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Coming soon: Locked Spring Swallow. A beautiful, tragic, obsessive madman × a clever little rabbit who plays the fool. Blurb at the end. Add it to your favorites~

-----Blurb-----

Mischievous little demon who's determined to stand on her own, a wandering ghost (Jiang Yue) × shy little immortal who's easy to tease but boldly straightforward (Mu Bai)

[A fantastical road-trip anthology with horror elements]

Jiang Yue was born into a family of military officers. Free-spirited and mischievous, she should have lived a life of comfort and luxury, but from childhood she suffered from severe lung disease.

She doesn't want to die.

Warriors have never been ones to believe in fate, and she has never believed in gods. But in her desperation, she starts throwing money into the incense burner, praying for a longer life.

She places order after order, sending prayers to the gods. Who could have guessed that one toss would bring an immortal down to earth? And still, he can't save her life...

Jiang Yue: "...Are you messing with me, immortal?"

The immortal Mu Bai is a diligent worker in the celestial realm. He takes prayer requests and earns merit, all so that one day he can rise in rank and become a great immortal.

Unfortunately, he arrives too late. He looks at the fresh ghost before him, then at the big request in his hand, "Please let me live," and regrets that he doesn't yet know how to return a soul to its body.

He claps his thigh, then takes her west to find his master and save Jiang Yue!

But... one absurd thing after another happens along the way!

[1] Ding! A new request! They meet a deer that has cultivated itself into an immortal, visit the underworld for the first time in their lives, and save someone who has died twice and come back to life.

[2] They can earn merit! They help an inn for the dead, with terrible feng shui but booming business and bizarre formations everywhere, fix its feng shui.

[3] Wow, a group request! They encounter a painting that has eaten an entire village. Inside, they find countless custom-made paradises. No way, they have to save all those people!

The two take requests and share gossip along the way, and romance blooms among the stories. But immortals and ghosts belong to different worlds. Immortals must not have love, hate, joy, or sorrow, and lonely ghosts will eventually enter the cycle of reincarnation. The most heartless person begins to fall in love, while the one who loves most cannot say it aloud.

As they travel farther west, Jiang Yue discovers more and more mysteries about herself. Coincidence after coincidence, inexplicable attempts on her life!

Even her identity begins to change...

Jiang Yue: "Little Cypress, if I weren't a ghost and you weren't an immortal, would you be willing to be with me?"

Their meeting wasn't a coincidence after all. It was fated.

Reader's guide:

- A fantastical road-trip story. Most of the episodes draw on Chinese-style horror, mixed with other legendary tales. (Eerie atmosphere, mildly scary.)

- Episodic stories plus a main plot. Plot to romance ratio is 6:4, and every episode plants clues for the main story.

- Both leads are virgins; happy ending; one-on-one romance.

- The male lead falls in love at first sight, but doesn't realize his feelings at first. The heroine is simply mischievous in the beginning, but later, when the hero is direct about his feelings, she can't resist and falls for him.

- Both leads' personalities change over the course of the story. The heroine becomes the strongest character later on.

*Note: The author doesn't like it when ghosts are always female, so there are plenty of male ghosts in this story, all sorts of gloomy and strange ones. No gender discrimination in the underworld!

-----Coming Soon: Locked Spring Swallow-----

One:

Shen Ningyan's household gets a new servant, Gu Ying, who's handsome, sharp, and capable.

His job in the front hall had been unremarkable, but by a twist of fate, he ends up in her courtyard.

On her wedding day, disaster strikes her husband's family, and blood flows for ten miles.

She looks up at Gu Ying, who holds a sharp sword above her head and wears fine clothes, a far cry from the servant he used to be.

Her eyes redden, and she begs him to spare her for the sake of their past master-servant bond.

But Gu Ying bends down and licks away the tear at the corner of her eye. "My lady, do you like the wedding finery I've prepared for you across these ten miles?"

Two:

Shen Ningyan is the only light in Gu Ying's muddy swamp of a life.

He schemes his way into her household, only to discover she is already promised to someone else.

Even if he has to use every means at his disposal, exhaust every scheme, kill everyone in the world,

Even if he has to destroy himself, he will possess her completely, body and soul.

Gu Ying: "You can only look at me, love me, think of me, hate me, scheme against me, and please me. All seven emotions and six desires, love, hate, joy, and sorrow, must belong to me alone."

Bonus scene:

Gu Ying insists that there must be boundaries between master and servant, yet he keeps crossing them.

"Miss, the food is hot. Let me blow on it for you."

"...I can do it myself."

"Miss, there's a step. I'll clear it away for you."

"That really isn't necessary..."

"Miss, the bed is too far from the door. Let me carry you there."

"???"

Reader's guide:

1. Beautiful, tragic, obsessive madman × clever, sweet young woman who plays the fool.

2. One-on-one romance, happy ending, both leads are each other's only partners. Purely fictional setting.

3. Abduction and possession | marriage before love | long-planned schemes | tragic beauty | obsessive | possessive | redemption | melodrama

Theme: Saving one life is better than building a seven-tier pagoda. Do good deeds and fill the world with love!