The Blooming of Flowers
–
The old doctor cleared a guest room on the second floor, and Ziyuan moved Wei Yu upstairs to let him rest. Although the old doctor repeatedly pleaded, hoping to stay and care for Wei Yu, a fierce glare from Ziyuan made the old doctor reluctantly leave, leaving behind the notebook and a few books related to sacred beasts.
Wei Yu slept soundly with faint breaths, and Ziyuan sat by the bedside, legs crossed, silently finishing reading the books.
The notebook contained many detailed and theoretical hypotheses, but almost none provided the answers Ziyuan sought. He only wanted to know which sacred beast considered Wei Yu its protected target.
Afterward, he casually flipped through several miscellaneous discussions and bizarre stories. As he read, even Ziyuan began to feel a bit drowsy, but he wanted to finish the books first.
Some of the tales were unrelated or far-fetched regarding sacred beasts, but they intrigued Ziyuan nonetheless.
The story seemed to unfold in the long-extinct village, where a cursed abnormal infant was born. Legend had it that the infant was the offspring of a human woman and an unknown demon, magical beast, or even suspected to be a peculiar creature born from the union with a sacred beast.
The grotesque infant, as the tale went, not only grew up eating wolves but even killed people in the village. Ultimately, the villagers joined forces to burn it to death.
Ziyuan couldn’t help but yawn, suddenly noticing Wei Yu stirring slightly. He quickly leaned over to check and realized that all the totems on Wei Yu’s body had disappeared.
Perhaps the totems were just hidden. The notebook mentioned that totems wouldn’t always be visible, but Ziyuan couldn’t determine how to make them reappear.
“Are you awake?” Ziyuan asked as he leaned in.
Wei Yu nodded with tired eyes, and Ziyuan helped him up, offering a sip of water. After taking a shallow sip, Wei Yu hoarsely spoke, “I’ve caused trouble for you, Ziyuan… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t waste words. Rest up quickly. After you’re better, you have a lot to explain to me,” Ziyuan commanded.
Wei Yu weakly smiled. Although he didn’t know what Ziyuan wanted him to explain, he nodded obediently and added, “This time, leaving the Emerald Kingdom… I secretly thought about searching for a sacred beast. I hope… if possible, I hope it can replace me… in guarding my country.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“I got it.” Originally wanting to have an emotional chat about this heavy internal matter, Wei Yu’s atmosphere was shattered by Ziyuan’s offhand remarks. Wei Yu chuckled and burrowed back into the covers. He knew this was Ziyuan’s way of being considerate, but he absolutely couldn’t reveal it in front of Ziyuan.
‘Ziyuan is quite different from the impression I had of demons.’ Due to exhaustion, Wei Yu quickly fell back into a deep sleep. Ziyuan confirmed he was asleep before picking up the book he had left off, mixing with the increasing heaviness of drowsiness to continue reading.
In a nearby small village, there was born a cursed monstrous infant. Legend had it that the child was the result of a human woman mating with an unknown demon or mythical beast. Naturally, there were suspicions that it might be a bizarre creature born from the union with a sacred beast.
This monstrous infant was incredibly hideous. As it grew, it not only consumed wolves but even killed people in the village. However, in the end, the villagers collectively burned it to death…
—
“Pigshit? Where’s Pigshit!” A butcher brandished a shiny cleaver, bellowing with a hoarse, broken voice.
“C-c-coming.” The one speaking was warm and stuttering, with an incredibly strange and ugly appearance. It was almost impossible to determine if this being was even human. With legs of uneven lengths, it wobbled over.
The villagers referred to this being as “Pigshit,” as nobody remembered its real name.
Pigshit’s mother had been offered as a living sacrifice over a decade ago, sent deep into the mountains by the villagers. The creature they worshipped, it was said, dwelled hidden in the deep mountains.
Worshipping the sacred beast was meant to seek its protection for bountiful harvests and peace in this impoverished village. However, a few days after being tightly bound, the woman calmly returned to the village one evening. She declared that the sacred beast did not accept sacrifices and had let her go after keeping her for a night.
The woman did not die as a sacrifice, and the village had no choice but to continue enduring impoverished days.
Then, in the autumn of the following year, the woman, still unmarried and having failed as a sacrifice once again, found her abdomen swelling. Eventually, she gave birth to a monstrous creature. Its birth caused a sensation throughout the entire village, marking the birth of Pigshit.
His hair, a bunch of yellow-brown strands, resembled straw. His face was large and flat, with a crooked nose leaning to the left, and the right eye was an indented cavity with no eyeball. When he opened his mouth, sharp, yellowed fangs were revealed, making his speech unclear. The lengths of his limbs were uneven, with a body length of only about two-thirds of an adult male’s, even though he was actually nineteen years old.
Since childhood, his job had been to take care of the butcher’s pigs, feeding domestic animals and poultry. His most common task was cleaning pig manure, hence the teasing nickname “Pigshit.”
“Where’s my sharpening stone? It was definitely here yesterday.” Without a word, the butcher grabbed the dirty collar of Pigshit’s clothes. He had been wearing this outfit continuously for four years.
“Uh, I-I-I don’t know.” Pigshit was very afraid because the butcher deliberately blamed everything on him and subjected him to cruel punishments.
“Don’t know? What about that thing? Where’s my stuff?” Knowing it wasn’t Pigshit’s fault, and that Pigshit had nothing to do with it, the butcher still vented his dissatisfaction on Pigshit.
“I-I don’t know, I didn’t d-drop it.” Pigshit vigorously shook his head from side to side. The butcher, in a fit of rage, threw him to the ground. Pigshit’s clumsy body couldn’t react in time, and he hit the ground headfirst with a thud. He curled up his ugly body in pain, desperately rubbing his head and murmuring softly. He feared that making a loud noise would result in even more physical pain.
