The Rose Rope Bond Part 3: Destiny (Chapter 141, page 131190, complete) could not be uploaded; please use an attachment instead.

page views:1 Publication date:2023-03-24

This post was last edited by jimmylee214 on 2020-10-28 at 14:57.
121 The Letter Scandal:
My father-in-law had been out all day and hadn't returned by evening. My mother-in-law and I had looked towards the stone path in the ravine more than once, but were disappointed time and again, until late at night when we still didn't see him. I was very worried; had my father-in-law not found the company? Mr. Zhong doesn't usually go out unless he's under normal circumstances. I wrote down the company address very clearly, drew a route map, and even taught him one last trick: call a taxi; but I was also worried that my stingy father-in-law wouldn't be willing to spend those few dollars. It got dark, and my mother-in-law went to bed. She didn't say a word; I knew she was very anxious, and I couldn't comfort her, so I went to bed too. Having been tied up all day and a little frightened, I fell asleep without realizing it.
"Wen Gui! Get up!" My mother-in-law's urgent call woke me up. I hurriedly got up, dragging my shackles, and stumbled and shoved open the door to the main room. I saw my father-in-law sitting there with a beaming smile, and my mother-in-law, wearing only a pair of shorts, squatting there washing his feet. The shackles, which were usually completely covered, were dragging at her feet. Seeing me come out, she said,
"Child, quickly go to the stove and get some more hot water from the pot so your father-in-law can soak in it again."
Just as I was about to go to the stove, my father-in-law said to me,
"Don't go. It's ready. Child, we've finally made it! We sold the longevity fruit and exchanged it all for rice, which we brought back. That Mr. Zhong is so kind; he even gave me some extra travel expenses and let me sleep in a room, so I didn't get home until almost dawn."
My mother-in-law scolded him, saying,
"You old fool! You're having a good time outside, while I've been so worried I haven't slept a wink all night. Rose! Your father-in-law and I discussed this; we're not going to tell anyone in the village. We'll dig it up secretly. This kind of good fortune only happens once in a lifetime."
"Mother-in-law, there are so many longevity fruits on this mountain; even if the whole village went up the mountain, they couldn't dig them all up. Is it really necessary for you to do this?"
Upon hearing this, my father-in-law flew into a rage, glared at me, and scolded,
"What do you know, you little brat? If you utter a single word to anyone, I'll skin you alive!"
My mother-in-law added,
"You have to be obedient. Our family is rich, and you'll enjoy the benefits too. Don't tell anyone, okay? Be good."
I felt helpless seeing their narrow-mindedness. For now, I could only endure it and deal with it later. But I felt very wronged. If it weren't for me, would they have this path to wealth? They just sold me once, and they showed their true colors to me. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I went back to my room without saying a word, lay on the bed, and thought about it over and over again, feeling very upset. I realized that in my father-in-law's eyes, I had no status in this family, no different from the livestock they kept. However, looking back, compared to the predicament I was in at the execution ground in Qinzhou, this environment was the best at the time. At least I was out of the clutches of the major shareholder of Ruyi Company, my life was guaranteed, and more importantly, I was somehow sold to the longevity fruit production area I had always dreamed of. In the text message, I had already hinted to Mr. Zhong to do a full analysis to see how much effective ingredient the longevity fruit contained here had and whether it had any real value. If the quality met the production needs, then we would find a way to expand production.
The next morning, my mother-in-law woke me up early, took out her old robe and skirt, mountain socks and straw sandals, and told me to change into them. We went up the mountain to dig for longevity fruit, not returning until evening. My father-in-law slept at home, and came back in the middle of the night to dig us up, clean us, hide the longevity fruit stems on the mountain, and carry them away overnight to Longkou, returning the next afternoon—one trip a day.
After my surgery, I had hardly done any physical labor. Dragging shackles up and down the mountain every day, digging while still shackled, was extremely strenuous. My mother-in-law had worked regularly and had worn shackles for decades; she was used to it. Doing this day after day really exhausted me. Every day when I got home and went to bed, my bones ached all over. I wanted to rest the next day, but seeing my mother-in-law's icy expression, I didn't dare to ask. Working day and night for over ten days, one afternoon, my mother-in-law and I were washing the freshly harvested peanut stems in a mountain stream when my father-in-law came looking for us. Seeing us, he slumped down dejectedly. My mother-in-law, noticing his unusual behavior, asked,
"Old man, what's wrong today?"
"Don't dig anymore," he replied, "they said they won't buy anymore, and they haven't even settled the bill for today."
My mother-in-law, also deflated, anxiously asked,
"Why?"
I was puzzled too; why wouldn't Mr. Zhong want the goods? What happened? Was there a problem with sales, or was the peanut quality bad? Seeing my father-in-law's gloomy face, I didn't dare ask. It was fine; I was too exhausted to work anymore, so I could rest.
The three of us returned home listlessly. We hadn't even cooked dinner. The elderly couple went to their room, closed the door, and talked in hushed tones, which I couldn't hear. I was so tired I felt like my body was falling apart; I didn't care what they were talking about. After washing up and changing my clothes, I went to bed and fell asleep.
I had planned not to go up the mountain the next day and could sleep in, but my mother-in-law woke me up again in the morning. My whole body ached, and the shackles felt incredibly heavy. I dragged myself to the kitchen to wash my face. My mother-in-law followed me in, and with a forced smile, said,
"Child, could you write another letter to that Mr. Zhong and ask him to accept our goods? Look how anxious your father-in-law is; he hasn't slept a wink all night."
I immediately realized that something must have happened when we went to Mr. Zhong's place in Longkou to deliver the goods. Mr. Zhong wouldn't have received the longevity fruit from the new production area without giving me feedback, and there must be a reason why he wouldn't settle the bill with my father-in-law. Thinking this through, I felt reassured. So I pretended to be confused and replied to my mother-in-law,
"Why write anything? I don't know Boss Zhong."
"Didn't you write a letter last time asking him to buy our goods?"
"My family used to be in the mountain goods business. Before we were tricked and sold by traffickers, we heard that there was a Boss Zhong in Longkou County who specialized in buying these things, so I took the liberty of writing him a letter. Now he won't buy them anymore, what can I do?"
"Your father-in-law said Boss Zhong only buys things if he gets your letter."
Hearing this, I understood even better. Boss Zhong definitely wanted to know my situation. But the Hu family had paid to buy me; how could they let anyone connected to my family know my whereabouts? So I continued to play dumb. I said to her,
"I can't just write whatever Boss Zhong wants. What's the use of writing something random?"
"I don't know either. Go ask your father-in-law."
She dragged me to the main room, where my father-in-law sat smoking silently. The old woman pulled me to him and said,
"Old man, what letter do you want her to write? Tell me, I've already called her here."
The old man glared at his wife and said angrily,
"I told you last night that this letter can't be written. How could you be so muddle-headed?"
"I say you're the muddle-headed one. You're afraid that Rose will get in touch with him and run away, but so what? This longevity fruit is so valuable, one day's work is equivalent to a month's work digging for herbs. If we work a few more days, we'll get back the money we spent on Rose, and if we keep working, we'll be rich. We could buy back even ten wives; if Boss Zhong doesn't want your goods, everything is for nothing. Besides, can Rose really run away? Her feet are shackled. Can she leave this mountain village of Shenxianzhai? I tried to run away before, but after decades, I still couldn't escape. If you're still worried, keep her chained up every day and see if she can run away. Old Wu's young wife wanted to run away, so we chained her hands too. Life is inconvenient for her. It's not that she won't run away."
“Then let her write it down.”
“Of course she has to write it down. Just don’t write where we live, otherwise they won’t be able to find us. Show her the scraps of paper you brought; you won’t understand them anyway. She can’t keep spouting nonsense to Boss Zhong.”
The old man pulled a few pieces of paper from his pocket and handed them to me. I looked at one of them; it was a short message that read:
Ms. Hong:
Please give me a reply. Zhong
The other sheets contained a list of quality analysis data for the longevity fruit. Mr. Zhong, being such a shrewd man, wouldn't reveal this information unless the time was right. According to the data, the local longevity fruit is of excellent quality, better than that from Songshuling. The ten-year-old longevity fruit has the highest content of active ingredients, almost three times that of the five-year-old variety. Previously, our harvesting of five-year-old tubers was also hampered by resource shortages, resulting in a serious waste of resources. This analysis data was entirely in English; no wonder the old man couldn't understand it. To dispel their doubts and avoid unnecessary trouble, I decided not to reply. I said to my unusually anxious in-laws,
"Judging from the letter, Boss Zhong didn't ask me to reply!"
My father-in-law said, puzzled,
"Then why did Boss Zhong always ask for your reply after giving me the note, and even got angry later?"
"A reply is not the same as a letter. He wanted us to only send longevity fruits that had grown underground for more than ten years, but we didn't listen to him and sent the younger ones. How could he not refuse them?"
My mother-in-law was filled with regret and said to my husband,
"It's all my fault for being too convenient and digging by the river and roadside. These trees are all small; the trees above the spring are bigger. We'll go there to dig tomorrow. Old man, you see, if Rose hadn't read the note and solved this mystery, we'd still be worrying for nothing."
My father-in-law said to me,
"Then what should I say to Boss Zhong?"
"Then you apologize on my behalf, and from now on, only send longevity fruits that have grown for more than ten years."
122
After the letter incident, my father-in-law became increasingly wary of me. When he went out, he would use a small iron lock to chain my hands behind my back, only releasing them when I was working. At home, my mother-in-law stayed by my side constantly, locking my bedroom door from the outside at night, making me feel like a prisoner in her house. We
spent our days digging for "immortality fruit" at the spring, neglecting even the crops in the fields. While others harvested their rapeseed and planted seedlings, ours ripened, the seeds bursting from the pods. This finally attracted the attention of the villagers, and some followed us to the spring, asking my mother-in-law what she was digging for. She always made excuses, saying she was looking for medicinal herbs. Some well-meaning villagers warned my father-in-law that the area around the spring was sacred and that digging there would bring disaster, but he was blinded by greed and wouldn't listen.
After the village finished planting rice, the weather became unpredictable, fluctuating between extremely cold and hot. The snow-capped peaks on the mountains behind the village were shrouded in mist all day long. That day on the mountain, the weather was unusually hot, the air pressure was low, and it was unbearably stuffy. I said to my mother-in-law,
"Mother-in-law, this weather
is strange. I'm afraid it's going to rain. Let's go home early." My mother-in-law was also exhausted, her face covered in sweat and mud. She looked up at the sky; although it was clear, the sun was scorching, unlike April. She muttered to herself,
"This weather is really abnormal. I'm afraid there will be a heavy rain."
She silently packed up her tools, gathered the longan fruits she had dug up into a basket, and we carried it to the stream below the spring to wash them clean. Like her, my feet were covered in mud, even my shackles were caked with it. She said to me,
"Wash yourself off and go home early."
I sat by the river, first washing my face, then cleaning the mud off my hands and wrists from the iron rings; then I rinsed all the mud off my mountain socks, straw sandals, and shackles with the river water. The water in the mountain stream was a warm mixture of icy water from the snow-capped peaks and hot water from the springs. After washing, my face and hands felt incredibly comfortable, and my skin felt smooth and shiny, as if I had applied a layer of oil. I suddenly realized that the beauty and health of the people of Shenxian Village must be related to the icy water from the snow-capped peaks and the hot water from the springs. The health benefits of the longevity fruit grown here must also be different from those from other places. Just as I was lost in thought, my mother-in-law shouted ,
"What are you daydreaming about! Hurry up and wash so we can go home!"
