Rise of Qinglian Chapter 5
WARNING: Some descriptions and situations may be disturbing or upsetting.
Xiaofeng’s Experience
Wang Changsheng looked towards Wang Qiusheng and instructed, “Qiusheng, go and prepare a basin of black dog blood for I’ll be making much use of it.”
“Understood, Grand Ninth Uncle”, replied Wang Qiusheng. Then he turned and left.
“Ninth Uncle, the day is still early. If Ninth Uncle is not opposed to it, then perhaps rest within the granson’s home for a while.” Wang Qingyun suggested this with utmost care.
“Mm, lead the way then!”
Wang Qingyun was overjoyed and hurried to lead Wang Changsheng to his residence.
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In a certain enclosed courtyard overgrown with flowers and greenery, there was a well on the left side with a large slab of rock covering the opening. Not far from this well was a four to five zhang* tall pagoda tree**.
[TL/N: *About 43-54 feet or 13-16 meters tall.
** Also scientifically called Styphnolobium japonicum.]
This pagoda tree branched out magnificently and was thick with luxurious leaves, making it pleasantly cool under its shade.
Two young boys were playing there, one chasing after the other.
They frolicked about like this for a while before they grew exhausted and went to rest beneath the pagoda tree’s shade.
“What’s this smell, it stinks!” The five, six year old boy lightly sniffed and a look of disgust came over his face.
“Big Brother Da Hu, Er Niu’s house is right next door. His family owns tens of big fat pigs so it must be the smell of their poop.” The other boy thought otherwise.
“Pig poop doesn’t smell like this and the stink seems to be coming from inside the well.” The boy made his way over to the well.
It was at this moment when a woman’s voice suddenly called over, “Da Hu, Da Hu, where are you?!”
“Oh no, my mother is looking for me. Er Lengzi, I’ll find you on another day to play, I’ll be going first.” The young boy left in a hurry.
The other young boy didn’t linger either and also followed to leave.
Through the gaps, a decomposing female corpse could be seen floating within the water of the well, bloated and already infested with maggots- a truly nauseating image.
There was a room directly facing this pagoda tree with its doors tightly closed so that only a sliver of sunlight could flutter in through the dilapidated window.
The layout of the abode was simple with a red, wooden bed and a wooden cabinet right beside it. The cabinet doors had been left slightly ajar, enough to see that there was nothing but a dark silhouette retreated within.
That dark silhouette was Xiaofeng who had become a ghost entity.
Xiaofeng has never seen her father for as long as she could remember. Her mother once said that her father had abandoned them both to live a free and unfettered life with another woman.
Her mother had overworked till she fell apart, her body becoming frail and prone to illness, managing to set up a tofu stall just so it would provide enough for their livelihood.
There were no men within their family so the mother and daughter became targets for harassment and bullying from scoundrels and ruffians.
The year she was ten, a drunk, old bachelor had barged into their home in the dead of night to try to overpower and force himself on her mother. Xiaofeng’s mother had valiantly resisted, swearing she’d rather die, while Xiaofeng’s scream sent her neighbors running over and scared the old bachelor into fleeing. But her mother was permanently blinded during her struggle.
After the incident, the old bachelor sent Xiaofeng three hundred coppers as compensation.
From then on, the ten year old Xiaofeng shouldered the family responsibilities under her blind mother’s guidance, learning how to make and sell tofu for a living.
At fifteen, sixteen years old, when she was of marriageable age, the matchmaker made several trips to Xiaofeng’s household.
Xiaofeng insisted that her mother would be brought with her into the marriage, and requested for ten silvers as the bride price. But not one man was willing to accept those conditions.
When she turned eighteen, Xiaofeng met a young lord surnamed Zhao who was heading to the capital for the exams.
Young Lord Zhao fell in love with Xiaofeng at first sight and clapped his chest while agreeing to the two conditions Xiaofeng set forth. He even boasted that for Xiaofeng’s sake, he would halt his journey to the capital for the exams and take care of the marital talks first.
Young Lord Zhao stayed in town for three days and would bring Xiaofeng little gifts each time he met with her, showering her with utmost care, and capturing her heart.
One dark and windy night, Young Lord Zhao met with Xiaofeng in an alleyway for a tryst. He couldn’t withhold himself and was about to put his hands on the young woman when they were discovered by Xiaofeng’s neighbor Li Er Mazi.
