Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The swing came to a stop.

Wu Wanyi sat astride Mi Yunjin, his pounding heart momentarily seizing.

He thought he had misheard.

"What did you say?" He turned to look at Mi Yunjin.

"I am about to complete my bloom. In this process, I need to sow new seeds so that a new Mi Yunjin can be born."

Mi Yunjin's voice was as gentle and calm as always, but Wu Wanyi suddenly felt his whole heart clench at Mi Yunjin's words.

Especially Mi Yunjin's matter-of-fact tone made him feel the calm acceptance of someone frail with age, about to fade away.

He stared into Mi Yunjin's eyes and asked hoarsely, "What do you mean?"

"I need your body as a vessel for me to complete pollination. Once the new seed is gestated within you, my purpose will be fulfilled."

Wu Wanyi gripped Mi Yunjin's collar tightly, his face pale, demanding, "I'm asking you what you mean!"

What new seed being born? What purpose?

He couldn't understand a single word!

Mi Yunjin looked at Wu Wanyi's face, clearly seeing his high nose bridge and pale lips.

"There can only be one Mi Yunjin in the world. A hundred years from now, when my flowers wither, it will be time for me to return to heaven and earth." His voice was very calm.

Mi Yunjin was born with only one mission: to bloom, from birth until death.

When his flowers wither, a new Mi Yunjin will be born, continuing to flourish in this world, while all his flesh and blood will become nourishment for the new Mi Yunjin.

This is the mission of existence as "Mi Yunjin," and the continuation of life.

Mi Yunjin's time is almost up. He feels no turmoil within him; from the moment he was born, he accepted his fate.

Because his own flowers also bloomed from the previous Mi Yunjin's decay.

And he is but the most ordinary, most common link in the long chain of life.

This isn't death; it's new life, it's nature's way.

Wu Wanyi went quiet.

He gripped Mi Yunjin's collar tightly, so fiercely he nearly ripped the fabric.

Suddenly, he lowered his head and laughed.

"So, you're dying too." He limply released his grip.

Mi Yunjin gazed calmly at Wu Wanyi's lowered head.

"This isn't death; it's the continuation of life."

"Bullshit!" Wu Wanyi raised his head, grabbed Mi Yunjin's collar again, and stared at him with eyes rimmed red.

"When you die, there's nothing left. Even if a new seed sprouts, that plant won't be you!"

Mi Yunjin supported Wu Wanyi's waist, looking at his cold, resentful face, and said softly, "But I've lived enough."

Wu Wanyi felt a fury like he'd never known in his heart.

"What do you mean, 'had enough of living'..."

"And you?" Mi Yunjin looked directly into his eyes.

Wu Wanyi jerked as if struck.

Right.

And him?

He was going to die too.

If Mi Yunjin hadn't pulled him back, he would've been long dead.

What right did he even have to question Mi Yunjin?

Wu Wanyi's eyes filled with impotence and grief.

He didn't want to live anyway.

What's good about being alive?

"Right, what's good about being alive?" Wu Wanyi released his grip, saying this, but tears spilled over from his eyes.

"What's good about being alive? I've long had enough of it." He whispered through tears.

But the anger, unwillingness, and resentment in his heart were viciously constricting his heart, choking the air from his lungs.

If he had truly had enough of living, why was he angry? Why was he unwilling?

Because, because he hated this world!

What damn continuation? He didn't buy it for a second! Would never accept it!

Wu Wanyi fisted the fabric over his heart, as if gripping his own heart, his eyes filled with a biting, bitter hatred.

From the moment he learned Mi Yunjin was going to die, an urge to destroy, even more intense than before, began consuming his reason and destroying his consciousness with redoubled fury.

At the same time, an extremely warped emotion assailed his mind, more terrifying than any devil.

It was a horrifying desire for Mi Yunjin to decay alongside him.

Mi Yunjin was going to die too.

Absurd. So fucking absurd.

All the expectations he had felt amidst his anxiety and resistance now had a terrifying reason.

After all, Mi Yunjin was going to die too.

He wanted to laugh but felt his heart being torn to shreds.

"Why pick me?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

Mi Yunjin wanted to breed a new seed and should have chosen a healthier vessel, not someone like him, broken through and through.

He refused to believe that Mi Yunjin lacked the ability to select a more suitable vessel. Surely it wasn’t because his own life was nearing its end, granting his death some final value and meaning.

If that were the case…

He felt a suffocating tightness in his chest.

“You’re going to die.”

Ha, as expected…

Wu Wanyi, hit in the heart, covered his eyes and let out a hoarse laugh.

He laughed at Mi Yunjin, a dying man who still held such reverence for life; laughed at Mi Yunjin’s hundred years of solitude and waiting in the desert; laughed at every life Mi Yunjin had saved; laughed at the times Mi Yunjin had reached out to pull him back.

And he laughed at himself—a despicable, shadowy failure.

His voice rasped as he asked, “Do you feel hate?”

The question was meaningless at this point, yet Wu Wanyi asked it with his final stubbornness and reluctance.

