In the Southern Song dynasty, a tiny corner of South Street became home to two helpless orphans. Lin Qi and Yu Ling grew up together, relying on each other year after year.
Lin Qi taught himself witchcraft and poison magic. Reserved by nature, he relied on his secret arts to make a living and only wished to keep her safe and happy, year after year.
Yu Ling was lively and cheerful, always asking him about the sights and customs of faraway places.
“Lin Qi, is there really a vast world of rivers and lakes beyond those distant mountains?”
“There is.”
“Then you must take me to see it someday.”
His gaze softened as he promised, “I will. I’ll take you everywhere in this world of rivers and lakes.”
He worked tirelessly, hoping to save enough money soon to take her away from this place.
But after one trip away to earn money, he returned to find his world in ruins.
The local magistrate was lecherous and tyrannical. Coveting Yu Ling’s beauty, he forced her to become his concubine and subjected her to every kind of humiliation.
Yu Ling refused to submit to such disgrace. On the wedding day, amid the clamor of drums and gongs, she resolutely hanged herself inside the bridal sedan. In the end, she never got to see Lin Qi again.
When Lin Qi returned home to find his beloved dead, the rage that had lain dormant for years erupted in full force.
He unleashed his poison magic and personally killed everyone who had wronged Yu Ling, bathing all of South Street in blood.
Her wandering soul watched the out-of-control young man and gently urged him, “Lin Qi, stop! The backlash will destroy you.”
Lin Qi cast a spell and seized her drifting soul. Consumed by obsession, he was determined to defy fate and continue their bond.
He searched for a place to house her soul, discussing each possibility with her in turn.
“If you dwell in a poison insect, your soul will stay intact while you await rebirth.”
Yu Ling shook her head firmly. “Poison insects are so cold and terrifying. I won’t live in one.”
“Then stay in my sword. You can be with me day and night, and no one will disturb you.”
She still refused. “A sword is cold all year round. I couldn’t bear the bitter nights.”
After considering it for a while, Yu Ling set her sights on the prayer beads he wore close to his body. “Those will do! I’ll stay in them. They’re small and easy to carry, and they’ll be convenient if we have to flee across the land.”
From then on, Lin Qi nourished the prayer beads with his heart’s blood every day for a full eighty-one days, hoping only to give her a new body.
In life, Yu Ling had been trapped in the city and unable to travel far. Now her soul could journey with him. She resolved to flee her old home by his side and see the mountains and rivers she had never laid eyes on.
But defying fate to extend a life has always gone against the laws of Heaven.
This story blurb was archived on August 16, 2026, with a screenshot as evidence.
Theme: Uphold socialist core values. Repeat after me three times: This is all fictional, this is all fictional, this is all fictional. Please don’t take it too seriously~
I want to roam the world; a girl’s ambitions know no bounds~
