Chapter 94: The Imperial Consort

People living along the Yellow River mostly know the legend of the Lady of the Yellow River. Since ancient times the river has often flooded, and whenever the waters rose, those on both banks believed that the Yellow River King had taken offense. They came to worship the idea of offering him child virgins and unmarried maidens to calm his wrath.

The girl sacrificed to the Yellow River King had to be a maiden untouched by men, young and beautiful, and able to sing folk airs.

Once a girl had been chosen, they would smear her body with scented oil, wrap her in red silk, and cast her into the surging current as an offering to the Yellow River King.

Any young and beautiful girl who was thrown into the river for no reason at all and became the Lady of the Yellow River would naturally carry boundless resentment. That resentment would linger without fading, and when night fell, her wronged spirit would go to the riverbank and sing. Anyone lured toward her by the melody would be drained of blood and die.

One could say that, apart from the Yellow River King himself, the Lady of the Yellow River was the most terrifying being of all. Almost every dark thing in the water would obey her command, for she was the Yellow River King’s wife.

From what the others implied, that evil being who looked exactly like Little White Carp was very likely the Lady of the Yellow River. No wonder Lu Jiu treated that thousand-year-old female ghost with such caution. If she truly was the Lady of the Yellow River, then she was an exceedingly dreadful existence.

At that thought, I subconsciously looked toward the oil lamps in the hands of the boy and girl virgins. I did not know when, but the lamp had already lit.

At the sight of this, my heart leapt into my throat. The lamp was lit, which meant the thousand-year-old female ghost had arrived.

Hidden inside the paper effigy lantern, I carefully scanned the surroundings, but the room was still empty and still. There was no sign of any evil presence.

Could Granny Wan’s arrangement with the boy and girl have gone wrong?

Just as I began to suspect that Granny Wan had made a mistake, a chill crept up behind me. The paper lantern beside me started to sway, its light growing dim and uncertain.

Slowly, I turned my head.

A dripping wet face was right there.

The woman wrapped in red silk was standing almost pressed against the back of the paper figure I was hiding in. When I saw her, terror nearly ripped my soul from my body.

Fortunately, I still had a little steadiness left, but even so, my spirit gave a violent shudder, and the oil lamp housing my soul trembled with it.

This was bad.

Just when I thought I was about to be exposed, the other lamps were also affected by the yin energy of that thousand-year-old evil spirit and began to sway as well.

Even so, the woman in front of me still seemed to sense something. Her cold gaze swept toward me, fixing itself on the lamp that hid me.

Though I was only a wisp of soul now, I still instinctively held my breath. At last, under my tense watch, the woman in red silk looked away and turned her attention to my body lying on the reed mat.

Because she was so close now, I could make out even the lines of her brows. Every eyebrow on her face was exactly the same as Little White Carp’s.

That only made me even more desperate to know what relationship there could possibly be between her and Little White Carp.

Even if they were twins, they could not have been this alike. I could not help suspecting that this woman was simply another form of Little White Carp herself.

While I was still puzzled, the woman in red silk lifted her feet from the ground and drifted over to my body. At a glance she noticed the arm that had been bitten by the stray cat, but she was cautious enough not to conclude that I was dead. Then she bent down and sniffed near my nose. Only after confirming that there was truly no breath left in me did she turn her gaze away from my body.

Still, the thousand-year-old female ghost continued to examine the room and the paper figures we had arranged in two rows.

Fourteen paper figures, two neat lines. Fourteen oil lamps, flickering softly.

I had never experienced such a silent night. It was as though all things between heaven and earth had been cowed by the woman in red silk. Even the sounds of night creatures, usually heard after dark, had vanished completely.

Her eyes swept across each lamp one by one. Perhaps because she had just been standing behind my paper figure, her gaze skipped over the lamp that concealed me and moved on to inspect the others.

Seeing nothing amiss, the female ghost finally moved again. She slowly turned around and was about to leave.

I let out a long breath.

The ghost had nearly reached the doorway. One more step and she would be outside. Then, all at once, she stopped at the threshold. Her cold eyes locked onto the window and would not move.

I followed the line of her gaze and knew I was finished.

A piece of tape had been stuck over a crack in the window, exactly where I had placed it after carefully checking the frame earlier.

Seeing that tape, I wanted to slap myself twice. It had been entirely unnecessary. The crack in the window was not even as wide as half a finger, and it was not letting in wind at all. Anyone with eyes could tell the tape was suspicious. If there had been nothing fishy about it, who would pay attention to such a trivial thing?

The woman in red silk floated over to the tape, tore it off, and after carefully examining that tiny crack, turned her attention once more to the two rows of oil lamps.

Finished.