Chapter 001
Chapter 1: The Demon Creature’s Temptation
The dream was full of fog so thick she could not tell sky from earth. Yao Xiao Man felt light, as if she were stepping on cotton, soft with nowhere to use her strength.
The corner of her robe was gently tugged. The pull was small, but stubborn, like it would not let go. She lowered her head. She saw no person, only a lump of white mist twined around her hem.
A sad little voice, neither male nor female, slipped into her ear and said: “I don’t want much.”
The voice seemed to float from far away, yet also sounded right inside her heart as it said: “Lend me a bit of the Buddha’s Chosen’s pure vital yang so I can shape a body.”
It coaxed her again: “I never hurt people, truly. One Heavenborn Buddha’s Chosen is worth a hundred years of sun and moon essence to me.”
The mist rubbed against her robe, as if trying to please her, and said: “Sister, help me, and I will help you.”
It tempted her more: “The Heir Apparent’s family must pass on the line, and they do not care about low or high birth. If sister succeeds, you will not have to be a dirty servant anymore.”
It whispered sweetly: “If you make a great merit for the Heir Apparent’s household, you can trade a child for status and money. That is allowed.”
It promised and promised: “When I take human form, I will never be ungrateful. Whatever you want, I can give you.”
Xiao Man listened, and her heart did not ripple at all.
She was not like the other maids in the manor. She had no wish to climb high and become a master. She was a soul from another world. When Yao Xiao Man was ten, she transmigrated into this body on the very day her gambler father sold her as a slave.
After she woke in this life, she asked the maids and nannies about this dynasty’s customs. She even used her first month’s pay to buy food for the second house steward’s wife, all to find out how many years the original girl had been sold for and whether the contract was a term indenture or a lifetime indenture.
She learned her father had signed a term indenture. At eighteen, she could leave the manor.
That meant her contract with the Heir Apparent Manor lasted eight years. After eight years, the contract would end and she could choose to walk away free.
As she studied local ways, she found that the Great Qian Dynasty was not in her old world’s history books. Still, the people here were honest and open. Talented women could register as their own households and live on their own.
In other words, if she endured eight years, she could go out into the world and would not be scorned or bullied.
In her last life, her name was Jiang Yi Yi. The year she was about to get promoted, she died suddenly at her overtime desk. People called her the queen of grinding. She knew Microsoft Excel to count profits, PowerPoint to draw big plans, and DingTalk to keep a tight schedule.
Learning from that life, she set her rules for this one: firmly refuse palace fights, household fights, and business fights. In this feudal workplace, she held to three survival principles after transmigration: join no faction, work no overtime, clock out on time, and sleep early, rise early.
Her final goal was simple: safely get through the eight-year term indenture, claim the indenture deed, leave the manor, buy two mu of thin farmland, and live easy off rent.
For now, she only hoped the Old Madam stayed healthy. If she endured another year or so and reached the proper age, the Old Madam might get happy and return her deed of sale. Then she would carry her hard-earned savings somewhere no one knew her and live quietly.
So she was not really afraid of this spirit creature that showed up out of nowhere. In modern times she had watched plenty of shows like Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, A Chinese Ghost Story, and The Legend of Sword and Fairy. Since transmigration could happen to her, why not spirit creatures too? [Too bad I’m not the main heroine. If a system popped up, I wouldn’t say no.]
All those gifts the spirit creature promised were like mountains of gold, but she did not even lift an eyelid. She knew better than anyone that greed only chokes you, and spirits and monsters are best at tempting the heart.
She reached out and tested the mist with her fingers. It felt soft and cool.
She asked softly but firmly: “Did you pick the wrong person?”
She said, calm as stone: “I have no wish to climb up. In a year or two I can leave the Heir Apparent Manor. I do not want extra trouble.”
She added: “Find someone else.”
The mist went stiff, and its hold on her robe tightened.
Its voice turned colder as it said: “Filthy people do not deserve him.”
It flattered her: “You are fresh and clean, well matched with him. I chose you at a glance.”
It would not stop: “Think again, think again…”
The sound spun in her head like a spell.
She jolted awake. Outside the window the sky was still gray. The room was so quiet she could hear her heartbeat, thump after thump, like a drum.
