Chapter 29: Awakening

  He Zhen seemed to have walked a very long way.

  The air is stifling and sweltering, as if it's a midsummer day on the verge of a torrential downpour. The fiery airflow, when inhaled into the chest cavity, can ignite all five internal organs, making every breath extremely difficult.

  Sweat, along the temples, slid down the cheeks, and fell on the chest. The sweat drops were big and frequent, oozing out of the skin, only to be dried up by the scorching air.

  The ground underfoot is very soft, every step feels like sinking in and then slowly pulling out.

  He Zhen used up all his strength.

  The whole world was shrouded in a thin, crimson veil. All the streets, pedestrians, pavilions and buildings were hazy and indistinct. He just kept walking forward, without knowing where he was headed.

  He seemed to have heard the sound of the dice.

  There were also shouts from the casino.

  Those days of reckless betting seem like a past life. Now, thinking back, He Zhen is filled with regret. In his youth and ignorance, so-called friends saw that his family was wealthy and he was the son of a merchant, having money but no power, they set him up to harm him, wanting to swindle his wealth.

  It's your own fault for being careless in making friends and willingly getting involved, you can't blame others.

  "Ah...." Then, he heard the woman's shrill cry again.

  The stairs creaked with a loud thud, the sound of a woman tumbling down the stairs. It was his stepmother, his father's concubine, whom he had pushed down. The woman broke her neck on the spot and died instantly. She stared at He Zhen with empty eyes, sending shivers down his spine.

  At that time, his legs were soft and he was dizzy.

  Since childhood, I have been taught to be elegant and refined, but I never thought that one day I would take someone's life.

  One corpse, two lives lost.

  Then came his father's furious rage.

  That day was the ninth of July in Shaoning's second year, the hottest day of midsummer. He was tied to a wooden bench in the courtyard by his father, with wide planks as thick as a palm, hitting him on the body, each strike seeming to hurt to the bone.

  Then, he was tied up and sent back to his home temple's courtyard, where he knelt under the scorching sun.

  He didn't remember when he fainted. He only remembered that his father poured a bucket of icy water on him, and then he woke up and knelt again.

  Then he completely fainted.

  Those memories, though unbearable to recall, were his last healthy days.

  After that, he was possessed by a disease, Da Fugui wrapped himself in a quilt, while others were hot and sweating, he was cold and his teeth chattered.

  He never felt the warmth of the sun again, nor what it was like to be warm.

  A year has four seasons. Others just spend a winter's day and say it's cold to the point of being unbearable; but he, every day is in the bitter cold winter. Such suffering, how can outsiders understand?

  Now in his dream, he felt the heat. This violent heat, sweating like rain, was hard to bear, but He Zhen almost cried with joy.

  He would rather die of heat than answer again in coldness.

  He walked for a long time, and in front of him, it was still blurry. He didn't know where to go, he just didn't want to stay, he yearned for this scorching heat. The scorching heat that everyone dreaded, he savored like sugar.

  After waking up, he could no longer feel the heat.

  With this conviction, his legs ached and went numb, but he still kept walking forward.

  Sweat, always falling, soaking through hair, soaking through clothes, soaking through every inch of land underfoot.

  Later on, he walked to a place that even He Zhen was unclear where it was. Everything in the dream was strange and absurd. Time and space, scenery, and people were all chaotic.

  He was too thirsty.

  He kept panting with thirst.

  "......Second Young Master is thirsty." A soft and tender voice of a woman echoed in his ear, like the chirping of a bird.

  Then someone brought warm water and held it to his lips.

  He drank the water as if it were a lifesaving potion. The crystal clear liquid moistened his throat and internal organs.

  "When will you wake up?" someone asked. The voice was a bit fuzzy, and I didn't know if it was my father or brother.

  "...Since you can drink water, let's give you another dose of the Great Supplemental Decoction." The old and slow voice replied.

  No!

  He Zhenxing didn't wake up, but when he heard the "Ten Complete and Greatly Supplementing Decoction", his scalp went numb. As a patient, he knew best. The doctor said it was to dispel heat and cold with the Ten Complete and Greatly Supplementing Decoction, but after drinking it, his heart would feel even cooler.

  No one can tell why this is so.

  It's been five years and no one understands him. He says that after taking the bitter medicine, his heart will be icy cold, even colder. The doctor and his family always look at him with suspicious eyes.

  This is unreasonable.

  He Zhen also didn't know why.

  The doctor said it was an illusion and continued to give him medicine for his internal heat. For that faint glimmer of hope, he had no choice but to drink it.

  At this moment, he is good in his dream, feverish and sweating, not cold.

  He never wanted to go back to the icy coldness again.

  He didn't want to drink some kind of ginseng chicken soup.

  After about half a cup of tea's worth of time, when the water reached his lips again, he knew it was the Ten-wholesome-and-supplementing Broth. He gritted his teeth hard. He wanted to wake up from this dream and push away this damned medicine.

  Unfortunately, he seemed unable to break through that layer of haze, controlled by nightmares, clear in his mind but powerless in body.

  "...Pry open your mouth and pour it in." The old, slow voice said again.

  Then, He Zhen's mouth was pried open.

  He was choked several times, he struggled to wake up, and he closed his throat tightly.

  "Never mind, let's wait till he wakes up and then drink." After forcing him to drink for a while, but still couldn't get it down, Father finally said so.

  He Zhen seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

  Then he walked into his own backyard.

  In the west corner of the wall in his family's backyard, there was an ancient apricot tree with a canopy like a umbrella, casting a cool shade. Under the tree, wicker chairs were placed. He Zhen lay on the chair, holding a book and dozing off.

  Tender apricot blossoms, adding new clothes to the old tree's twisted branches, lush and beautiful. The gentle breeze caresses him, he smells the fragrance of flowers. Petals like light rain, sprinkled on his shoulders, body, light and warm.