Her irritable scolding snapped me out of my reverie. She and my father-in-law had recently become quite wealthy and arrogant. Lately, they had torn off the little bit of friendly pretense they had when I first arrived, treating me purely like livestock. I listened to my mother-in-law, quickly dried my face, and went ashore. She had me put the basket on my back and fasten it, then tied my hands behind my back and locked the two half-rings on my wrists together with a lock. She then put some tools and personal belongings in the basket, and carried a basket herself, walking home with me.
With dozens of kilograms of weight on my back, the metal chains binding me tightened even more, the corset pressing against my chest, making my breathing shallow and frequent. The ring around my genitals stimulated that sensitive area even more intensely while carrying the weight. With my hands locked behind my back, it was impossible to pull up my underwear to tighten the ring around my genitals. Just as I stepped onto the stone path, my face was flushed, and I was panting heavily. Dragging my shackles, I could go no further. I saw a large rock by the roadside and plopped down on it. Seeing me like this, my mother-in-law was furious. She pointed at me and yelled,
"You useless thing, you've been eating for nothing! You've only walked a few steps and you're already giving up. Things change so easily, get up and walk!"
"Mother-in-law, I really can't walk anymore, I'll just sit down for a bit and then I'll go."
"You slut, you deserve a beating."
As she spoke, she broke off a branch from the roadside and started whipping me mercilessly. My hands were locked behind my back, and I couldn't block it, so I could only try to dodge, protecting my face by hiding it behind a stone. I knelt on the ground, bending over as much as possible, letting her whip my shoulders, arms, and buttocks. Because of bending over, the corset pressed painfully against my breasts, and the metal chain around my neck made it hard to breathe. Just then, I heard a snap behind me; the corset suddenly loosened, and the chain around my neck came undone. Suddenly, my mother-in-law stopped, and someone said,
"Oh dear, what new bride doesn't make mistakes? A few slaps will do. Rose, get up and apologize."
I looked up and saw it was Hibiscus; she had pulled my mother-in-law away. I quickly turned around, knelt before my mother-in-law, and cried,
"Mother-in-law, I was wrong, please forgive me, I'll leave right away."
Furong pulled me up and wiped the sweat and tears from my face. She said,
"Let's go! Don't make your mother-in-law angry. Let's hurry down the mountain; dark clouds are gathering in the west, it's going to rain. I haven't even finished gathering a load of firewood, and I was afraid it would change, so I went down the mountain, just in time to meet you. It'll be troublesome if it rains. You're wearing shackles, and with the rain and water on the stone path, it'll be incredibly slippery, making it difficult to walk. No wonder your mother-in-law got angry and beat you."
Furong picked up the load, and we continued on our way. Without the metal chains and corset, I felt much lighter. I thought I'd been away from Qinzhou for over three months; the corset should have come off by now. Why did it only come off today? Maybe it had come off earlier, but the pin hadn't come off yet. Today, after being whipped by my mother-in-law, I struggled desperately, and the pin came off. I'll take the corset off as soon as I get home; it will be much easier to move around this way.
When I got home, my father-in-law was still sleeping. My mother-in-law unlocked the lock on my wrist and told me to cook. I went to the vegetable garden to pick cucumbers and pull some bok choy, quickly washed them, cooked the meal, and placed it on the dining table in the main room. Usually, my in-laws would eat first, and I would clean up the leftovers and eat them in the kitchen. Back in the kitchen, I filled the pot with hot water and went to my room. First, I took off my clothes. The metal chains around my body were loose, so I untied them, loosened the vents in my corset, and finally removed the corset that had been tightly binding me for three months. My waist suddenly relaxed, as if it had lost its support, and I couldn't sit up. I had to lie in the bathtub and carefully wash my waist. Then I went to sleep without eating. I wanted my internal organs and muscles, which had been compressed, to recover slowly, so it was better not to eat for the time being.
In the middle of the night, a huge clap of thunder woke me up. Outside the window, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and a torrential downpour began. A violent storm swept through our small mountain village. I got out of bed, too afraid to sleep any longer, and quickly put my clothes back on. The door was locked from the outside, so I couldn't get out. I was half-lying on the bed when, about two hours later, the door suddenly opened. My mother-in-law rushed in and said urgently,
"Get up quickly, help your father-in-law."
I had no choice but to get up and drag my shackles to my in-laws' room. My father-in-law was moving large and small bags of grain, clothes, and other valuables up to the attic. My mother-in-law and I passed them down from below while my father-in-law pulled them up from above, constantly urging me on, saying that the flash flood was coming soon and might even inundate the house. We had just finished moving the items up to the attic and hadn't even caught our breath when a series of muffled rumbling sounds came from the direction of the mountain pass, mixed with the cracking sounds of tree trunks breaking—it was terrifying. My father-in-law's face changed, and he muttered,
"This is bad, a dragon has flown away."
Soon, the sound of rushing water grew louder as it approached. My father-in-law opened the door, and outside, wind and rain raged, the gale sweeping in icy rain; another flash of lightning illuminated the outside, revealing a white expanse of water, with huge waves carrying branches and mud surging downstream, and the silent, piercing screams echoing from the village, sending chills down our spines.
The floodwaters rose rapidly, quickly inundating our front yard. Soon, the water overflowed the threshold and entered the house. My father-in-law rushed upstairs and pulled my mother-in-law up, but abandoned me. My legs were shackled, preventing me from climbing up myself, so I retreated to my room, moved my trunk onto the bed, and climbed onto it to sit. The water continued to rise, and soon I was out of bed. Panicked, I grabbed a floating wooden chair and placed it on the trunk, my heart pounding with fear. Thankfully, the water seemed to have stopped rising. It began to recede at dawn, and by morning the water had receded from the yard. I rolled up my skirt and tied it around my waist, went barefoot, and found a thin strap to tie the chain from my shackles in the middle, securing it to my waist. I began cleaning the mud from the room. By the time the water receded outside the yard, I had cleaned the main room and kitchen. Without the shackles, I had much more strength to work.
The floodwaters came quickly and receded quickly; by noon, the water had receded from the roads and fields back into the riverbed. But this flood was a devastating disaster for Shenxianzhai. Not only were all the crops gone, but the fields were completely unrecognizable; a thick layer of rocks brought by the floodwaters piled up, making cultivation impossible. Many villagers, looking at their life-saving land, were filled with despair.
That evening, Furong came to my house, hoping to borrow some food, but my heartless father-in-law flatly refused. Instead, he complained bitterly to her. She sighed and said,
“This year, Shenxianzhai is doomed. It seems everyone is in the same boat. Even the family with the most food won't last a month; some will soon be starving. The flood has completely destroyed the roads out of the mountains; we can't leave. If this continues, there will definitely be a famine. Everyone in the village says that someone must have offended the mountain god, and the mountain god is angry, releasing a dragon to punish us. Everyone is talking about it, insisting on finding this person and beating them to death.”
Hearing her say this, I felt the pathetic ignorance of the people here. This flash flood was a natural phenomenon; what did it have to do with the mountain god? Instead of trying to save themselves, they resorted to wild speculation. Even if I kill someone, will that help everyone get through this difficult time? I couldn't help but ask Furong,
"Has Shenxian Village ever experienced a major flood in the past?"
Furong answered without hesitation,
"Floods happen every year, but dragons don't often appear. A few years ago, a dragon appeared, and many people in the village starved to death."
"Who offended the mountain god that time?"
"No one said anything that time. But this time, the village elders are saying that someone offended the mountain god."
Because she hadn't borrowed any grain, Furong looked worried and had no interest in talking to us anymore, so she left. After Furong left, my father-in-law nervously watched her go to the main road, and then said to me with a solemn expression,
"We have grain, but we won't lend it to anyone. When the villagers run out of food, we can sell it for a sky-high price and get all the good fields and land in the village. Remember, we won't lend it to anyone, not even the Heavenly King himself. From today onwards, eat two meals of porridge every day, mixed with wild vegetables."
I never imagined that my father-in-law was such a ruthless person when it came to making money, but I was helpless. I was completely controlled by him and had no choice in what I did.
The next day, the village summoned all the men to a meeting at the village committee. My father-in-law went after lunch and didn't return until 9 p.m. When he came back, I looked from my room toward the main room and saw that he had followed two middle-aged men to my house. I had seen these two men at the mountain god's untying ceremony. When my father-in-law returned, I was in the room sorting through the clothes that had been soiled by the flood. I had washed them early that morning and dried them, and I had folded them and put them in a box. While I was busy, my mother-in-law came in and took all my clothes except for the set of clothes that the leader of the human traffickers in Qinglong City had made for me when I came. She told me to change into the clothes immediately. I was baffled and didn't dare ask why. After thinking for a moment, I said to my mother-in-law,
"Mother-in-law, I can't wear these pants. I have shackles on my feet."
She glanced at me, threw the bright red satin dress I wore at my wedding at me, and said coldly,
"Then wear this. Change and come out right away."
Because there were outsiders present, I changed my clothes, combed my hair back into a local young bride's hairstyle, put a red silk flower in my temple, and put on my earrings. I looked at myself in the mirror repeatedly, and finding nothing wrong, I dragged my shackles and clattered out of the room. Upon entering the main room, I met my father-in-law, who remained expressionless and indifferent
. "Father-in-law," I said, "I've come. What brings you here?"
He ignored me and instead told the two men who had come,
"This female demon is yours now. The Hu family has nothing to do with her anymore. Take her away!"
The older, middle-aged man said,
"That's good. The clan chief and the villagers won't blame you anymore. You've made a sacrifice for everyone. Next time, you can spend more money to find a good wife."
I
was completely confused by the father-in-law and the middle-aged man's words, but my initial feeling was that my father-in-law's family didn't want me anymore—this wasn't a good sign. Sure enough, the other middle-aged man walked towards me. I looked and saw he was holding a bundle of hemp rope. My heart tightened; I knew something was wrong. My head buzzed, and I collapsed to the ground. The middle-aged man grabbed my arm and pulled me up, forcing me to kneel. The other man also came over, and the two of them worked together, quickly binding me upside down, rendering my entire upper body immobile. Then they pulled me up and tied a rope around my neck, holding me by the hand. The person behind me grabbed the excess rope and kicked me in the buttocks. I stumbled, the shackles nearly knocking me over. They pulled the rope from the front, and I quickly started walking. My father-in-law took us to the roadside and then went back.
Walking onto the main village road, a cool breeze brought me back to my senses. My first impression was how tightly the ropes were tied, as if they harbored some deep hatred for me. It was dark, and I couldn't see the road clearly. With the shackles on, even though I tried to be careful, I still stumbled and fell several times. Eventually, they became impatient, one on each side, practically dragging me into a large house.
Inside, I saw it was the Hu family ancestral hall, the one we had visited before for the mountain god worship. They tied me tightly from head to toe to the pillars of the main hall with ropes and left. Bound and unable to move, I leaned against the pillars, feeling anxious and terrified in this eerie ancestral hall. At first I struggled, but then I calmed down. My body was bound tightly; could I break free? So I quieted down and tried to recall what had happened, but I couldn't find the reason. Since arriving at Shenxianzhai, I had never been alone, constantly under the strict watchful eyes of my in-laws, with no freedom whatsoever. Who could I have offended? I racked my brains, but couldn't make sense of it. What was wrong with me, suffering such torment? The more I thought about it, the sadder I became, and
I couldn't help but cry. Around midnight, I heard soft footsteps. I suddenly tensed up, stopped crying, terrified—was it a ghost or a human? "Rose. It's me, don't be afraid."
