Arc 9: Chapter 16
It was a pair of women's hands, clean and thin, and they wrapped around Lin Yuan's neck.
Almost immediately, Yu Jin’s thick evil energy attacked the female ghost, strong and violent, wanting to tear her into countless pieces.
A painful high-pitched scream sounded, but her hands didn’t loosen.
When Lin Yuan’s breath disappeared from the room, Yu Jin’s spirit descended into an extreme gloom.
When Xie Daolan stepped into the room, Lin Yuan had already been taken away.
The whiteness of Yu Jin’s eyes were covered by blood. Seeing Xie Daolan come late, his evil energy striked Xie Daoyu like a whip.
Xie Daolan raised his sword and defended the hit, but his entire arm was left tingling from the force.
Yu Jin then turned to hit Xiao Ying too, roaring: “Absolutely useless, waste!”
If Yu Jin hadn't suffered from the nine hundred and ninety-eight lighting strikes, it would’ve been impossible for the female ghost to take Lin Yuan away in front of his eyes.
Yu Jin seethed, but he couldn’t blame Xie Daolan, who had already sacrificed his blood to set up the twelve defensive arrays.
Xie Daolan sheathed his sword and frowned, saying: “The effectiveness of the formation has subsided a bit. The ghosts that can break in are either on a similar level to a ghost king, or they have no murderous karma. Didn't you leave a mark of your spirit on him? Go and get him back, is this something to be so angry about?"
Why did Yu Jin lose his temper? Lin Yuan was taken away in front of his eyes. How could he stay indifferent?
What he said, did he mean about Xiao Ying or himself? He didn’t even know clearly.
Lin Yuan was dragged by the female ghost like a sack of potatoes. His ears still rang from the ghost’s miserable scream.
After a while, the female ghost slowly put him down. Lin Yuan’s eyes were closed tightly and did not dare open them, but there was a damp, and old smell around him.
Lin Yuan was on alert with his right hand clenched, where there was a spell drawn by Xie Daolan before. If the female ghost tried to eat him, he would throw the spell in her face.
After a few moments of silence, Lin Yuan finally heard her speak. Her voice was very soft and clear, sounding suitable to read poetry and literature, making Lin Yuan feel like he could smell ink and paper.
“Gentleman, don't be afraid. I have never harmed innocent people.”
Lin Yuan didn’t know whether or not the female ghost's words were true. Even if the female ghost was not malicious to him, he was still afraid.
The female ghost looked at Lin Yuan whose eyes were closed tightly and trembling and her pale face furrowed.
She drifted a little further away and said softly: “I don’t look much different from when I was alive.. You don’t have to be afraid. I just want to ask you for help.”
Lin Yuan complained in his mind that the help she wanted was probably his blood, or maybe even a piece of meat.
He plucked up his courage and asked tremblingly: “What do you... want me to do?”
The ghost’s eyes brightened at his response, and she requested genuinely: "Gentleman, could you help me take off this pair of golden lotus shoes on my feet? After I died, I tried countless times to do so, but I can never take these shoes off.
In the ghost’s memories, when she was alive, her father ordered that she must always wear these shoes. In order to get married and cater to her future husband’s tastes, she needed to wrap her feet tightly and wear these shoes. t/n these shoes were as small as 10 cm for grown women
When the female ghost died, the first thing she wanted to do was to take off the tiny shoes on her feet.
But the shoes were inseparable from her. Even if she cut her feet off and the shoes would grow on the new bone and flesh, wrapping her twisted and disabled little feet from when she was alive.
The female ghost sobbed brokenly, driven crazy from helplessness: “I’ve already begged the ghost king to help me, but I still could't take it off. You have the extreme Yin body. Only you can help me!”
Lin Yuan didn’t expect to hear this kind of request.
This kind of shoe was banned over a hundred years ago, this female ghost must’ve been a ghost for a long, long time.
