NovelYeni #114 - A story
#114 - A story
“A Wraith, are you talking about that green wedding dress?”
Hearing this word, Lu Jing temporarily put aside the matter of his possible scumbag potential and asked after calming his mind.
“That’s right.” Kui pointed to the porcelain doll girl who was still unconscious beside her.
“Her name is Li Li. She is actually just an ordinary girl from a scholarly family. Her father is a county magistrate. He arranged a marriage for her. Seeing that the day of the wedding was approaching, she wanted to pick a wedding dress for herself, so she went to the street for a walk. As a result, she herself didn’t know why she took a fancy to the one she’s wearing now.
“When she happily put it on at home, she lost control of her body. On the wedding night, the bridegroom didn’t know what he was welcoming into the house at all, so he was quickly fed to the rats. He was also the first person to be killed.
“Then it left the previous county town and found several men along the way who were willing to marry it. And without exception, none of those people survived the wedding night.
“I started watching it when it harmed the seventeenth person, but unfortunately, because there was too little information on hand at the time, I was never able to successfully stop it. It wasn't until the twenty-third person was killed that I barely figured out its pattern of behavior.
“You know what happened after that. Until I met Young Master Lu, no one was willing to believe the words I left on the wall before, or even if they already believed it, they couldn’t help but be shocked when they saw the rat tail soup that night, and they were unwilling to drink the soup, so naturally they couldn’t escape death.”
“Wait, you can’t be sure either, can you?” Lu Jing couldn’t help but gasp.
“Apart from you, no one else in this world has drunk that bowl of Rat Tail Soup, because once someone drinks that soup and becomes a husband and wife with the person it possesses, resolving the obsession in its heart, it will dissipate between heaven and earth.”
Kui paused and then said, “But before, someone knocked over the soup bowl. Afterwards, I found some leftovers and asked a colleague to help test it. It was indeed non-toxic and beneficial.
“In fact, most similar things are like this. Don’t look at their sinister and poisonous actions, causing harm to one side, and their hands are covered with blood, but they are mostly acting out of instinct because the obsession in their hearts has not been resolved. If someone can help them resolve their obsession, not only will they not harm you, but they will also give you a reward. From this point of view, their thoughts are much simpler than humans.”
“It’s just a pity that the obsessions of most Wraiths can no longer be resolved for various reasons. You are lucky to have met Xin Zi 591. It hasn’t appeared for long, and its obsession is also very simple, that is, to have a man willing to marry it and complete all the wedding rituals, and it will quietly leave this world.”
Lu Jing couldn’t help but think of something else when he heard this, “You said you investigated its matter before, then you should know its story, right?”
“That’s right.” Kui nodded. After speaking, she glanced at Lu Jing with a profound look, “Do you want to know? Didn’t it tell you that some things are better not to inquire about.”
“No matter what, we can be considered a couple, even if it’s only for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.” Lu Jing said with a wry smile, “I still want to know what exactly happened to it that turned it into this appearance.”
“Okay, actually the story is very simple. If you want to hear it, I’ll tell you. The original owner of this wedding dress was a girl similar to Li Li, knowledgeable and reasonable, from an official family. Her father was also an official in the local area.
“She had a childhood sweetheart, that person was a poor scholar, his family background was not as good as hers, but her father couldn’t stand his daughter’s pleading, and finally promised her to that scholar, let the scholar enter the academy to study, and gave him enough travel expenses to go to the capital to take the imperial examination.
“The story is still perfect here, but the weather is unpredictable. Seeing that the day for her to marry was approaching, who knew that her father was impeached and imprisoned for accepting bribes, and her family situation plummeted. On the other side, the scholar who was engaged to her actually became the top scorer in the imperial examination!
“Many wealthy families in the capital were very interested in this tall and handsome new top scorer who came from a clean background. Among them were a Grand Commandant and two academicians of the Hanlin Academy, all of whom were high-ranking officials above the third rank. On the day the list was announced, they asked their families to wait early at the place where the list was announced, waiting to catch a son-in-law under the list.
“At first, the scholar still remembered his childhood sweetheart, but later he was gradually persuaded. After all, marrying the granddaughter of the current Grand Commandant and marrying the daughter of a criminal official, it goes without saying which of the two would be more beneficial to his future career.
“The only remaining question is, what should be done with the previous marriage contract? Fortunately, the girl’s father didn’t think much of this poor scholar in the first place, and very few people knew about this. As long as the person involved doesn’t make trouble, no one will mention this matter afterwards.
“However, no one knows better than the scholar how much the girl loves him. He knows that no matter how much price he is willing to pay, the other party will definitely not cancel the marriage contract with him.
“So the scholar simply went all the way and hardened his heart completely. Not long after meeting the emperor, he secretly rushed back to his hometown alone. Poor girl had already put on her wedding dress and was waiting expectantly for her top scorer husband to come and marry her, but she didn’t expect to wait for an extremely cruel nightmare.
“After the scholar returned home, he used sweet words to trick her to a deserted well outside the city. Taking advantage of her unpreparedness, he pushed her into the well, and ignoring her pleas, he completely sealed the well, confirming that she could no longer climb out of the well and that her voice would not be heard by others, he hurriedly returned to the capital.
“Not long after, he married the granddaughter of the Grand Commandant, and his career was indeed smooth sailing ever since.”
“What about the rats?” Lu Jing asked again.
“Well, under that well, there was not only the girl wearing a wedding dress who broke her leg, but also a nest of rats. As a result, it happened to coincide with a flood breach nearby, which flooded many places. Those rats couldn’t find food, so she actually didn’t die of starvation in the end… …
“However, until she died, she actually didn’t hate the scholar in her heart. On the contrary, she was still dreaming of marrying the scholar. This obsession was attached to the wedding dress and became Xin Zi 591.”
Kui’s tone didn’t change from beginning to end, as if she was really just telling a completely irrelevant story.
However, her clear and cold voice still coated this already tragic story with a layer of coldness.
“Affection will always be misunderstood by affection, the moon of the past now shines on a new person.” Lu Jing couldn’t help but sigh when he thought of the last half sentence of the poem recited by that remnant before she passed away.