Someone behind me spoke in a low voice. I was overjoyed to hear it was Sister Furong. She turned to face me, looked around, took out a handkerchief to wipe my face, and said urgently,
"I can't stay here long. I'll tell you what I know, so be prepared. I know you're innocent, but you can't expect anyone to save you; you have to find a way to save yourself. Even if I release you now, you can't escape."
It turned out she had attended the village meeting, and being a local girl, she was the only woman present. The meeting began by discussing disaster relief and self-help. The flood had caused immense damage; all the fields were destroyed, and no crops remained. Most of the livestock had drowned; families already had little grain, and most of their rapeseed had been washed away; more importantly, they had no seeds, meaning no harvest for the year; relying on wild vegetables from the mountains wouldn't be enough to survive. Famine was inevitable this year, and starvation was unavoidable. Everyone was at a loss, unable to come up with any good solutions. Many men wept bitterly, overwhelmed with grief. The meeting was about to adjourn, with everyone told to go back and think of another solution. At this point, two usually observant people—the village secretary and a herbalist who regularly gathered herbs in the mountains—accused my father-in-law of causing the disaster by digging and rummaging recklessly near the sacred site of Changsheng Spring for over a month, angering the mountain god. They had tried to dissuade him, but my father-in-law ignored them. Therefore, they demanded the village severely punish him. Several members who had joined the group due to the disaster demanded that my father-in-law be beaten to death. My father-in-law was terrified and immediately claimed that his wife was a female demon who constantly bewitched him. He said it was the demon's idea to dig at the sacred spring of immortality to increase her magic, and that he was innocent. He said he would reward everyone handsomely if the village could get rid of the demon.
Furong told me that tomorrow would be her last chance to defend herself. If she couldn't convince everyone, she would die. She finished speaking hastily and left. I was furious. I never imagined my father-in-law would sacrifice me for his own sake. This could have been avoided. When someone told us that we couldn't dig at the sacred spring, we could have gone elsewhere, but instead, we caused trouble and used someone else as a scapegoat. At that moment, I truly hated my father-in-law. But then I thought, what's the use of hating him? I'm already bound tightly in the ancestral hall, waiting to be slaughtered. Hatred won't save me. Thinking about this, I realized the villagers understood the same thing. Even if you kill me, you can't save the villagers. Conversely, if I have a good way to help the villagers get through this disaster, I won't save myself either. Analyzing it this way, tomorrow's last chance isn't to prove I'm not a demon, but to come up with a practical way to help everyone get through this calamity. To make the most of this last chance, I must maintain my energy and a clear mind. So I stopped overthinking, endured the pain from the tight rope, closed my eyes to rest, and prepared for tomorrow's battle.
The next morning, the two men who had tied me to the pillar the day before came again. They untied me from the pillar; after being tied there all night, my legs were completely numb, and I couldn't stand at all, collapsing to the ground. They grabbed my arms and dragged me to the stage in the ancestral hall courtyard. I knelt on the right side of the stage and looked down; the entire village had gathered in front of the stage. As soon as I appeared, the people below and on the stage started talking and pointing at me. My father-in-law stood at the very front, arms crossed, looking smug. A moment later, the village chief took the stage, accompanied by several people, including an elderly man with white hair, leaning on a cane and supported by the village chief, who sat in the middle chair. The village chief walked to the front and announced the start of the meeting. No sooner had the village chief finished speaking than my father-in-law jumped up from below, pointing at me and shouting,
"What's the point of this meeting? We should quickly drown this female demon in the pool in front of the spring to atone to the mountain god! Folks, don't you agree?"
But few people echoed his sentiments. From their sorrowful eyes, it was clear that escaping the impending famine was their greatest concern. But why was my father-in-law so vicious, so determined to kick me while I was down? Was it to prove himself? No. I suddenly realized he was silencing me; only I knew his secret to wealth. I understood now—he was a ruthless wolf.
The village chief waved his hand from the platform and said,
"Everyone, stop arguing. This is a civilized society. Since the demoness has offended the mountain god, we need to get to the bottom of this. Where did she come from? Why did she want to harm us? Only then can we decide how to deal with her."
The old man below shouted,
"This demoness is good at spreading lies and bewitching people. Don't ask her anything. Let everyone decide on a way to kill her, and that's it. She's going to die anyway."
The village chief said,
"That won't do. We have to follow the rules. Demoness, where did you come from? Why did you come to Shenxian Village to harm us?"
I saw this crucial moment had arrived; I needed to seize the initiative. I straightened my rope-bound body, moved my kneeling, shackled legs two steps towards the front of the stage, cleared my throat, and loudly addressed the men, women, and children of the village:
"Fellow villagers, no matter how you see me, I only have one thing to say today. I have a good idea that can help you escape the famine and get through this time."
At this moment, my father-in-law suddenly interrupted me, shouting to the villagers:
"Don't listen to her sweet talk, she's a fraud, just kill her!"
He picked up a stone and charged towards the stage, intending to kill me.
Several villagers immediately swarmed around him and restrained him. Many people below were discussing:
"What's wrong with Uncle Hu? He won't let anyone speak."
"The sorcerer is the only one who said it. She has a way to save us; whether it's true or not, we should listen, it might work."
"Relieving the disaster is the priority now; having an idea is better than having none."
"Even if we kill her, it won't save us from the famine."
"..."
At this moment, the old man on the stage stood up, leaning on his cane, and slowly walked to the front. The village chief shouted to the crowd,
"Everyone, stop arguing! The old clan chief wants to speak."
Everyone quieted down, except for the old man, who continued to rush aggressively onto the stage. Seeing this, the old clan chief said sternly,
"This old man Hu has no manners at all! Men! Get him out of the ancestral hall and don't let him in!"
Several more people immediately came up and hurriedly dragged the old man away. The old clan chief looked at me and said solemnly to everyone,
“As the clan chief of the Hu and Wu clans, I have a few words to say. Eight years ago, a dragon struck, and the village suffered a famine; half the population died, and we haven’t recovered to this day. I am deeply saddened. This time, another dragon has struck, and I have been unable to sleep all night, racking my brains but unable to find a good way to overcome the disaster. Yesterday, I gathered everyone together, but we still couldn’t come up with a good solution. Are we just going to wait here to die? The new bride that the Hu family bought just said that she has a good idea for disaster relief. I think we should listen to her. Even if it is a demon, if he has a good way to help our village overcome the famine, we should listen to him, otherwise people will really starve to death.”
He turned around, bent down, and said solemnly to me,
“This matter of famine relief cannot be made up. If your idea really works, don’t worry, with me here, I will treat you fairly. Tell us your good idea in front of the whole village.”
Seeing that my strategy had worked, I perked up and directly stated the method that I had repeatedly pondered the night before.
"The rhizomes from the roots of your longevity fruit trees are very valuable; two catties can be exchanged for a catty of rice!"
The words had barely left her lips when the crowd erupted. It was like drowning people grabbing a lifeline, a chaotic cacophony of voices. People jostled around me, bombarding me with questions.
"New bride, are you telling the truth? Are you lying?"
"We have plenty of longevity fruit trees here. Where can we exchange
them?" "We're saved! Tell us! Someone wants them!"
"..."
The village chief quickly stepped forward, stopping everyone, saying,
"Everyone, don't make a fuss. Quiet! Quiet! Let her finish."
I saw the crowd had calmed down. I continued,
"The Longkou County Rebirth Company over there on the mountain behind the village is buying in bulk, cash only."
The village chief was incredibly excited and couldn't help but interrupt me, saying,
"Then we'll send them there; they'll buy them too."
"Definitely!"
124 Like a peachwood cangue
, when people are in despair, a sudden glimmer of hope appears; even if it's like trying to catch the moon's reflection in the sea, they'll try. Just as the audience below was jumping for joy, the old clan chief tapped the stage floor a few times with his wooden cane. The village chief immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, asking everyone to calm down. The old clan chief then asked:
“New bride. This matter concerns the lives of hundreds of people in the village. How confident are you?”
The rope was tied so tightly that it made it difficult for me to speak, and I was breathless. I tried to lift my hands, which were tied behind my back, to relieve some of the pressure on my neck. At this point, I no longer needed to keep my father-in-law's secret. I shouted at the crowd,
“Actually, some people in our village are already doing this kind of business. My father-in-law's family has exchanged longevity fruits for rice and cloth, filling the attic. If you don't believe me, go and see for yourselves.”
The crowd erupted in uproar. It took the village chief a long time to calm everyone down. I caught my breath and shouted again,
“For the past few months, he has arranged for my mother-in-law and me to dig for longevity fruits every day, and we've dug up everything above the spring. We weren't digging for dragon eggs there at all; he's deceiving everyone.”
My words had enraged the villagers. While they were suffering from famine and hardship, he was secretly making a fortune. The old clan chief nodded after hearing what I said and returned to his chair. After a brief discussion with the village chief and the people on the platform, the village chief went to the front and announced that from today onwards, no one was allowed to go up the mountain, and the village would send people to guard the mountain pass. Tonight, the village committee would formulate regulations to coordinate the harvesting and transportation, and tomorrow they would start digging for the longevity fruit to begin self-sufficiency through production.
After the meeting, the clan chief summoned the village elders and village committee cadres to the ancestral hall's meeting room, and brought me there as well, making me kneel before the clan chief. The clan chief said to me,
“New bride. Your father-in-law has accused you of being a female demon. He has a duty to uphold justice, and we cannot disbelieve him. According to clan rules, female demons are all handed over to the ancestral hall and imprisoned until the villagers judge them, after which they are thrown into the deep pool of the river to drown. We must follow the clan rules, so we cannot untie you for now. If you truly wish to help us and help us through this ordeal, it will prove that you are a female demon with good deeds, and we will spare your life and give you a chance to return to where you came from and do good deeds. However, before you leave the village, we must keep you locked up to prevent any unforeseen events. Now, tell us in detail your good ideas for saving us from this predicament, so we can make arrangements.”
Hearing his words, I broke out in a cold sweat. I never imagined that there were such superstitious places in the world. No wonder my father-in-law was so fearless. If my strategy hadn't been right, I probably wouldn't have survived tonight. I hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day, and now that the corset was gone, my stomach felt empty; I was both hungry and thirsty. So I said to them,
"I'm dying of thirst. Please, kind folks, give me some water."
The old clan chief instructed me to be given a bowl of water. I moistened my throat and then told them my plan.
Tomorrow, we'll first send three of the strongest men to dig up 300 jin of longevity fruit and go to Longkou County to exchange it for 150 jin of rice from Boss Zhong. This will help the extremely poor households who have run out of food. We've also arranged with Boss Zhong that on the third day, he'll send a truckload of grain to Meilin Township on the other side of the mountain. We'll mobilize all the able-bodied people who can traverse the mountains to carry the longevity fruit there and bring the rice back. We'll do this every two days, exchanging it for three months' worth of food. After that, each household will be assigned a specific area to dig and sell the longevity fruit trees themselves. Trees under ten years old and those in deep mountains will be completely closed off; no one is allowed to dig them up. They will be used as reserve forests.
