[Tongue-tied con woman x icy Ghost Lord]
The biggest con Lu Wu ever pulled was impersonating her deceased twin brother and becoming the thirty-eighth-generation Celestial Master of the Lu family. She made her way through the streets and alleys by peddling the tall tale that her "heavenly eyes could distinguish yin from yang."
She planned to quit once she'd earned enough silver, but things went wrong while she was performing a "Hell-breaking ritual" for the richest man in town.
That day, Lu Wu was performing the ritual for a wealthy family. But just as she was about to step over the brazier at the end, a sudden pain shot through her lower abdomen.
She cursed her luck. Her period had to start at a time like this!?
She was just about to run for it when something suddenly tightened around her wrist!
Looking down, she saw a strange red cord appear out of nowhere.
"What the heck is this?" She tugged on it without thinking-
Crash!
At the other end of the red cord, she pulled out a beautiful man in a moon-white brocade robe, with a face so exquisite he looked like an immortal banished from the Moon Palace.
Lu Wu was terrified out of her wits, her peachwood sword shaking like a leaf. "Y-you... what kind of demon are you?!"
The beautiful man flicked the tip of the sword away in disgust and said coolly, "Jiang Zhuo, Ghost Lord of the Underworld Bureau. In mortal terms, I'm... Bai, Wu, Chang."
Lu Wu collapsed on the spot and dropped to her knees before the altar. "Ancestors above, your disciple is willing to trade ten years of her life to disappear this instant..."
Jiang Zhuo lifted the red cord with one finger. "Now, our lives are bound together."
[Bonus scene]
At midnight, Jiang Zhuo sprawled on a hard bed, utterly miserable. "Why are mortal beds so hard?"
Lu Wu curled up, clutching her belly, in too much pain to bother answering. "Sleep on it or don't!"
The heavy smell of blood unsettled Jiang Zhuo. Frowning, he moved closer. "Where exactly are you injured? I can reluctantly treat your wound."
Lu Wu panicked. "No! Don't come over here!"
This story was conceived in December 2024, with the first draft planned for March 29, 2025.
[Reading guide]
1. Unskilled but overconfident fake Celestial Master vs. sharp-tongued, softhearted real Ghost Lord
Bound by a red cord, forced to live together, daily mishaps
2. Female lead: a master of verbal sparring, and a level-ten expert at making a quick getaway
Male lead: a century-old germaphobic traditionalist, who turns into a lovestruck innocent the moment he meets the female lead
3. The red cord has special properties. Yes, it even has a personality of its own.
4. The supernatural elements are lighthearted, with a focus on silly, everyday soul-guiding adventures.
P.S. The story's core idea was inspired by the film Hell Breaking Ritual. The outline is nearly finished, and I'll start once it has enough bookmarks.
A final note: "Breaking Hell" is a traditional ritual popular in Guangdong and Hong Kong. A Taoist ritual master charges into "hell," swings a fire sword to break tiles, and leads the spirits over the flames so they may be delivered and reborn.
Theme: Life and death are never ours to decide. In life, it is rare to have the chance to deliver others.
