[Short story]
Before Yang Ting left home, the family's sorcerer gave him a golden talisman and told him that with its protection, he could safely cross Xuanyang Mountain, go to the imperial capital, and become an official.
Instead, he wandered into an ancient temple in the mountains and encountered a vicious ghost.
The ghost was his fiancée, whom he had killed with his own hands.
Bad news: They had a blood feud, and he was as good as dead.
Good news: She seemed to have lost her memory. He was still alive, so there was room to maneuver.
Yang Ting, a "scoundrel" and a "murderer," was terrified inside and desperately hoped to survive. He Wei savored his fear and pain, planning to make him abandon the talisman and cut out his heart. This was the necessary path for her to become a great demon. As it turned out, He Wei had encountered a strange opportunity after death. Lord Yang and a wicked Taoist had dragged her back from the Yellow Springs of the Nine Hells and made her incredibly powerful. All she needed now was Yang Ting's sincere heart to gain supreme power and become a great demon who could roam the world.
Unfortunately, he'd grown up in complicated circumstances and had far too many defenses. He was neither easy to coax nor easy to deceive. He didn't know this was already the thousandth time he'd come before her.
The previous 999 times, He Wei had immediately extended her claws to rip out his heart, hoping to solve the problem directly. But the curse of the red thread binding them through their betrothal prevented her from succeeding. So this time, He Wei created one dream after another to make him give his heart to her. True and false, real and unreal, Yang Ting was happily deceived.
She'd gone to all that trouble to make him happy, hadn't she? All right then, please give me your heart.
Theme: Treat others with sincerity.