To avoid damaging the trees, each digging should not exceed one-quarter of the total area. Trees under ten years old should not be dug up; if they are, the other party will not accept them. We must be strict about quality control. The longevity fruit stems and tubers must be intact and unbroken, and delivered on the same day they are harvested. We cannot allow quality issues to cause customers to refuse delivery.
The village chief and the others strongly supported my plan, but they were unaware of the path behind the mountain; none of them had ever traversed it. The old clan elder racked his brains for a while before remembering. He had heard it from his ancestors: long ago, remnants of the Taiping Rebellion under Shi Dakai, in order to escape the Qing army's pursuit, broke through from Longkou. With nowhere else to go, they were forced to cross the high mountains behind the village to reach Shenxianzhai. During the crossing, they carved a path with their swords, and to prevent the Qing army from discovering it, they sealed the path. Legend has it that Shi Dakai later lived in seclusion in Shenxianzhai, living to be over a hundred years old. His descendants changed their surname to Hu to avoid Qing pursuit; those Taiping soldiers who sealed the path also changed their surname to Hu, and later made a living by gathering herbs in the mountains. Originally, the villagers were surnamed Wu, so the Hu family must be descendants of the Taiping soldiers. The Hu family herb gatherers in the village have passed down their knowledge for generations, and only a few of them know this path. The clan chief then asked the village officials surnamed Hu to persuade them to open a transport route to Longkou.
To control the quality, the village chief and his men decided to build a house specifically for me at the entrance to Longkou, partly as a place to imprison me, and partly to inspect the quality of each batch of longevity fruit transported to Longkou. They also required me to frequently check the excavated fields of each household to ensure that the harvesting was in accordance with the village's requirements.
As the morning meeting was about to end, a man came in carrying a load on a shoulder pole. One end of the load contained woodworking tools such as a saw and a hoe, while the other end held two planks. These planks were about an inch thick, with a purplish-black heartwood that gradually transitioned to red and yellow at the edges. The man put down his carrying pole and respectfully addressed the people at the meeting:
"Elder Chief, esteemed elders. The village chief instructed me to bring some wild peach tree planks, along with the tools."
The village chief stood up and said,
"Very good. These peach planks are very rare; only you, Carpenter Wu, could have found them."
"Village chief, you're absolutely right. More than ten years ago, during a great flood, my third son found a large wild peach tree washed down by the river. He asked me to help him go to the riverbank, saw it into sections, and bring it home. This kind of tree is hard and heavy. Since you were in a hurry today, my third son and I worked for over two hours to saw and plan these two planks. Now they're here, along with the tools. I wonder what you wish to make, sir?"
The village chief pointed to the woman bound hand and foot, kneeling upright on the ground, and said,
"Make her a cangue."
Carpenter Wu glanced at me and said,
"Ha! Make a cangue for the female demon. What kind?"
"The same kind as last time, with your hands locked in shackles as well."
I looked at the village chief in surprise. I knew what it was like to wear shackles after acting with Shui Xian last time. Movement, eating, and sleeping were all strictly restricted; Shui Xian only wore them for a day and a night before she couldn't stand it anymore. I was really afraid to wear them for a long time. With a sobbing voice, she pleaded with the old clan chief,
"Clan chief, what power do I, a mere woman, have? I can't possibly hinder anyone. My feet are already shackled; I can't escape even if I wanted to. Please, don't make these shackles! I beg you, these shackles are so uncomfortable."
The old clan chief smiled and stroked his white beard, then said to those around him,
"What do you think we should do?"
The village chief said,
"This female demon, considering her kindness to the village, is fortunate not to have been drowned. But if her true nature is unleashed, she will be a great scourge to the village. Therefore, we must subdue her. Peach wood is a powerful tool for suppressing demons. If we put peach wood shackles on her, her magic will be useless. It's better to be safe than sorry. Let's use peach wood shackles to suppress her and ensure the safety of the village."
The others echoed his
sentiments. I wept sadly. What could I do about this ancient village that still believed in such superstitious and backward things as mountain gods and female demons? "I'm already incredibly lucky to have escaped drowning in Shentan. Who told fate to play such a cruel trick on me? "
The old clan chief pondered for a moment and said,
"The village chief is right, but everyone has a kind heart. It's certainly inconvenient for a woman to carry a cangue all day. Carpenter Wu, make two peach wood swords and hang them in the house of the soon-to-be-finished demoness. One at the front door, one at the back door. She can remove the cangue when she's home, but she must wear it when she goes out. This task will be overseen by a supervisor. Each household can volunteer to supervise, and the village will pay them."
Another person interjected,
"Where will the payment come from? The village has no money."
"Didn't she just introduce the method of using the longevity fruit for disaster relief? If it works, we can take a cut. If it's a scam, then there will be no payment for the cangue and the woman drowning. Village chief, you stay here and supervise the cangue's completion. I'm tired. I'm going home now."
The old clan chief left with them, and the village chief gave Carpenter Wu a few instructions and also left.
Carpenter Wu walked up to me and said:
“Girl, don’t cry. When you encounter a tree that bends, you have to bend. I don’t believe that stingy old man Hu’s nonsense about you being some kind of female demon. If you had revealed the secret of the immortality fruit to everyone earlier, he wouldn’t have been able to make a fortune all by himself, and he wouldn’t have tried to kill you. Don’t worry, I’ll smooth out the three holes on the shackles that lock your neck and hands as much as possible, so you won’t feel uncomfortable wearing them.”
Carpenter Wu immediately started working, and I watched him make the shackles for me. Around noon, I heard a rhythmic, familiar clanging sound outside the ancestral hall—the sound of people walking in shackles and two women talking and laughing. I recognized one of them as Furong, and I looked towards the gate. Soon, two women carrying bamboo baskets walked in, chatting and laughing. One of them said,
“Little Wu, I’ve brought you food.”
She was a woman in her thirties, petite and delicate. She handed the food basket to Carpenter Wu, and then came to my side with Furong, touching my upper body, which was wrapped in ropes, with her small hands. To Furong, I said,
"Look how cruel they are, binding people like this, the veins in their necks are bulging. The traffickers did the same to me, I don't know how painful it was."
Furong took food out of her basket and said to me,
"Rose, my family was the first to sign up to look after you. I'm bringing you food; we're almost out of food at home, so I can only make you some porridge made from peanut stems and rice."
I was surprised. I said to her,
"You know peanuts can help you survive a famine?"
"Yes. It's been passed down from my ancestors, but you can't eat it all; you need to have grains or meat with it. Eating too much will make you feel very uncomfortable, weak in your limbs. You can't rely solely on it to survive a famine."
125 The cave path
listened to Furong's words and thought she made a lot of sense. Peanuts are a health supplement, not food, just like ginseng can't be eaten as a meal. Wu the carpenter's wife sat beside him, fiddling with her shackles, her eyes fixed on me. She whispered to her husband,
"Look at Hu's wife, her clothes are so beautiful, and she's so pretty too. Even tied up with hemp rope, she's still captivating. I don't think she has any demonic aura about her, she doesn't seem like a malevolent witch."
Carpenter Wu glared at her and said,
"Don't talk nonsense. If the people in the ancestral hall hear you, they'll take you to Shentan too, and I won't be able to save you."
The little woman was too frightened to utter a sound, watching Furong feed me. After Carpenter Wu and I finished eating, Furong told Carpenter Wu that the little woman should go first, that she would stay with me, and that she would take me to the house specially built for me at the mountain pass. "
The peach wood cangue wasn't finished until almost sunset. The village chief arrived early that afternoon, and seeing it was done, he couldn't wait to first put it around my neck before untying the ropes binding me. He then brought my hands, which were covered in purplish-red rope marks on my wrists, to the front and locked them in front of the cangue.
Wu the carpenter was very skillful; he made the peach wood cangue more like a wood carving. He first used a semi-relief technique to carve the board into the shape of a dragon with its head turned upwards and its waist arched. The open dragon's mouth was carved into a semi-circle, and the two boards were two dragons. The two dragons' mouths closed together, biting my neck. A hole was carved in the dragon's tail, and one of its hind legs was movable. The movable hind leg's claws closed, locking the hole. After I put my hands into the hole, the dragon claws came in and were secured with pins, locking my wrists. From the outside, it looked as if the dragon claws were tightly holding my hands." The two shackles were fastened. A horizontal pin was used to connect them, threaded through a hidden pin. The pin was one inch wide and half an inch thick, perfectly sized. It required a wooden hammer to strike the pin into the slots of the two shackles. The joint between the two shackles was a mortise and tenon joint, making the two shackles fit together seamlessly. Hinges were installed at the dragon heads and tails at both ends of the joint for locking.
After the shackles were fastened, the village chief took out two yellow paper strips with talismans drawn on them and crossed them on the joints. He handed Furong two newly made peach wood swords, gave her many instructions, and then left with the carpenter. Finally, only the two of us remained in the ancestral hall. She helped me stand up; my knees, from kneeling for so long, were so painful I couldn't straighten them or stand steadily. Furong supported me, and I gritted my teeth, slowly moving my shackled feet, step by step, out of the ancestral hall.
The carpenter's promise... Indeed, the three holes for fastening the neck and wrists were polished very smoothly, and the size was just right—neither too loose nor too tight—making it much more comfortable. Last time, when Narcissus was in the yoke, these three holes were too tight, causing her immense suffering. This peach wood is hard and sturdy, heavier than ordinary wood; this yoke must weigh at least ten pounds, making it quite heavy to carry. By the time they reached the main road in the village, it was dusk. The sunset painted the western sky a crimson hue, tinged the mountaintops with orange, and the river had returned to its usual calm, its clear water shimmering with golden light under the sunset. Shenxianzhai remained as beautiful and tranquil as ever. The wisps of smoke from evening cooking rose slowly from the villagers' homes, gathering into a thin mist that drifted towards the mountainside, maintaining its serene and mysterious atmosphere. Only beside the fields destroyed by the mudslide stood two or three farmers, hoes in hand, uttering helpless sighs. Sighs filled the air, revealing the oppressive stillness and the shadow of death lurking in the mystery.
The mud from the flood had been washed away by the subsequent rains on the village road; the villagers had cleared away the large and small stones. When I appeared in the village, shackled and chained, some avoided me as if I were a plague carrier. But many more, hungry villagers, stopped me, repeatedly questioning the credibility of the promise of exchanging longevity fruits for food. Food was crucial for the hundreds of people in Shenxian Village after the disaster.
Even in public, wearing the shackles, I was ashamed to face anyone. According to Furong, these dragon-shaped shackles were specifically for restraining demons and monsters. Deep down, I felt a sense of humiliation. Here, these dragon-shaped shackles were a symbol of shame, so I was afraid to see anyone, especially in Shenxian Village, where most of the people were strangers to me. Therefore, I insisted that Furong walk ahead, and I followed behind with my head down, trying to reach the newly built hut at the mountain pass as quickly as possible.
“Come in!” Furong pushed open the creaking courtyard gate and said to me, “Bao’er. Where are you? Mommy’s back
.” “Mommy, Mommy. ” A six or seven-year-old child, pulling along an elderly woman in her fifties, skipped and hopped out of the house, shouting,
"Mommy, did you bring me anything to eat? I'm hungry!"
