Legend Management Bureau Chapter 54

[ … words ]

Du Yu was completely baffled. Was this Yingning… actually a character from a story?

He could only curse the fact that Dong Qianqiu, his walking encyclopedia of the Underworld, was not by his side. Otherwise, a simple question would have cleared up all these minor mysteries.

“Old man, you tell a wonderful tale, but that is not how it actually happened,” Yingning chuckled after listening to him. “That young woman did not lose her smile, but something else entirely.”

The elderly man looked entirely bewildered. “How could that be? I clearly recorded this tale…” He flipped his manuscript to the final page and pointed. “Although this young woman ultimately lost her smile, she lived happily ever after with Wang Sheng.”

“Hahahaha! And so…” Yingning looked at the old man, her eyes curving into cheerful crescents. “Who exactly told you this story?”

Hearing this, the elderly man froze for a moment. He lowered his head, pondering deeply. “If my memory serves me right, this tale was recounted to me by the male protagonist himself, Wang Sheng.”

“In other words, you never even met Yingning in the end? Hahahaha!” Yingning doubled over in a fit of laughter.

Du Yu was finally starting to piece things together. If his guess was correct, this elderly man had once recorded the tale of Yingning, but his version seemed to drastically differ from reality.

“Old man, who on earth are you?” Du Yu inquired.

Du Yu shook his head helplessly. “Old man, we are really pressed for time. Could you just show us the vessels meant to house a vengeful spirit?”

The elderly man did not even lift his head, merely muttering in a low voice, “Without a story, not a single item will be sold.”

Du Yu gritted his teeth. ‘How did we manage to run into such an eccentric old man?’

“Fine, I will tell you a tale!” Du Yu plopped down directly in front of the old man. “What kind of story do you want to hear?”

Piqued by this, the elderly man slowly ground his ink and saturated his brush. “I wish to hear of heartless men and infatuated spirits. I want to hear of bone-chilling nightmares and endless tales of the supernatural,” he declared slowly.

Du Yu sat there dumbfounded for a good while. He had been mentally preparing to deliver the dramatic, edge-of-your-seat cinematic masterpieces known as The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood, but before he could even open his mouth, he was completely shut down.

“Old man, your tastes are certainly quite unique…”

“The better the story, the better the vessel you can exchange it for,” the elderly man continued.

This put Du Yu in a tough spot. ‘Heartless men and infatuated spirits? Nightmares and supernatural tales? To put it bluntly, he just wants ghost stories, right?’

Unfortunately, he really had not heard that many ghost stories in his life. Du Yu prepared to try his luck and gamble on recounting the plot of the classic Hong Kong horror film, A Wicked Ghost.

Just then, Yingning took a step forward and picked up the manuscript of Yingning resting on the table. She skimmed through it quickly, then beamed a radiant smile. “As long as we tell a story like this, we can exchange it for a vessel?” she asked.

“Correct.”

“Very well,” Yingning nodded in agreement. “I shall also tell you the tale of Yingning. How about you give it a listen?”

Du Yu slapped his own forehead. ‘That is right! I have a living, breathing ghost story standing right next to me!’

“You wish to tell me the tale of Yingning once more?” The elderly gentleman looked at the young girl curiously, speaking in a measured tone. “I am quite fond of Yingning. If your recounting is poor, it will not count.”

Yingning nodded and began her slow narration:

“Old man, the first half of your writing is completely accurate. During the Lantern Festival, Wang Sheng met this girl who loved to smile, Yingning, for the very first time. From that day on, Wang Sheng lost his appetite for food and drink, yearning only to see Yingning’s smile once more.”

“After inquiring through numerous channels, Wang Sheng finally found the young woman, only to discover she was actually his distant cousin. He rushed home to inform his mother, swearing an oath to take this cousin as his wife.”

“However, his mother informed him that her sister had passed away from illness long ago. It was impossible for him to have such a cousin. She warned that this girl was likely not mortal, but how could a deeply infatuated Wang Sheng possibly care about such things?”

