Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Hui Niang was dreaming. She dreamed of a huge Mulberry Tree growing at her doorstep. It was midsummer, and amidst the sound of Cicada Song, the Mulberry Leaves danced in the wind. As she gazed at the vibrant green Mulberry Leaves under the sunlight, she suddenly felt a pang of hunger in her stomach. Thus, she took action, her eyes fixed intently on those Mulberry Leaves, and slowly climbed up the trunk.
Hui Niang found it strange because, in her memory, she had never climbed trees. Even as a maid in her family before marriage, she would never have done such a rough thing. Without much time to think, she had already climbed onto one of the branches, where several green Mulberry Leaves unfurled before her eyes. Unable to resist, she swallowed hard and crawled onto one of the leaves.
"What am I doing? Am I really wanting to eat that leaf?"
Hui Niang murmured to herself as she lowered her head. She looked at the patch of green before her, desperately trying to suppress the unbearable hunger in her belly. But the more she resisted, the more enticing that patch of green became, and the hunger in her stomach grew more intense.
"Isn't this Mulberry Leaf also a medicinal herb? Could it be that I'm sick? Perhaps I should just take a bite to try it; after all, mulberries taste quite good, so this Mulberry Leaf shouldn't be bad either."
After hesitating for a moment, Hui Niang could no longer withstand the torment of her hunger and bent down to take a bite of the Mulberry Leaf. The juice was slightly bitter, reminiscent of wild vegetables picked in early spring, but it was still palatable. After chewing a few more bites, the bitterness faded away, and the leaf surprisingly became delicious.
Hui Niang finally couldn't hold back any longer; she began to gulp down the Mulberry Leaves voraciously until her stomach felt full and satisfied as she lay back on the branch to rest.
The warm sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves and fell upon her. Hui Niang squinted at that beam of sunlight, wanting to lazily turn over but ended up tumbling down from the branch...
Hui Niang suddenly opened her eyes, partly due to the dream and partly because of her stomach. For some reason, she felt pain inside her abdomen as if something was wriggling within. She looked down at her belly; it rose and fell as if resembling what others described about being seven or eight months pregnant.
Thinking about pregnancy made Hui Niang feel a wave of nausea. If only her child were still alive; they would probably be snuggled beside her now calling out "Mother."
Just thinking about that child led her to recall the scars on her body and what her mother-in-law had done to her in the past. She felt neither hatred nor resentment; that would be false. But what had happened had already occurred—what could she do without any evidence?
The more she thought about it, the more restless she became. She rubbed her nose and propped herself up with her hands against the bed board. Just as she straightened her back, she felt whatever was inside her start to thrash wildly, followed by a rush of air surging upward; something unexpectedly emerged from her throat.
Hui Niang initially thought it was just an upset stomach and that what came out was likely undigested food from her stomach. However, when she opened her eyes to take a closer look, she discovered it was a silver-white Silk Thread! Having lived in the countryside for so long, Hui Niang recognized it immediately; it was Silk—just expelled and still warm to the touch.
She instinctively covered her throat with her hand, only to realize that something was still wriggling inside, eager to burst out from her throat.
Hui Niang was filled with terror as she rolled off the bed. In that moment, those things took advantage of her open mouth and all surged out from her throat. The silver-white silk threads seemed to have a life of their own, wrapping around her in circles, enveloping her completely. Suddenly, Hui Niang remembered the garment she had tried on just before going to sleep; it seemed to be made of fine silk.
She began to struggle desperately, but the silk threads kept pouring out from her throat, and the threads wrapping around her body increased in number. Soon, she was completely encased, even her eyes were being obscured.
Looking at the door not far from her, Hui Niang despaired as she realized that she might die.
Just as the silk threads were about to cover her eyes entirely, she heard the sound of the door being burst open, followed by the sound of a knife slicing through silk. Then, she heard Ruyi's voice.
"Hui Niang! Are you okay?"
Hui Niang weakly opened her eyes and found herself half-lying in Xing Ruyi's arms, feeling utterly drained of strength. Not far from her lay the silver-white silk garment quietly. As she looked at the garment, she couldn't help but tremble all over and began to sob softly.
The fox picked up the silk garment and walked over to Hui Niang, asking, "What did you see?"
Hui Niang looked at the fox with fear in her eyes. She was somewhat afraid of him but dared not avoid answering his question.
"I... I saw... many silk threads coming out of my throat."
"And what else?"
"Anything else? No! There’s nothing else! Nothing at all!"
