The Bewitching Ghost

[Upright, self-possessed veteran Taoist (master) X flirtatious, amorous ghost (heroine) X innocent, sincere young Taoist (disciple). Love-triangle alert!!! Cliché alert!!!]

Meng Shu is a bewitching ghost.

When she first took human form, full of ambition, the first person she seduced was a young Taoist fresh from training.

After a night of passion, the sheets were a tangled mess.

Having taken her fill of his yang energy, she had sparkling eyes and a peach-blossom complexion. She dusted off her sleeves and was about to send the young Taoist out the door.

But the young Taoist's eyes were red, and he clung to Meng Shu's hand, refusing to let go. He looked as if he were the one who had suffered a thousand grievances.

"B-but you took my chastity. How can you just abandon me?"

A bewitching ghost is born to love many. How could she possibly tie herself to just one person?

Meng Shu coaxed and lied to him, promising him one thing after another until she finally managed to send him away.

"My lady, once I leave the priesthood, I'll come back and marry you."

When they parted, the young Taoist was terribly reluctant to go.

Three days after he left, Meng Shu returned to her old ways and promptly forgot about her bargain-basement husband.

Until one day, the young Taoist's master came after her to settle the score.

It turned out the young Taoist had returned to the mountain and demanded to leave the priesthood.

Unable to stand by and watch his prized disciple take the wrong path, the old Taoist came down the mountain, determined to rid his disciple of this menace!

The old Taoist was even more handsome than his disciple, and even more rigid and merciless.

No matter how eloquently Meng Shu pleaded, he refused to relent.

With no other choice, Meng Shu used her bewitching arts to draw the old Taoist into an illusion, where she tried every trick in the book to make him fall for her.

The two were married in the illusion and spent a passionate night together.

But the old Taoist was utterly heartless.

Once they left the illusion, he still raised his sword against her.

"Are you going to kill me, husband...?"

Meng Shu gazed at him as if on the verge of tears. A beauty mark at the corner of her eye was red as blood.

"It pains me that I thought of you morning and night, with every thought of mine set on you."

She gripped the blade with both hands and pressed it another inch toward her chest, laughing bitterly as she collapsed.

"At least death will put an end to it."

As she expected, she saw the hand of the usually cold and composed man tremble around the sword.

The corners of her vermilion lips lifted slightly.

No one can resist a bewitching ghost.

On his first trip down the mountain, the young Taoist was tricked out of his heart by a bewitching ghost. To spend the rest of his life with her, he raised his sword against the master he had always respected.

The old Taoist came down the mountain to save his disciple, only to fall into the same ghost's trap. To claim her, he crippled the disciple he had raised himself.

But the ghost was both amorous and heartless.

She stole the hearts of master and disciple, turned them against each other, and made them fight with swords.

Then she walked away without a blemish, choosing neither of them.

Because she was only a bewitching ghost.

Content warnings:

1. The heroine has had multiple partners, while the male leads are virgins. The bewitching ghost is promiscuous, enjoys playing with people's hearts, and has several relationships along the way.

2. The master and disciple turn against each other for love. Very melodramatic.

3. The two male leads are master and disciple. There is also an important male supporting character who has been married to the heroine.

Theme: Stay true to yourself and don't let outside influences sway you.