Novels2Search
Lyrica of a Hundred Tails
Part 1 Chapter 5: Fuwaei

Part 1 Chapter 5: Fuwaei

"You talk... a bit funny..." Lyrica sleepily told Bifa her face still flushed red, tucked under a thin cloth blanket.

"From my perspective you're the one talkin' funny," Bifa laughed it off and shrugged. "Now that I think 'bout it Ruben said the same thing."

"Ruben...?" Lyrica asked, confused. Who's... that...?

"Ah, you'll meet him very soon," Bifa replied. "You need some sleepin' right now."

"I... don't want... to sleep..." Lyrica pouted. All... that I could do in that... boat was... sleep... or wait...

"This girl..." Bifa sighed. "Do you know the story of Fuwaei?"

"Weird name..." Lyrica chuckled.

"Well, a long time ago..."

A long long time ago, before Asgelius was a port town and a center of trade, it was a small fishing village. There was a man, a carpenter who fell in love with a woman. Not long after, the man wooed the woman with a bouquet of flowers. But not just any bouquet of flowers, it was sculpted from wood. 'The flowers will never wilt, just like my everlasting love for you,' the man said. But she denied his approaches.

They danced like birds in courtship, the man wooing the woman but the girl denied his advances. His love for her isn't so easily broken however. He asked the father of the woman and requested for her daughter's hand in marriage. 'You will get my daughter if you work under us for ten years, a decade, and after that time I will consider it.'

The wait and effort that the man had to endure was great, but his love was far greater. Ten years had past as if it was only a few days for him because of his love for her. Once again he asked the father for his daughter's hand in marriage. 'You have my blessing, but you can only take my daughter if she decides to be with you.'

"That's... very long...!"

"Yer right!" Bifa replied, continuing the story.

The man then wooed the woman again, not wanting to give up. After which the woman asked him. 'What is it that you find so beautiful, who am I for you to strain yourself, why do you love me?'

The man answered. 'Because you gave my life meaning, each and every waking moment was met with great joy every time I met you. You are my one and only, I will never love another woman except you.' The man pulled out a red scarf, and loosely wrapped it around her neck under the moonlight sky, with the stars acting as their witnesses. He then asked her a question. 'You are my one and only, and I would cherish you so, will you be mine and will I be yours?'

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

She held onto the hem of the red scarf wrapped around her neck and smiled, her eyes glimmering with a gentle light. 'Yes.' She answered hugging him and kissing him on the forehead.

The man and woman then started a family. The woman gave birth to a young and healthy girl. She liked to go to the forest, often playing with sticks and stones and running around. But as the girl grew up, she became sickly. Until she could no longer leave her room, she was bedridden. The family then called for a doctor.

The doctor arrived, but they could not find the source of her anguish. Then they traveled to a neighboring village and asked another doctor for help. The doctor could not find the source of the child's anguish yet again. The only thing that the doctors said was that she could not breathe properly.

One day, a young man appeared. He had strange hair the color of hay hair and black eyes like the sea.

"But the sea... isn't black...! I was there... and the sea was... blue...!" Lyrica grumbled.

"Well..." Bifa laughed, continuing the story.

He appeared before the family and told them. 'I have here the cure to your troubles, but it will cause a pretty coin!' He then showed them a round shaped bottle made of glass with a long cylindrical tube jutting out of it. The bottle had a blue tincture inside. He even boasted. 'This tincture can bring back a cut off limb, cure any illness, and even make someone stronger!'

The family fully believed him and grimaced, hearing about the tincture from neighboring villages and peddlers. They didn't have enough money but they so desperately wished to have the tincture. And so they said to the mage. 'Come back here in three day's time and we will have enough money.' The mage agreed.

That night the man wished upon the stars for help. And then the heavens shook answering his call. One of the stars fell from the sky and hit the ocean, leaving behind a trail of white crystals. In the middle of the crater however was a golden fluffy sheep. He thanked the stars, and so he named the sheep 'Fuwaei' because the heavens have granted him a miracle.

The family collected the crystals and called it salt. The family discovered that salt was a rare commodity that everyone wanted, it prolonged food for a long amount of time and made it more tasty. Eventually, the family sold the salt that they had collected and gathered enough money in three day's time.

The mage came back and demanded his money and the family gave him the money and the mage gave them the tincture. The mage told them. 'I will now go inside your house so that I can make your daughter drink my tincture and live.' And the family agreed.

The mage popped off the cork covering the tube and put the opening against the daughter's lips. The mage assisted the daughter to drink the tincture, not spilling a drop. And suddenly the girl glowed brightly in blue light and was healed of her illness. The family said to the mage. 'Thank you ever so much.'

The mage nodded and left, never to be seen again.

"And so, they lived happily ever after," Bifa said to herself, Lyrica already sound asleep.