countdown // beefleaf

6.

it was a stupid idea in general, but shi qingxuan had no luck left anyway. if he could waste the rest going to that place, he certainly would.

the town when he xuan was born, grew up, fell and died, was once again bustling. people were preparing for their celebration of the youth who slaughtered the nobilities centuries ago. shi qingxuan walked around the stalls and kiosks, craning his neck up towards the sky and peeking under every stone. he was looking for something he didn't knew.

this time, it was he xuan who was being invaded. he turned around surprised to see a green clothed man casually poking a stick into a bush. once he saw he xuan staring at him with his eyes wide open, he dropped the stick into the bush and laughed nervously.

"uh-huh... hi?"

"why were you harassing the bush?"

"i'm, uhm, i saw a... a... a butterfly?"

he xuan blinked slowly, "you saw a butterfly."

"yes."

"so you wanted to poke it with a piece of wood?"

"...yes."

he xuan was staring at him as if he leveled up from classic dummy to halfwit pea-brain at least. in the history of wind master's idiocy, poking a butterfly in a bush ranked up second. the first place was taken soon once he xuan pointed at the bush and said:

"and out of all bushes available in this hellhole town, you chose mine?"

"...huh?"

"you're standing in my yard."

"HUH?!"

shi qingxuan fervently looked around with his blood panging at his skull with how intensely his heart raced up, as if it wanted to fulfill lifespan of seventy years in one minute. but regardless of how much he squinted his eyes, all he really saw was grass, bushes and trees hiking up from nearby forest. there was a river flowing near as he could hear the water splashing on the rocks. he felt himself grow dumber by the second, only to remember that it has been... three hundred years at least.

whatever was here before was now long gone, wasn't it?

he xuan seemed to have read his mind as he almost rolled his eyes in the classic general xuan zhen style, "your eyes are blind and can't see the illusion anymore. in fact, there's a house behind you."

"there is a....?"

"and a little garden with a stone well in the centre. the spot where you're standing, on the other hand, this is where i buried my cat when i was eight years old."

shi qingxuan jumped aside instantly, gaining himself a point closer towards cardiac arrest. he xuan finally chuckled at the sight.

"i was kidding with this one."

"...uh."

"it was a dog, not a cat."

while shi qingxuan was clutching at his chest with pale face, he xuan lightly walked to the side and gave him a quick look. shi qingxuan sensed the lethal danger of the classic ming-xiong, but it was a bit too late. he xuan drew his hand out and marked a circle in the air. the other felt a smooth cool wind caress his body, and it only took him one blink of an eye to stagger backwards.

suddenly, he realised he xuan wasn't lying. there really was a well in the garden filled with yellow flowers and side spot where vegetables still climbed up to grow. if he turned around, he would've seen a little hut untouched by the passing of time, with a wooden porch where a table still stood filled with a jar of pumpkin juice and a plate of sweet snacks.

all of it was nothing else but an illusion created with spiritual powers, never to be truly palpable again. the skeleton of the unnamed dog beside his foot was probably long gone as well.

shi qingxuan looked down and saw a little stone plaque with a script on it. the characters were slightly bent and shapeless, but he still read it with ease, "fluffy fish, the best dog. we will miss you."

shi qingxuan truly didn't know whether he should laugh, cry, beg for forgiveness or collapse on the ground. all he managed to do was mumble,

"you... you named your dog a fluffy fish?"

"better than that. i have now named my fish fluffy dog."

"that's, hmm... creative."

"enough of the free talk," he xuan spoke, "tell me what you're doing in here."

shi qingxuan giggled nervously, "ah, yes. the thing– uh... i had a few reasons."

he xuan rose an eyebrow.

"i really did, don't look like this! uh, first... i didn't give you a birthday present."

he xuan rose the second eyebrow as well.

shi qingxuan fished for something in his robes as he began speed-talking, "it's not like i had any idea of what to give you, or when, or where you went, or whether you'd accept it or not but i just thought that it's unfair of me and stuff so i kind of asked his highness and crimson rain but he told me to scram so i did scram and really had no idea so i decided to improvise and– yes. here it is." he held his hand out and smiled sheepishly, "enjoy."

he xuan came to receive the package, watching shi qingxuan's face flash in panic for just a second before he eased off his expression and simply kept on smiling like an idiot. they were now standing pretty close as he xuan judged the package in his hands.

"uhm, open it?" shi qingxuan suggested.

"what's inside?"

"surprise, of course."

he xuan took a guess that it must have been something to either burst in his face or make him want burst shi qingxuan's face. either way, he opened it up. all there really was inside was a pair of golden earrings and note.

shi qingxuan was busy examining the ground, so he didn't see he xuan's expression as he read what he wrote. he only knew he read it when the silence dragged out so long he looked up in curiosity.

he xuan was still looking down at the note. only after a few long seconds did he meet shi qingxuan's eyes. he seemed to have been looking for something in his face as his eyes wandered around. finally, his lips opened up,

"let's take a walk."