# 1287
Chapter 1288: I Beg You...
【...The dew in the morning garden is still as heavy as ever. I have to get up every morning and sweep the stone path in front of the house carefully, otherwise the frost that forms could easily make someone slip.】
【Although this bit of frost means nothing to us, during the days you were away, I found a lively and lovely maid to accompany me in trimming the flowers. Her name is Ephyllia, a beautiful name, don't you think? When you come back and meet her, you will surely like her too.】
【The green vines we planted together have grown dozens of meters tall. They spread across our wooden cottage's eaves like a great blanket, making it look like a green gem amidst the sea of flowers. It's absolutely beautiful.】
【Oh right, Ephyllia and I built a small wooden platform in the garden. Now you can recite poetry and sing songs surrounded by the sea of flowers. It will surely be a magnificent sight.】
【I haven't heard your singing for such a long, long time. When you return, I want to see you wearing the most magnificent attire, with the flower wreath I made for you, standing in the blooming golden carthamus sea, singing the poems you wrote for me as a gift for our reunion...】
【...When will you come back?】
......
"I'm back... I'm back! Ephyllia!"
Bragi clutched the yarrow, running frantically across the debris-strewn stone path until he reached the wooden cottage standing beneath the thunderclouds.
The decaying cottage was covered in moss, and from a distance, it looked like a tottering dark green monster atop the ruins. Cold wind poured through the half-closed, broken wooden door, producing low, mournful wails.
Creak——!
Dressed in full formal attire, Bragi reached out and slowly pushed open the decrepit wooden door, the sound grating on the ears.
Hole after hole pockmarked the cottage's roof. Dim daylight filtered through the heavy thunderclouds like several gray beams of light falling across the silent wooden cottage. A tattered blue silk ribbon was caught in the uneven cracks of the roof, dancing wildly in the howling cold wind.
Bragi stood frozen, gazing at the scene before him. He lifted one foot, but nearly fell through a large hole in the floor.
The cottage, abandoned and unmaintained for a century, had long since rotted through. Even with Bragi's lightest steps, the floorboards groaned incessantly.
"Ephyllia... Ephyllia!" Bragi's cracked lips parted, calling out softly, as if afraid to disturb someone, "Where are you... Ephyllia?"
He pushed through the old wooden doors, room after room. Besides dust-covered, moss-eaten furniture, nothing else entered Bragi's eyes.
After searching nearly every room, Bragi slowly moved to the last bedroom door.
His trembling hand reached out, pressing against the cracked surface of the wooden door...
"Bragi!"
An anxious voice called from behind him. Lin Qiye and Si Xiaonan descended from the sky, landing outside the cottage door.
Seeing Bragi standing alone in the dilapidated cottage, dressed in his finest, Lin Qiye first froze, then spoke again: "Bragi..."
Creak——!
The final wooden door before Bragi slowly opened.
Amidst endless gray and white, a vibrant splash of golden yellow appeared before his eyes.
Bragi's pupils contracted slightly.
Biting cold wind passed through the large holes in the walls, wailing as it swept into the bedroom. Across the moss-covered wooden floor, brilliant golden carthamus flowers were in full bloom, swaying in the decaying cold wind.
A few petals were caught up by the wind, gently drifting down onto Bragi's cheek, like a delicate hand lightly brushing away the two streams of scalding hot tears.
"Ephyllia..." Bragi stood before this room full of carthamus flowers, as if struck by lightning.
After an unknown amount of time, he finally came to his senses, spinning around sharply. Those red-rimmed eyes fixed死死地盯着Lin Qiye with burning intensity:
"Where is my wife Ephyllia... Where is she? Why has this place become like this... This is not what her letters described... This is not the same, Lin Qiye!!"
Like a madman, he rushed through the screeching floorboards to Lin Qiye's side, grabbing his shoulders with both hands and shaking him violently:
"I wrote to her just yesterday... Why is this place like this today?!
Where is she?
My wife Ephyllia, where is she?! You must know, right?!
Lin Qiye... Director Lin! Director Lin... I beg you! I'm truly begging you... Tell me! Where is my wife?!"
Bragi's roar gradually gave way to sobs. Finally, his eyes, looking at Lin Qiye, were filled with pain and pleading.
Lin Qiye's expression was complicated. He silently watched Bragi's agonized expression. After a long while, he spoke hoarsely:
"Bragi, there are some things I've been waiting for the right moment to tell you..."
In the silent, decaying cottage, Lin Qiye revealed the truth about Ephyllia bit by bit. Bragi's expression shifted from bewilderment to confusion, then froze like a statue.
He stood before the room full of carthamus flowers, lowering his head in a daze. One hand rose slowly, pressing against the right side of his chest.
"She... she's already dead?" Bragi murmured mechanically, as if unable to process the words. "She gave me her heart... and died herself?"
"She didn't die. The heart within you is still beating. Her soul remains with you still." Lin Qiye said earnestly.
"No... impossible, this is impossible!" Bragi stumbled backward two steps, eyes wide with bloodshot desperation, shouting, "She couldn't have died... She clearly said that even after sharing with other gods, there were still two Youth Fruits left! One for each of us. Why did she give her heart to me!"
"The Mist is more terrifying than you could imagine... One fruit was not enough to save your life."
Bragi stood there in a daze.
His lips trembled ceaselessly. His eyes were filled with struggle. He pressed both hands against his head, shaking it violently, as if trying to shake off something.
"No... it's all fake... This is all fake!
This place isn't our garden at all! Ephyllia is still waiting for me at home... I know, this is a dream... This must be a dream!
Hahaha, I knew it. How could I have possibly been discharged from the hospital so quickly... My dream hasn't ended yet! When I wake up, I'll still be in my hospital room...
After I wake up, I'll take my medication on time, rest well following the director's instructions... When I'm better and can really leave the hospital, I can reunite with Ephyllia! It must be so!"
As Bragi spoke, he suddenly burst into laughter. He bolted past Lin Qiye, rushing out of the cottage at full speed!
"Bragi!" Lin Qiye's eyes narrowed. He turned and gave chase.
Bragi had barely冲出木屋when he stopped in his tracks.
At the end of the barren, ruined garden, three figures were walking toward this place, approaching rapidly.