The dream words still circled her ears. Xiao Man rolled over and buried her head in a buckwheat pillow. The pillow was hard and poked her, yet it made her feel very safe.
When daylight came, she would throw the dream to the back of her mind. [Picked me at a glance, huh? A spirit creature’s love at first sight? No thanks!]
[To seduce a Buddha’s Chosen is to die without knowing how.] If people found out, she would either be beaten with a long rod and carried out stiff on a plank, or shoved into a pig cage and drowned. Just thinking about it made her shiver. [Not worth it. Not worth it.]
Xiao Man bowed to the four corners of the room and prayed: “Heavenly Lord, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and God, please bless me. I do not look for trouble, and may trouble not look for me.”
She was a second-class maid. Her daily chores were as many as threads through a needle. She had no time for silly thoughts.
After washing up, she changed into a clean blue cotton dress and spun like a top through her duties. As soon as she finished burning incense in the Old Madam’s room, the first-class maid Xiu He came out and shot her a look, then said: “The Eldest Grandson Young Master has arrived.”
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Xiao Man quickly lowered her head and stepped back under the covered corridor. She stood straight, eyes on her nose, nose on her heart.
The door curtain was half lifted. She could hear the grandmother and grandson speaking inside. Lin Qing Xuan’s voice was cool and clear, like a mountain spring, clean and a little cold, as he said: “Grandmother, thank you. I like these Buddhist sutras very much.”
The Old Madam answered with warm love: “Good that you like them, good that you like them.”
She gently scolded him: “Don’t shut yourself in your courtyard all day. The Buddhist Dharma is for the heart. It is not to turn you into a stone.”
Xiao Man stood outside the door, listening, but her mind wandered elsewhere.
This was not the first time she had that strange dream. Ever since the day she sent sutras to Lin Qing Xuan, her sleep had not been peaceful. Each time she closed her eyes, that same mist and that same voice returned, over and over, like an opera that only knew one scene.
Thinking back to that day still chilled the back of her neck.
The Buddha’s Chosen of the Longnan Heir Apparent’s Residence, Lin Qing Xuan, style name Yuan Jue, was a wonder not only of the household but of the whole Capital City.
On the day he was born, signs filled the sky. Golden light burst forth, and faint scripture chanting could be heard. The Abbot of Fahua Temple came in person to the Heir Apparent Manor, held a blessing rite for the Heir Apparent, took the baby as a personal disciple, and gave him a Buddha Bone Relic as a protective talisman.
There were only three such relics in all Great Qian: one enshrined at Skyreach Tower, one guarding the heavens at the Imperial Astronomical Terrace.
The Great Qian Dynasty honored Buddhism. To be initiated by a High Monk was glory for the whole clan. Even the Emperor took notice.
At three years old he could recite the Lotus Sutra. At five he could sit on a platform and preach. In the Capital City, everyone knew the Buddha’s Chosen.
Even wilder rumors spread, saying the Heavenborn Buddha’s Chosen, Lin Qing Xuan, could bring the dead back and mend flesh and bone.
For a time the Heir Apparent Manor outshone all others. Even the royal family gave way.
General Zhenyuan, Lin De Shang, who was Lin Qing Xuan’s second uncle, said: “I fought all my life, and still I cannot compare to one Heavenborn Buddha’s Chosen.”
Even his second uncle’s three daughters were soon watched by many leading families in the Capital City. They all hoped to propose when the girls were of age, just to share in the Buddha’s Chosen’s glory.
Meanwhile, the Heir Apparent and the Heir Consort turned white with worry. After much effort, they finally got Lin Qing Xuan to agree that he would leave a bloodline for the Lin clan first, then receive tonsured ordination.
Matchmakers wore out the threshold. Whether from great houses or small, people sent portrait scrolls until they piled up like a mountain. Lin Qing Xuan did not lift an eyelid. In his heart there seemed to be only the Buddhist Dharma.
That day, the Old Madam returned from worship at Putuo Mountain. She had asked for several sutra scrolls said to be copied by a High Monk. She named Xiao Man to deliver them to Lin Qing Xuan.
When the Old Madam picked her for the job, Xiao Man felt a hundred kinds of unwilling. The eldest grandson’s courtyard was as quiet as a temple. Servants avoided it unless they had to, afraid to disturb the Buddha’s Chosen in secluded cultivation. But the Old Madam’s word was the sky. A maid could only obey.
