171 Another Promise… (1/2)

Su Ming closed his eyes and calmed his emotions. He opened one of the embroidered boxes, and the moment the box was opened, a medicinal fragrance wafted into his nose. That fragrance was very light, but the moment he smelled it, he seemed to hear a song played by an unknown instrument.

The melody of the song lingered in the air and sounded very musical. It made those who heard it think that this melody could only be played by a flute made in heaven…

After a long while, Su Ming looked into the embroidered box and saw three herbs lying inside. These herbs looked odd. They looked like tree branches, but there were small little holes on them. The musical melody he heard was not an illusion, but was formed when wind blew past the many holes on the herb.

”Sky Flute Branch.”

Su Ming lifted his right hand and slapped it on the herbs. Immediately, the three Sky Flute Branches, along with the embroidered box, disappeared from his hand as he put them away into his storage bag.

He looked towards the second box and his breathing grew heavier. Even though he knew that the map inside the box may not be complete, it was still a ray of hope.

He placed his hand slowly on the embroidered box, and just as he was about to open it…

”If you open that box, then you must cure Fang Mu.”

A delicate voice appeared by Su Ming’s side. An elegant, dim fragrance also came along with that voice.

That fragrance might have appeared after the medicinal fragrance brought by Sky Flute Branch, but the two gave people two distinctly different impressions. The medicinal fragrance was like oranges, and the other was like a dream.

Su Ming’s expression remained passive, no changes could be seen on it. He had long since discovered Han Cang Zi’s arrival and did not stop due to her words. He calmly opened the embroidered box and saw a folded beast skin inside.

A conflicted look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes as he stared at the beast skin. All of a sudden, he lost the courage to look at it. He was afraid that what he would see would be different from what he knew. He was afraid that there would be… no Dark Mountain in the world!

Han Cang Zi walked softly to stand before the man in the mask and sat down cross-legged to quietly look at him. She saw the conflict that was clear in his eyes.

They did not speak. After remaining in silence for a while, Su Ming lifted the beast skin from the embroidered box and focused his attention on it once he unfolded it.

”Are you disappointed?” Han Cang Zi asked softly.

Her voice was very gentle, arousing an indescribable feeling within those who heard it. Her voice was just like her. She was a delicate beauty, but the strength in her heart far surpassed many men.

Su Ming looked at the map spread out before him—it was incredibly detailed. Not only did it include the topography of the area around Han Mountain, even the surrounding areas were drawn out in detail. From the map, it could be seen that the Land of South Morning was a vast territory.

However, while the map was detailed, it was not what Su Ming had wanted. He closed his eyes and fell silent. In truth, he himself knew that the map he wanted was not what a middle-sized tribe could provide. Yet his knowledge and expectations were two different matters.

”Somewhat.”

At that moment, his heart was as conflicted as how his eyes looked just now. He wanted to see the map he yearned to see, but deep down he did not want to. This mixed feeling stemmed from the bewilderment he had buried deep within his heart.

”You can only look at the map. You cannot take it away.”

A pitying look appeared in Han Cang Zi’s gaze as she looked at Su Ming and spoke softly.

”I know.”

Su Ming opened his eyes. He did not look at Han Cang Zi, but looked at the sky that had darkened. He did not know that as of then, in Han Cang Zi’s eyes, he looked lonely.

”You once said that if someday, I remember something, I can come to you,” Su Ming mumbled.

”Yes,” Han Cang Zi whispered back.

They fell into silence again. This time, the silence lasted for a tad longer. The moon appeared in the darkened sky, and glittering stars surrounded it.

The wind swept past the land and lifted Han Cang Zi’s black hair. As her hair flew, it gave her another sort of beauty underneath the moonlight.

”What did you see?” Su Ming broke the silence and asked.

Han Cang Zi did not speak. She bit her lips instead and looked at Su Ming. There was an appealing light in her eyes. She looked at him for a long while before she came to a decision.

”Can… you promise me something..?

The moment the word ‘promise’ left her mouth and fell into Su Ming’s ears, he felt shaken. This feeling could not be controlled by his calmness. It was a feeling that no matter how deeply he hid it and how hard he tried to bury it, it would still trigger his sadness because of certain things and certain words.

At that moment, that wound of his was torn and it turned into a sadness that flooded Su Ming’s entire body and soul like a tidal wave. He looked as he usually was, but no one knew how his heart fared.

However, even though Han Cang Zi did not know, her instincts of a woman made her immediately notice that besides the loneliness she felt coming from Mo Su beside her, she also felt grief, one that she could not describe.

”You…”

Han Cang Zi was momentarily stunned. She was an intelligent woman. Almost in an instant, she could guess that perhaps one of her words was the source of Mo Su’s grief.

‘Could it be ‘promise’..?’

Han Cang Zi did not speak.

‘Promise…’

Su Ming felt a stab of pain in his heart. His body did not tremble, but that grief still emerged without control. That word held a special meaning to him.

There was once a girl who stood in the snow and smiled as she looked at him.