Chapter Six: I Want You to Marry Me

"Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me! I know nothing!"

At the sound of the flute, a villager crouched in a corner with his hands over his head, begging for mercy. The deathly flute music grew louder and closer, as if the flutist was standing right beside him.

Terrified, he dove under his quilt, clutching it tightly over his head. Yet the sound seemed able to pierce through everything; it was still clear as ever to his ears.

"Ah! I can't take it anymore! Please, let me go! My head hurts, my head hurts so much!"

The man writhed in agony on his bed, clawing at his own face until it was bloody and raw. Suddenly, the flute changed rhythm, as if entering a second movement.

Barely had the new melody begun when the man's eyes turned pitch black, veins bulged on his forehead, and his whole being became feverishly excited.

He twisted his neck, grabbed a sickle, and stepped out the door, where several other villagers stood—each with blackened eyes and weapons in hand.

Under the control of the flute, nearly every villager left their homes, weapons raised, all heading toward Li Pingyang's house.

Meanwhile, the white mist outside gradually dispersed. In its midst, a white-haired woman stood at the entrance to the village, holding a black flute, her gaze fixed on the unfolding events.

The flute's song continued, her snow-white fingers dancing over the instrument. Black vapor trailed from it, and fine black threads extended from the flute to each villager.

Bang!

The door was kicked open, and a villager raised an axe, swinging it down at Li Pingyang. In truth, Li Pingyang longed to ask, "Why is it always me?"

What did I ever do to deserve this?

Li Hu raised his broadsword, intercepting the axe. Knowing the villagers meant them no true harm, he refrained from attacking, only disarming the assailant.

Immediately, another villager with a sickle lunged forward. Li Hu grabbed his hand and pushed him back a meter.

But this couldn't go on forever; it was a losing battle. Li Hu continued to fend off the villagers, careful not to injure them, intent on protecting Li Pingyang.

He noticed the villagers seemed bewitched—their pupils pure black—and all since the flute began to play.

While Li Hu delayed them, Li Pingyang slipped out the back window, treading as quietly as possible until he reached the flutist.

On closer look, the flutist was a woman of ethereal beauty, as if she had stepped straight from a painting—a goddess on earth.

Li Pingyang reached out, intending to tap her shoulder, but hesitated, fearing his rough hands would sully a celestial maiden. What puzzled him more was why such a stunning woman would want to harm him.

Could it be that the former host of this body, Li Dogan, had wronged her terribly? Or was it all a misunderstanding, and she had mistaken him for someone else?

He gazed at the young woman's face, mesmerized, but as he looked closer, terror made him stumble backward.

Where moments ago had been a fairy's countenance, now turned a ghastly white skull, with worms crawling in and out of the empty sockets.

"Filthy men, they're all the same. The moment they see a beautiful woman, they can't look away. Sister was right all along!"

Far off in the woods, a pretty girl with delicate fangs and bright, lovely eyes pouted angrily as she watched Li Pingyang with disdain.

The white skull was a puppet, controlled by a black thread, its fairy-like visage an illusion conjured by the white mist.

Yet the features were shaped after her own.

The flute sounded again.

Now the melody reached its third movement. The earth began to loosen, and the girl, growing bored of controlling mere bones, decided to play a more interesting game—she would command the dead to frighten the man who had deceived her.

From the ground, spectral hands emerged, clawing their way toward Li Pingyang. Their crawl was agonizingly slow, reminiscent of a ghost creeping from a television screen.

Li Pingyang turned pale with fear.

Could you just do me a kindness and finish me with one blow?

Why must my fate be so wretched?

It turned out that Li Dogan, the previous owner of this body, had been betrothed to this girl. Perhaps he had long forgotten the engagement, but the girl remembered and took it seriously.

"Well? Admit you were wrong!"

The girl pouted, glaring at Li Pingyang in indignation. The skull puppet's jaw clacked as it asked in a chilling voice.

Shaking, Li Pingyang retreated until his back was pressed against a tree and he could go no further.

Looking up at the speaking skull before him, he nearly burst into tears.

Damn you, Li Dogan!

What did you do to her?

Could it really be as I guessed? Did that scoundrel wrong this little fairy—no, this pile of bones—in some unspeakable way?

Beast! Not even bones are safe from you?

Li Pingyang dared not think further; it was too repulsive. Yet now that he was in this man's body, the blame was his to bear.

"I was wrong. Please, don't kill me. I'll do anything you ask. And please, spare the villagers—they're innocent. Don't hurt them."

He apologized sincerely, pleading for the villagers as well.

Seeing his attitude, the girl raised an eyebrow in satisfaction, flashing a fang in a smile as she put away her black flute.

"Anything I ask?"

"Anything," he replied.

"Then... I want you to marry me!"

Li Pingyang was speechless.

He had never imagined that this skeleton could be so overbearing. Though reduced to bare bones, she still demanded that he marry her. It was simply too much!

He dodged the sword in the skeleton's hand, making a show of preferring death to submission.

Was he not a good man of the Great Song, with ambitions far beyond this? Even if he had not done great deeds for his country, he could not, at such a young age, be forced to be buried alongside a pile of bones.

Seeing he was serious, the girl hurried from the woods, snatched a leaf from the ground, and sent it whistling through the air.

The leaf sliced cleanly through a falling bamboo leaf and struck the long sword in Li Pingyang's hand, knocking it to the ground.

This is not how the game is played!

You won't even let me die—how domineering can you be?

As Li Pingyang was about to speak, the fairy's face reappeared before him. She anxiously examined his neck, discovering a shallow cut.

Distressed, she gently touched his wound. When her fingertips brushed his skin, Li Pingyang shivered, feeling as if he were dreaming.

Please, don't wake me!

If anyone does, I'll never forgive them.

Li Pingyang sank into this gentle reverie, gazing at the fairy's face, breathing in her faint fragrance. He thought: To live a life like this is enough. I have no regrets.

"Then I want you to marry me!"

That sentence echoed suddenly in his mind. Tears welled in Li Pingyang's eyes, and, regretful, he could not hold them back.

Just now, had he refused her?