Chapter 2 - The First Bowl of Soup (1) - Euphoria Airlines

11-13 minutes

Translator: Ashlyn Rose

Editor: hngyxn

Proofreader: Florencii

Warning: vague mentions of violence

Qinghuan followed the girl into the thatched hut and turned to a small room. The little girl motioned for her to go inside alone. Qing Huan went in ignorantly, and in the next second, she hurriedly covered her mouth, afraid of letting out a scream.

The one lying on the bed, if it wasn’t her, who would it be?

Perhaps because she saw Qing Huan’s puzzlement, the little girl cheerfully explained, “This is your physical body. I found it and put it here. You are now in the state of a wandering soul, but if you can fulfill the wish of the ghost waiting outside and make her willingly cross the Naihe Bridge, then you can repair it.” 

Her body, riddled with gaping wounds, lay right beneath Qing Huang’s gaze. She gently blinked away the teardrops from her eyelashes, and then left the thatched house under the leadership of the little girl. As soon as they crossed the threshold, they saw a woman in front of one of the tables wearing intricate clothes, but she could no longer tell what their original color was. The woman’s exposed skin was covered with scars, likely from a sword, and she had long, messy black hair that looked like straw, knotted and covered with filth. At the moment, she was standing by the table, and though her eyes, displaying only dejection and defeat were staring straight into the soup-making fire, anyone could tell how beautiful they were. 

Qing Huan walked over and asked, “Miss, what’s the matter with you?”

The female ghost slowly raised her head and looked over. Qing Huan gasped. It turned out that she could no longer see her true face. Under the filth, her face was badly mutilated to the point of ruin. Qing Huan didn’t know what was going on, so she wanted to turn back and ask the little girl, but when she looked back, she found that the little girl had disappeared without a trace.

She suppressed the fear and panic that welled up in her heart. Because of the female ghost’s arrival, the ghosts in the Wangchuan River began to howl and struggle again. They had forgotten who they were waiting for and who they were themselves, but were reminded every time they saw a new ghost crossing the bridge. They cried constantly, hoping that the newcomer was the one they’d been waiting for. They don’t know who the person crossing was, nor their gender, and whether or not they were a relative or a lover. Even then, they cry.

Listening to that group of ghosts, crying and howling like wolves, reallymade one’s ears hurt. However, the female ghost did not seem to hear anything and continued to stare at the fire in a daze. Qing Huan looked at how miserable she was, and unable to bear it, she asked again, “Miss, why did you come here?”

She was a softhearted person. If it were the little girl in her place just now, she would have never asked the ghost for their story, because it was meaningless.

Perhaps Qing Huan’s face was too beautiful, or her voice was too gentle; the female ghost was silent for a while, during which Qing Huan also waited patiently. She was a very kind and a very gentle girl, and the female ghost in front of her was so miserable, so she really couldn’t feel any disgust towards her. What’s more- compared to the female ghost, truthfully, was she any better1QH is referring to her own past life?

“I… come from Yi Xiangyuan2(倚香院/yi xiang yuan); means literally (yi = to lean on/rely on) (xiang = fragrant/aromatic) (yuan = courtyard/institution); It’s the name of a brothel, which is a brothel on the border between the court and Jianghu3A term often seen in wuxia novels which literally means “rivers and lakes”. It figuratively refers to the underground world of martial arts; it’s a sub-society parallel to mainstream society. Members of the Jianghu typically live by their own special codes of conduct and not by societal laws.. I… fell in love. He saved me and I…” The female ghost spoke intermittently, and she used her pair of extremely beautiful yet cloudy eyes to look at Qinghuan. Tears of blood surged, falling one by one, “Gongzi4(公子/gong zi) a honorific/way of addressing, referring to the son of nobility or son of an official; in this case, it’s nobility… doesn’t love me. The one he loves is another girl.”

Qinghuan spent a long time listening to the female ghost tell her story.

Her name was Qiqi. She was originally the daughter of a farmer on the Yangtze River, not far from Yi Xiangyuan. She was born beautiful, so she was sold to Yi Xiangyuan by a father who wanted a son. The Bao Mu5(鸨母/bao mu) translates to bawd (an actual English word) meaning a woman in charge of a brothel. I kept it in pinyin because it sounds better than bawd…. raised her until she was twelve, and then put her up for bidding. That night, she was acquired by an aged landlord. The old landlord had strange tastes6(癖好/pi hao) can mean an urge, a craving or an addiction.. Nobody knew how many ladies of Yi Xiangyuan were broken under his hands. Qiqi also suffered a lot under him. Fortunately, when he was close to his death, Wuya Gongzi, a nobleman that was highly revered and respected in the martial arts circles, rescued her from the owner of the Lijian Villa. He was very gentlemanly7(天人之姿/tian ren zhi zi) which means had the demeanour of a heavenly man and seeing her young age, he sympathized with her and the two of them were quite kindred spirits. Thus, he bundled her up and she became his confidante. 

