The wind in Qingzhu Village always carried the scent of plants and sweet wine.
Every day, when Lin Chen returned from Qingyun Mountain, walking through the morning dew, a bowl of medicinal porridge simmered by Su Qingyan was always waiting for him on the stone table. Her fingertips had left their warmth on the rim of the porcelain bowl. Deep in the herb fields, she taught him to recognize the patterns on spirit herbs, while he used his meager spiritual energy to water the most delicate Dewgrass. Sunlight filtered through the bamboo leaves and fell on their clasped hands, and even the wind seemed to grow gentle.
He was the most ordinary outer disciple, yet he would hide a rare companion Ganoderma in his sleeve, hoping to trade it for a beauty-preserving salve for her. She had no aptitude for cultivation, yet she would brave the deep mountains through the night to gather Heart-Discerning Grass, all to clear his name after he was framed. Beneath the old bamboo, the words "Together in life and death" were carved into the trunk. The walls of the courtyard were lined with Forget-Worry Grass, his favorite, and the safety charm she had sewn with a strand of her hair was a cherished thought he couldn't bear to crush, even after traveling to the ends of the earth.
He said he would save enough resources to buy a house with a little courtyard in town, far from the conflicts of cultivation. She said that once he secured permission for relatives to live with him, she would plant flowers from Qingzhu Village all the way to the foot of Qingyun Mountain. Fifty chapters of days and nights together were the steadiest motivation for his cultivation, and the brightest light in her ordinary life.
Back then, Lin Chen thought that if he just tried a little harder, he could protect their sweetness and grow old with her, from black hair to white.
But he did not know that the cooking smoke from Qingzhu Village would fade, the Forget-Worry Grass would wither, and the warm sunshine he treasured would one day shatter, leaving not even a trace of warmth behind.