  The sunlight shines in through the gaps between the leaves, warm and cozy.

  He fell asleep like this.

  When he woke up again, he found himself sleeping in his own bedroom bed.

  Above the bed hung a canopy with a light purple crane and auspicious grass pattern. Outside, the sunlight was bright, the windows were pushed open, warm air poured in, passed through the canopy, and fell on the bed with a light purple glow.

  The house is quiet.

  Outside the branches, there were people speaking in hushed tones.

  He Zhen personally lifted the curtain and got up.

  He was wearing thin **, standing in front of the bed, but he could no longer feel the biting chill of the past. He felt a bit cool, just the thin coolness of early morning, not the bitter cold when he was sick.

  He Zhen was crystal clear in his mind.

  He walked slowly to the bay window.

  It's already the second day in the morning. The warm sunshine is hanging on the treetops and casting a glow on the window.

  He Zhen extended his hand slowly.

  Warm!

  The sunshine is warm.

  For the first time in five years, he felt the warmth of sunlight.

  Tears burst forth from his eyes, and he could no longer hold back, sobbing softly.

  Overjoyed to tears.

  This kind of feeling, this kind of joy, who can understand except for himself?

  His crying voice was somewhat suppressed and startled the people in the room.

  The sound of footsteps suddenly became noisy, and a lot of people rushed in all at once.

  "Zhen er?" A gentle breeze blew in front of the window, rustling his black hair. His mother rushed in and saw this scene, anxiously calling out to the maid, "Quickly, quickly bring the windscreen over and put it on Second Young Master!"

  "Water curve, how did you get up?" Father also asked.

  "Second brother, don't stand in the wind, you'll freeze yourself." Big brother's voice was filled with joy.

  Unexpectedly, second elder cousin Chen Ying was also there...

  He woke up, which was equivalent to coming back from the gates of hell once again. The family members were overjoyed. So, everyone's voice added a few more decibels.

  Then, the maid brought a Buddhist nun's green gauze cloak and handed it over to her mother.

  This is a crane cloak that people only wear when they go out in winter, but he wears it all year round even at home, otherwise he will feel cold.

  His mother took the crane cloak and personally came forward to put it on He Zhen.

  He Zhen turned around, his face covered in tears.

  Everyone was frightened.

  His mother was frightened and cried, came forward to hold his hand: "My son, where are you uncomfortable? Don't worry, Dr. Zhou will be here soon. If it hurts anywhere, just tell your mother..."

  Father and elder brother's face also added gloom and worry.

  Second Brother Chen Ying sighed quietly.

  "....daughter, today's weather is warm." He Zhen choked and said so, then burst into tears.

  A man has tears but doesn't easily shed them, yet he's had such great ups and downs that he can't help but hold back. For five years now, what kind of days has he been living? Not even his closest parents and siblings could understand.

  It's been five years since he felt the warmth of sunlight for the first time.

  The chill in his heart that couldn't be expressed also dissipated by more than half. He knew he was going to be fine. If not, it would have been a relapse.

  No matter whether it's recovery or death, it's all over anyway.

  "What... what did he say?" The father didn't hear clearly. But seeing He Zhen cry like this, the father's heart also became three times heavier. He was the most guilty one. If it wasn't for his violent beating that year and tying the child up in the ancestral hall to kneel, perhaps the child wouldn't have gotten this illness.

  He Zhen killed his stepmother and unborn half-brother unintentionally; but when his father beat him, it was intentional.

  "He said the sun was warm," Hedi said.

  He was deeply shocked in his heart.

  The sun is warm, which is just an ordinary feeling for others, but what it means to He Zhen can only be understood by his family who have been with him for five years.

  He Ti finally understood why her brother was crying.

  This is great.

  He Tui couldn't help it, and there was also a hint of moisture in the corners of his eyes.

  His father was also stunned and didn't speak for a long time.

  Only Chen Ying was an outsider. The outsider knew that He Zhen's condition had taken a turn for the better. The shock he received was not as intense as that of the He family members, so he was the first to regain his composure and said with a smile: "Congratulations, Second Brother, this is great news!"

  Then he said, "Congratulations to Third Aunt, congratulations to Third Uncle, congratulations to Big Brother's son, it is truly the blessing of our ancestors and a great fortune for our family!"

  San Gu Mu and San Gu Fu, He Ti finally came to their senses, ignoring Chen Ying's congratulations, only surrounding He Zhen, asking him how he really felt.

  "Is everything okay?"

  "Isn't it cold?"

  "Is there anything wrong?"

  "I... I'm not afraid of the cold anymore." He Zhenyu, still sniffling, slowly calmed down and replied to his parents' and brother's concerns, "I understand myself, my heart is warm, and the sun shining on my arm feels cozy."

  The three aunts covered their mouths, and tears also burst out of their eyes, overjoyed beyond control.

  San Gu Zhang slowly closed his eyes, and the worried look on his face dispersed. In the past five years, he had never looked so relaxed.

  "It's really the ancestors' blessing. The True Void Master of Lian Tai Temple is indeed profound in his Taoist skills." He Ti said with relief, "Father, please invite the True Void Master to our home again and have him perform a few rituals for my second brother, so as to prevent any relapse."

  He thought He Zhen Neng was good, it was all the blessing of his ancestors, and the result of the monk driving out evil spirits.

  Third Aunt's husband nodded and said, "This is indeed what should be done."

  "No, not a doctor!" He Zhen suddenly shouted, interrupting his brother and father's conversation. "It was Cang Ji! It was Cang Ji who saved my life, please ask Cang Ji to come and re-examine me. This life of mine was saved by Cang Ji."

  He Ti and San Gu Zhang stared at their son in shock.