The man was, in fact, a true gentleman. In the eight years they were together, he  never once touched her. By the time she was fifteen years old, she had become breathtakingly beautiful, but the Gongzi was still not tempted. Later, the Gongzi said that he would never come to Yi Xiangyuan again because he was going to marry a wife and start a family, so he ordered someone to send her enough money to redeem herself. He hoped she could leave behind her low status and find a husband to marry and entrust her life with. 

However, how could the Gongzi know that the queen of flowers8(花魁/hua kui) translates literally into queen of flowers; is a nickname for a famous beauty or courtesan whom he’d saved with kind intentions had been secretly in love with him all along? 

Obviously, she loved him deeply, but she couldn’t let him know, as when she was fifteen years old and understood these feelings between a man and woman, she learned that he had someone in his heart. 

She was the eldest lady of the Kuai Dao9(快刀/kuai dao) literally means fast knife. I figured it was the family’s name..? Title…? noble family, his childhood sweetheart. Miss Mingyan was charming and lively with a gentle and calm temperament; that was Gongzi’s beloved person. Qiqi had a one-sided infatuation and never told the Gongzi of it. After the Gongzi refused to see her, she did not make any demands; she just returned the money and refused to accept his undeserved reward. Although she was a prostitute, she still had a bit of a backbone.

Qi Qi knew that, compared with the eldest lady of the Kuai Dao family, she had no chance at victory. The eldest lady had three older brothers, all of whom were well-known figures. They were all loved by their parents. She was known as the Kuai Dao Dragon Lady in Jianghu. Gongzi also doted on her very much. And she, in comparison, was nothing but a prostitute sold by her biological father for a couple of silver; it was like the difference between the clouds and the mud10(云泥之别/yun ni zhi bie) means a great difference in social standing. 

However, Qiqi never expected that when she returned the money, she had been discovered by the eldest lady. She never knew that the girl whom the son loved would be such a jealous person! In her sleep, she was taken away from her bed and blindfolded. She didn’t know how long she had suffered. She only knew that it was several men, but she didn’t know who they were. Qi Qi was no more than a delicate woman, how could she have beaten the highly skilled martial artists from Jianghu? 

Her body was completely destroyed and her appearance was ruined by sharp blades. Before she died, she heard the eldest lady say that she shouldn’t have dared to covet Brother Wuya; she deserved to die!

After Qi Qi died, her body was left to sink to the bottom of a pond. The Gongzi thought she had redeemed her body and left, and no longer inquired about her, but her cold body was left lying in the deep mud, day after day, year after year.

“I want, to get, Gongzi’s, love,” the tears of blood in the female ghost Qiqi’s eyes fell repeatedly, “I want, her, to suffer retribution.” 

When she was sinking into the bottom of the pond, she had still had some breath left in her, but the silt entered her mouth and nose; the pain of suffocation was almost impossible to describe in a few words. 

Qing Huan pitied her fate. She sighed softly, and covered the back of the female ghost Qiqi’s hand with her own, “I…”

“You, can you help me?” Though the female ghost Qiqi looked at her with a badly mangled face and spoke in a flat tone, Qing Huan could still hear her begging and hoping. 

Her heart wasn’t willing so she could not cross the Naihe Bridge.

The little girl’s voice suddenly rang out from inside her mind. Qing Huan was startled. The little girl said that it was alright, that she could promise her.

Qing Huan was a woman with a firm and resolute heart. Since she had decided to stay on the bridge, she would not regret it. She said softly to the female ghost Qiqi, “Of course I will help you.”

Right after she finished speaking, before she could even smile, darkness gathered in front of her eyes. In the blink of an eye, the darkness melted away and she went from the dark Naihe Bridge to an imposing, grand, and magnificent room. In front of her, a gorgeously dressed woman11(花枝招展/hua zhi zhao zhan) means lovely scene of blossoming plants swaying in the breeze. Is an idiom referring to a gorgeously dressed (woman) was waving her handkerchief. As she pointed and pointed, Qing Huan listened carefully, only to realize that she was talking about her worth. She turned her head and saw the mirror in the room. Although the bronze mirror was dim, it still reflected the appearance of a seven or eight-year-old girl.

It took Qing Huan a while to realize where she was now. The little girl’s voice once again sounded in her mind: Big Sister, you must remember that you must successfully fulfill the ghost’s wish. As long as it does not offend Heaven and reason12(伤天害理/shang tian hai li) an idiom that means do things that’re against reason or nature., disregard human life13 (草菅人命/cao jian ren ming) an idiom meaning to kill people like scything grass…, or violate the laws of nature, you can do anything. If you cannot help the ghost reincarnate this time, your benefactor will die!

The moment the only person who was ever good to her was mentioned, Qing Huan gained a kind of desperate courage. She was originally a cowardly woman, but she was able to resist her fears and decide to stay at Naihe Bridge; she had already used up all her strength.