The two ran to the abandoned Yang residence to continue their tryst and under the influence of Young Lord Zhao’s sweet words, they made the sky their blanket, the ground their bed, and did what could not be undone*.
[TL/N: 生米煮成了熟饭- Literally meaning ‘raw grains turned into cooked rice’, a metaphor for doing the deed and that it is irreversible.]
Young Lord Zhao had just taken Xiaofeng’s innocence when he suddenly said he would continue to the capital for the exams in a blink of an eye; he claimed he would return for Xiaofeng once he reaped the accomplishment. Xiaofeng, of course, opposed this and the two quarreled. In a fit of anger, Xiaofeng declared she would report this to the officials to file a suit against Young Lord Zhao for stealing her innocence.
Young Lord Zhao tried to persuade her again and again, but Xiaofeng would not relent, insisting for him to marry her into his family immediately.
She was no fool. If Young Lord Zhao really achieved the merit of passing the exam, who was to say that he would actually come back to find her?
Cornered by Xiaofeng, Young Lord Zhao displayed a hideous countenance and with hands he always used for studying and practicing calligraphy, he choked Xiaofeng to death. He then threw Xiaofeng’s body into the well and covered the opening with a large slab of rock.
And because the neighbor next door was raising tens of big fat pigs, the foul odour of the decomposing body never did attract people’s attention.
Xiaofeng’s death was a great injustice. She had never imagined that the lover who had just spoken many sweet, honeyed words to her would then strangle her to death in a single moment.
Her resentment was immense. The Yang residence had been neglected for a long time with no one ever settling in it because of the pagoda tree within the courtyard, which directly faced the abode. The furniture within and even the abode itself were also made of dark pagoda tree wood, so the gathered yin energy became dense. Xiaofeng’s three immortal souls and seven mortal forms absorbed and became influenced by the yin energy, and slowly turned into a ghost entity.
When Xiaofeng realized she had become a ghost entity, she immediately rushed home to seek her blind mother that same night. Only to meet with sorrow when she found that her fragile mother, who was prone to sickness, had slowly starved to death without her care.
When all of this happened, Xiaofeng still had no intentions of harming anyone and had wandered aimlessly around the streets.
Unfortunately, she happened upon several scoundrels who had previously harassed both mother and daughter. They were all inebriated with wine and were speaking recklessly without thought, using Xiaofeng’s mother’s death as the source of topic and even adding inflammatory details to the story. The anger Xiaofeng felt only further fueled her grievances.
After Xiaofeng returned to the pagoda tree-constructed residence, she became even angrier the more she thought about it. Her father cast her and her mother away, the old bachelor stole away her mother’s sight, Young Lord Zhao cheated and used her body, and even killed her afterwards. Her mother died of starvation as a result but even after death, she was made a mockery of by men.
It was all because of these hateful men that she was strangled and cast into a well, that her mother starved to death. She hated these men enough for them to die.
Impassioned by anger, she barged into the home of one of the brutes and siphoned all of his vital essence.
Xiaofeng had only wanted to vent her resentment at the beginning. But when she absorbed that scoundrel’s vital essence, she found she had seemingly become much stronger.
Having tasted the sweetness of power, Xiaofeng couldn’t stop what she began. She started to frequently drain the vital essence of strong, young men to strengthen herself.
If she was bullied and harassed during her life, then she will settle the score in death.
That was why those who had tormented her and her mother all deserve to die.
Li Er Mazi had a black dog living in his home however, so as soon as Xiaofeng approached his home, the black dog would immediately bark incessantly and awaken the man.
At first, Xiaofeng couldn’t do anything against the black dog because she was still too weak.
But after she drained several more healthy, young men’s vital energy she found that she could control physical material such as stone and wood.
When she returned a second time to Li Er Mazi’s home, that black dog once again began barking with more vigour, even pouncing at her to bite her.
The black dog’s barking woke up Li Er Mazi and he subsequently chained the dog to the woodshed. This better facilitated Xiaofeng’s actions against it.
When Li Er Mazi fell asleep for a second time, Xiaofeng took control of a stone and beat the black dog to death. But because the dawn was soon approaching at this time, Xiaofeng could only return to that Yang residence and bide her time until night fell once more.
Time slowly passed and soon, the sky began to darken.