Although he felt pity, Lin Yuan was still wary. He said tentatively: “I... I’m very afraid of ghosts. It doesn’t matter what you look like, I’m still afraid. My husbands will definitely find me soon. When they come, I will help you, okay?”
The female ghost was not sure and asked doubtfully: “Do you mean the ghost king?”
As a ghost for so many years, she knew that two men could be together. But people and ghosts...
Lin Yuan nodded slightly and corrected: “All three of them, but don't tell them that I said so… they don't like me yet…”
The female ghost had no opinions on this, she just worried: “I remember the ghost king was very angry. They won’t cut down my soul when they come, right?"
Lin Yuan felt that this was not a big problem, he could stop them. He reassured the female ghost.
Lin Yuan asked the female ghost in a confused voice: “If you just want me to help you take off your shoes, why did you need to kidnap me? Was it because you were afraid that Taoists would try to catch you?”
The ghost was silent for a few seconds, and then said awkwardly: “It’s not good for feet to be seen between men and women. Moreover, once these shoes come off, my feet are very ugly. I don’t want other people to see.”
Lin Yuan understood, this was very reasonable.
Maybe because they chatted well for a long time, or the female ghost spoke very gently, Lin Yuan was not as afraid as he was at the beginning.
The teenager said in a sad voice, "I know you have been dead for a long time, so you shouldn’t feel pain anymore, but when you were alive, it must’ve hurt a lot. Once we take those shoes off, we will only celebrate that you are free. Helping others doesn't need to consider so much.”
Lin Yuan said so to reassure her, but the ghost fell silent.
Yes, taking off these shoes was obviously her obsession, but she still worried about what people would think of her after she took them off. As a ghost, how could she not know the ephemeral nature of life. People pass by others like sand, and other’s opinions are like clouds. Why was she still stuck in that old era, when reputation and attractiveness were defined and maintained with cruelty?
The ghost looked down at the tiny golden lotus shoes embroidered with exquisite, temperatureless phoenixes. They were so small and twisted.
She had seen the feet of other women who were about the same size as her. Their feet were so healthy they could support them to walk very, very far and wherever they wanted. They didn’t need anyone else’s support to walk.
She envied their freedom and health, thinking because they were born in the right era, they could enjoy equality that she couldn’t. She obviously witnessed the times change, yet she had not changed with the times.
Realizing this, she cried sadly, crying for herself.
Lin Yuan didn’t expect that the ghost would suddenly cry. It was so desperate and distressing that Lin Yuan didn’t know how to comfort her. In the end, Lin Yuan sat quietly and let her vent her emotions.
When his husbands arrived at this abandoned house, it was nearing dawn.
Yu Jin went inside and saw Lin Yuan sitting unharmed. The female ghost was floating five meters away, crying in a red cheongsam.
Yu Jin immediately hugged Lin Yuan tightly in his arms, as if he wanted to attach him to his body.
“Sui Sui!”
Lin Yuan opened his eyes and hugged the ghost king back, saying cheerfully: “Yu Jin! I'm okay. She just asked me to help her. She’s different from those ghosts who want to eat me. Don’t be angry.”
Yu Jin was ready to destroy the female ghost. Hearing this, he suppressed his murderous intent, and kissed the teenager’s cheek, saying: “Okay, listen to you. I’m not angry.”
Lin Yuan hummed softly. He looked up from Yu Jin’s arms and smiled at Xie Daolan, whose long hair was in slight disarray: “Sir!”
He called Xiao Ying too and said soothingly to both of them: “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Lin Yuan finally saw the female ghost. She was an elegant and tall lady, making the tiny shoes on her feet look out of place. Lin Yuan could hardly imagine how much it hurt to have her feet bound so tightly. He said to the female ghost with motivation: “Miss, they’re here. Let me help you take off your shoes.”
Lin Yuan took off the shoes for the female ghost. They easily slid off because they were crafted with silk.
Through the cloth bindings, the female ghost could see her twisted and deformed little feet.
However, in the next second, the same golden lotus shoes encased her feet.