My name is Xiao Qiao (1)

r ghosts are long gone, aren't they" my brother asked.I nodded. "The ghost qi is very faint. I'll summon a little ghost to try it out."After the recitation of the Bao-gao, two little imps let out two...My name is Qiao, Xiao Qiao. I am the daughter of the Mu family, and —>

Offering

From that day on, I would often repeat the fear of that night in my dreams. The pain lingered even after I woke up.

Father said it was a blood pact, a vow made with the blood of a virgin and a yin person. Yin people, in fact, were ghosts from the underworld.

Our family is different from ordinary families; it's a clan that exists on the fringes of normal society.

There are people in my family who are teachers, fortune tellers, forensic doctors, and funeral directors, among other professions.

And my father, as the eldest son and grandson, naturally inherited the family business—running a mid-sized antique shop.

Some aged or ominous things, my father would process, purchase, and then resell to those in need.

I even suspect that my grandfather crawled out of the grave, causing the whole family to be burdened by this surname.

And I, am the one who was dragged down the most.

The year I was born, something strange happened in my family. A number of people died suddenly and inexplicably, mostly the middle-aged professionals from various sectors of our family business who were doing quite well.

The old man said that our family has been in contact with evil spirits for years, which inevitably disrupts the order of the underworld. This is payback from the afterlife.

On the day I was born, there were thunderstorms and chaos in heaven and earth. My mother's water broke in the middle of the night at home. Although our house wasn't far from the county hospital, the torrential rain that day caused a landslide which destroyed a bridge hundreds of years old. So I had no choice but to be born at home, leaving everything to fate.

Fortunately, my grandmother was experienced. After I cried, my grandfather found a blood jade ring on the altar in the ancestral hall.

The ring glowed a dark crimson, resembling solidified blood. No one knew where it came from.

The old man shook his head and sighed, saying nothing.

Later, when I was sixteen, I was sent to that "bed" in the cellar of my ancestral home.

It's called a cellar, but those in the family know it's really an emptied tomb of a king or prince.

The frigid stone coffin, a bed of cold wood, is my bridal chamber.

After that nightmare-like "happy event," the house suddenly became calm and quiet, with no more surprises.

And my status as a sacrificial offering has continued to this day.

Because of that night's experience, I was seen as an outcast in the entire family. I was like a monster, everyone feared and loathed me. And the ring I had been wearing on my chest for eighteen years, it was said to be a betrothal gift left by the sinister being who had relations with me.

Marriage by proxy is a bad omen, and almost everyone thinks I will die that night.

However, I survived. Though I was seriously ill, my heart still beats, I have body temperature, and I cast a shadow.

After that, my dad brought me to live with him. I lived with my dad and brother. On the surface, everything seemed calm, but at night, I was often woken up by nightmares.

My brother is a doctor, he always bothers me asking what happened that night. He can't imagine making love with a ghost.

This nightmare has been getting worse and worse, waking me up every time, leaving me disoriented in the darkness.

Because of the nightmares at night, I have a splitting headache. During the day, I'm always absent-minded, but at night, the spring dreams still come endlessly.

And today, the touch of those hands was especially clear.

This sensation is no longer a dream, but the same as that night two years ago, cold and real.

"Xiao Qiao, my wife…"

He ran his hands over my body repeatedly, those hands familiar and skilled, long fingers lingering with an examining touch.

Those icy hands lingered repeatedly, the chilling pressure overwhelming me, causing shivers down my spine as I was reminded of the pain and terror from that night.

This difficult union seemed to displease him, a low and icy voice resonated in my ear: "…Are you afraid of me"ers of his temples, covering the dragon pattern at the corner of his eyes and trailing all the way down to his navel.The rest of her hair was tied back with a headband bought from a roadside stall, ca...