It turned out that Furong had brought me back to her home. Looking like a death row inmate, I was too embarrassed to enter. The old woman saw me, came out of the courtyard, took my arm with one hand and held her grandson's hand with the other, and said affectionately,
"Come in, girl! Why does Hu Laosan have to treat such a beautiful daughter-in-law so cruelly? I don't believe you're some kind of demon."
The child stared at me with his big, bright eyes and said,
"Grandma, why does this aunt have a board around her neck? Isn't she tired?"
Seeing such an innocent and adorable child, I went into the courtyard and squatted down in front of him. I said to the child,
"Are you happy that your aunt has come to your house?"
"Yes! Auntie looks so beautiful, so pretty!"
Hearing the child's innocent answer and seeing his malnourished, pale face, I felt very sad. Furong's life was difficult; judging from the child's complexion, her family was probably running out of food. Furong pulled me up, helped me into the house, and told me to sit down. She carefully removed the seal from the shackles, used the key the village chief had given her to unlock both ends, and used a kitchen knife to pry open the bolts, removing my shackles. I nervously rubbed my hands, stretching my stiff arms. I said to her, "
Coming to your house has already been bad for you. If you remove the shackles, the villagers will punish you."
"Never mind them. You should quickly take a bath and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, before dawn, we need to get up and head up the mountain."
Furong was a decisive and opinionated woman; she must have her reasons for making these arrangements. I ate some longevity fruit porridge, took a bath, and then Furong arranged for me to rest. From yesterday afternoon when I was tied up in the ancestral hall until now, I hadn't had a moment's rest, so being able to sleep freely in bed was extremely comfortable, and I quickly fell asleep.
"Rose." Wake up! Wake up!
In my sleep, someone shook my body and called to me. I opened my eyes and saw it was Furong. She was dressed in her work clothes from the mountains. I quickly got up, and she led me to the kitchen to wash up, then led me to the main room. I went in and saw that the main room was packed with people, including an elder who had been sitting on the stage during my trial yesterday morning. I was startled, not knowing what was going on. The elder stood up and said,
“Hu Laosan’s new wife, don’t be afraid. I believe what you said yesterday morning. After this great disaster, Hu Laosan’s fearless and indifferent attitude tells us that he certainly doesn’t lack food. He has little land, and last year’s rice harvest wasn’t much. Every year he is the first in the village to run out of food, so he must have other sources of income. Therefore, I believe your story about exchanging longevity fruit for food is credible.”
But today, everyone who came was surnamed Wu, the family most in need of food in the village. Yesterday, we arranged for the deputy village head surnamed Hu to find the three herb gatherers surnamed Hu and ask them to reveal the back mountain path, but they refused. They used the ancestral precept of the Hu family that the secret of the hidden path must not be revealed. However, they promised to handle the grain exchange themselves, with the four of them taking care of it. But given Hu Laosan's character—and I'm not just gossiping about him behind his back—we simply don't trust him. We might starve to death before they provide the grain. Young lady, since Hu Laosan has accused you of being a female demon, he will never let you go, nor will he allow your longevity fruit disaster relief efforts to proceed smoothly. But this plan concerns the lives of dozens of families and over a hundred people who came here tonight, so we need to find another way to ensure the disaster relief plan is implemented.
Young lady, although we trust you, this disaster relief and saving lives is of paramount importance. We need you to reassure us, in front of these dozens of families, that it's true someone is buying the longevity fruit, and that you're not making it up to deceive people and save yourself. "
After listening to Elder Wu's words, I was deeply shocked. Not every mountain villager is so kind; there are many who profit unjustly from natural disasters. This longevity fruit disaster relief effort is also a matter of life and death for me, and I must do everything in my power to ensure its success. I walked up to everyone and said very sincerely:
'Fellow villagers, this flood has threatened the lives of so many of you. Even if it means sacrificing myself to save you all, I would be willing. There is one thing I haven't even told my father-in-law. I'm telling you all now that the person in Longkou County who buys the longevity fruit is a family friend. He can't possibly refuse any of my goods. He wants a huge quantity; even if everyone here delivers some every day, we still can't meet his needs. Please rest assured about that.'" "
When the villagers heard this, they were overjoyed. It turned out that after listening to my words yesterday, they had all rushed up the mountain to dig up a lot of longevity fruits. The remaining issue was how to distribute them. According to their plan, besides Hu Laosan, the village would first arrange for three other herb gatherers surnamed Hu to go to Longkou to sell the longevity fruits. They planned to secretly follow the three herb gatherers, find the path in the back mountain, and also go to Longkou. However, whether this was feasible was highly debated.
An elderly man in his sixties, who claimed to have a close relationship with the herb gatherers surnamed Hu, explained:
'This has been going on for many years. Once, I overheard them talking and they mentioned that the path led through a very hidden cave in the back mountain. Because they themselves rarely walked there, the cave entrance was overgrown with weeds and bushes, making it invisible. Several of them took turns cutting down the bushes and bushes blocking the cave for several days before they could enter.'" To clear the cave entrance by cutting down trees, they all refused to go, believing the path was worthless. While they were passing the buck, I happened to be looking for them and overheard a few words. Seeing me, they stopped talking. The
elder surnamed Wu said,
“They only knew the path went through the cave, but didn’t know which ravine the entrance was in. There are so many ravines in the back mountain; it’s impossible to find it. Besides, if they discovered we were following them, they would try to shake us off; they would never let us follow. I heard from the deputy village head surnamed Hu that when he went to find them, Hu Laosan was also there. The four of them were secretly discussing something, not even letting the deputy village head know. It’s definitely not good news; relying on them will only make things worse. We should try to find a way down the mountain from the river to the cave entrance and then to the main road in Dawang Village; don’t count on that shortcut.” "
Others also agreed that although the journey was long and time-consuming, it was the most reliable method. But others said the path down the mountain along the river was washed away, making it difficult even for one person to walk, let alone carry many longevity fruits out of the mountain. Moreover, the journey would incur expenses, and the money earned from selling them wouldn't even cover those costs; how could they possibly save everyone?
They discussed it back and forth, but a solution remained elusive. Some suggested that everyone simply go down the mountain and out of the cave to beg for food. But what about the elderly, children, and women in shackles who couldn't get out? The dozens of people in the room sighed and lamented, at a loss for what to do; the main room was deathly silent.
" Seeing this situation, Baimagou
placed all their hopes on Hu Laosan and his group, which was like trying to catch the moon's reflection in the water. As I racked my brains for other solutions, a sudden inspiration struck me. I remembered something. About ten days after my father-in-law started selling the longevity fruit, Mr. Zhong, not having received my message, refused to pay and threatened not to accept any more goods. That day, my father-in-law panicked and didn't go home; he went directly to the mountain to look for us. I discovered he came from the ravine directly opposite the spring. Normally, my father-in-law wouldn't let me know he came from that ravine behind the mountain; he would avoid me and go straight home. So, I excitedly blurted out,
"Ah! I've got a solution!"
This was like a thunderclap from a clear sky; everyone looked up, bewildered.
"My father-in-law always comes from that ravine directly opposite the spring?"
Everyone said in unison, "Baimagou."
I continued,
"My father-in-law goes there every day, for almost a month now; there must be traces of his footsteps." No one knew the immortal fruit could be sold for money before, and no one would have taken that path, so he wouldn't have destroyed the trail he had walked. This path definitely leads directly to the cave entrance, but they will definitely erase their tracks today after dawn. To completely remove the traces, they won't do it at night, but during the day. As long as we get ahead of them, we might find the path.”
The elder surnamed Wu stood up excitedly and said,
“Baima Gully is a deep gully with dense grass, rarely visited by people. Anyone who walks there will inevitably leave traces. Wu Tianpeng, you old brothers are all hunters; you will definitely find the path and discover the cave entrance along the way. Go home immediately, cook all the rice you have, eat your fill, and then take some dry rations and water to set off. Before dawn, you must reach the entrance of Baima Gully before Hu Laosan and find the path. If you find the path and discover the cave entrance, send one person back to lead a second group; if you can't find it, send someone back to deliver a message. You go back to the spring hillside and keep watch, following Hu Laosan.” A dozen or so people stood up in unison from the crowd .
The leader, Wu Tianpeng, a shrewd and capable man
in his fifties, said to the elder, "Grandpa, I can keep up with even a wild goat that has run past once, let's go!"
Seeing they were about to leave, I quickly said,
"Please wait a moment. I'll write you a letter, asking Mr. Zhong to borrow some more grain to carry back, to help us in this urgent situation."
Furong said to Wu Tianpeng and the others,
"You should go home and prepare first! My father-in-law is going too; he'll take the letter."
I smiled and said to Furong,
"That's fine. Your family doesn't even have soap; I'll add a few notes to the letter asking Mr. Zhong to buy some."
Wu Tianpeng and the others quietly filed out, making no sound, to avoid being discovered by Hu Laosan and his men.
After they left, I said to the elder surnamed Wu,
"This is a matter of life and death; we must be absolutely certain. We must also take the road along the river out of the cave, the main road to Dawang Village."
"Young lady, how do we get there?"
"I wonder if there's any grain for sale in Dawang Village?" "
Although Dawang Village isn't accessible by car, it is accessible by three-wheeled vehicles, so there should be grain for sale."
"We'll send two reliable people, with a small sample of longevity fruit, my letter, and an IOU, by public bus from Qinglong City to Longkou to explain our disaster situation to Mr. Zhong and ask for a loan. We'll buy grain in Dawang and deliver it to the village. We'll also send more people to repair the damaged section of road from Dawang Village to Shenxianzhai to facilitate grain transport."
Elder Wu asked doubtfully,
"You can borrow money to buy grain?"
“No problem. Boss Zhong knows I have the Longevity Fruit here, he's not worried about us not being able to pay it back.”
“Girl, thank you so much. You're not a female demon, you're our Immortal Village's savior. Don't worry, with me here, no one will harm you. It's getting late, everyone has to go. We'll arrange for Furong to take care of you.”
As the morning star appeared, the villagers in the house disappeared into the village shrouded in night. Only Furong and I remained in the house. We looked at each other and smiled. It was the first time I had seen Furong's genuine, radiant smile. We ate a quick bite, and Furong took out the dragon-shaped shackles and said to me,
"Female Bodhisattva, don't be too happy yet. You're still a female demon. Here! Put this on, and get ready to go!"
After she locked me in the shackles, she whispered in my ear,
"These shackles suit you so well. You look so respectable and charming in them!"
I pretended to be annoyed and said,
"Nonsense. I'm so ashamed to be in these shackles. How can I be respectable?"
"If you don't believe me, I'll show you in the mirror. You can see for yourself."
