Wang Qian was on the brink of death. If it hadn't been for her lover, she would have likely died from shame and indignation. Fortunately, the bandits kept their word and released both of them, but no one else escaped the disaster—only the two of them managed to flee alive.
After they escaped to the groom's home, morality and reason dictated that the groom should treat Wang Qian well in the future. But before Wang Qian could catch her breath, the groom actually disowned her in front of everyone. Without even performing the wedding ceremony, the escaped Wang Qian was left in a state of utter embarrassment.
"You were defiled by more than a dozen men before even entering my household. If I married you, how could I face others? Let's just end it here!" the groom said with a scowling face, not even wanting to let Wang Qian enter his home.
Upon hearing the groom's words, Wang Qian was so angry that she turned deathly pale. Biting her red lips and shedding bean-sized tears, she cursed, "You... you're simply a beast! You're worse than pigs and dogs! Are you even human?"
After cursing, Wang Qian rolled her eyes and fainted.
When Wang Qian woke up, she had already returned to her parents' home, but her story had spread like wildfire throughout the city. Being defiled by more than a dozen bandits... and being disowned before entering the groom's household—these two things were enough to destroy any woman in that era.
From then on, no one dared to come to Wang Qian's home to propose marriage. Even street beggars mocked that they wouldn't marry a "dirty woman" like Wang Qian, which caused the prestigious Wang family to lose all face. Wang Qian's family began to coldly neglect and blame her, saying she had disgraced the Wang family.
Wang Qian was heartbroken, and from then on, her personality changed drastically. She transformed from a beautiful and gentle lady of a prominent family into a debauched person.
She fooled around every day, and any man could sleep with her... This matter was known to the entire city. However, later, strange things kept happening—all the men who had relations with her vanished without a trace.
Later, an investigation revealed that after being intimate with Wang Qian, she would ask the man, "Will you marry me?"
If the man answered no, Wang Qian would poison and drug him into a coma, then kill and chop him, and feed the body to pigs.
When the authorities found out, they sent people to inspect the Wang family's pigsty and actually found a lot of human bones and hair. So they hurriedly sent people to arrest Wang Qian, but when they opened Wang Qian's door, she had already hanged herself from the beam.
Wang Qian's death appearance was extremely terrifying. Her tongue stuck out a foot long, her eyeballs bulged out of their sockets, almost bursting the eye sockets. Her face was pale, and black blood vessels covered her face, coiling around like the roots of an old tree. Most strangely, the corners of her mouth turned up, revealing a sinister smile that couldn't be wiped off no matter how they tried. The people who came to arrest her were half-dead with fear and didn't even want the body, saying they would just go back and fake a report.
After such a thing happened to Wang Qian, the Wang family firmly refused to let her enter the ancestral grave. They found a few people to carry her to the wilderness and bury her.
But the next day, a terrifying thing happened. The men who had carried Wang Qian to bury her all died in front of Wang Qian's door. They knelt on their knees, blood flowing from all seven orifices, their pupils dilated, as if they had seen something extremely terrifying before death.
Even more spine-chilling was that Wang Qian's body was actually hanging again in her room. There was no wind in the room, but her two feet kept swaying. Her face still maintained that sinister smile, and her bean-sized eyeballs stared fixedly ahead, like a vengeful ghost that refused to rest in peace returning for revenge.
This time, the Wang family panicked and invited Taoist priests and monks to chant scriptures for exorcism. Horrifyingly, the next day, those monks and priests also died—their deaths mirrored the previous victims, all kneeling before Wang Qian's door while her body hung in its original place.
The Wang family was now thoroughly terrified, kneeling and bowing to Wang Qian in desperate pleas for forgiveness, fearing she would return as a vengeful ghost to claim their lives.
Later, to save themselves, the Wangs unanimously decided to bury Wang Qian's body in the ancestral graveyard. Only then did the strange occurrences cease. The documents Butler Li gave me ended here. These records, seemingly kept by the Wang family themselves, are typical of prominent clans documenting their rise and fall—likely authentic.
No wonder Zhang Hu could uncover this with just a few clues. This tragedy was chronicled, and a shrewd man like Zhang Hu would instantly recognize it as what I needed.
After reading the files, my vision blurred for some reason. I never imagined such a tragedy behind the female ghost. None of this was her fault—why did she bear so much suffering? The groom and her family were worse than animals. Yet after all these years, she still hasn't reincarnated, doubtless haunted by unquenched resentment.
