In A Particular Way (II)

The way he felt something,

Out of the things I did,

He still managed to look kind,

And generous, that's why.

***

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

"I am not a man with luck, as you said, right? So that's why seeing peonies doesn't mean I would be granted with a life of prosperity and peace," Qing Long continued as he sighed and walked past ahead of Althea. Right. He was right, as Althea thought.

"I'm sorry if I said that to you... I never knew... you have a reason for saying my grandmother's name," Althea spoke up a little louder as she turned while Qing Long halted.

"I apologize for the words that I had said earlier... I never knew... this would be the time I need to know the reason why I can do that," Althea clasped both of her hands in front of her chest. Qing Long turned to her and waited for her to finish.

"Simple as this, I wanted to know everything you need to say to me. I want to know even if it takes tomorrow. Even the... the vicious beast that I had seen...," Althea couldn't seem to continue it as she trembled with fear. She remembered the way it was gnawing the dragon.... the dragon.... the azure dragon...

Althea looked up and Qing Long was glancing at her with that shadow white eyes.

"You are the azure---"

"Shh. I need to start from the first one too. Don't overwhelm yourself with the one you saw," Qing Long muttered as Althea stopped from shaking with fear. She licked her lips while Qing Long sighed loudly first.

"I think I need to start from the very first time you landed here, it's very important why," Qing Long said as he started walking. It must have been a good day to walk like this, with the Last Healer by his side, and that he needed to explain everything to her. Althea walked beside him as Qing Long didn't even smile.

"I think you're very familiar with the Legend, right?"

"Yeah."

"So I want to start with that," Qing Long simply mumbled. Althea nodded while putting her hands behind her back. She looked at him doubtfully and examined his face while he started to talk.

"I am Wang Qing Long, the King of the Zhaochong Empire, I had been cursed because I shoved a woman who was begging for food. What I reap was what I saw. I finally realized it was never correct to put a mask all over your face. That woman saw my hidden identity. It was embarrassing to reveal yourself, but what can I do? It was I am."

"Little did I know, I had to observe how the Nian beast turned into a woman who had golden fleece hair, cursing me with her loud voice, resonating all over the forest. That was the most forbidden day of my life, I never knew I would live again."

Althea didn't even react because she knew it. She knew it by heart, her grandmother always said it even if she was a kid. Qing Long led the way to the outskirts of the village, no people could be seen.

"Ai Xi, your grandmother's name might be but I think it was not the same, disappeared that day too. Ai Xi was the acting queen of the Zhaochong Empire, but she had vanished into thin air. The eunuchs were cursed too, my most loyal knight, the only woman who can swig a sword, also suffered the same as mine," Qing Long told.

"The same as yours?" That's when Althea found her voice again.

"Yeah. She had been cursed not to bleed, opposed to what she always experienced. That loyal knight of mine, she had experienced being wounded all the time. But now, when she craved to see her blood to know if she was alive or not, she could not," Qing Long explained as Althea gasped.

"Everyone was cursed. Even the loyal servants that I have to live with inside the castle. They were in the same village as mine, we had been... down to the Qing Dynasty without even experiencing to be sick. It was as hell as we could notice...," Qing Long sighed as he stopped and remembered those dark days. They had to suffer from that curse no matter what, they were punished just by the simple mistake that the King did.

"Everyone is cursed too, that's so devastating to hear...," Althea murmured as Qing Long halted and turned to her. Althea also did the same thing and they both stared, connecting their diving emotions around with that gazes.

"That's why the deities granted me a help to lift off the curse from the Nian beast, they will be sending Seven Healers for that span of time, but even then... no one had even done it successfully," Qing Long continued while Althea puffed her cheeks and tried to understand everything.

"The Six Healers were... brave and... they know how to fight... but...," Qing Long was hesitant to say it. Does it mean that the last healer will fail too?

"What do you mean?" Althea asked as she was puzzled too. Qing Long shook his head as he doesn't want to reveal it, it might hurt her feelings. He looked the other way and continued the tale.

"Don't be surprised by what I had to say, but you're the Seventh and Last Healer that I need to lift off the curse," Qing Long explained it straightforwardly that made Althea stunned and widened her eyes. She heard it over and over again and she furrowed her eyebrows while she walked a few steps in his front.

"What did you just say?" Althea asked in an unbelievable way.

Qing Long breathed again and muttered, "I know this sounds crazy. The reason why you can hear me in your subconscious was that your soul was connected to me. And that was absurd, yes, but I think you can understand it when the time comes."