“I’ll treat you well, for this life and the next,” Chi Lian repeated.
But Su Fu’s eyes widened in horror. Her expression shifted to sheer terror, and she let out a piercing scream.
Chi Lian was indeed above her, but his head had somehow snaked through the space below her neck and coiled back up, whispering sweet nothings into her ear.
He was a snake.
A slimy, wet, terrifyingly evil snake.
Su Fu screamed again, her heart giving out from sheer fright. She never woke up again.
That night, Chi Lian was overcome with chaos and despair. Dragging his half-transformed snake tail, he cradled Su Fu’s lifeless body, unmoving, neither crying nor laughing, for three whole days and nights.
The Su family, frantic with worry, searched the city and finally brought a Taoist priest to capture him on the third day.
Chi Lian, distraught and disoriented, was no match for the priest. He was quickly forced back into his original form.
The Su family, consumed with hatred, refused to let him go. They instructed the Taoist to imprison him in a cave. A long nail was driven into his body, and his skin was flayed.
After flaying came the removal of his bones, and after that, the burning of his flesh. His blood flowed endlessly, staining the entire back chamber of the cave red.
But even then, the Taoist wasn’t reassured. He claimed to see Chi Lian’s resentful spirit lingering. Pointing to Chi Lian, he declared, “I need one more thing to restrain his soul and prevent him from returning to harm others.”
This final object was the Soul Nail.
It had to be something Chi Lian had either feared or loved most in life. Inscribed with scriptures, it would seal his soul.
“The young lady’s breastbone. I need one of her ribs,” the Taoist finally said. “If he held her corpse for three days, it proves she was his most cherished person.”
The Su family, desperate for lasting peace, agreed. They retrieved one of Su Fu’s ribs and handed it to the Taoist, who engraved it with sacred scriptures.
The Soul Nail, made from her white bone, was hammered into Chi Lian’s weak spot—his seven-inch vital point.
Her bone, etched with a curse, bound his soul, trapping him in this blood-soaked cave. Together, they were condemned to an eternity of grim companionship.
"All he wanted was someone to genuinely care for him, to live a life of love and loyalty."
Chi Xue sighed heavily as he finally voiced this conclusion, unable to speak further for a long moment.
Ban Xia lowered her gaze, similarly moved by the sentiment. After a pause, she muttered, "The second woman you cared for—was it Su Yun? I just saw her on the street. She’s looking for the red-rusted copper coins to come back. She regrets everything now. She’s realized the one she truly loves is you!"
Her voice was hollow, even to her own ears.
Sure enough, a bitter laugh echoed from the depths of the cave.
"Love me?" The voice was sharp, cutting. "Do you know how we met? Do you know how I treated her all these years, and how she repaid me? Love me? That’s a joke… a cruel, ridiculous joke."
The laughter grew increasingly despairing, turning into something that sounded more like weeping.
Nearby, Su Yun covered her face with trembling hands and collapsed to the ground.
The memories began to resurface, unrelenting and vivid. How they met, how he treated her, and how she had responded—all the moments she had buried were now rushing back.
It must have been years ago when Chi Lian’s obsession with Su Fu began to fade, allowing him to leave the cave briefly during the darkest hour of the night.
A restless, aimless ghost, he had no destination and instinctively drifted back to the Su family home.
By then, the Su estate had long since disappeared, and the residence belonged to a man named Xu Hangsheng.
At first, Chi Lian would often see Su Yun sitting outside the gate, knees hugged to her chest, waiting foolishly for Xu Hangsheng’s return.
Later, he saw her running around, sweating and begging people for money, her small face flushed and damp like Su Fu’s had often been.
"Please lend me five hundred taels. I need it to save a life," she said the moment she bumped into him. "I’ll give you anything—anything you want!"
"Anything?" Chi Lian asked quietly. "Even if I ask you to stay with me?"
"Yes!"
"Even if I’m not… human?" Chi Lian was trembling, remembering how his past deception had led to tragedy.
Hesitantly, he revealed half of his true form—a long, wet snake tail.
No woman wouldn’t be terrified. Su Yun screamed, just like anyone else would, and fled without looking back.
It was what he had expected. He was, after all, a slimy, revolting creature no woman could ever accept.
What he hadn’t expected was to find her waiting the next day in the same spot, tears in her eyes and body trembling.
"Could you… not reveal your true form when… when I’m with you?" she asked, her fingers twisting the fabric of her clothes.
"I can."
"I need five hundred taels. They say… even ten of me wouldn’t be worth that much."
"You are worth it."
"Alright, five hundred taels. I’ll sell myself to you!"
Her small face tilted upward, her naivety and desperation shining in her eyes, giving her a terrifying kind of bravery.
Chi Lian kept his word. He gave her the five hundred taels to save Xu Hangsheng and promised to return for her in three days.
Three days later, he came for her, even though Xu Hangsheng had never shown up.
Chi Lian had been overjoyed at the time, believing he had finally found a woman who accepted his true self.
But that was his first mistake. The storytellers never told him that love could not be bought, let alone sustained by lies.
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