Ji Lingruo she had a long, vivid dream, yet it wasn't her dream at all.
In the dream, she was called Tai Sui.
My name is Tai Sui.
But that's not my name. In my distant memory, what did my mother, whose face is now blurred, call me?
I tried desperately to recall, but I couldn't. I only remember being a young child riding on my father's shoulders, holding a bamboo dragonfly in my hand.
My father grabbed my legs and we ran happily across the fields, while my mother chased after us. The bamboo dragonfly twirled and twirled, making me think I was really flying, which made me laugh like a silver bell. I thought to myself that there would never be a happier day than this.
Later, a group of immortals who flew in the sky visited this place. They cured the sick, saved lives, and warded off evil spirits and disasters. The villagers were very grateful to them.
They also said that I was born pure and innocent, a seed of true immortality, and wanted to lead me into the path of immortality.
I asked them what it meant to be a person born without flaws, and they said it meant someone whose heart is as pure as crystal, someone who can still maintain a sincere heart even if possessed by any demons or monsters.
I didn't understand what they meant, so I asked them if entering the immortal sect would allow them to fly like them. They said yes, and that they could fly even higher than them.
Even though my parents were reluctant, they agreed when they thought about how I would be well-fed and clothed and could become Fairy in a painting.
And so, I followed them into the Immortal Gate...
That hellish place.
I didn't even know where I was. When I woke up, all I saw were the faint candlelight, cold iron chains, and a pitch-black cell.
Fear overwhelmed me like the sea, and my cries echoed through the cave, audible only to myself.
Eventually, someone arrived. I tried desperately to communicate with them and beg for help, but they remained silent.
They brought me food, a bowl of thick porridge so disgusting it defies description, filled with eyeballs, tentacles, and constantly bubbling bubbles.
I kept my mouth shut and refused to drink, but they held me down, pried open my mouth, and forced the liquid down my throat.
The more I vomited, the more they fed me.
My body has gradually changed. My feet, which used to strut around happily in the grass, have started to stick their toes together, and my hands too... Why have they become like this?
I thought there would never be a more painful day than this, but I never imagined that the next day would always be more painful.
Later, they kept saying things like "this effect isn't enough," and they became dissatisfied with just feeding me those things. All sorts of strange things started appearing in my cell; they were like mutated monsters from the deep sea.
A foul stench and thick, sticky fluid enveloped me, each one desperately trying to burrow into my body.
In the dim candlelight, my body began to undergo tremendous changes; those bulging fleshy lumps grew larger and larger, as if they had been naturally growing on my body.
Once, I accidentally broke free of the taut iron chain and was finally able to move. I tried everything I could to end my life.
But I was surprised to find that I couldn't die at all, or rather, the methods I could think of were simply not enough to kill me.
They discovered my suicide attempt, which resulted in even tighter restraints. From then on, I was left hanging there motionless, like the towering tree at the village entrance in my memory that would never move.
I could only let these lumps of flesh grow on my body until the day I could no longer recognize myself, when they entered my cage for the first time with jade knives.
They cut off a piece of the strange flesh that had grown from my body, but the flesh would rot immediately as soon as it left my body, no matter what they used to preserve it.
They angrily told me not to resist, but to cooperate with them willingly, so that I could one day return to my parents' side.
I understand now. This meat is under my control; only the meat that I willingly have cut off will not rot.
I stopped trusting them a long time ago, and seeing their helpless expressions, a sense of vengeful pleasure welled up within me.
Those people left, spitting and cursing at me; they called me an ugly and evil Tai Sui.
Then one day, a beautiful young girl was also locked in, her eyes vacant. Looking at her, I felt as if I were seeing myself when I first entered this place a long time ago.
She looked at me with disgust and said that if I didn't pass the test, she would be the next one hanging here. I wanted to pity her, but I couldn't even pity myself.
I still refused to cooperate with them cutting my flesh, and their actions became increasingly brutal. Although this body had a strong ability to regenerate, the pain did not lessen as a result.
"Are you... in pain?" she asked me shakily, barely recognizable as human.
"Um."
This was the first time I answered her question. We were like patients in the same boat, and we gradually started talking more.
I called her "older sister," and she called me "younger sister." She couldn't stop those people's behavior; all she could do was talk to me and comfort me when it was quiet. She told me many stories, including those about family, friendship, and love, and I relied on the emotions in those stories as my last motivation to live.
"One day we will see the beauty in the story with our own eyes," she always said.
That day, my refusal to cooperate angered them again. She was subdued by them, and they threatened me by placing filthy evil spirits and thick porridge in front of her body, demanding that I cut off my own flesh with my own hands.
Actually, I knew this day would come.
My father told me when I was very young that most stories are fake, so this older sister is fake too.
Her purpose in coming in was for this very day. But I accepted her without hesitation; in this boundless darkness, even a false hope is hard to resist.
I even think that it's already merciful that these people haven't found my parents to blackmail me. But there's also the possibility that my parents are already dead.
I cut off a piece of my own flesh and gave it to them.
They respectfully surrounded my sister, who spat at me many times and cursed me for a long time with words like "So ugly" and "So disgusting," and then she never appeared again.
The day after that, someone came to tell me that my flesh was very effective and that I had become a real Tai Sui.
From the moment it appeared, Tai Sui was destined to become food.
After that, I was put into a coffin and couldn't see anything.
After an unknown period of tossing and turning, when I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a crystal cage. The people around me had changed; they were now more ethereal and otherworldly, calling me a sacrifice to the Immortal Ancestor.
My desire for revenge has long since faded; rather than continuing to disgust them, I'd rather end my life as soon as possible.
Just as I willingly entered the so-called tomb of the Immortal Ancestor, a strange octopus appeared. The people around me called it the Dream-Eating Ghost, and it was he who saved me.
I thanked Him, but He said that His purpose was also to have me eaten, only that my diner had changed.
The Dream-Eating Ghost told me that it hoped I would willingly become the key to God's resurrection, and in exchange, it would grant me one request.
I was a bit lost; I had no idea what conditions to make.
I was placed in the pure white world within Him, and along with Him, I hid in the consciousness of different people. These diverse memories allowed me to witness this wonderful world.
I knew I was destined to be eaten, so I wished to be released and allowed to roam the world, but when I looked at my body, I despaired.
I don't belong to this wonderful world; no one will accept me like this. Sweet pastries and sincere feelings no longer belong to me; only a cold prison and a meaningless fate are my destiny.
Finally, we arrived at our destination.
This time, we hid within the consciousness of a very handsome young man.
The Dream-Eating Ghost said that this boy was the most suitable person in the city to be a vessel for God.
I suspect the Dream-Eating Ghost chose him for the same reason I did: it felt a strange attraction about him.
As we entered his consciousness, we were astonished to discover that the boy's memories were completely blank; he was blind! Yet, his feelings for his master, Mistress, and especially his junior sister were so intense that they were not diminished in the slightest by the fact that he did not know what she looked like.
The Dream-Eating Ghost clearly told me that her junior sister wasn't human, but half a demon.
A feeling called jealousy overwhelmed me, and I found the Dream-Eating Ghost, using that condition to set up a selfish drama...