Hui Niang shook her head gently, still engulfed in immense fear.
The fox furrowed her brows slightly, looked at Hui Niang for a moment, and then asked, "What about dreams? Have you ever had any strange dreams?"
"Dreams?" Thinking of the process of devouring Mulberry Leaf, Hui Niang's body trembled even more violently. "Dreams? Yes! I had a dream where... I saw a Mulberry Tree growing at my doorstep. I felt very hungry, especially when I saw that Mulberry Tree; it made me feel even worse. So... so I climbed up that tree and ate those Mulberry Leaves."
"You dreamed that you turned into a silkworm?"
"No! No! I'm not a silkworm; I didn't dream of turning into one!" Hui Niang cried out in terror, shaking her hands repeatedly. "I'm human, I'm not a silkworm, I don't spin silk, I'm not a monster! I'm not! I'm not!"
"Yunhui! Look into my eyes!"
The fox suddenly shouted sharply, startling even Xing Ruyi who was beside her, let alone the still terrified Hui Niang. She instantly stopped everything, staring wide-eyed and somewhat fearfully at the fox's exceptionally beautiful eyes.
"Have you seen a Cocoon? A very large and beautiful Cocoon? That Cocoon is hidden somewhere in this courtyard. You have seen it and are very afraid, so you instinctively avoid it because you believe that there must be a monster hidden inside that Cocoon, right?"
"No! I haven't seen that thing; I really haven't seen it. Please don't force me! I beg you, don't force me!"
"Yin Chensi, what are you doing? Can't you see that Hui Niang is extremely frightened?"
"Shh!" The fox signaled Xing Ruyi to remain silent. "There’s a reason why I'm asking this. You'll understand in a moment."
Although Xing Ruyi felt somewhat frustrated and was reluctant to see Hui Niang's state, she knew the fox never acted recklessly. She had no choice but to suppress her curiosity, keeping her mouth shut and watching quietly.
“Yunhui, think carefully. Your mother brought a package to see you. Inside the package were clothes she personally sewed for your child. The clothes were made from the finest silk fabric, untouched by any dye, each piece retaining the original appearance of the silk. Soft and white. In that package, there was also some silver your mother had saved for you. She knew that you were not doing well at your in-laws, so she secretly took some of her savings and jewelry to give to you without telling your father. She also brought some precious herbal medicine, which could be used postpartum to nourish your body.”
Hui Niang closed her eyes and nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably.
The fox continued, “You accepted the herbs and the children's clothes, but you refused to take your mother's silver. You knew that because of your birth, your mother had not been living well at home. Just as you two were pushing each other to take what was offered, your mother-in-law entered. Upon seeing what your mother held, her face immediately brightened, and she even warmly invited your mother to stay for dinner. But when she learned that you had not kept the silver and jewelry from the package, her smile vanished. She scolded you, saying that since you married into their family, you should not favor outsiders.”
That was the first time you argued back with your mother-in-law. Your mother was not an outsider; she was the one who gave birth to you and raised you, the person who loved you most in this world. Then your father-in-law came out; he first reprimanded your mother-in-law and then comforted you before offering to drive your mother back to Yun Family Gathering.
You were filled with gratitude as you watched your father-in-law drive your mother away. That was the last time you saw her and the last time you heard her voice. Your mother said to take care of yourself during the pregnancy and that she would come back to see you once you gave birth. However, you did not give birth to that child, nor did your mother return home.
Two days later, your father came; he questioned where your mother had gone. You ran to ask at your in-laws' house but found that your father-in-law was evasive while your mother-in-law even chased you out of the house. You could only tell your father that your mother left after seeing you. Your father stayed at your house for half a day but could not find any trace of her and eventually went home.
Do you remember that night when you passed by your in-laws' room and overheard what they were saying?”
Hui Niang's eyes widened suddenly as she looked at the fox, tears flowing even more fiercely.
“Yunhui, do you remember? That night when you passed by your in-laws' room, you heard your mother-in-law questioning your father-in-law about how things were handled smoothly, and he replied that Hui Niang's father was so difficult to deal with that if he didn’t handle it well, he wouldn’t dare come back to see her! In an instant, you understood their conversation. The things done by your in-laws were unclear to outsiders, but how could you as a daughter-in-law not know?”
“Stop! Please stop! I don’t know anything! I don’t know anything!” Hui Niang screamed frantically before quickly getting up from the ground and rushing out the door!
Comment 0 Comment Count