“He brought Yingning home and married her. Indeed, Yingning was not Wang Sheng’s cousin; she was the daughter of a fox immortal. Although humans and spirits walk different paths, she was eventually moved by Wang Sheng’s sincere devotion. She gifted him the jade pendant left behind by her fox immortal mother, serving as a token of their true love.”

“Yingning was sweet and amiable, keeping a bright smile on her face all day long. Whether it was the household servants or the neighbors on the street, everyone adored her. Anyone standing outside the courtyard could hear her hearty laughter echoing from within.”

“However, only Yingning herself knew the real reason she always smiled. Her mother had warned her that the tears of a fox immortal would bring profound misfortune to mortals. Furthermore, Wang Sheng loved her smile above all else; it was the very reason he had fallen in love with her at first sight. Therefore, no matter how sorrowful she felt, she forced herself to maintain that smile, if only to show it to Wang Sheng.”

“Yet, this innocent smile brought her nothing but trouble. Her mother-in-law scolded her for lacking modesty, and it attracted the covetous gaze of the neighbor’s son to the west. That young man delusionally believed Yingning was smiling at him to show her affection. He spent his days draped over the courtyard wall, leering at Yingning’s every move with thoroughly vulgar intentions.”

When Yingning reached this part of the tale, the elderly man raised a hand to interrupt her. “Little girl, the story you are recounting matches my records perfectly. This simply will not count.”

“Old man, do not be so impatient. From this point forward, the story I tell will be vastly different from the one you have recorded.”

“Yingning confided in her mother-in-law about the western neighbor’s son, but the older woman stubbornly insisted it was due to Yingning’s own promiscuity. If Yingning had not been flashing him foolish smiles all day, how could he possibly have developed such wicked intentions?”

“Failing to find any understanding from her mother-in-law, Yingning went to Wang Sheng. To her shock, Wang Sheng sided entirely with his mother, firmly insisting that Yingning’s indiscreet behavior had invited this disaster.”

“Although Yingning was deeply heartbroken, she did not dare cry out. She was terrified that the tears of a fox immortal would bring ruin upon their household. Thus, she could only continue to smile. After all, her beloved Wang Sheng was still a part of this family.”

“One evening, while Yingning was tending to the flowers in the courtyard, she suddenly heard someone vaulting over the wall. The intruder grabbed her from behind, attempting to force himself upon her. But Yingning was no mortal woman; with a swift blur of motion, she vanished into thin air.”

“The man suddenly felt an agonizing pain in his nether regions. Looking down, he realized he was clutching nothing but a piece of rotted wood. Crawling out from a hollow in the deadwood was a scorpion the size of a crab. He had been viciously stung, the venom leaving him in excruciating agony.”

“His blood-curdling screams drew the entire Wang household out to see what had happened. Before Yingning could even utter a word to explain, the vile man struck first with a false accusation. He loudly proclaimed that Yingning had seduced him and invited him over for a secret tryst, only to maliciously unleash a venomous insect to sting him. He wailed, asking how the world could contain such an indiscreet, unchaste, treacherous, and utterly depraved woman.”

“Having been raised by a fox immortal, Yingning understood absolutely nothing of human deceit and worldly malice. Even though she had been horribly framed, she had no idea how to defend herself. She could only offer a foolish, innocent smile, hoping to show Wang Sheng that she harbored no ill intent.”

“The neighbor’s son perished shortly after returning home. The local county magistrate knew of the man’s notoriously poor character and, upon learning he had died from a venomous insect bite, chose not to press charges against Yingning.”

“However, Yingning’s life only grew more difficult. Her mother-in-law sought out Wang Sheng and declared that Yingning not only invited disaster with her incessant, foolish smiling, but was also capable of murdering people with venomous insects. Since her sister had died long ago and could not have possibly birthed this daughter, the woman concluded that Yingning had to be some sort of demonic entity. She demanded that Wang Sheng divorce her immediately, before she could slaughter their entire family.”

“Wang Sheng was gripped by lingering fear. Believing his wife had not only seduced a lover but had deliberately plotted a murder, he hastily agreed to his mother’s demands. With a single stroke of the brush, he drafted a letter of divorce and cast Yingning out.”

