1314: A Thousand Peonies Bloom
Seed 1000 Peony

The day of alternating. But Shu’er's condition did not improve at all. Various eminent healers had been called to cure him, but the results were nil. 

“Why hasn't anyone succeeded? Absolutely useless!” Young Master Zhang was furious at the healers who failed to heal his wife. Until, the last physician who was called said something to him.

“Master, maybe you should meet back the person who gave you the poison. If he has the poison, doesn't that mean he also has the antidote?”

Instantly Young Master Zhang was made aware of this healer's words. “You're right! I have to find the hermit soon,”.

On the day of his departure, Young Master Zhang bade his wife farewell. He clasped Shu’er's hand, which was lying on the bed, and was not aware of the increasingly weak condition. “Shu’er, I will immediately find the antidote to the poison. Wait for me to come back. You have to hold on,” he said softly.

Shuwan is still there, sitting on a chair and being a faithful witness. Why did you have to carry the poison, if in the end you regretted making it like this? inner concerned.

Just as Young Master Zhang was about to ride a horse, Shuwan followed him. The man drove the horse at high speed in order to get to where he met the hermit as quickly as possible. It was in a dangau that was on the border of the village.

The sun had gone from the quarrel, and it had finally arrived. But how surprised he was, finding his place meet the hermit turned into an empty barren land. “B-how is it possible? Was that time clearly the place? Why is it turning into this? My eyes must have been wrong!”

Young Master Zhang looked frustrated. He drove his horse around the barren land to make sure of it once more. But still, he did not manage to find anything there.

“Shu’er... You have to stay alive.” The man was crying, recalling the wife he once loved was waiting for medicine at home. 

Because there was nothing there, the man decided to ask the surrounding residents. But the same result was obtained. Not a single citizen there had ever seen anything else meet a hermit in the land.

On the verge of despair, rain suddenly fell. Under the heavy rain, Shu’er's husband thrust his face into the sky. Her tears trickled down, fusing together with the stubs of the rain that fell. “This is all my fault!” he said with a regretful tone.

Shuwan just bowed languidly. He no longer knows how to. Seeing Young Master Zhang who was like that, also made his heart even more hurt.

After remaining silent in the rain for a long time, the man re-running his horse. Not with a fast race. The horse was walking as usual. Apparently he steered his horse towards the sacred temple on the edge of the forest. Just south of his village. 

When he got there, he went down, and walked into the temple. He just sat quietly with an empty look. Her like that looks like a body without a soul. 

He regained consciousness when someone patted his left shoulder. He looked up and found a monk smiling at him.

“It looks like you're very depressed. Maybe you can tell a little story to ease your burden, and maybe I can help find a solution,” said the monk who then sat next to Shu’er's husband.

Without any objection, Young Master Zhang began to tell her the matter. The monk let out a deep sigh, and began to respond. 

“So apparently. I didn't expect that you could get that legendary ice liver toxin. It was once used to punish those who lied and betrayed. The person who created this poison was a hermit known as ‘Fathers of Seven Path’. 

Many said that he was a great god, so many people respected him. However, his life path as a hermit made him unable to settle down somewhere for long. Don't know where, and where he went.” “How do you know this matter is so far away? Did you have anything to do with that hermit?”

The monk smiled. “I only heard it from my great-grandmother.”

“So apparently. Then, what about the antidote?”

The monk inhaled a deep breath, and exhaled it back heavily. “The poison has no antidote,” short the monk.

Young Master Zhang, who heard the monk's words, gasped. “Must be! You must be lying! There must be an antidote, right? I really don't believe in your nonsense even if you're a saint!”

The monk nodded calmly. He understood very well how the condition of the man in front of him. “Calm down, young man. You're.. Wait here for a moment,” said the monk as he rose from his seat. 

The monk walked over, and entered into a hidden room inside the temple. A short time later, he came out with a small white bag. He then handed the bag to Young Master Zhang, “This... Take away. Hopefully this can help solve your problem.”

“What is this?” Young Master Zhang then opened the bag. He was also surprised to see the contents. “Ceed? What does it mean?”

“It is the seed of 1000 Peony flowers. Just by making it grow and bloom, then the curse will be gone.”

“Easy then?”

“To make the florets bloom, there must be a person who goes on a mission by going to the past as much as the number of flower seeds in the pouch. And, who can solve it is concerned, or people who have blood ties with it.”

“Go to the past? How can it be done?”

“There is a way that can be done to penetrate space and time. When you've planted that seed, come right here. I'll explain it to you.”

Young Master Zhang did not comment much. “U... Alright. Then... What if the mission can't be completed?”

“The curse will continue on its reincarnation later. So inevitably, he must complete the mission if he wants to be free from it.”

Hearing this, Shuwan became startled. Reincarnation? That means, I really am the reincarnation of Shu’er? No. gabe... No. gabe... Grandpa and brother didn't tell me anything about these things. Shuwan tried to brush off the monk's words.

On the other hand, the monk's words also made Young Master Zhang become even more panicked, “A-what? Why is it like that? Isn't it just by growing it, and making it bloom able to break free from the curse of the poison?”

“It is the will of the heavens and a truth that you must accept.”

Suddenly Young Master Zhang's breathing became disordered. Looks like a person with shortness of breath. The monk held both his shoulders. “Tenace... Youngster..” sergeant.

