Until We Meet

41| Recess

🥀

The eerie, quiet forest slowly becomes darker as minutes pass by. The silent trees remain still while the chirping birds fall asleep after a while on the branches of the peach blossom. Waving its withering leaves all over the forest, the trees make silent movements. With Su Ruo behind him, Xiao Fan stops for a moment when he spots a mark on the tree.

Su Ruo also stops after him and rests her hand on the bark of the tree taking in deep breaths. Her unstable breaths make her go numb slowly as her eyes dim alongside. Holding on to the tree, Xiao Fan on the other hand moves his finger slowly towards the carved mark on the tree.

“It’s the same mark,” he concludes. Passing his fingers delicately over the carved mark, his eyes flicker for a moment. It was the same mark he made hours ago when they first entered the forest. How did they get here again? Who was playing with them in the forest.

With a heavy sigh, he quickly takes his hands off the mark before taking a keen glance at their current position. Feeling exhausted, he firmly shut his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“The search is going no where. We should rest here for the night and continue tomorrow. There’s something fishy about this place.”

She doesn’t respond with words and just nods at him. Holding on to the bark of the tree, she exhales sharply. “I’ll stay right here.”

The wilted leaves fall aimlessly to the tune of the wind when dusk settles. Looking around, he turns to their relieves to pass it over to the exhausted Su Ruo. But he finds an empty container and just a meat bun. “Get it,” he exclaims while stretching his hand towards her.

On the contrary, his hands remain in the air for several minutes. Confused as to why she didn’t take it, he quickly turns around. But he only finds her lying unconscious on the floor closer to the tree she stood by earlier. He rushes over to her and puts her in his arms on desperation. After shaking her and calling out to her continuously for minutes, an unfamiliar smell runs through his nose.

“Su Ruo! Wake up.” After getting no response from her, he looks up only to find a foggy atmosphere, unlike before. The area they were was completely foggy and invisible to even know where they were at the moment. He quickly covers his nose with his arm and rip a part of his hanfu to cover her nose.

“Who’s there?! Show yourself!” With no response coming his way, he looks through the misty forest for any sign of a silhouette or footsteps in order to know his stand. As the aura gradually takes hid consciousness away, he grabs his sword and point it in the air at numerous directions. In hesitation, he clings to her hand so tightly.

“Who are y-you?” he mumbles while trying to keep himself from falling into a deep slumber. As he stares at Su Ruo in desperation, a silhouette slowly approaches them. Under his long black coat, he approaches them in slow steps. When he gets right in front of them, he lifts his head with a smile.

He passes out in no time, falling beside the sleeping Su Ruo. Two other silhouettes appear beside the first one to approach them.

“Bring them over.” They both nod and move towards them to carry them away. But when one of them lift her up, they find them holding so tightly to each other. “It’s a pair, master.”

Sighing, he turns around and walks forward. The other two pick them up and walk alongside in order to make it through the forest. With the way they penetrate the forest, they find their way in the maze in no time. After clearing out from the forest, a beautiful, large mountain site appears.

With a large waterfall and blooming peach blossom leading them from the entrance, birds move out from their abode in the trees to flap their wings in the air.