The Drowned Ghost

The man’s surname was Xu. He lived north of the city of Zi and made his living by fishing. Every night, he would carry wine to the river, drink as he fished, then pour a libation on the ground and pray, “May the drowned ghosts in the river have a drink.” He did this as a matter of course. - Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, “Wang Liulang”

Xu Zhi always believed that ghosts and spirits existed only if you believed in them. Living alone was always inexplicably lonely. Ghosts were ghosts, spirits were spirits. The living and the dead had always shared the same world.

Simply put, this is a story of love that lingers beyond death, between a water ghost and a fisherman. The idea was inspired by Pu Songling’s Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, “Wang Liulang.” The characters in the original have different names, so please don’t hold that against me.

Xu Zhi had been weaving a great net from the very beginning. Then the fish took the bait.

Hua Xiangrong said, “Dear brother, you’ve caught a whopper tonight.”

That was right. He’d caught a big fish, or rather, the big fish had swum right into his net.

Xu Zhi loved Hua Xiangrong. Every word he said and everything he did was a test, a temptation, luring this big fish to crash headlong into the net.

But when love grows too intense, it changes into something else.

Easygoing, indifferent human top X passionate, fiery drowned ghost bottom

P.S. I’m pretty sure this is going to get locked up like a beehive. (Crouches) Text

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