Chapter 558: Midnight dreams of Little Qi (1) (2/2)

“Those that wilt and die will come back to live once spring arrives again,” his father replied.

Little Qi grew anxious. “Daddy, Qi’er doesn’t like wilting or dying.”

Every time his father looked at him, it was with eyes full of love. His father never got annoyed at his questions, but answered every single one. In Little Qi’s universe, his father was his everything. But despite asking all those questions, he never asked his father where his mother was, because there was no one to tell him that things like ‘mothers’ existed in the first place. Little Qi’s world consisted only of his daddy, Uncle Ling, and the mountains full of plants, flowers, trees, and fauna.

Little Qi was very intelligent. He would learn something as soon as he was taught and never forget it. Every poison plant that father pointed out, he remembered. Before he reached the age of six, he could already recognize every single poison plant in the mountains. Living in the wild, he had no restrictions and was like a feral child. Every day, he would run free in the mountains with his dirty face and behave as crudely as he liked, free from all cares. Despite this, Little Qi always needed someone next to him and night, and for his father to coax him to sleep.

“Qi’er, be good…Qi’er, good good…Qi’er, be good…”

Those were the words that followed Little Qi for six entire years.

—

One day, his father came to visit him at noon. Little Qi was still running about the mountains when he heard the melodious notes of his father’s flute. Thrilled, he quickly ran back home.

“Daddy!”

“Aye!”

His father picked him up and raised him up high, then tickled his armpits until he broke into giggles. Father was affectionate with him for quite a while before setting him down. When Little Qi entered the house, the first thing he saw was a table full of his favorite foods. He looked questioningly towards his father, who smiled before suddenly growing serious.

“Little Qi, after this meal you’ll only be eating medicine from every day on.”

Six-year-old Little Qi didn’t understand. His whole attention was on the table full of food, feeling pleasantly surprised. “Are these all for Little Qi to eat?”

“Little Qi, tomorrow daddy will take you to the medical academy. You can’t call me daddy anymore, can you remember that?”

Little Qi didn’t speak, but simply ate with gusto.

His father continued, “Little Qi, you’ve contracted a strange illness. Daddy can’t cure you, but Uncle Ling can. In the future, you can just follow Uncle Ling and call him daddy instead. You have to be good and listen to Uncle Ling’s words to take your medicine everyday, alright?”

Little Qi still didn’t reply, busy licking his lips as he searched for more favorite foods to eat.

“Little Qi, you can’t tell anyone what’s happened here. No matter what they ask you, just shake your head, alright?” Father continued to speak.

Little Qi still did as he liked until he ate his fill, then turned back to blink innocently. “Daddy, Little Qi doesn’t want to go.”

“Daddy wants Little Qi to go,” his father said seriously.

Little Qi grew hesitant, before asking, “Why?”

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” his father replied.

“I really don’t wanna go,” Little Qi was stuck in a hard spot.

“If you don’t go, you’ll never see daddy again,” his father suddenly turned stern.

Little Qi gave a start, before murmuring, “Little Qi…isn’t sick.”

“Does Little Qi still want to see daddy?”

After thinking it over for a long while, Little Qi seemed to understand a bit of things while still feeling lost. He hung his head and muttered, “Little Qi is sick…”

In this year, Vice Head Gu had become the head of the medical academy, assuming greater responsibilities that made it impossible for him to visit the Poison Sect’s forbidden grounds everyday. At the time same, Elder Ling had become Head Elder of the Council of Elders, leaving him with more free time to practice his medical arts. The two of them never planned to use the Poison Sect’s forbidden grounds for long. After some discussion, they resolved to take Little Qi back to the medical academy as an adopted son who need to take medicine, then enroll him as a disciple in the school.

On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month in his sixth year, Little Qi was taken back to the medical academy by Head Elder Ling…

1. Uncle Ling (淩叔叔) – Ling is a surname meaning “rise high, tower aloft, insult/bully.”