“Never mind, get lost, you’re stinking up the place! Dealing with a scum like you has really dirtied my hands.” The butcher spat in Pigshit’s direction and turned to walk back to the slaughter table. To his surprise, he saw the sharpening stone under the table.
“You dared to hide my sharpening stone here! Filthy Pigshit, believe me, next time I’ll cut your neck with a single stroke.” Despite it being his own mistake, the butcher intentionally shifted the blame to Pigshit. Since Pigshit grew up without much education or vocabulary, he couldn’t defend himself. He could only escape quickly.
As the day ended with the setting sun’s announcement, Pigshit, covered in sweat and the smell of manure, returned home.
His mother was now an herbalist who would often be away for several days when she went out. He had no father, and his mother never mentioned a word about him. However, his mother was very kind to him. Even when the whole village wanted to kill him when he was born, his mother, who had just given birth and almost fainted, protected him. Even when the entire village bullied Pigshit and his mother, often deliberately stealing and destroying their belongings, leaving only a few pieces of old furniture in their home, his mother would still smile and say that as long as he could live, it was enough.
Pigshit never hurt anyone because he knew it would upset his mother. His mother gave him love, allowing him to live like a human being.
Despite the poverty and misery, Pigshit still lived contentedly. Whenever he was embraced by his mother, that warmth gave him a compassionate heart that hesitated to harm others easily. Even when his mother wasn’t around, as long as he bathed in the golden sunlight, he could savor the warmth of the embrace.
Additionally, Pigshit would often secretly wear the wild purple flowers that covered the mountains because they were his mother’s favorite. Every time he saw his mother putting the flowers in her hair, he found it incredibly beautiful and dazzling. So, he imitated her by picking a few flowers and secretly stashing them in his pocket. When faced with bullying or injustice, he would take them out and hold them in his palm as a substitute for his mother’s comfort.
One day after sunset, Pigshit’s stomach suddenly started to ache. He knew this kind of pain wasn’t from eating something bad but rather from extreme hunger. He searched the cupboards inside out, but unfortunately, there was nothing to eat. It was already dark, and it wasn’t suitable to go outside the village to collect wild fruits. Pigshit had no choice but to walk to the brightly lit neighbor’s house next door and knock on the door. He asked if they could spare him a bit of food, even if it was just burnt rice.
However, the husband took out an iron rod and shouted at him, driving him away. The wife also came out, loudly insulting him, telling him to eat mud or pigshit. She even dragged his mother into the insults, blaming her for deliberately giving birth to a monster and letting him roam around, making the people in the village fear day and night, while she always hid away under the guise of collecting herbs.
In reality, Pigshit couldn’t understand most of the insults. He only knew that he was rejected, and his mother was insulted. After hearing this, he walked back home dejectedly. He sat in front of the door, waiting for his mother, hoping she might suddenly return at any moment. Unfortunately, she didn’t appear. Pigshit was already too hungry to endure it.
He lowered his head to look at the moist soil at his feet. After hesitating for a while, he finally made up his mind. He reached out his fingers toward the damp soil, dug up a small clawful, hesitated again for a moment, and finally slowly put it into his mouth to chew. The soil tasted bland, and he forcefully swallowed the first bite. Although it was a bit difficult to swallow, his stomach immediately felt satisfied.
He dug another handful of soil into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and dug down another bite. Each time he dug, he became faster, and his mouth became fuller. As he ate more, the bitter, muddy taste overflowing in his mouth became stronger. Although the soil he swallowed filled his stomach, it gave him a dull, nauseating feeling of bloating.
A stinging sensation filled his eyes, and Pigshit rubbed them with his hands, feeling the back of his hand damp, but he didn’t know what it was.
—
Under the scorching midday sun, Pigshit, as usual, was cleaning pig dung. Calculating the time, today should be the day when his mother returned from gathering herbs. However, it was already noon, and there was still no sign of his mother.
Pigshit heard from the villagers that wild beasts had been frequently appearing outside the village recently. However, he wasn’t too worried because his mother always confidently assured him that she would be fine, and nothing had happened so far.
But, but…
Deep down, he was actually very concerned about the insults the neighbor’s wife had hurled at him a few days ago. He was afraid that his mother might really be avoiding him or trying to escape him, hence returning home only once every few days.
The more he thought about it, the more concerned he became. In the end, Pigshit decisively put aside his work and headed straight to the village entrance. He intended to go out early to meet his mother and clarify this worry that was bothering him.
The reason he dared to ask was that he still believed in his mother. The extra confusion was just a desire to feel his mother’s warmth more accurately. Pigshit had long been hurt by the villagers’ words, but deep down, he yearned for a bit of comfort, that’s all.
Walking towards the village entrance, he tried to stay in the shadows of the modest houses to avoid being seen skipping work. He knew he would likely receive a beating if caught loafing, and then he wouldn’t have a chance to meet his mother.
As he passed by someone else’s front yard, Pigshit happened to see his mother’s favorite purple-colored flowers. He crouched down and picked a few intending to give them to his mother. However, he knew it was wrong to take them without permission, so he left a few broken copper coins on the ground. It was all the salary he received from the butcher last month. Even though this left him penniless, he felt it was worth it to be able to give his mother these flowers.
However, everyone except Pigshit knew that the damaged copper coins had no real value. They couldn’t buy half a potato.
I’m actually crying why do they treat him this way?? I hope nothing bad happened to his mom 😭😭
Also is there another way to address him? I feel so bad calling him that name, I hope his real name is revealed!
Exactly! 😭 he seems like such a sweet guy!
Exactly! 😭 he seems like such a sweet guy!