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Hello dear readers!
What do you think of the short story so far?
What do you think will happen next?
Do you think Huo Yang should’ve given his lover a proper burial no matter how mad he was at her?
Give me a comment, please!!
~ Sonrisa t.n.t
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100 Ghost Collection by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang
《百鬼集》 作者: 九鹭非香
Ch 08~ Ghost Corpse (Beginning)
Editor & Translator: Sonrisa t.n.t
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“Cut open her belly for me.”
This order made the military doctor dumbfounded: “General… This… I’m not a coroner.”
“Do it.”
Seeing Huo Yang’s cold expression, the military doctor gritted his teeth and took out a dagger to cut open Su Tai’s stomach. When the food in her stomach spilled out, the military doctor was stunned again. Among the contents, he picked up a brown object to examine, then he checked the arrow wounds on Su Tai’s body. His expression was deeply shocking for a while, but he could not help himself as he praised her with a trembling voice: “She’s really a heroine…”
Huo Yang narrowed his phoenix eyes dangerously: “What do you mean?”
“General, what this woman ate recently was all grass roots and tree bark… The arrow wounds on her body didn’t hit any vital places. She was — She was starved to death.”
When Huo Yang heard this, his entire body was shakened.
The capital of Xu Kingdom was surrounded by the army of Wei Kingdom for a fortnight, so the city was completely depleted of armament and food. The soldiers present, perhaps even the monarch’s stomach were full of grass roots and tree bark. Under such circumstances, the people of Xu Kingdom actually placed their lives on the line to fight back for three whole days in this condition…
Wait, they delivered the letter of surrender, but Huo Yang did not accept it.
Huo Yang’s face became even colder. He ordered the military doctor: “Continue to cut downwards.”
The military doctor could not bear to do it: “General, why can’t you let a woman like this keep an intact corpse…” The soldiers below also began to have objections.
Huo Yang turned a blind eye to it all and coldly said: “Cut.”
As the dagger continued to cut downwards, opening Su Tai’s abdomen, the military doctor suddenly shouted in horror, frantically dropping the dagger: “She… She had a baby! She was pregnant!”
The words were like thunder exploding in everyone’s ears.
Huo Yang crouched down, his fingers probed her abdomen. Inside her abdomen, there laid a tiny life that was already dead. It was as big as his fist. Its entire body was bluish-purple, cold and transparent. He could even see the growing bones and internal organs.
“For such a size… How many months was it?” His voice was hoarse.
The military doctor was also in a state of confusion, he respected this woman’s heroism and loyalty to her country: “About… About four months or more.”
Four months? It was four months? She was still with him then.
She was pregnant… With his child. This realization made Huo Yang’s heart tighten violently. The blood in his heart lurched, sometimes burning his heart, sometimes freezing him to the marrow. In front of his eyes were bursts of blackness. Suddenly, a “clang” was heard, his eyes fluttered slightly, and he saw something drop from her left hand — It was a half of a peachwood comb.
This half and the half hidden inside his clothes just happened to form a pair. This was because he had personally carved it for her…
“With one stroke of this comb, inseparable until age of old, this promise… Will be dearly cherished. Huo Yang, when we become really old, if I can still hold your hand like this, wander the shaded trails in the woods together, and peacefully watch the dappled sunlight, then it’ll be so great.”
Her words still echoed in his ears, but the woman from that time, who smiled contentedly, was now separated from him in life.
He should hate her. He should whip her corpse three hundred times. He should turn her bones into ashes… However, at this moment, he only remembered the warm but sad smile on her lips from that day. The bone-shattering smile that filled up the entire sky and gradually influenced all his thoughts.
Huo Yang felt an immense amount of grief in his heart. Then a stench rushed up his throat, he pushed it down with all his might.
For what reason, even when this woman died, he could not find any semblance of peace. He retracted his hand and stood up coldly: “I, the general, respects Xu Kingdom’s Imperial Army for their loyalty. Therefore, I’m specially allowing the soldiers to have a generous burial on the outskirts of the imperial city.” His voice was surprisingly hoarse, carrying an indifference that made people feel fearful: “Henceforth, Xu Kingdom no longer exists.”
For the defeated army, a generous burial just meant burying the soldiers together in a mass grave.
Three days later, the blood-stained imperial palace of Xu Kingdom was washed clean, and all the corpses in the city were buried on the outskirts. The capital of Xu Kingdom was as clean as if nothing had happened. In this war, the Great General of Wei Kingdom won absolute victory. The Emperor of Wei was overjoyed with the unexpected news, he sent an official to take over Huo Yang’s work, and at the same time honored Huo Yang back to Wei Kingdom with a grand welcome.
No longer would anyone remember the paper-white face of their great general in the imperial hall from that day. No longer would anyone remember where the pregnant woman, who pledged her life to protect the Emperor of Xu, was buried either.
All of the stories appeared to have been buried deep within the ground.
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Enjoy your reading pleasure!
Please do not copy my English translations. You are welcome to link back to my website. Much appreciated.
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Sonrisa t.n.t 
I didn’t comment on the last chaper because I couldn’t find the words. The imagery is so painstaking and the story between the general and the woman makes me sad. What kind of betrayl could she have partaken in that would cause him to defile her body in such a way. I want to know more about why it got to that point. This author loves tragic stories based on some of her other stories I’ve read. She has a knack for ripping your heart out while reading.
Thank you so much for the translation. I pray you and your family are well.
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This short story is descriptive.
I’m thinking it was a case of major misunderstanding, he thought she did something when actually he perceived it wrong. Maybe…
Anyways, I think Huo Yang should’ve given Su Tai a proper burial because I believe that it would’ve made him feel a little better, that even though she betrayed him, she still had him in her heart, she carried his baby, and she held onto his comb. By properly burying her, he could’ve gotten a little peace.
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I agree that he should have given her a proper burial. I definitely feel that there was a huge misunderstanding which makes this story all the more tragic. Some kind of star crossed lovers- on the other sides of a conflict but loyal to their warring states. A love that could not stand the test of loyalty and war. Nevertheless, his burying her would have at least allowed to acknowledge the connection they had together. In the end, no one would have remembered his act of grace but it would have made the heaviness and the hatred in his heart a little lighter (possibly).
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