Chapter 7
I screamed in terror. “Ah!”
I jerked awake, my forehead drenched in cold sweat.
It took a long time, sitting there with my arms wrapped around myself, to recover. A shudder ran through me.
I tried to comfort myself. “Perhaps… what occupies the mind by day becomes a dream by night.”
But on the third night,
I fell into the dream once more.
The gilded Buddha had completely transformed into a monster, half man and half snake.
Its upper body was Yujingzi’s, while below the waist it was a white snake as thick as a tree.
Its white scales reflected a cold light. That tail looked capable of crushing its prey before swallowing it whole.
My pupils contracted in horror, and I gulped audibly.
Unable to bear the sight, I stumbled toward the exit.
But I tripped and sprawled awkwardly on the floor.
“Why are you running…”
“You look as though you very much want a taste, Princess.”
He appeared soundlessly behind me, his shadow falling over my body.
He dragged me back into the temple’s great hall.
Then he coiled his serpentine tail around me.
The low, husky voice was familiar. Sick possessiveness flooded the monster’s dark blue, slit-pupiled eyes as he murmured each phrase:
“Princess… don’t tremble. Didn’t you say you liked this humble monk?”
“Feel me properly. Won’t you?”
Shaking, I tried to crawl away.
“No! No, it’s too… I can’t.”
But no matter what I did, I could not break free…
I woke with a violent start.
Breathing hard, I could not stop trembling with fear.
When I tried to get out of bed,
my legs gave way and I fell to my knees.
The sensation still lingered deep inside me, impossible to ignore…
As though I had been stretched apart from within.
After one bizarre and uncanny dream after another, I began to suspect that someone had planted an unclean object in my estate.
But Han Zishu was the only outsider staying there.
So that very night, I found a pretext to make him move out.
I no longer cared whether I liked anyone. They could all stay far away from me!
Then I summoned the Imperial Preceptor to assess the estate’s feng shui.
He stroked his white beard and muttered mysteriously over his calculations for ages, only to break into a radiant smile.
“A sign of extraordinary fortune!”
I could not help cursing. “Fortune, my ass!”
“That monster is going to torment me to death, and you’re delighted because it’s auspicious?”
The Imperial Preceptor looked aggrieved. “If the princess refuses to tell this old minister what happens in her dream, how can this old minister reach a judgment?”
I told him the dream from beginning to end, omitting nothing.
His eyes lit up at once.
“Princess, a human body with a python’s tail belongs to a god!”
“In all my years, this old minister has never seen such favorable portents! For the next twenty years, Great Sheng will surely enjoy lasting blessings and longevity, and the dynasty will flourish!”
I wavered.
But after several more nights of being entangled by the creature, I stood on trembling legs and refused to believe another word he said.
What kind of god was so lustful?
This was clearly an evil spirit!
I sought out every famous Taoist exorcist I could find.
But they all said the yin and yang within my estate were in harmony and that no evil presence dwelled there.
It was too strange!
I obtained evil-warding talismans and plastered every corner of the estate with them.
Yet that very night, I sank into the dream again.
Not only was the snake unafraid of the talismans, it seemed to swell even larger. It drained me to the very limit, until I could no longer make a sound even to beg for mercy.
Out of options, I asked an imperial physician to prescribe something that would keep me awake.
Every day, I attended court with dark circles under my eyes.
In time, my imperial mother noticed that something was wrong.
She listened as I tearfully recounted the strange dream, only to ask where Yujingzi had gone.
I broke down on the spot, sobbing helplessly.
“Why are you asking about him, Imperial Mother? If this continues, your daughter will die! Don’t you care at all?”