Taohua : Tale of the peach blossom spirit

Ring Ring Ring

The sound of the bells grew steadily; Thick Fog covered the street, the moon was embraced by the clouds and mummers sang out.

As if that wasn't eerie enough, A young person walked across the street; the footsteps were faster than the swirl of the fog, and the sounds seemed to be coming from them; but if people moved closer, they would discover that the sounds were panicky.

"Namul amitabul Let the mercy of Buddha grant me safety" The bells rang out again with a slight shake of their ankle" Namul ami..."

Someone grabbed their wrist, they stiffened and then started to struggle but the grip hooked in tight like that of a vice.

Gradually, the struggle stopped and the person raised their head. There was a young man Underneath the hoodie.

Bei Shang's voice was soft "Please spare me, Chang"

The Chang looked like a 15-year-old female ghost; she wore a goblin mask and was dressed in the ancient costume of the Ming dynasty. Her head wasn't steady and she continually adjusted her neck to prevent her head from falling off.

"Don't you want to help me… " The Chang whispered in a death-like voice and patted his hand " I have been here for 600 years, I can't move on to the underworld until someone replaces me under the teeth of the Mountain God ..."

She stopped and then pulled him up. Bei Shang had not even sucked enough air when the ghost grabbed him by the neck and started to carry him up the mountains " You are not strong; I will just take you "

Every 1000 years; A pair of twins are born.

The yin and yang twins.

The Yang twin was blessed by the gods; Wherever her feet were placed, flowers would bloom, Wherever her face was, there was peace and joy, ghosts and other evil spirits feared her, and only good things came her way.

The Yin twin however was cursed by the gods; his destiny was a calamity, and those who love him will die, wherever his face was, there was only sorrow, he was born to carry the evil of this world.

Xingfu was the Yang twin, and Bei Shang was the Yin twin.

Bei Shang's calamity was so great that his mother died before they were able to birth to him, his dad lost his job the day he visited him at his office at 1 yr old, and A strange disease attacked the town he grew up in and half of them including his father were wiped out, there was always evil spirits attacking him every time he's alone, The orphanage he grew up in always had problems of natural disasters.

If not for the bells that a mysterious shaman had given him; so he would bring all the bad luck into his destiny instead of other people, he was sure that he would be murdered out of resentment before he clocked 10.

But unfortunately, it never stopped the evil spirits from bothering him; they even seemed to have increased in numbers. On a normal day, he was able to repel them with bells and chants but this one was way too strong from his level.

He should have stayed the night in the office; even if it meant enduring the paws of his boss.

The Chang climbed the mountains repeating chants; Bei Shang felt his head swimming and his soul trying to fight against the enchantment.

"On the west is the water ghost, on the east is the blossom spirit, on the south is the goblin trailing the traveler, on the north is the mountain king"

They reached a clearing and the Chang dropped him in the middle. Bei Shang made another attempt to escape but it was like there was a force binding him down.

A roar vibrated through the forest.

Bei Shang's heart skipped a beat and he clenched his fists.

He was going to be eaten this time.

The Chang jumped in excitement and started to dance.

"I was but a foolish young woman, to prove I was better than my brother I wanted to hunt a white tiger ... I can no longer be a slave anymore… This is great, this is great ..."

The roars grew louder and louder, heavy steps were coming forward and the Chang moved even wilder; her feet were barely touching the ground now.

"Here comes the mountain God!!!!"

A white tiger appeared; the eyes were red in the dark and a divine light surrounded its body; No mortal would mistake it for a common animal.

This is the mountain God; Yao ji.

Bei Shang made eye contact with God and spoke in a soft voice.

" It's an insult to your dignity to stain your coat with blood"

The tiger started to move steadily.

"Why don't you release me and let's fight it out?"

The tiger seemed to be deaf, She moved till She was standing right in front of him; her breath touching his face.

"General Taohua…is that you?"

Bei Shang blinked in confusion "Huh"

She moved her huge head to his neck and sniffed; then she let out a sneeze and moved backward.

She turned around and started mumbling to herself.

"I swore I smelt him on you but it's gone now …"

The Chang tapped Yao Ji with impatience "Your senses have been going bad after the wildlife police's last attack on you; there's one time too, you said you smelt roses; in the end, it was the rotting corpse of a human…"

"I get it, I get it !!! " She turned to look at him; her eyes were downcast " But I'm sure about one thing, you have the soul of a man but the body of a woman"

Crack!

Even till his death, someone just had to talk about his body.

The Chang looked at him up and down in shock before grabbing his chest. Feeling the softness covered with a binder; Her mouth opened in shock and she pulled her hands like hot coals.

Bei Shang closed his eyes; a familiar sense of frustration creeping up with chest.

Bei Shang wasn't born a man, He came out of his dead mother's body as a girl. He grew up in the orphanage with his sister too as a girl.

When his sister was getting loved up and being shown love, Bei Shang spent his life struggling to earn love.

An element of bad luck and a 'girl' who says that she's a boy; There was no doubt that people made him the next target.

Despite it all, he never hated his sister. Even when she invalidated his gender identity, even when she got a foster family and left without saying goodbye, and even when she never sent a single letter to let him know how she was doing.

Thinking about it now; he never spent enough time with Xingfu; they were always worlds apart, each following their destinies.

Broody and Nayima too; He will never see those two again. Nayima will probably receive an email about his death. She will be sad ... maybe inconsolable, she will think it's her fault.

Broody will be shocked; he would blame himself for traveling the world when he could have been by his side and repelled the demons... or maybe he will be angry at him.

I told you not to get involved with the spirits !!! I told you to always trust your gut feelings !!!

Perhaps this was for the best; living meant only sorrow, and becoming a Chang doesn't seem too bad either.

Bei Shang tinted his head and smiled taunting the tiger.

"Just do what you want, no matter what, your words aren't worth a single dime "

"Don't take out your anger on me; if you want to blame anyone, blame the world that isn't understanding "

Bei Shang let out a helpless laugh " Right when you're about to kill me?"

The tiger shrugged and started to move her jaw closer.

Bei Shang closed his eyes.

is this the end?

Then like a quick flash, there was a bright light between him and the tiger. A second later, the tiger was flung away, hitting a tree so hard it collapsed.