A Woman Who Loves Women

[Resilient, daring farm girl × smiling fox-like man]

(Medium-length, both leads' first time, male lead is chaste)

One-sentence summary: A village woman flees an arranged marriage and gets entangled with a cunning fox spirit in a wartime escape across the land. A thrilling, eerie tale in the style of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, focused on survival on the road, not exorcising demons.

Reader's guide: This story is best read alongside the author's original Compendium of a Hundred Strange Beings in the author's notes. (It explains the origins of the monsters in a mock-educational format.)

Synopsis:

Zheng Xinu woke in the night rain and saw the shadow of a scholar holding an umbrella outside her window.

Beneath the locust tree lay her own hanged corpse.

Xinu is sixteen, a bright peach blossom destined for love.

Whose wedding is it? Who's knocking at my door to invite me to the feast?

"My lady, please open the door. Your husband wishes to wish you a long life. First, may you stay forever young. Second, may you find a kindred heart. Third, may you shed your mortal flesh like a cicada and become an immortal, so we can sleep together as husband and wife, day and night."

Outside, a fox plays the suona. Thunder, rain, and wind sweep her into her coffin.

Is this love, or fear?

Theme: Life is precious. Never give up.