pain was still the same.

He cleared his throat and then turned to look at Petal who was sitting on one of the shelves, crying as well. "Petal, you do me a favor."

Petal nodded but continued crying. She hurriedly flew to his side and hugged his cheek as well as she could. "I'll do anything!"

Yue Ji gave a hum and turned to look out of the window. "Do you remember the witch I asked you to find? We need her now."

Petal pulled back, her tears slowly subsiding. "We need a witch?"

"Mn." Yue Ji nodded but didn't explain. "We do. Can you go and get her? You have to hurry though. There isn't too much time."

Petal didn't quite understand but she still nodded and rushed out of the house, flying toward the place Yue Ji had sent her to find several years ago. She wasn't sure if the witch would even still live there but since it was important to Yue Ji, she'd go and check. If she wasn't, she could still ask around and hope she'd find her soon enough.

Back in the hut, Yue Ji turned to look at his lover's body. Right now, his soul was still around and it should linger in the spirit realm for up to seven days before it dispersed and would slowly reincarnate. Unfortunately, he couldn't see it and the soul likely wasn't even aware of what was happening either.

Yue Ji got up with a sigh and left the house. The soul was something only the witch could help him with. But he was the one responsible for giving his lover's body a proper burial. Well, maybe not proper according to the customs of the humans but his lover hadn't lived with them for so long, he should be alright with the simple burial he could give him.

Yue Ji picked a spot not far from the hut, kneeling down on the ground, and slowly started to dig. Right now, it was summer so the temperature wasn't low. Recently, it had also rained so the ground wasn't too dry.

He quietly worked at digging out a grave deep enough, only pausing when it became too much. All this time, he tried not to think too much about what was happening but, of course, he also couldn't ignore it.

His lover had left him. Now, only Petal remained at his side. He didn't want to admit it but, actually, even she likely wouldn't live much longer. Fairies usually lived up to two hundred years at the most, sometimes even only reaching a hundred years. When Fu Yun came into their life, Petal had already been about sixty years of age. Now, almost eighty more had passed. How many years did that leave her with?

Yue Ji stopped digging and sat on the ground quietly, not sure what to think. Once upon a time, he had been content being alone. But at that time, he hadn't known how it felt to be accompanied by somebody every day either. Then, that man had entered his forest, changing everything he thought to know about the world.

So much time had passed since then and yet, life had never been the same. There were just some things that couldn't be regained when lost and the peace of mind he had originally possessed was one of those things. He had exchanged it for a beautiful love, albeit one that couldn't last. In the end, did he regret it?

Yue Ji shook his head at himself, leaned forward, and continued to dig. Of course, there would sometimes be moments when he wondered if it had been worth it. When he was alone and actually felt the loneliness, then he thought that life would have been easier if not for this turn of events. And yet, he would do all of it the very same way again if he ever had the chance. After all, just because life would be easier, that didn't mean it would be better. He knew that all too well.

What was eternal life if you couldn't share it with another person? To him, it didn't amount to much. Maybe it would be different if he had had his own goals and aspirations but there was no such thing. He wasn't even sure why he had been enlightened originally and managed to gain human form. Without any obsession in this world, it seemed odd to receive that chance. But then, maybe this was the reason in itself. He simply didn't know.