After much hesitation, I decided to visit the abandoned graveyard tonight, hoping to deliver her soul. Not out of meddling, but because I felt heaven had treated her unfairly. I couldn't let her wander as a lost spirit; she deserved to be reborn into a good family.
That night, I grabbed a flashlight, hopped on my bike, and headed straight for the mountain, climbing up to the graveyard in one go.
Though I'd heard of this abandoned graveyard, it was my first visit. The air was eerie, sending chills down my spine. Tombstones were smothered in moss, some coffins jutted from the earth, and the grounds lay desolate—clearly ransacked, with even a few skeletons visible. I wondered how any students, especially girls, dared set foot here.
I didn't know which tomb belonged to Wang Qian, but my first act wasn't searching—instead, I scattered joss paper.
These unkempt graves might hide countless spirits, but I knew they were all "hungry ghosts." Offering joss paper as a greeting was an age-old Chinese custom, even for ghosts.
After scattering the paper, I began scanning for Wang Qian's tombstone with my flashlight. But most stones were dirty, weathered, and smothered in moss, their inscriptions illegible. I searched for ages without luck.
Just as I felt hopeless, a sudden gust of cold wind sent shivers through me, its chill seeping to my bones.
"Are you looking for me?" a faint female voice whispered in the air.
I whipped my flashlight around, but saw no one. Only the relentless wind sliced toward me like knives.
"Wang Qian? Is that you, Wang Qian?" I called out.
The moment my words fell, the wind stopped. After a half-minute silence, the voice returned: "Who are you? How do you know my name? Wait... I think I've seen you. I possessed that man and saw you in that house."
I forced a bitter smile. She had done more than just see me—she'd nearly strangled me to death! The "house" she mentioned must be the dormitory.
"Something's off. You smell like those wretched Taoist priests and monks. What, here to destroy my soul too?" Wang Qian's voice rose sharply, like an animal growling in warning. A gust of cold wind followed, whipping the trees into a howl as if demons were twisting their bodies eerily.
"No, that's not why I'm here. I came to help you!" I blurted, rushing to explain.
Wang Qian was no pushover. She'd endured endless injustice in life, died by suicide, and accumulated decades of resentment. My cultivation was nowhere near enough to even wipe her shoes.
"Help me? Hahaha! You want to redeem me? With your novice-level magic, I could kill you before even furrowing my brow." Her sinister laughter echoed through the graveyard, enough to scare anyone passing by out of their wits.
"Yes, to redeem you. With sincerity, not magic. I truly don't want you to stay trapped in hatred as a wandering spirit. You should reincarnate."
Killing ghosts was worse than redeeming them, especially for someone as pitiful as her in life and death. I couldn't bear to harm her.
"Ha! Sincerely redeem me?" A shrill shriek sliced the air, followed by a wind so fierce I squinted. When I reopened my eyes, a rotting face crawling with maggots was inches from mine, the insects almost creeping onto my nose.
My stomach churned violently, food threatening to surge up my throat. I swallowed hard, clenched my teeth, and chanted in my mind: It's an illusion. Just an illusion.
If I couldn't withstand this, how could I guide this poor soul to reincarnation?
"Then... will you marry me?" she whispered.
Her breath reeked like a millennium-old latrine, so foul it nearly made me spew my dinner onto her face. I clenched my fists, pinched my thigh hard, held my breath, and forced down the urge to vomit.
"Fine. I'll marry you," I ground out through clenched teeth.
In fact, the reason why ghosts hold grudges lies in their unrelenting obsessions. Take the female ghost in the haunted house as an example—she wouldn't have departed unless she avenged herself on that unfaithful couple and gave birth to the ghost fetus. Once an obsession is released, the grudge dissipates, and the ghost will naturally proceed to reincarnate. Wang Qian's obsession is clear: marriage, which is inextricably linked to her life experiences. Therefore, if I intend to redeem her, I must fulfill this wish, allowing her to let go of her fixation, dispel her resentment, and move towards reincarnation.
She froze, clearly expecting me to flee. My agreement left her flustered. "Y-you mean it? I'm... I'm a ghost. Aren't you afraid? You'd really marry a ghost?" Her voice trembled.
"I mean every word." I nodded.
"Then kiss me," she said abruptly.