Actually, I felt pretty good about myself. But I couldn't bring myself to say it. This was something I could only enjoy in solitude at home; it wouldn't be appropriate to show my face in public. Of course, I only felt this way when my life wasn't threatened; otherwise, I only felt fear and sorrow. "
The east was already showing the pale light of dawn, and the mountains, villages, rivers, and trees gradually revealed their outlines in the pre-dawn darkness. The main road in the village gleamed white, winding its way to the mountainside. Steam from the river, like a light veil, slowly drifted into the village and mountains, enveloping everything that had just emerged in the morning light in a white mist. Because of my cheerful mood, even though I was shackled, walking felt easy. Furong walked ahead with her brisk steps, and I followed behind her with the rhythmic clanging of my shackles and chains. In the quiet morning village, the clanging sound was particularly crisp. We left the village and entered the mountain path. The trees along the path were tall and dense, the light dimmed again, and the path was uneven and difficult to see. My hands were locked in the shackles, and I was dragging the chains, making it difficult to maintain my balance. When the road surface suddenly changed, I could only twist my waist and hips to keep myself upright." Maintaining my balance. But this movement pulled on the rings around my genitals, constantly stimulating those particularly sensitive areas, making me restless and filled with fantasies. Seeing the strong and healthy Furong ahead, I suddenly had a strange thought: how wonderful it would be if she were a man! On this desolate mountain path, if he saw a beautiful girl, bound by shackles and utterly powerless, he would surely pin me down and rape me. How I wished he would do that! Thinking of this, my body suddenly felt hot, my cheeks flushed, burning unbearably. My lower body itched, but I couldn't reach it with my hands. I rubbed my thighs together, which intensified the stimulation of the rings on my genitals. My vagina was wet, and I was drenched in sweat. My whole body went limp, and I could no longer walk, collapsing to the ground.
Furong heard the noise, turned around, saw me lying on the ground, and walked over to me, helping me up. She asked with concern,
"What's wrong? You're so sweaty." "
I felt really guilty, and blushed as I said awkwardly,
'The road was uneven, and I tripped and fell. I was so scared I was covered in sweat.'
Furong said sympathetically,
'It's no wonder you fell. The mountain path is difficult to walk on, and you're not from the mountains. It's already inconvenient to walk with shackles on your feet, and then you were wearing cangues on top of that. How could you not fall? Come on! I'll help you walk. We'll get there soon.'" "
After finally reaching the mountain pass, several roads branched off. Turning right led to the spring, turning left to Baimagou, and going straight was the mountain path leading deep into the forest. The house they built for me was on a large, flat lawn about fifty meters from the roadside. There was more rock than soil here, so trees couldn't grow, only sparse thatch. A small stream flowed down from the spring, winding around this lawn. The villagers used the stones dug up from the leveled ground to build walls and thatch to cover the roof, creating a simple but sturdy little house. The gate was made of thick oak wood, like a fence, and locked from the outside with an iron chain. Inside, besides the leftover thatch from the roof, there was nothing else. It was essentially a prison cell.
Furong opened the door, and I plopped down inside ." Sitting on the thatched roof, I caught my breath. She also slumped onto the hay, panting heavily. By then, it was already broad daylight. I turned to look at her closely; her complexion was much worse than before, sallow and thin, severely malnourished. As a housewife, she had to care for the elderly and the young, working so hard and eating so little—it was truly difficult for her. Just then, footsteps came from the direction of the mountain pass. In the quiet morning, the footsteps were exceptionally clear. Furong and I listened intently, as if by unspoken agreement. It must be the herb gatherer surnamed Hu. Sure enough, the footsteps went straight to the door. An old man, about the same age as my father-in-law, entered the hut. He carried a heavy basket on his back, which was undoubtedly filled with longevity fruits. He grabbed the two dragon tails on my headband and said menacingly,
"Little vixen. If I don't bring back rice from the dragon's mouth today, don't blame me for being ruthless this afternoon. I'll tie you to a big rock and drown you in the spring, getting rid of this scourge of the village." "
After saying that, he grabbed the shackles and shoved me hard. I was caught off guard and couldn't resist, falling backward onto the haystack with the shackles still on my back. Then he sneered and walked away. I felt a stiffness in the back of my neck and couldn't make a sound for a long time. Furong ignored me, got up, and chased after me out the door. A little while later, she rushed back. She said anxiously to me,
"Rose, it's so strange. They didn't go to Baimagou, they went straight up the mountain. Could it be that the cave entrance isn't in Baimagou? If it's the road up the mountain, there are many ravines there. I have to follow them. You stay in the hut alone. I'll lock the door and come back in a bit. Don't be afraid here. The door is very sturdy. Neither bad people nor wild animals can get in. There's no time to open the shackles. Just bear with it." "
Furong locked the door and left. I stood up, walked to the door, and watched her hurry away. My heart sank. Could it be that my father-in-law had also played a trick that day, tricking me into coming from another ravine and deliberately detouring to Baima Gully before coming to my mother-in-law and me? He had no need to do that in the first place. If he didn't want me to know, he could have gone home first and then come. The more I thought about it, the more suspicious it became. If the herb gatherer surnamed Hu didn't want us to know where he was going, he should have passed by the mountain pass discreetly. There was no need for him to come to the hut and make such a fuss. This must be a trap. Thinking of this, I immediately wanted to chase after Furong and bring her back." But I was shackled and the door was locked. In desperation, I first tried to ram the door with the shackles, but to no avail. I tried to kick the door, but before I could kick it open, I was pulled down by the shackles. I fell to the ground, filled with anxiety and sorrow. I had become a true death row inmate, locked in this cell. What could I do?
Sure enough, not long after, I heard chaotic footsteps, Furong's angry shouts, and cries. I struggled to my feet and threw myself against the door. Through the bars, I saw two herb gatherers dragging Furong
in. One of them ran over and unlocked the door, while the other two dragged Furong in and threw her onto a pile of hay. One of them sneered, "Furong, we all knew you volunteered to guard this demoness with ill intentions. You wanted to keep watch day and night at the mountain pass leading to the back mountain to track us and find that path. Now you can't track us anymore, can you?"
Furong retorted without backing down,
"You bastards who deserve a thousand cuts!" "You dare bully this old lady? See how you get out of this! Untie me! You're strangling me! It hurts so much! Untie me!"
I looked down and saw that Furong was bound hand and foot, from her upper body to her legs like a dumpling, the ropes digging deep into her flesh. She struggled desperately on the haystack, but the three men showed no mercy. They took out more strips of cloth and stuffed them full of gags, silencing her. Then they wrapped black cloth around her eyes and ears, sealing them completely. Another man took out strips of cloth and did the same to me. I too was plunged into a darkness from which I could neither hear nor speak.
127 The Path Through the Cave
Following my instincts, the others left. I groped my way to Furong, and soon I found her wriggling body. I knelt down, bent over, and used my shackled hands to feel her body. Furong understood my intention and leaned her head against my hand, allowing me to quickly find her head and locate the knot in the cloth strip. Although the knot was tight, I slowly untied it and removed the blindfold and earplugs. She brought her mouth to my hand, and I squeezed the saliva-soaked cloth strip and pulled hard, pulling it out. After a while, I felt her head nudging me. I understood her intention and lay down on my side. She rolled over, rolled to my side, and bit the cloth strip sealing my mouth. I tilted my head back, and the cloth strip in my mouth loosened. I forcefully pushed the remaining cloth strip out with my tongue. My jaw, which had been almost dislocated by the cloth strip, finally regained feeling and took a while to close. She tried to untie the cloth knots with her mouth, but couldn't manage it for a long time, her saliva dripping onto my neck. Then, in desperation, she bit down on the knots and pulled them towards her head, finally loosening them a little. With great effort, she finally managed to loosen the cloth strip binding my head. Exhausted, her body went limp, and she collapsed heavily onto the haystack, panting heavily. Her breasts, constricted by the hemp rope, rose and fell, her head covered in sweat, grass, and dust. I knelt up again and said to her,
"Get up! I'll untie the ropes for you."
She closed her eyes wearily and said with difficulty,
"Wait a moment. My heart is racing; I need to rest."
Seeing her pale face, I knew she hadn't eaten properly since the flood. Malnourished and weak, after a while, her breathing gradually stabilized, and she opened her eyes, trying to get up. Because her hands and feet were bound, she struggled a few times before sitting up. I knelt behind her and began to untie the knots. The ropes were all knotted tightly, and with my hands separated and secured to the shackles, they couldn't touch each other and I couldn't coordinate. Using my teeth to work with one hand wouldn't work either, as the holes for the neck and hands were far apart. I had to use one hand, but I couldn't untie it no matter what I did, and biting didn't work either. The taut hemp rope held Furong's hands high behind her back, the rope constricting her neck veins so much they bulged, and her hands, lacking blood flow, turned purplish-red. I struggled for a long time and was exhausted too. She turned around, looked at me, and lay back down. She said to me,
"My back can't take it, I can't untie it, let's give up! You're covered in sweat too, let's both rest."
Just then, we heard heavy footsteps outside. Furong and I became alert, focusing intently on the movement outside the door. The footsteps grew closer, and I struggled to my feet, went to the door, and looked outside. Sure enough, a man was walking briskly towards us. I was incredibly nervous, wondering who it was. Because both Furong and I were defenseless and deprived of our freedom, the person
who came was walking along the path outside the door, calling out from afar,
"Furong! Furong!"
Furong heard this and was overjoyed. She shouted back,
"Uncle, you're here! Come help me, I've been strangled! Hurry!"
A lean man in his fifties burst through the door. He was shocked to see Furong lying on the haystack, bound and unable to move. He quickly helped her up, untying the ropes as he asked,
"Who did this? They must have a death wish! Tell me! I'll settle the score with them!"
Furong ignored his question and anxiously asked,
"Uncle, have you found the way?"
"Found them. The Hu brothers are too cunning; let me tell you slowly.
According to Uncle Mo from Furong, it was just as we expected. They arrived at the Baimagou pass before dawn. At daybreak, Wu Tianpeng discovered the path Hu Laosan had taken. After following it for over an hour, about fourteen or fifteen li, the path suddenly disappeared. Wu Tianpeng, being a hunter by trade, quickly found the cave entrance in a very hidden thicket behind a huge rock. At the entrance, the traces of recent passage were clearly visible. The cave was very dark, with many branching entrances, which was Hu Laosan's carelessness. If he had erased his traces inside the cave, such as torch ash and hand and footprints left on the moss, even if we entered the cave, it wouldn't have been easy for us to find the exit. Although it's less than five li from the entrance to the exit, I..." They searched for nearly two hours before finally finding the exit. Wu Tianpeng was familiar with the forest where the exit was, having hunted there before. However, a torrential rain had caused flash floods, and the roads had been washed away. The road from Longkou to Meilin Township was also impassable by car. Wu Tianpeng arranged for two people to stay at the cave entrance to guard most of the longevity fruits they had brought. He and Furong's father-in-law led the others, carrying a small amount of longevity fruits and a message, to Longkou City to find Mr. Zhong and try to get some food to transport over first, then move the longevity fruits to Longkou. He hurried back to send a message home.
Uncle Mo also struggled to untie Furong. Because she was tied so tightly, after being untied, Furong kept crying out "Ouch, ouch," but still couldn't move. Uncle Mo quickly helped her up, and Furong sat up and asked Uncle Mo,
"Uncle Mo, did you see those bastards, the Hu brothers?" "Yes,
we saw them." I saw them in Baimagou when I came back. I had just left the cave entrance a short while ago when I saw them running towards it empty-handed. I hid behind a boulder and watched them reach the entrance. They cleared away the trampled weeds from the path we had taken, erased our tracks, and blocked the entrance with branches and stones. These people are seasoned veterans who have been exploring the mountains for years; they've either messed up the path, led it astray, or concealed our tracks. If we hadn't gotten ahead of them, we would have had a very hard time finding the entrance.”
“They didn't go to exchange for food?”
“No.”
“Oh no. They'll definitely come back and say they couldn't get the food, and then they'll harm Rose. That would completely cut off our lifeline. You hurry back to the village, tell everyone that the path has been found, and also call for people to protect Rose.”