“Why can it be so complicated? Is this a punishment for me? I just don't want to part with the person I love. But why has the sky never heard my prayers in the slightest?” Young Master Zhang's tears flowed profusely.

Shuwan who was there also dissolved in the atmosphere. Over and over again he wiped the tears that poured down his cheeks. Even the rain outside never subsided, as if understanding the sorrow that befell a poor young man.

Finally, when Young Master Zhang felt strong enough to continue the journey, he decided to return home. Not to forget, he said goodbye to the monk and promised to return soon to ask for an explanation.

“Not why. It is our duty as human beings to help each other.”

Zhang lowered his head as a sign of respect. After that, he rushed up the horse, as did Shuwan who was sitting behind his back. 

Young Master Zhang's chaotic feeling made him race the horse at full speed amidst the torrential rain. He doesn't care about himself anymore. All he had in mind right now was Shu’er, his wife.

After a day of riding horses, Young Master Zhang and Shuwan arrived at the residence. Just about to get off the horse, a servant who was taking care of Shu’er came in a hurry to face him.

“T-lord... Young miss... Young miss keeps vomiting blood..”.

Upon hearing the servant's words, Young Master Zhang's eyes widened. Without a second thought, he jumped off the horse and ran to the room to meet his wife.

Brakk...

Young Master Zhang opened the door so loudly that it made a noise. The healers who were there were only bowed down because they were unable to do anything else.

“T-lord... Miss is entering a critical period.... I'm afraid if he can't be saved la-“

“Shut! My wife will be fine. You are all useless healers! If I hear those bad words again, I'll cut off your tongue!” his bluff while pulling the collar of one of the healers by force.

Amidst the Young Master's anger, Shu’er looked at him with a vision that had started to blur. She also tried to call her husband.

“S-husband.... Uh... Uhuk... Uhuk...” Shu’er returned to vomiting blood. 

The Young Master who was dealing with the healers rushed to his wife, and grabbed her body lying on the bed. “Iya, Shu’er... Where does it hurt? Y-you want what?”

Shu’er grabs her husband's face, “Don't blame them... A physician is not a god who can heal all pain... And most importantly, don't blame yourself. It was my decision to drink the poison. So it wasn't your fault. After I leave, you must live happily.”.

Shu’er's husband simply shook his head with tears in his eyes, “No... What the hell are you saying? I've found a way to lift the curse. Looky... Inside this bag was the seed of a Peony. I'll plant it for you. When it blooms later, it will definitely look very beautiful. You should see it..”

Shu’er caressed her husband's face, “I'd really like to see the Peony flowers you planted for me. But... I can't be with you anymore. I... must go..”

“No... As long as I don't allow it, then you can't leave. Do you hear me, Lin Shuwan?!”

Shuwan who had been silent earlier, and crying near them was not shocked when Young Master Zhang mentioned his name and family. “You..” Shuwan could no longer speak. His speech was interrupted with sobs that were becoming more and more.

“You... Still selfish, huh?”

“I just don't want to lose you, because I love you. Even since we were children.” Shu’er's husband has no power to hold back his sadness. The room was filled with sobs of people. 

“Thank you for loving me with all your heart, for my family when I was sick, and for continuing to protect me even though I couldn't love you properly. Ughhhh... I hope I can atone for my guilt in the next life. If we are meant to be together, fate will definitely bring us back.” 

Shu’er also took the embroidery he put in the box beside his pillow, and handed it to the husband. “A-I made this for you. I hope you like it,” he said softly.

Shu’er's husband also took the embroidered scarf, “I will always like anything from you,” she said in a trembling voice.

Shu’er smiled gently at him, until....

Uhukk... Uhukk... Uhukkc... Uhukk...

Shu’er returned to vomiting blood. Body twitched. His life is at the end of the horn. Her husband also became increasingly panicked. He clenched his wife's body tightly, crying bitterly.

“Shu’er... Can you still hear me? If you want to go, then go... But, I want to hear you call my name, and say that you love me. Even though I don't know your true feelings. L'm... I just want to hear this remark, for the first, and last time.”.

Shu’er apparently can still hear the voice of the husband. With strength she said what her husband asked.

“Liem.... Z-Zhang Wu Liem.

Shuwan who was still there was again shocked by him. Zhang Wu Liem's? Is the real call Liem? If true, didn't the Liem I met in the shop also bear some resemblance to Zhang, and the man before me at the moment. So all this is true.

“Z - Zhang Wu Liem.... I-i'm.... M-love-you...”

Shu’er's breath stopped after he finished saying it. Her husband could only accept. He hugged his wife's body, which was getting cold.

“Shu’erku, you are the only Lin Shuwan mine, and the only one who will be my wife. In this life, next, and forever. You're the only one I'll love all my life.”.

Zhang Wu Liem again cried loudly because he could no longer bear the pain of losing the person he loved the most.

Shuwan was unable to endure his grief, plus the pain that seethed from within his chest after knowing all the truth about him.

***

In a room with bamboo walls, Shuwan's body, scarred by a fall from the ravine, lay on the bed.

He is still in an unconscious condition.  His soul was in the memory room of his past life. Her tears were dripping in the middle.

“What makes you so sad?” said a young man with long white hair, with sapphire blue eyes standing beside Shuwan's bed.

He sat down beside Shuwan, wiping his tears. The man was still sitting there, and looking at the sleeping Shuwan with a warm gaze.