章節 3: Chapter 3: People Fear the Unknown
Chapter 3: People Fear the Unknown
Ming Estate, Suburbs of East Kingdom, Lower Continent
During the scorching peak of summer, the heat wave intensifies visible even to the naked eye. The ground becomes so hot that it stings and burns through one's toes inside their sandals.
To combat the relentless heat, people would find solace by retreating indoors, where they devour juicy watermelons. Paving the dirt road neat and unperturbed.
But today, clouds of dust rose in the previous empty road, each due to the hurried footsteps of the curious gossipmongers, surrounding the serene abode of the Mings that was thrown into chaos.
Each of them wielding a makeshift fan or a humble piece of plywood and watermelon seeds.
The chattering throng swarmed like persistent flies before the grand wooden gates of the noble mansion.
With the sole desire to savor the first brew of a hot tea called gossip.
Today, the spotlight falls squarely upon the elusive third daughter—the Lady of the House's eldest child from her late second husband, Ming Shi.
As the young lady cradled her swollen belly outside the gates, a collective gasp rippled through the onlookers, they whispered like a swarm of bees.
"Oh goodness! Am I seeing things for eating too much during lunch?"
"What an abomination! How can that nightmarish thing be our Lord's bloodline?"
"Ssshh! You dumbass, do you want to die? Just talk crap about the girl alone, but you can't sully her ladyship's name unless you don't want your head anymore."
Someone berated him and warn to shut his dirty mouth.
"How can a noble maiden become pregnant? What kind of monster is growing inside such a vile being?"
"Truly, a curse has befallen the Ladyship Ming's mansion! The second Yang concubine just died pre-emptively, it must be due to that daughter of his! He died keeping such a malevolent being alive and hiding the matter from her ladyship."
"Don't you remember that certain story about the Second Ming Yang already carrying a child before he wedded Lady Ming?"
"You mean the vile blood running on the wench's veins is from a wild woman her father cheated with?"
"If not? Can you even see any resemblance between her and the Lady?"
"Indeed, those damn father and daughter are now reaping the evil that they sow. What a perfect ending to such a disgraceful bloodline."
The cacophony of their chatter envelops the young maiden, Shi, from all directions, as clear as the sunlit day. But there's a singular focus, a recurring theme: she is an accursed maiden for bearing her own son.
In Gehenna, where the Yang lordships traditionally carry the seeds of noble Yin maidens, Ming Shi's condition is peculiar.
And the reality is that people harbor an innate fear of the unknown.
Rather than patiently awaiting its intentions, they instinctively seek to eliminate it, fearing that it might eventually turn against them like a hidden serpent poised to strike or a plague that will cost their lives.
"M-Mother, please... I beg you! Don't kick me out. My son will be out soon. We will die outside! My husband hasn't returned from war, I don't have anywhere to go!"
Desperation is etched on her face as she pleads with her mother and her feeble knees sink into the ground.
Clad in a threadbare plain white garment that offers no protection against the cold, she clings to the elegant yet frosty figure before her.
Alas, the Ming Matriarch, draped in a silk robe adorned with the hazel brown fur of a bear, only regarded her with contempt. Her apricot eyes, reminiscent of dusk's fading light, leave no room for mercy. Even to her so-called daughter.
She didn't even want to speak to her, afraid she might be contaminated by her 'curse'.
Like the setting sun signaling the end of the day, their relationship, it seems, has reached its bitter end.
"P-Please... hic!" Ming Shi implores, "Have... have mercy on your bloodline… Mo-Mother?! Mother!"
Her face that's naturally fair and without blemish turned white like a sheet when the gate slowly closed with the dwindling figure of her mother's cruel back.
"No, no! Please don't close the gates! I beg of you—"
She staggered, desperate to enter through the gap, but the guard's brutal kick sent her crashing into the opposite wall, leaving a jagged crack in its wake.
"—ack!" Ming Shi coughed up blood, her consciousness fading, yet her focus remained on her wounded abdomen.
"N-No, no! My baby. Please, save me. Save my baby! At least my... my baby!"
Her hoarse voice pleaded for mercy, but the onlookers remained indifferent to her desperate calls, jeering at her predicament.
"So-someone..."
The malevolent guard sneered, closing in.
"Pei!" He spat on the girl's feeble form, "Oh damn, this whore is absolutely funny, haha!" he mocked seeing Ming Shi's life hanging by a thread.
"Hey wench! You should have been thankful her ladyship only kicked you out. But you just have to cause a fuss. You're such an eyesore! Who do you think will rescue you and your accursed child, you wretched creatures?"
The bloated man's belly blocked the sun, casting a shadow over her face. "What's with that defiant glare, huh?" He viciously pulled her hair up and knocked her on the hard ground, causing the girl's forehead to spill blood.
"Now, now! Don't take it personally, Miss Shi. I'm merely getting rid of an anomaly in our continent. We already lack a God; we don't need another cursed hex sullying our land."
He was clearly enjoying making a mess of her! Today he was able to thrash a pathetic Yin maiden. Ming Shi had to bear the brunt of the man's grudge against all the haughty maidens who rejected him in the past!
With a swift, merciless swing of his sword, the crowd erupted in cheers as the man was about to execute her. "Don't worry, I got the ladyship's permission," he uttered and gave her another vicious, sharp kick, causing Ming Shi's breathing to hitch.
Her body churned and convulsed. Blood welled up in her eyes, forming twin red streaks on her cheeks.
"M-Mother, you're... so cruel! You killed father, now you're also trying to kill me." Her heart was filled with bitterness until it ceased to beat.
Just as the guard's sword was about to strike, a sudden gust of wind swept through the crowd. The blade, gleaming under the scorching sun, halted in mid-air.
Gasps of horror and disbelief echoed through the crowd as the blade shattered into a thousand pieces.
Against the azure sky, the shards glinted like vengeful stars, that incoherently dimmed its light.
A spectral figure emerged from the dust, flickering like a candle in the wind.
"Ow, ow ow! Hurt, hurt! Why does this body hurt so freaking bad?" Dan Shi exclaimed and grimaced when she was jolted awake inside Ming Shi's gravely wounded body.
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Rei_AtticusX
Rei_AtticusX It's my first time writing quite traditional setting. Please comment down if you like it.
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