“Yingning had no one else to rely on. Now divorced, a frail woman like her had no means of survival, not to mention she was currently carrying Wang Sheng’s unborn child. Blind to the cruel fickleness of human nature, she simply could not comprehend why the Wang Sheng who had once loved her so dearly had suddenly transformed into an entirely different person.”

“No matter how desperately she pleaded, Wang Sheng looked upon her with utter revulsion. The very smile that had once captured his heart had now become the primary source of his seething hatred toward her.”

“When Wang Sheng realized that Yingning refused to leave even after the divorce, he resorted to every cruel method imaginable. He beat her, cursed her, and publicly humiliated her. Yet, Yingning always bore that same infuriating smile, even when her body was covered in bruised welts, even when she had gone entirely without food for days. Yingning still had no idea what she had done wrong. Finally, a day came when Wang Sheng laced her meager bowl of rice with arsenic. The poison claimed both Yingning’s life and the unborn child in her womb. Up until her very last breath, she refused to believe that her deeply beloved husband was the one who had murdered her.”

“Knowing that a murderer would forfeit his own life, Wang Sheng secretly buried Yingning’s corpse in his backyard. From then on, her laughter was never heard from the courtyard again. Wang Sheng merely told the neighbors that his wife had stopped smiling. However, Yingning’s tragic soul could not bear to part with him, adamantly refusing to enter reincarnation. Whenever the reapers of the Underworld came searching for her, she would hide within the jade pendant she had originally gifted him. It was her only remaining anchor to the mortal world. After all, Wang Sheng still carried it with him at all times!”

“She simply wanted to watch over Wang Sheng like that forever. But Wang Sheng quickly took a new bride; it was as if Yingning had never even existed in his heart. And that treasured jade pendant she had given him? He tossed it into a lake. The depths of the lake were frigid and pitch-black. Unable to venture far from the pendant, she was forever barred from seeing Wang Sheng again. It was only in that cold darkness that Yingning finally realized the truth: Wang Sheng had never truly loved her at all.”

“From that moment on, Yingning remained trapped at the bottom of that abyssal lake. She could only smile at the passing fish and grin at the stones. You see, Yingning never lost her smile; she merely lost her life.”

Yingning’s tale came to an abrupt end. She then turned her gaze to the old man and asked, “Old man, is this story enough to exchange for a vessel?”

The elderly gentleman stared at Yingning in utter disbelief, his eyes swirling with uncertainty. “This story of yours… it cannot be over yet, can it?”

“No. For Yingning, this is where it all ends. But for Wang Sheng, the story continues.”

“Oh?” The elderly man looked at Yingning with fervent intrigue. “What became of Wang Sheng afterward?”

“Wang Sheng’s new wife had a wicked heart. She carried on a secret affair with his steward, and together they embezzled his entire family fortune. Overnight, Wang Sheng was reduced to destitution, lacking even the coppers to buy a single bowl of tea.”

“No wonder…” Realization dawned on Du Yu’s face. “Why would a wealthy young master bother to recount this tale to an old man? He only did it to trade for a bowl of tea, didn’t he?”

The elderly gentleman slowly rose to his feet. Stroking his beard, he let out a soft laugh. “I truly never imagined that one day I would see a character from my stories manifest right before my eyes, only to personally inform me that my records were utterly incorrect.”

“You know who I am now?”

“How could I not?” the old man replied with a bitter smile. “Halfway through your tale, I had already begun to suspect. Your understanding of Yingning vastly surpassed that of the Wang Sheng who told it to me. To think that my favorite tale, Yingning, was penned with a false ending… I am deeply ashamed.”

Du Yu quickly chimed in. “Old man, that isn’t your fault. You were merely the scribe.”

“Let it be,” the elderly gentleman sighed. “The entire world is currently reading a false version of Yingning, leaving me far too ashamed to show my face. You may freely select any spirit vessel in this shop. Consider it my compensation to Yingning.”

“The entire world is reading it?” Du Yu asked in bewilderment. “Did this old man actually get the story published into a book?”