Ode to the Tree Spirit

In a mountain village famed for its medical skills, A Xu was considered an ill omen. She was shunned and ignored by everyone.

To survive, she could only pick wild fruit to stave off hunger.

A sudden landslide trapped the villagers who had gone into the mountains to gather herbs. In their moment of danger, only A Xu shared her fruit with a stranger, an elderly man.

To repay her kindness, the old man gave her a seed.

In just a few years, the seed sprouted at an astonishing speed, growing strong until it became a towering tree.

On the day lots were drawn, A Xu was chosen. She had no choice but to leave the mountain village where she had lived for many years and head to the frontier.

Several years later, she returned to her hometown, only to find the village completely deserted.

As she was about to leave, moonlight poured down and a gentle breeze stirred the treetops. There she saw a man sitting on a branch in an odd yet exceptionally alluring pose.

A Xu named him Shuyao, for his beauty was otherworldly and for the uncanny chance that they had met in a tree.

"A graceful man, a fair lady's heart's desire."

A Xu sighed inwardly, unaware that this handsome man, with a face as flawless as jade, was truly a tree spirit...

(They are each other's only one)

Theme: Breaking free from the shackles of convention and searching for a place to call home.