The Female Water Ghost

The day Su Miao died, the willows by the river had just sprouted fresh green shoots.

The villagers said she had gone willingly. The River God had appeared in a dream asking for a bride, and he had chosen her. It was a blessing for the Su family.

Her father took five taels of silver and pushed her into the river with his own hands.

Her mother stood on the bank, covering her eyes, unable to watch.

Seven years later, the village began choosing another bride for the River God.

This time, Su Miao climbed out of the river.

She knocked on the door of the first house: it belonged to Zhao Xiaoshuan, the village chief’s son, who had been the first to shout, “The bride is here!”

Zhao Xiaoshuan dropped his bowl. “You… you’re not dead?”

“I died,” she said, “but the river wouldn’t keep me.”

After that night, people in the village began to die. Each time someone died, an undying river lantern lit up beside the water.

Su Miao tracked them down one by one, returning the fear they had inflicted on her tenfold, a hundredfold.

But when she pursued the truth all the way to the capital, she discovered that her father hadn’t been the only one who pushed her into the river.

Her name had been written onto the sacrificial list seven years ago, by an order sent from the imperial palace.

The list also held the names of six other girls like her, each with the character “water” in her name.

Su Miao reached into the city’s moat.

Beneath the surface, six river lanterns lit up at once.

“Sisters, I’m here. Together, let’s take back what they owe us.”

She is Su Miao.

The ghost with the deepest grudge in all the rivers.