He stood up to remove my shackles, but Furong stopped him and said,
“You hurry back to the village; I'll handle things here. You go!” Uncle
left quickly, and Furong came to me to try and unlock me. But her hands trembled, and she couldn't get the key into the lock. Her hands, numb from being bound, hadn't recovered yet. Just as she was frantically trying, the three Hu brothers, led by their father-in-law, stormed in. Without a word, they grabbed me and dragged me away. Furong panicked and desperately lunged forward. Two of them dragged me, while the third lifted Furong and threw her onto the haystack in the hut, locked the door, and left. Furong scrambled to her feet and rushed to the door, but it was too late; the door was already locked. She frantically tried to move the wooden door, trying to open it. But it was all too late. The sturdy wooden gate had been locked from the inside by the Hu brothers, who had thrown the key into the grass outside and watched helplessly as... They dragged me away. Shackled and bound, I was unable to move, so I gave up my futile struggles and let them pull and drag me to the spring's edge. This was
the first time I had come here since the flood. I could hardly recognize it. The spring was surrounded by rocks of all sizes washed down from the mountain by the flood, and the grass around the pond was covered in mud. Only the spring was still gushing hot water. The steam rising from the ground created a thick fog that shrouded the area for miles around the pond, making it impossible to see more than a few meters ahead, and impossible to tell whether it was sunny or cloudy. The place seemed both mysterious and terrifying.
The three Hu brothers put me down by the pond. I struggled to sit up and said to them,
"I have no grudge against you, no enmity from a past life. Why do you insist on killing me?" "Aren't you afraid of retribution?"
The three brothers ignored me, whistling as they adjusted the ropes they had brought, binding my legs together tightly from my thighs down, then securing them with shackles, and finally tying a heavy stone to my feet. Just then, another whistle came from nearby, and my father-in-law rushed over. "Quick!" my father-in-law shouted to the three of them as he ran, "Throw her into the pond! A large group of villagers are coming here; if we don't act now, it'll be too late!"
Two of them grabbed my arms, and one grabbed my shackles, lifting me up and carrying me towards the misty pond. I knew this was my last moment; fear and panic gripped me as I struggled desperately and shouted:

"Help! Help! Help me! Hu Laosan is going to drown me!"
My father-in-law rushed over in a panic, picked up the stone tied to my leg, and the four of them carried me to a large rock by the pond. With a shout, they threw me far into the misty pond.
"Splash, splash." I fell heavily into the water. The stone tied to my leg went in first, followed by my body. The stone pulled me down, and soon my whole body, still shackled, was submerged. Instinctively, I tightly closed my mouth and eyes, held my breath, and sank into the water, terrified. I thought, "I'm going to die now."
The water in the pond was a mixture of snowmelt from the mountain and hot spring water. Falling into it was like falling into a bath; I immediately felt the heat enveloping me. Instinctively, I struggled at the bottom, but my feet were tied to the large stone and I couldn't move. I could only twist my upper body. Perhaps because my clothes weren't completely soaked, and although the yoke around my neck was heavy, the dry wooden block was lighter than water, it pulled my upper body to the surface. Combined with the reaction force from sinking, my head resurfaced. I quickly took a breath, and my head sank back underwater. After doing this several times, I learned my lesson and dared not move rashly. Finally, only when my head was tilted back did my face barely emerge from the water, with my mouth and below still submerged. Since there was still a glimmer of hope, I had to try. When my body was relatively stable, I used my feet, suspended in the water, to explore, hoping to find a foothold. Because my feet were tied to a large rock, I quickly stood on it, which made my body much more stable and prevented me from drifting with the current. I stood upright on the rock, feeling somewhat relieved. But it was strange; the pond next to this spring, according to the locals, was over two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) deep. With my legs tied to such a large rock, I should have sunk to the bottom and wouldn't have been able to float. The pond wasn't as deep as the legends said; otherwise, I would have certainly died.
Once I calmed down, I started observing my surroundings, trying to figure out a way out. Staying submerged in the water was dangerous; the high temperature prevented heat dissipation, making me feel increasingly hot, and I started sweating. I opened my eyes but couldn't see anything but mist. I could only hear someone speaking loudly from a nearby high place.
"Tell me the truth, where did you take him?" It sounded like Uncle Furong's voice.
"I don't know! Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!" the father-in-law roared arbitrarily. "You have no right to inquire about her." "
Are you being reasonable? Do you think we couldn't sell the longevity fruit without her? We're all neighbors. She helped the village through the famine, so we can't harm her. Harming her would harm everyone."
"This is none of your business. She's a female demon, bringing disaster to the village; she's doomed."
"You say she's a female demon? What proof do you have?" Furong and the others questioned the Hu brothers, "This disaster was caused by her; what proof do you have?"
A man shouted, "Even if she's not a female demon, she's the wife Hu Laosan bought. Whether she lives or dies is none of your business."
"Don't waste time with them; finding her is the priority," Furong said anxiously.
"Rose, Rose!"
"The Hu family's daughter-in-law...!" "
Many people shouted at the same time.
I was overjoyed and couldn't help but want to answer. As soon as I opened my mouth, water rushed in, choking me and making me swallow several mouthfuls. I tried to splash water with my cane to attract everyone's attention, but the splashing water got into my nose, making it impossible to breathe. Moreover, the sound of the gushing spring completely drowned out the sound of my splashing, and the people on the shore couldn't hear me at all. I watched as the shouts slowly moved away from the water's edge, becoming fainter and fainter, and farther and farther away. I was utterly disappointed. Tears mixed with sweat streamed down my face. I never thought I would lose my life in this remote, impoverished mountain village. Who could I hate? Was it fate?
"It seems that the female demon must have drowned. There hasn't been a sound since."
Suddenly, my father-in-law's voice came from the shore. It turned out that this evil spirit was still guarding the pond, afraid that someone would come to rescue me. She was truly wicked.
"Third brother. She must be dead. This pond is several people deep. She had a large stone tied to her body, and she had been submerged at the bottom for so long. How could she still be breathing?" "Now you can rest assured, no one will steal our business anymore."
One of the Hu brothers chimed in.
The father-in-law added, "The fog is too thick. I didn't see her sink, so I'm still a little worried. If we wait until dark, in this deep forest, we won't survive."
Their cautious attitude showed their determination to kill me. The more they worried, the more I wanted to hold on until the very last minute. Time passed slowly. I gritted my teeth and persevered, but my body grew weaker and weaker. My hands and feet were bound and I couldn't move. I lost control of my body, and my whole body swayed with the water. My consciousness became increasingly blurred. Suddenly, I heard hurried footsteps approaching from the shore. The fog was still thick, and I still couldn't see anything on the bank.
"Third brother! Something bad has happened!" The footsteps were very close. A man said urgently, "Third brother! Many people from the Wu family in the village are going to your house to steal your grain. Your sister-in-law wants you to come home quickly. I've already notified the Hu brothers to come to your house."
"This is terrible!" "My father-in-law said angrily, 'Brothers, let's go! This woman is definitely dead, let's go home quickly.'
A series of chaotic footsteps gradually faded away, and apart from the sound of the gushing spring, there was no other sound. Only the gray-white fog of the thick fog engulfed everything in the world.
'Rose, Rose!'
I don't know how much time had passed, but then someone called out again, vaguely. I tried to concentrate, wondering if it was a hallucination before death. But there was indeed someone calling, and someone speaking, but I couldn't make out whose voice it was.
'Rose, Rose!'
'Where did she go? Where could the Hu brothers have hidden her?'
'We've searched the whole area, but we haven't found her. It's so strange.'
'Now we can't find her in the pond. The fog is too thick, the pond is filled with hot fog, we can't see anything, not even the surface of the water.'
'It can't be in the pond. They brought the rose here, and the fog wasn't so thick then, I could see it from far away.'
'The Hu brothers guarded the pond tightly, she must be in this area. '" " Since there's nothing around the pond, it must have sunk into the pond."
"Oh dear! That's terrible! I didn't hear the sound of it falling into the water."
"We were far away, and the spring was gushing loudly, how could you have heard it?"
"Then let's go down into the pond to look for it, alive or dead. We'll search this pond, even if we have to turn it upside down!"
"The pond is deep, be careful when you go in
." "Did you see that? There's something on the surface, still moving."
"Go take a look!"
"Be careful."
I looked in the direction they were speaking, and two dark figures appeared on the surface of the water. They had spotted me; an indescribable sense of relief and liberation welled up inside me, and my whole body relaxed. Everything became blurry again, and for a moment I knew nothing.
At some point, a call came from a very distant place, sometimes clear, sometimes blurry. I wanted to respond, but I couldn't speak. Finally, I saw light, and I saw a pair of familiar eyes. Many people around me cheered.
"She's awake! She's awake!" "
I struggled to open my eyes, and Furong's tear-streaked smiling face appeared before me. I had escaped death once again.
In the following days, I experienced intermittent high fever and periods of unconsciousness. But I eventually woke up. During the days I was unconscious, the villagers carried back a batch of grain via a small path. Although the quantity was not large, there were no longer any households in the village without food. With the grain, the villagers felt at ease. The faces of the people who came to see me every day no longer held that panicked and desperate look; they returned to the peaceful and content atmosphere of the past."
Furong told me that I survived that day thanks to the mudslide triggered by the flood. The mud and rocks brought down from the mountain broke the dam of the spring pond, silting up the bottom and making the water very shallow. If they had tied a stone to me and thrown me in before the flood, I would have been dead. If they hadn't devised a strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao"—using the pretext of raiding Hu Laosan's house to steal grain and luring the Hu brothers down the mountain—they wouldn't have noticed this change when they went down to the pond to rescue me. It's truly a blessing that heaven didn't forsake me, Hong Meigui.
After resting in bed for a few days, I got out of bed. Now, apart from the shackles binding my feet, I have no other shackles, and I'm in a particularly good mood. Because I was soaked in the hot water of the pond for so long, a whole layer of my skin peeled off, but the new skin that grew back was white, tender, and smooth. A person's appearance is seven parts skin and three parts face. The young wives in the village who came to visit me said I'd changed completely. Before the flood, I spent day and night with my mother-in-law digging for longevity fruit on the mountain, enduring wind and rain, and suffering from fright, which made me look neither human nor ghost, dark and old. Now, I'm completely transformed, fair and beautiful. The spring water here is truly a wonderful skin-nourishing and beautifying treasure; I've truly benefited immensely from this misfortune.
To
transport more grain and carry the longevity fruit out, the villagers decided to build a main road to the water outlet in Dawang Village. From Dawang Village, they could use motorized tricycles, and from Qinglong City, they could use cars; although the road was longer, the manual transport from the village to Dawang Village was much shorter than the small path behind the mountain. Moreover, it was a downhill road, much easier than traversing mountains, valleys, and dense forests behind the mountain. The men in the village were repairing the section from the mountain pass waterfall to the water cave entrance, while the women, wearing shackles, were repairing the section from the village entrance to the waterfall. Furong led the women to repair the road every day, arranging for me to rest at home. This way, the Hu brothers wouldn't discover me and harm me further. However, I saw the people of Shenxianzhai were very enthusiastic about repairing the road; even a woman in her sixties was actively participating. I couldn't bear to stay at home, so I wore Furong's old clothes and, after Furong left, mingled with the older women to go repair the road. A few days later, again out of concern for me, one of the village women secretly told Furong. She was furious, saying I had harmed myself and betrayed the good intentions of the Wu family in the village who wanted to protect me. She believed my father-in-law would never let me go, so the morning after learning I had secretly gone to work, before I left, she invited several strong women to my room. When I saw them carrying hemp ropes and walking in menacingly, I knew something was wrong. I quickly greeted them politely and explained my legitimate reason for going to work. They ignored me completely, quickly stripped me of my old clothes (the ones Furong was wearing), and left me completely naked. I cried out for Furong, and when she heard me, she stood in front of me with a smile, ignoring my repeated pleas and not even glancing at me. She stared at the sky, letting these strong women tie me up, leaving me completely naked. When I was bound and gagged, my teeth chattering, she walked behind me, tightened the ropes, and said with a smile,
"Alright. Stop pretending. You have excellent endurance; the ropes can't hold you back unless they're tight. Now it's fine; you can go to work like this, showing your face. I won't object, as long as you dare to go out like this. I'm too busy to look after you, so I feel at ease and at ease this way."
