Falling Dreams of Fang Hua ✔

Chapter 016: Confronting Yifu

Han Zichuan really was a good man who didn't fight with a woman.

No matter how I made fun of him, he still kept his eyes downcast. When I moved closer to take a look, he actually turned his face away to speak. "You... ...keep your distance from me."

"Che, it's not like I'll miss out on much," I gave him a side glance, before stooping over to pull up a patch of grass. "Teasing you is a lot less fun than yifu."

He seemed stunned. I brushed aside my sleeves and messily gathered up my damp hair, holding it in place with my red wood hairpin.

"Fang Hua really didn't raise you as a girl these past ten years?" Han Zichuan suddenly blurted out.

The sunlight just then happened to get in my eyes, and I squinted when I turned to look at him. He stared back blankly, as if the sight dazed him. After a long time, he finally teared his eyes from my face to rest above my head.

"Your yifu is a Fang Hua Beast...right?"

Not wanting to reply, my lips pursed as I glanced at him and resumed walking away.

He followed behind me without a word. The two of us walked softly, one in front of the other, the silence occasionally broken by the sound of falling leaves. When his voice rose again, it was as bright and clear as jade. "Fang Hua withdrew from the world to live here. He's used to living quietly by himself, and yet he took you in as his adopted son."

The wind blew gently, carrying along the sweet, indistinct fragrance of flowers and a unique scent that smelled like medicine to settle in my very bones.

"He treats you extremely well..." Han Zichuan's voice paused. "He even gifted you with a Fang Hua Wood."

This particular sentence piqued my interest and I stopped, gazing at him out of the corner of my eyes. He was fixated on the hairpin in my hair, standing still beneath the willow trees as if turned to stone. There was still a soft, mild smile on his face, and an excited, if hesitant, expression in his eyes.

His current face and bearing felt a little odd to me, but I couldn't tell where it was wrong. I hesitated, then touched the hairpin, only to see his eyes light up. My heart started to pound, and I withdrew my hand. "...this hairpin was made from Fang Hua Wood? Is it very important to my yifu?"

He replied, "You can ask him."

"You've seen Fang Hua wood before, right?" I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to guess from his expression. "I wear this hairpin everyday, so why tell me this now?"

His face looked as if it wanted to smile, but the smile was a pained one. "Fang Hua Wood is an exceedingly precious thing that can nullify hundreds of poisons. There are always people searching for it, and I've had the luck to seen one in the past as well. But the one you have now is a little different. I'm only guessing so I can't be sure, but the changes in your body today are probably related to this wood. That's what finally convinced me."

My heart stopped.

He just clasped his hands[1]. "I'm a bit tired, so I'm going to go on ahead." He seemed as if he was frightened about something.

Che, this person...what's his problem?

His moods shifted quicker than a person turning the pages of a book. Before long, he'd already disappeared without a trace. I stood there looking around for a bit before leisurely walking back to the house. I closed the door, pulled out my hairpin, and examined it closely in my hand.

My head bent down as I got even closer to take a sniff, but it wasn't as the same fragrance as I'd smelled before.

Was this really Fang Hua Wood? It didn't look much different from regular mahogany wood. It felt warm as I grasped it in my hands...