10 Burned
General Zheng lifted himself off Bai Ling and looked down at her. He proceeded to break her wrist that held the hairpin silently. A pained cry clawed its way out of her throat.
His expression morphed into a violent one when he realized what Bai Ling did. "Why did you have to ruin the mood. Do you know what I do to people who dare to defy me? I make sure they regret it by the end. So what do you think I'm going to do to someone who tried to kill me? In my home no less."
Bai Ling was shaking from pain and dread.
General Zheng grabbed her neck and continued speaking. "Just because you are a pretty thing doesn't mean I am muddleheaded enough to not be on alert. Who do you think you are?" His grip became tighter, and Bai Ling tried to loosen his hands.
Her vision blurred, and her grip on his hands became weaker. General Zheng still went on, not knowing how strong his grip was on Bai Ling's neck.
"When I'm done with you, you're gonna wish you were dead. You lowly wench." With a crack, Bai Ling's struggle came to an end, and her breath left her body.
General Zheng came back to his senses when he saw Bai Ling's neck at an unnatural angle.
"She died just like that?" His viciousness was already known to his servants and guards. So when his handmaiden came into the room, the scene of a dead body did not startle her.
"I am here, master." The maid humbly bowed, turning away from the body. A smile spread across the maid's face as she thinks about Bai Ling's limp body on the bed.
"Go gather a few guards to dispose of her. Burn her in the pit that is north of here." The maid scurried out of the room with an extra pep in her step. She informed the guards about their master's orders then left to spread the news.
Bai Ling was dead.
By the time it was evening, the biggest gossip in the manner was about Bai Ling's death. The person who felt the guiltiest was Maid Chen. She could not believe that all of this was because she recommended Bai Ling for the banquet.
She wanted Bai Ling to get noticed by someone nice and move on from this manor. Instead, she delivered her right into the devil's hands. General Zheng normally did not look at the servants.
It was the servants who went to him, and if they were pretty enough, he granted their wish. It normally ended in death for the ones who overstepped.
Cheif maid Chen collapsed at the news, guilt racking her entire body.
"I sent her there. I did that to her." She felt pity for the child in the beginning. Over the few months she got to observe Bai Ling, she felt drawn to her. Motherly affection started to sprout for Bai Ling.
To hear about her death took its toll on maid Chen.
The other maids rejoiced that the biggest competitor died. Even then, they did not question General Zheng's cruelty. After all, he was the object of affection in many of the young maids' heart.
While the foolish women at the manor celebrated, Bai Ling's body was being tossed into a hole.
Bai Ling was not the first to be tossed into the hole. The burned earth on the sides of the hole was evidence of this.
As the guards wrapped her body with the cloth, they thought it a shame that such a beauty died.
"Don't you think the general lost a beauty today?" The guard had harsher words towards the general but chose not to say. The men knew of his misdeeds but did not care.
"Don't say anything else. Let's do our jobs." The trees had eyes, and no one knew who was loyal to the general or was trying to feed their families.
They dumped Bai Ling into the hole and picked up a torch stick each. Once lit, the torches glowed a deep amber in the night. It added to the solemn atmosphere. The guards felt guilty that someone's daughter, sister or friend was about to be reduced to ashes.
One by one, they let the torches fall into the hole. The flames licked against Bai Ling's skin, eventually devouring her body.
"Such a shame."
"It is."
They walked away from the pit, a certain heaviness within them. As of last the embers of the fire popped and crackled, Bai Ling's charred body remained. It was an eery sight to behold. Smoke rose to the sky as the fire finally cooled down.
In the silence of the morning, cracking could be heard in the hole. Bai Ling's corpse started to break apart. Underneath the charred figure, a fresh Bai Ling started to emerge.
Coughing violently, Bai Lng springs up from the ashes. She feels a fiery sensation on her chest where the mark of the red bird laid. Bai Ling groans at the pain coming from her chest but does not know how to stop it.
The pain subsides, and Bai Ling slumps down in relief.
When Bai Ling crawled out of the ground for the second time, her perspective of what she knew changed.
She died; she felt her life vanish like it did in her old world. What she did not understand was how she was still alive. Was reincarnation real? It had to be, for she was reborn again.
When Bai Ling stumbled a couple of feet from the hole, she realized she was wrong. Looming before her was the same manor she became familiar with for the past ten months.
