Ninefold Frost, Lovesick Beans

The waters of the vast sea and the clouds of Mount Wu cannot rival the snow between one's brows. Bo Xue: Bo is the surname, Xue the given name. Bo means faint or short-lived beauty; Xue means pure as ice and jade, untouched by dust. Even thin snow melts. It foretells a life of little fortune and a short lifespan. Bo Xue is also used as a character archetype: the silver-white flower atop a high peak, steadfast, pure, brave, unable to forget, and willing to sacrifice everything for love. Jiu Ning is an elegant name for plum blossoms. They bloom brilliantly in the snow and release their fragrance in the bitter cold, with iron bones and an icy heart. They are peerlessly solitary, embodying longing, purity, pride, elegance, fidelity, and the aloof beauty of a hermit in snow and frost.

At the Vanquishing Sound Temple, before the Platform of Ten Thousand Laws, a beautiful, bewitching woman hangs high from an Immortal-Binding Cord on the Pillar of Merit, utterly out of place in this ethereal Buddhist sanctuary.

"The demoness Mei Qin practiced wicked arts, killed and drank the blood of others, and scorned all human decency. Her crimes are unforgivable. Three thousand lashes with the Divine Fire Whip to scourge her malice. Three thousand six hundred strikes of the Soul-Slaying Sword to punish her sins. Let karmic fire consume her body to comfort the spirits of the dead."

Nothing could be worse than being cut to pieces and having one's bones ground to dust.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Please do not imitate.