Holding the tray, Xiao Man decided to send the scrolls early and come back early. Job done.
But when she reached Lin Qing Xuan’s Auspicious Cloud Residence, she knew something was wrong.
It was too quiet. Not even a sweeper in sight.
She stood at the gate, cleared her throat, and called several times. No one answered.
She had no choice but to go in.
As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, a strange scent slid into her nose. It was not the sandalwood he usually used in worship. It was sweet and greasy, like spring pollen, like fruit that had grown too ripe, tugging her to go deeper inside.
Uneasy, Xiao Man pushed open the study door and called for the eldest grandson’s page: “Shi Tou? Shi Tou?”
Still no sound.
She thought she would just set the sutras on his desk and leave. She gathered her courage and went in.
The room was dim. She saw Lin Qing Xuan sitting behind the desk with his eyes closed. His brows were knotted, his fine face pale, his lips pressed tight. He did not look asleep. He looked like he was trapped in a nightmare.
Xiao Man’s heart jumped. She stopped and called softly: “Eldest Grandson Young Master? Eldest Grandson Young Master?”
He did not move, as if he did not hear. The sweet scent grew stronger. It was coming from him.
Her head swam. Her knees went weak. She meant to set down the tray and run, but against her own will she took one more step.
That one step caused trouble.
A hand shot out from behind the desk and clamped her wrist like iron.
Xiao Man nearly lost her soul. A scream stuck in her throat. The tray tilted with a clang, and the scrolls scattered across the floor.
She tried to pull free, but the grip was frighteningly strong.
Right then, a cold voice filled with pride exploded inside her mind as it said: “Why not borrow this girl’s body to tempt the Heavenborn Buddha’s Chosen, drink his vital yang, and boost my power so I can shape a human body!”
It hissed again: “Otherwise I will be neither human nor ghost nor demon, with no place to stand in any of the three realms!”
That voice was not the young master’s. It was sharp and mean and full of hate.
Xiao Man’s head hummed. She knew she had met something unclean. She whipped her head to the side and, forgetting all rules, used her free hand to pry at that clutching hand with all her strength.
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Whether her strength suddenly grew or the thing relaxed, the grip on her wrist loosened at once.
Xiao Man stumbled back, not even looking at the fallen sutras. She turned and ran. She ran like a startled rabbit, out of the Tranquil Heart Courtyard and far down the path, before she dared stop. She leaned on an old locust tree, gasping for breath.
In the study, Lin Qing Xuan slowly opened his eyes. He lowered his head to look at his empty hand, then looked up. He only caught a thin figure in blue vanishing through the door. On the desk, the boxwood tray lay overturned, scrolls scattered everywhere.
From that day on, Yao Xiao Man began to dream. The thing in her dreams was that same mist. But the voice in the dream did not match the one in the study. One voice sounded sad and pitiful. The other was eerie, hiding a blade.
In her heart, Xiao Man saw it clearly: they were the same creature.
It wanted to use her body to harm the Eldest Grandson Young Master.
She did not care what Heavenborn Buddha’s Chosen meant or what pure vital yang was. She only knew the Eldest Grandson Young Master was her master. If she did what that thing said, forget getting her deed of sale back. She might not even know how she died.
Besides, even as a maid, she knew right from wrong. She could not harm people. That broke her rules for living.
Thinking this, she stood straighter. A breeze under the eaves made her shiver and brought her fully awake.
Inside, the Old Madam spoke again as she said: “Qing Xuan, you are not young anymore. About passing on the family line…”
Lin Qing Xuan cut in, his voice clear and steady, as he said: “Grandmother, my heart holds only the Buddha. There is no room for anyone else.”
“You child…” sighed the Old Madam.
Hearing this, a thought flashed in Xiao Man’s mind. The Eldest Grandson Young Master’s heart held only the Buddha. The spirit creature wanted to use her to tempt him, so it had likely chosen the wrong plan.
But then she remembered the study. He had clearly been trapped by that thing.
She was a maid with no strength to tie a chicken. If the creature stuck to her, what could she do?
Yao Xiao Man’s heart sank. She did not want trouble, but trouble had already found her.