Hate.

Hate this world, like me.

The swing rose again; the sun remained unchanged, the wind just as gentle.

Mi Yunjin’s voice whispered in his ear.

“I don’t hate.”

Wu Wanyi let go, closed his eyes, and finally asked, “Did you plant a seed in my body?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Waiting for you.”

Hearing this gentle answer, Wu Wanyi laughed one last time, tears falling in large drops.

All the fierce, piercing resentment in his heart twisted at that moment into a warped sorrow—toward fate, toward himself.

——

The night was watery; the curtains stirred by the wind resembled ripples on the sea, welcoming the gentle moonlight.

Wu Wanyi lay on the bed, gazing at Mi Yunjin’s elegant, beautiful face under the moonlight, his dark, intense eyes unfathomable.

After a moment, he looked away and said, “Plant your seed.”

Wu Wanyi’s expression was expressionless as he spoke these words.

Even he couldn’t make sense of the emotions churning inside him at that moment.

He had already gone mad.

Ever since learning of Mi Yunjin’s approaching death, chaotic and terrifying emotions had been gnawing at him relentlessly.

Mi Yunjin’s eyes shone especially bright in the night.

“Have you thought it through?”

Wu Wanyi let out a brief, hollow laugh.

“What’s left to think about?”

Was Mi Yunjin going to wait until the day he died?

“If I die before you plant the seed? What would your time spent by my side even mean then?”

“To keep you company.”

The words were spoken so lightly, yet they slammed into Wu Wanyi like a hammer blow.

Wu Wanyi’s expression froze, as though something were lodged in his throat—impossible to spit out or swallow down. It felt like a gentle yet stubborn seed forcing itself to sprout inside him, struggling against all his base, hopeless parts.

He looked into Mi Yunjin’s eyes locked on him; the golden light within seemed like a glowing river, calm and soft.

As if afraid he might drown in them, he closed his eyes and said hoarsely, “Do whatever you want.”

Wu Wanyi was horrified to realize how weak his resistance to Mi Yunjin had become. Even more terrifying was that, in this moment, he was willing—even with morbid eagerness.

A soft sigh drifted over Wu Wanyi’s face like a breeze, effortlessly shattering all his defenses.

He felt like someone stripped bare, completely exposed before Mi Yunjin, with no resistance left.

Whatever Mi Yunjin did to him, he would accept it willingly.

In the cool breeze, Wu Wanyi felt something curl around his calf, creeping slowly up his body.

There was none of the pain or danger he had imagined—instead, a tingling, caressing sensation wound its way up his body.

His eyelashes trembled slightly as he slowly opened his eyes, only to find the entire room transformed into a green “forest.” Countless young green vines climbed the walls and crept across the floor; every corner was densely occupied.

A green vine coiled around his body, as though treating him like captured prey, tightening with an instinctual possessiveness.

His pupils dilated in shock at the sight, but when he saw Mi Yunjin ahead, the overwhelming awe struck straight to his heart.

Mi Yunjin seemed to be emerging from the vines; below his thighs, lush green tendrils intertwined layer upon layer, like a tree brimming with life.

All the green branches in the room grew from his body, spreading outward endlessly, radiating vast and breathtaking vitality.

Mi Yunjin’s golden eyes shone even brighter, looking down from above—not with arrogance, but with a serene, boundless depth.

The flower blooming at Mi Yunjin’s neck seemed to come alive, shining with a gold-red light. It crept along his blood vessels, over his chin, and finally bloomed into a vivid red flower in his mouth.

The sight was so awe-inspiring that Wu Wanyi couldn’t look away.

The uncanny yet beautiful sight felt like a monster gripping his heart, stopping his breath.

His body was lifted up, presented like a bare offering before Mi Yunjin.

Up close, the awe and pressure were suffocating.

He thought he understood, now, why ordinary people couldn’t bear to look upon anything that existed beyond the ordinary world.

It was an overwhelming, terrifying presence that one could not and dared not offend, capable of sucking out his very soul and flesh, down to the bone, with just a single glance.

He lost himself in Mi Yunjin's golden eyes.

As Mi Yunjin drew close to his lips, the crimson flower transformed into a seed, entering his body through his mouth and taking root within him. As if under a spell, he unconsciously parted his lips.

"What do you want me to do?"

At this moment, Wu Wanyi was being pierced through from the outside in. Both his soul and his body belonged to Mi Yunjin, and Mi Yunjin could do anything to him.

Those radiant golden eyes stared directly into his own.

Mi Yunjin's clear voice seemed to come from somewhere far away.

"I want you to be my pistil."

Wu Wanyi's face, along with the blood vessels throughout his body, glowed gold-red beneath his skin, as though something was connecting to his heart through his veins.

He emitted a low, unbearable moan.

At this very moment, in a place he could not see, a green sprout emerged from his navel, bursting with vibrant life.

He was the seed's vessel and also Mi Yunjin's captive.

Wu Wanyi closed his eyes, crying and laughing simultaneously.