Chapter 8

I had lied.

Ah Jin woke on the seventh day after Ying Que left.

His wits had returned. His eyes were clear, and all traces of his former dullness had vanished.

But unlike the story I’d told Ying Que, he didn’t simply leave. He decided to marry me.

After living together for six months, I didn’t dislike Ah Jin.

Simple-minded though he’d been, he’d had an innocent heart.

It was hard enough for a girl to survive in this world. Having someone to rely on would be a good thing.

So on an auspicious day, we married.

After that, he buried himself in books, and I sold eggs to support us.

Ah Jin was diligent and astonishingly clever.

After only a year of study, he could speak as elegantly as a scholar. His learning even surpassed the schoolmaster in town, who had passed the first level of the imperial examinations.

Auntie Li always looked at me with envy.

She said I was blessed. An immortal’s favor had brought me not only a big house, but such a capable husband.

I thought my luck had finally turned. Heaven had shown me kindness for once.

Who could have known that just six months later, Ah Jin would run up gambling debts?

To win the favor of a girl at the Spring Fragrance House, he’d borrowed money from a bank to buy her the most expensive jeweled crown in the silversmith’s shop.

Then, trying to repay the loan, he’d gone gambling.

When his creditor came to our door, Pea Pudding was so frightened that he stood motionless in the yard.

The man said he’d cut off Ah Jin’s arms if he couldn’t pay.

I’d meant to harden my heart and let him learn a lesson.

But as the man raised his blade and brought it down, I softened.

In the end, I traded the deed to my house for Ah Jin’s hands—and a divorce agreement.

On the day he left, I returned to my cottage in Apricot Village with Pea Pudding and five chickens.

Before leaving, he told me, “Ah Fu, I’ve wronged you. If you ever find it in your heart to forgive me, come to Qianzhou.”

I’d thought all feeling in me had died, but deep down I couldn’t quite let go.

Ah Jin was so clever. If he passed the examinations someday, wouldn’t I have lost out terribly?

So I asked after him and followed his trail to Qianzhou.

I’d have been better off staying away. There, I learned that Ah Jin had been a bandit from Mount Qian. The man who’d come to collect his debt wasn’t a gambling-house owner at all, but one of his fellow bandits.

When he’d woken that day, he’d lied about remembering nothing. He’d already remembered who he was.

His real name was Lu Jingzhi. Under the alias Lu Qian, he specialized in swindling women out of their money and exploiting their affections.

Pursued by the authorities, he’d fled to Jizhou, accidentally struck his head, and collapsed outside Apricot Village, where I’d found him and taken him home.

Seeing him still living as a bandit, I’d assumed he’d abandoned his old empty promises about taking the examinations.

How could I have guessed he would become the magistrate of Lingshan County—and help a demon destroy innocent lives?

Ying Que didn’t know what Ah Jin was really like.

If he carelessly mentioned the name Ah Jin to Lu Jingzhi, Ah Jin would certainly silence him to conceal his past.

How could Brother Ying foresee an ambush from someone whose heart was so vicious?

I got up and ran to the bars, forgetting the iron spikes in my haste. Crying out in pain, I shouted, “Let me out! I want to see Magistrate Lu!”

I called several times before the guard came over angrily.

“Stop shouting! You think you can see the master whenever you like?”

He cracked his whip against the door to frighten me back.

“Tell Lu Jingzhi I’m from Qingxi Town in Jizhou. If I die here, a secret letter concerning him will be delivered to the prefect. Whether he keeps his official’s cap after that, I couldn’t say.”

“Hmph. You think I’ll believe a blind girl’s story?”

I laughed softly. “Then take the risk. If Magistrate Lu falls, do you think his replacement will let you keep abusing his authority? That whip in your hand will land on your own back.”

The guard fell silent. After a little while, his footsteps receded.

Lingyun drew close. “You sound so convincing. What’s your connection to that corrupt official?”

“An unhappy entanglement, that’s all.” I sighed. “Mountain Deity, do you know a way to deal with the snake?”

“What are you planning?”

“To get rid of it, of course. We can’t let it go on harming people.”

I spoke from the heart. “I don’t have much ability, Mountain Deity. But if there’s anything I can do once I get out, I’ll do it, even if it costs my life.”

A long silence followed. At last, I heard a soft sigh.

“I don’t know how to kill it outright. But I know how to weaken it.”

He said, “Lu Jingzhi has a golden snake statue in his study. It’s the vessel through which the creature first received worship. Destroy it, and the demon will be badly weakened.

“Little girl, if you get out, find that statue and smash it.”

It was a two-hour journey between the county seat and Xinyu Town.

It seemed unlikely Ying Que hadn’t already entered the county offices.

Either he’d been ambushed, or he’d noticed something amiss and left. I could only hope it was the latter.

Suddenly I could no longer sense Lingyun in front of me.

Then something fell to the floor with a dull thud.

“Mountain Deity?”

“Down by your feet.”

Lingyun said, “With what little power I have, taking my original form and remaining able to speak is the best I can manage. Put me in your clothes and carry me out. You have my permission to touch this mountain deity’s body.”

I bent and felt along the floor. My hand found a twig.

“Once we’re outside, I’ll go to the prefect of Xunzhou and explain. Until I come back, don’t do anything rash.”