Separate Lives (I)

The life I have,

Is not the one I dreamt of,

The life he has,

Is not the one I want into.

***

THE YEAR 1904, a century away from the present time.

The knights and the court ladies respected the order and hurriedly went down. Empress Zhang Lian pursed her lips as she looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was now full, signaling that everybody should be alert towards what will happen. She looked at one of the court ladies and said, "Call the royal physician. The destined Queen is unconscious."

Lei Jie looked up at his mother and the tears welled up in his eyes. Empress Zhang Lian sat down on her throne and put her hands by her forehead. Emperor Li Jing turned his heel around, wanted to check what happened to his son's soon-to-be wife.

At the same time, Qing Long struggled to take a step on the stairs towards his cave. He sat down as he held onto his abdomen and knuckled his fists with the blood. He stood up once again and walked up a few steps towards the herb store, where his friend, Mei was her name, confined and practiced medicine all the time.

Qing Long huffed some air as he put pressure on his wound while he raised his hand. But before he could even knock, the door opened quickly. There came a woman with short and jet black hair, only ended above her shoulders, and her eyes were of the color of coffee. Her height was of the same as Qing Long, and she had this upturned eyes that looked like she was in a state of nastiness.

Her dainty nose and full, pinkish lips were symmetrical to her oval face shape.

She looked up with widened eyes and breathed, "Qing Long..."

Qing Long lost his balance and stumbled upon the wooden door that might break because of his weight. His vision was blurry, but he saw the rigid floor with weeds on the side and a table in the center. It was full of cans, containers, and a pot, where steam was coming out.

Mei must have been doing a concoction or a medicine for a better view. Qing Long looked at her and Mei held onto his arms. Qing Long tried to stand up in an erect position but he failed. Mei closed the door gently, the light from the window was evident, as the moonlight was tumbling inside that broken glass.

Mei guided Qing Long to the grimy couch that she had bartered with goods at the market, and let him sit up in a comfortable position. The whole area was dark, gloomy, and there was this sense of loneliness at the four corners of Mei's house. The smell of the ginger spice was evident in the air that made Qing Long closed his eyes tightly.

Mei huffed some air and didn't even gasp in the slightest wound.

"You fought with the Nian beast again?" Mei asked in an unbelievable way as she turned her heel around and scrambled on the table. She was wearing faded white robes, stained in all places with dirt or even blood, but she doesn't care anymore.

It was only a piece of cloth, no one could judge her by that.

Mei opened a set of boxes on the side of the table and retrieved some herbs. She also picked up leaves to place all around the area of the wound to make sure that it was not infected. Mei tucked her hair behind her ears as she got a stool underneath. Mei sat down on the stool as Qing Long was breathing quickly, his heart was beating louder than usual.

"It's Lunar New Year again... and this would be only the time I would be a human again...," Qing Long gritted his teeth as Mei didn't utter a word. She picked up the Jian sword on the side and cut a piece of the cloth, by the part of his abdomen, and she saw that it was the Nian beast's bite. She licked her lips as she scolded Qing Long in the meanest way.

"No matter how much I scold you, you will not listen to me, right?" Mei looked up at him and Qing Long sniggered a little. He felt the soothing sensation of the treatment that Mei was doing on his wound while he observed her stern face.

"I saw my Last Healer...," Qing Long finally said it which made Mei halted abruptly from what she was doing. She slowly looked up at him as she raised her eyebrows. She tilted her head to one side as Qing Long pursed his bluish lips and shook his head.

"She's the last one...," Qing Long whispered in addition and clenched his jaw. Mei continued from treating his wound and readied everything that she had to say. Qing Long was befuddled on why she didn't say anything. Qing Long knew that she would be furious, she would be angry once more.

Mei stood up from her seat and retrieved the container. She turned her heel around but she had been stopped by Qing Long's words.

"She might be the way to make our curse lifted off---"

"She is our last chance, Qing Long. But...," Mei licked her lips as she could not continue what she had to say. She gripped the container tightly on her arms as she looked down and was having second thoughts on continuing it.

"We all know why she became a Healer, are we?" Mei asked it again for the nth time. She nodded while Qing Long shifted his eyes from her.

"The Healers are Healers because they wanted to curse you over and over again. The one you have met... she has a reason why she despised you in every way she can. If she will loathe you for the given time that she had been granted, we will stay as we are and we will never break off from the curse," Mei explained once again as Qing Long didn't even turn his head.