Seeing that things were going badly, I knelt down in front of her and begged,
"Good Furong. I'll never go out again. Please let me go, I beg you."
Grandma Furong watched me from outside the door and said to Furong,
"Furong. Rose went to repair the road with good intentions. Don't do this. It's painful and embarrassing for a young woman to be shackled like this, naked and bound hand and foot. Let her off this time!"
"Grandma, don't fall for her tricks. Don't let her pretty face fool you; she's got a sharp mind. You can't handle her at home. Don't go anywhere today, just keep watch. You can agree to anything else, just don't let her go. That way, even if she's cunning, she won't dare leave the house. She's trying to help with the road repairs, but that kindness will only bring her trouble. Treating her like this is for her own good."
With that, she led the strong women off to work on the road.
Helpless, I could only watch them leave. Grandma Furong came in, bent down, helped me up, and sat me down on the bed. She touched my face, tidied my messy hair, and said with concern:
"Rose, don't be angry; Hibiscus had you tied up because she meant well. The hemp rope she used is the kind we use to tie up newlywed brides here. All the women in our Shenxian Village who have shackles have been tied up with this kind of hemp rope. Some of them were tied up naked, just like you are today, mainly to prevent the new brides from escaping. We mountain people are busy, and we can't possibly have someone stay home to watch over them. We have to go up the mountain and work in the fields, so we often leave the new bride alone at home. That way, she won't dare to go out, and she won't run away. At first, they tied her up tightly, very securely, so that she couldn't untie herself. This kind of rope..." It was an old rope that had been used for four or five years. Because it had been stretched, it wasn't easy to break, but it was very soft. Although it was thinner than regular hemp rope, it hurt a little when it cut into you, but it wouldn't hurt your bones or skin. But you had to be careful not to struggle wildly. If you struggled, it would hurt terribly. So all the newlyweds who were tied up were obedient and dared not move or run away. Later, even when they were loosened, they still behaved themselves and dared not move. After half a month, the shackles were nailed on, and even when they weren't tied up, they dared not run away.
She tugged at the rope binding me again, shook my tightly bound upper body, smiled, and said:
“That girl Furong tied you up really tight, your hands are tied so high behind your back, I bet you can’t even move your arms.”
I tried to move my arms, but I couldn’t move them at all, as if my hands didn’t belong to me. I smiled bitterly and said to her,
“You’re absolutely right. Not only can I not move my arms, but my fingers don’t obey me either, it’s like they’re not part of my body. The slightest movement makes my whole body ache and numb. Furong is so cruel, even like this she’s not satisfied, she tightened the ropes again before leaving.”
“That only proves that you’re not simple. Not one of those naive new brides. I’ve never seen you so naked and shackled before.”
Suddenly she stared at my breasts, her eyes showing great surprise. I was a little confused, and looked down. Two golden nipple rings were dangling from my nipples. I suddenly understood, and blushed with shame. I quickly turned around, bending over and pressing my thighs tightly against my exposed genitals, so she wouldn’t see the metal rings hanging there. She curiously reached out, hooked the metal rings on her nipples, and pulled them towards her. I couldn't resist, so I straightened my chest, turned around, and lowered my head, not daring to look at her.
She sighed at me and said regretfully,
"What a good girl. Hu Laosan doesn't want you, but many families have asked people to vouch for you, wanting you to be their wife. Such big gold rings on your nipples, pretty as they are, are not ears; a woman's nipples are for feeding her children. With these rings blocking the way, the child can't get milk, how can she raise a child? Who would want a girl who can't raise children?"
Although I squeezed my legs together, the ring on my clitoris was squeezed out. This ring was bigger than the six on my labia, and my thighs couldn't cover it at all. She quickly noticed it.
"Oh? How come there's one here too? Let me see."
I was truly ashamed, the shame overwhelming my nerves, my whole body hot and sweating. She spread my thighs apart.
"There are so many more. Who did such a sin, putting so many rings on a woman's most private place? Come! I'll go find some pliers to cut them off."
I couldn't face her, and kept my head down in silence.
She quickly found a pair of wire cutters, clamped the one around my clitoris, and cut hard. She pulled the ring forcefully, intensely stimulating my clitoris. This made me lose control, my hands and feet trembling. With a sudden movement, the thin hemp rope tightly binding my body caused pain and numbness in my upper body, and I couldn't help but groan.
"What is this made of? It's so thin,
you can't cut it with pliers." "Don't do that anymore, I can't take it anymore. These metal rings are very strong, you can't cut them with pliers, otherwise I would have cut them off already."
"Who put them on you?"
"Who else could it be but human traffickers! They initially planned to sell me to a nightclub for a high price, specifically to smuggle obscene things that men like. These things aren't simple; they're made of special materials, and you can't remove them without special tools. On the way to transport me, we encountered the police, and while escaping with me, they dumped the bundle and sold me here. It's incredibly uncomfortable for a woman to have these things in those two places. Walking and working are often made uneasy, and I feel itchy inside. To put it bluntly, sometimes I feel like throwing myself at any man I see." "
Did your mother-in-law find out when you were at the Hu family's
?" "No." "
It's fate. The way your father-in-law treated you was a sign. When his son comes back and finds out, he won't tolerate it either. In the end, he'll sell you too. So, you won't be able to be the daughter-in-law of Shenxian Village. You need to think about your future. Rest well; I can untie you this afternoon."
Granny Furong kept saying, "What a pity, what a pity." After leaving my room
and hearing Granny Furong say this, I sat on the bed, feeling surprisingly relieved. I was really worried that the family in the village wanted me to be their daughter-in-law. That would be truly terrible. Given the way Shenxian Village treats women, if they wanted to keep you, they'd use shackles, handcuffs, ropes, and the rugged mountain paths, rushing rivers, and dense forests—with no communication—making escape impossible. From now on, Furong's family will do their utmost to stop the villagers from targeting me, so I might be able to leave. I looked at the hemp ropes binding my skin, then at the gleaming shackles. I thought that if I left, the ropes binding me wouldn't be a problem; they couldn't keep me bound forever. The real issue was the shackles. The blacksmiths here only hammered shackles onto women's feet; I'd never heard of them being removed. Furthermore, the rivets on these shackles, because they were hammered in while the shackles were still red-hot, were almost seamlessly integrated with the shackle rings. The entire iron ring had no hinges; the curved steel bars were slowly hammered together when the shackles were put on, and the resulting iron ring basically encircled my ankle, leaving only a finger's width of space—a testament to the craftsman's superb skill. The iron rings, as if cast in stone, were a single, solid piece, fitting snugly around my ankles without any apparent intention of loosening them. Let alone being deep in the mountains, even in the city, removing them wouldn't be easy. Once I left the mountains, I'd only follow in Honeysuckle's footsteps, facing extreme inconvenience. Honeysuckle could avoid interacting with strangers and stay home without working, but I couldn't; I'd have to deal with all sorts of people. Dragging these shackles around all day without being noticed was truly difficult. Thinking about it, I felt uneasy. Feeling a bit sleepy, I lay down on the bed, intending to sleep for a while. But as soon as my upper body touched the bed, my entire arm ached and itched. It turned out that the skin tightened by the thin hemp rope had become extremely sensitive; anything that touched it caused excruciating pain and itching. No wonder the villagers bound the women they bought and left them at home without a second thought. Bound tightly with thin hemp ropes, even if a woman could shamelessly escape naked, the dense grass and trees would relentlessly rub against her body, causing unbearable pain and itching, making escape impossible. The bound woman developed a fear of being tied up, and even when loosened, she dared not move. These mountain people were truly skilled at dealing with the women they bought; they bound women, both men and women, with swift and efficient movements.
Since I couldn't sleep, and my mother-in-law already knew my secret, I decided to leave the room and wander around.
My mother-in-law was cooking lunch in the kitchen, and her grandson wasn't home; he was probably playing in the fields outside. I tried to walk to the door, but there was no one there, so I mustered my courage and went out into the yard. The yard gate was open; perhaps because I had already experienced being naked outside at the Ruyi Company, I decided to leave the yard and walk onto the main road in the village. The village was eerily quiet, not a soul in sight. Smoke rose from every chimney, as everyone prepared lunch. Only the sounds of women laughing and joking, tools clattering against stones, and occasionally, the crisp clinking of shackles as they walked, could be heard from the village entrance near the waterfall. I participated in the road repair work for several days. Of the seventy or eighty middle-aged and young women working there, all except Furong were shackled. Among them were women in their twenties, newlyweds less than a year old, their hands still chained. There were also five young women I'd never seen before, tall, beautiful, and slender, around eighteen or nineteen. They were clearly from the city; I later learned three of them were university students. They were not only handcuffed and shackled, but also wore iron collars with long chains. They told me that after being kidnapped by human traffickers, they were kept naked and chained in rooms, never seeing the sky. The main reason was that they were educated and intelligent, and the people of Shenxian Village used the harshest methods to imprison them until they gave birth. Because the road construction was urgent and the project was large, all the labor force of Shenxian Village needed to be mobilized for the work. This time, Furong went door-to-door to persuade them; these families were facing famine and had no choice but to let them out. Just in case, a blacksmith was temporarily ordered to forge them into shackles and handcuffs. Each day, Furong would lead them out one by one, chaining one iron collar to the other's waist, stringing them together and leading them to the construction site at the village entrance. Because they were still unaccustomed to wearing handcuffs and shackles, they could barely walk steadily. Even so, they persisted in coming out, believing it was much better than being locked up at home. Moreover, seeing that most of the women here were in shackles but were still healthy and beautiful, they felt more at ease and their mood improved. At the construction site, Furong didn't make them do the work; instead, she divided them into groups, each leading a dozen or so people, rationally arranging work and planning the project. At the construction site, they locked the ends of the iron chains on the collars to the middle of the shackle chains, carrying the chains in their left hands as they ran around the site, directing the work with their right hands. The five of them organized the project in an orderly manner, saving a lot of materials and labor.

URL 1:https://www.sexlove5.com/htmlBlog/219078.html

URL 2:/Blog.aspx?id=219078&aspx=1

Last access time:

Previous Page : Lingbo Fairy

Next Page : Yang Ye's Forbidden Lovers Series 6 Appendix Side Story

增加

comment Open a new window to view comments

Contact Information

The Rose Rope Bond Part 3: Destiny (Chapter 141, page 131190, complete) could not be uploaded; please use an attachment instead.

comment Open a new window to view comments