Paradise Cove: The Ruins

In the first year of Guangming, chaos engulfed Guanzhong. Zhou Mancang, a wealthy merchant from Chang'an, fled with his family into the Qinling Mountains and built Black Wind Stronghold. He had a three-zhang-tall golden Buddha erected in the main hall, believing it would keep them safe for a hundred years. Then snow sealed the mountains, and their food ran out. He began killing servants for food, claiming it was “game.” The smell of meat filled the stronghold, but no one asked questions. When that food ran out, he began killing his family. Distant relatives, close kin, his wife, his sons: wherever his knife fell, blood flowed. The only one left alive was the concubine he had bought.

She lived alone in the empty stronghold, luring travelers with her charms and killing them. Their meat went into the cellar, while strips of it hung from the rafters to dry. She had fine clothes and good food, but no one to talk to. Loneliness gnawed at her more than hunger. One day, a monk came through the snow. She took off all her clothes to tempt him, but he shut his eyes and recited scripture without looking at her. For the first time, she wept bitterly. The monk helped her find salvation, then left. She waited for him every day, but he never returned. She folded his kasaya neatly and hanged herself.

In the second year of Guangqi, A He was scrubbing the tiles in the Buddhist shrine when her fingers found a loose brick. She lifted it and found a slender bone buried in the earth. She said nothing and went on scrubbing. The curse had not died. It was only waiting for the next generation.