When The War Is Over, Will You Plant A Blossom Tree For Me? (BL)

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When The War Is Over, Will You Plant A Blossom Tree For Me? (BL)

Prologue

The smell of blood still clung to the air, disturbing what otherwise would have been a beautiful, peaceful night. The blood splattered on the dirt was only visible in the patches of moonlight that shone through the gaps in the leaves above, seeming more black than red.

Lu Qinyi remained crouched for a few moments longer as he observed the splatters, his eyes slowly following along the trail of dark red as he pieced together the actions that should have occurred. A large pool, droplets sprayed on the tree nearby. That indicated a successful attack, must have left a wound. There were droplets spread about on the ground and shrubs. The injured person must have been moving fast and erratically, dodging. A large smear against a tree trunk. The person was exhausted, paused to rest. Lu Qinyi finally stood up, brushing at himself briefly before following along until the end of the traces of blood. The attackers had lost sight of him around here and without any more traces of blood to follow, they had no choice but to spread out to search the area, figuring with his injuries he must have hidden, unable to go very far. However...

Lu Qinyi looked up instead, carefully peering at the branches of the trees overhead as he walked about. Sure enough, not too far away there were bloody prints on a branch that stretched out above his head. It was within reach if someone jumped up. He had first figured perhaps the person they were chasing may have climbed up into a tree as it would provide a good hiding place but instead, the way the blood was smeared on the branch seemed more like... someone swinging. Lu Qinyi hummed to himself in consideration before pulling at the shrubbery across from the tree branch, taking more care as he moved forward. Past that thick shrubbery that obscured the view, the ground fell away steeply, forming a deep crack in the ground, consisting of rough and jagged rock. Some distance away was the other side, the trees and shrubbery continuing steadily.

Lu Qinyi squinted as he scanned along the opposing edge, then down along the rocky surface. A small dark stain was just barely visible on the sharp rock face, the area near it seeming particularly uneven. He couldn't help raising a brow. Even swinging from this distance, to reach the other side was a stretch, let alone when carrying injuries. Yet it seemed the man had nearly made it, if the rocks hadn't given way that is. He leaned out slightly to look down below but it was swallowed in the darkness, the weak moonlight wasn't enough to let one see the bottom.

"Bring some people and some rope over here." He called out over his shoulder before getting to the ground, lowering himself over the edge with slow and steady movements.

Although he had been slow and careful, not descending further until the tips of his toes had found a secure foothold and testing before he dug his fingers into the next crevice, at some point the rocks still fell away beneath him. It seemed he had been close to the bottom as he had only fell a short way before landing on solid ground. He grimaced at the heavy landing but gratefully, besides some bruises and some small scrapes and cuts on his hands, he hadn't been hurt. He wiped at his robes to free his hands of the dirt and small embedded rocks as he picked himself up. It was too dark to make anything out so he had no choice but to pull a firelight out of his sleeve. As the small flame flickered to life, a crumpled and bloody body was immediately visible on the ground by his feet, so near that he nearly stepped on it.

He sat on his heels to get a better look at it. Seems the tumble really hadn't been kind, the jagged rocks had shredded at the man's clothes, bloody scrapes and small cuts covered his body along with some deeper wounds that must have been his injuries from before. Most unlucky of all was the blood that pooled out from underneath his head, coating the black hair that spread out in a wild mess. Lu Qinyi moved the firelight closer, using two fingers to shift the man's head to get a better look. He found that a particularly sharp rock had been embedded deep into the back of the man's skull. If it weren't for the man's weak breathing and faint warmth, Lu Qinyi might have already thought him dead.

After only a moment of staring down at that body in thought, he wedged the firelight into a nearby crevice and got to work using the cloth and bandages from his own reserves to tend to that nasty looking, still bleeding wound. He had just tied the bandage securely when he heard shouts overhead. As he lifted his head to look, he could faintly make out shadows peering over the edge of that unkind and steep cliff face of sharp, jagged and loose rocks. This wasn't going to be easy...