If it wasn’t for his injuries, I wouldn’t have spoken a single word to him. I was wishing so hard that his injuries would heal overnight, so this huge burden can be off my shoulders.
It was finally dinner time, and of course all we had were baked sweet potatoes, but still it was better than nothing. I took one of the sweet potatoes and went inside the room. Oh, another mouth to feed. I wasn’t sure how long those forty pounds of food would last.
He was laying on the bed.
I went close and said with coldness, “It’s time to eat.”
He seemed to be in a deep sleep, at least wasn’t reacting at all.
“Hey! Dinner time okay?”
Wow, that dude just didn’t budge an inch! Was he waiting for me to feed the food to his mouth!? I didn’t give a damn to do that, all right? I was not his freaking nanny! If he had the energy to smack someone’s head, then he would have plenty of energy to grab the food and eat it himself. I won’t spoil no one!
Wait……….
Something was not right here?
Why did his skin look like snow again? Approximately six hours ago, I changed his bandages and he was just fine. His wounds were still bad, but at least his complexion was more lively than the “blueberry statue” on Day One.
I kneeled down and got a closer look.
His forehead and neck were full of sweat, and his breathing seemed a bit uneven. I put my hand on his forehead, although I had no thermometer, it was definitely a high fever well over 100 Fahrenheit. I freaked out a bit and the sweet potato rolled off to the ground.
The reason why I freaked out was not because there was pity for him. Nope, not even the slightest of pity for this guy at all, considered what he had done to me! I got scared because a sense of guilt (out of nowhere) just popped up. He got so sick again might be due to my “torture” earlier, that I was being rough with the wounds, that I purposely pinched him here and there. The tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye philosophy had sent a rush of guilt through me.
Jeez, he was the one who started, and now I had to feel guilty about everything.
If I knew earlier how weak he was, I wouldn’t “torture” him even the slightest. Now it was too late, he ended up getting sick all over, and I had to take care of him for a longer period of time. That was just so unfair!
“Grandpa Jin, help!” I shouted toward the common space area.
Soon Grandpa Jin came running in, I explained about the high fever and acted so innocently. Grandpa Jin kneeled next to him, touched his forehead, and then examined his pupils.
“Poor child,” he sighed, and shook his head.
Hearing those two words, my heart literally skipped a beat!
Did that mean there was no cure to his illness and that dude was hopeless now, just because I was so rough with his wounds!?
“Grandpa Jin, is he dying? Please save him!”
My face must have looked super worried, for Grandpa Jin stared at me with a question mark expression. He must be wondering why I was so worried about a stranger’s life and death, as if he was a close family member. The thing Grandpa Jin did not know was that I was only thinking about how to save my poor guilt. If that dude really died this way, I would be a freaking “murderer”!
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I wasn’t sure how a murderer would be treated in the demon world, but my guilt would probably stay inside like shadows forever. No way, I didn’t want to remember this dude for the rest of my life, and how I pinched his wounds with pure evilness.
“Please, Grandpa Jin!” My eyes watered up a bit.
Grandpa Jin smiled lightly, “LiNa, you are such a caring person. He was lucky to encounter you in that blizzard, if it was someone else, all he had left would be skin.”
“What does that mean?”
“Hee…nothing, just my joke. LiNa, you seem to come from a very peaceful world, I can feel it, otherwise you wouldn't be able to keep your innocence. We hope to keep that innocence as long as we can.”
Grandpa Jin then looked back at the young man laying on the bed, “This is a tricky matter.”
“How tricky?” I asked, “Is he going to die?”
He lightly shook his head. “I can’t guarantee whether he will survive or not, but the likelihood of pulling through this unknown poison was very slim.”
Huh!? Poison!?
Where in the world did that come from?
I only pinched that dude, but I definitely did not poison him!
While being astonished by the fact, I was also relieved it wasn’t my “torture” that caused the problem. Still, I wasn’t as relieved as I thought, because he looked very pale and it was not a pleasant feeling to see someone so sick. Even though he was ungrateful and naughty, he was still a living being. Maybe he went through a ton of hardship previously or maybe the poison made him unable to act normal, so he became cold-hearted?
I suddenly had a thought of forgiving him.
“Oh dear, what poison?” Grandma Sha was outside baking more sweet potatoes when she heard the conversation. She came over to sit next to us.
Grandpa Jin said, “Based on the color of his lips and the other symptoms, it seems to be some kind of chronic poison. This poison was not potent, but a slowly released type that was hard to notice. I am not sure exactly what kind, but whoever gave the poison did not want to kill him in an instant, but more like trying to torture him. We demons normally won’t die from chronic poison, but considering all the injuries he had, this poison is becoming fatal.”
“Old man, is there any way to save the young man? He’s too young to go.” Grandma Sha said.
“There is a way, but it’s also an impossible task.”
“What is it, Grandpa Jin?” I asked with some hope.
He looked out the window, as it started to snow again. The last ray of sunlight shone through the window, and soon darkness took over. The scent of bonfire spreaded in the air, and the sound of burning woods were clearly heard in the quiet night.
“The Land of Ruins is so barren that it’s difficult to grow crops, we all know that, but there is an exception. There is a very rare plant called snow lotus. It’s white as snow and probably one of the very few flowers here. Unlike the other flowers, it only opens on a winter night. It’s a miracle how it can stand the freezing cold and darkness. The snow lotus gets buried deep under the snow, due to its rarity and low visibility, it’s almost impossible to find one. We had only heard of this flower, but never actually seen it before. It’s probably opened in other villages, right in our front yard, or somewhere in the vast Land of Ruins, there is no way of knowing.”
I was still very confused, “But how snow lotus is helpful?”
“Based on the folktales, the snow lotus can cure all kinds of poisons. Although I am not a hundred percent certain, it’s the only hope right now.”
Right, it was not like I could just dial the emergency number and get an ambulance over to save this guy.
“Still, this hope is so slim that it’s futile to even try,” Grandpa Jin said.
Grandma Sha sighed and looked at me, “Child, there is only so much we can do.”
So we just waited here and watched him die?
There must be something wrong with my brain, because I was so dumbed enough to ask, “How to find?”
If this thing was buried deeply under the snow and only opened at night, then there was no easy way to find it. Even if I bring a lantern with me, there would be no more light than a firefly can produce in its abdomen, especially on a snowy night like this.
Grandpa Jin’s wrinkles seemed a lot deeper.
“One of the remarkable things about the snow lotus is that it will glow in the dark, and that is how demons were able to find it. An old tale said that there was a man traveling at night in a snowstorm, and suddenly one of his footprints glowed in a pinkish hue. At first he thought it must be a small glowing mythical beast, but when came close, it was actually a snow lotus blooming beautifully beside the footprint. He had accidentally brushed away the snow while walking. There is really no trick in finding this flower, more relying on luck itself. Even persistence would not work if luck is not sided with you. LiNa, this is an impossible task. In addition, the young man wouldn’t last for more than a week. Are you sure to risk your life out there looking for something that only existed in folktales?”