Flowers Bloom and Fall, Year After Year

In the bloom of youth, blood stained the branches. With the iron blade in her hand, she carved out a way to survive. "From now on, your name is Su Sijin. You will give your life for the young general." She braved frost and sun, and crossed the gates of death time and again, yet none of it could compare to the faint tenderness in the eyes of the one he loved. That year, the peach blossoms fell, petal by petal. A cup of clear tea, the sound of a zither drifting on. He used her as a piece in a grand design, and at last she set out on the road of farewell. Blades flashed, their weight sinking into the light. In her unconsciousness, she dreamed: she saw the peach blossoms fall that day, and he held her in his arms. After years in a cold foreign land, she finally found a tender feeling. He came riding in with spear and horse, breaking her dream. "You are full of spirit and could take your sword to the ends of the earth."

"Why insist on entangling yourself with someone who gave me this tenderness?"

She cut off her hair, forgetting the deep affection of the past. Her red robes and sleeves danced as she curved her lips in a cool smile. Now dusk stains the battlefield and the yellow sands with blood; horses' hooves thunder as people depart, leaving empty towers. Only fading peach blossoms remain in the rain, and two lovers' graves are all that is left.