Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The ancestral tablets of the Ling Family watched everything in silence.

They had tacitly approved of what I was doing.

I shoved the offering bun deep into Ling Xu’s mouth, pressing it down against the root of his tongue. He tried to retch, but his mouth could no longer open even a crack.

He collapsed beside the altar table. Candle wax dripped onto his face, but he still had not given up struggling, guttural roars tearing from his throat.

The voice in my mind sounded again:

“Turn the candlestick on the right side of the altar table.”

I did as I was told.

The floor before the altar table shifted with a dull rumble.

A dark corridor leading underground appeared before my eyes.

I hoisted Ling Xu up and walked into the corridor. The voice by my ear told me,

“This was dug on the orders of Ling Xu’s great-grandmother. After his great-grandfather died, his great-grandmother lived in the Buddhist hall year-round. This underground chamber was where she met her lover in secret.”

Every woman who married into the Ling Family had to memorize the great-grandmother’s loyalty, chastity, and virtue, and follow her example in heart and mind.

I did not doubt the truth of the words in my head.

It was guidance from the gods and Buddhas, something I had prayed for two years to receive.

It told me to follow the great-grandmother’s example, and I would do so with all my body and soul.

The secret chamber was fully furnished. Bed and bedding, tables and chairs, teacups and tea sets, everything was there.

I placed Ling Xu on the bed. The candlestick was still embedded in the hollow behind his knee, blood soaking through his trouser leg.

I crouched down, pressed my forehead against his, and murmured, “Husband, don’t be afraid. From now on, we will live here as man and wife.”

Ignoring his roaring, I blew my fire striker to life and lit every lamp wick in the chamber.

“You can uncover his mouth. No one will hear him.”

I pulled the bun from Ling Xu’s mouth.

He immediately roared at me, “You vicious woman!”

A single cold word rang out in my mind: “Slap him.”

Without hesitation, I raised my hand high and struck Ling Xu hard across the face.

He rolled off the bed. The candlestick in his leg sank even deeper, and he let out a cry of agony.

“I… I’ll kill you, you vicious woman!”

“Slap him again.”

I slapped the other side of his face.

I was very strong. Before long, Ling Xu’s cheeks were swollen high.

“Step on his leg.”

I instinctively stepped down on his calf, and his screams grew even more piercing.

Sobbing, I apologized. “This is all so I can atone for my sins. This is the guidance I spent two years seeking and understanding. Husband, you will help me, won’t you?”