The Ghost Bride

by Yangsze Choo

in others, there were three or four fine dwellings occupying the same spot.

It was as though my home had, in some nightmarish manner, grown like a fungus overnight. Despite the size and splendor, there was an air of decay about it, as though it had begun to crumble from within. The

Lol

began to retrace my steps, fuming at her rude behavior. Why did ghosts behave like this in the Plains of the Dead? They seemed to have forgotten every civility, the genteel codes of respect that bound our society.

Lol what a karen

I blurted out, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of you.” It was quite possibly the worst thing I could have said.

Lol

The problem with the dead was that they all wanted someone to listen to them.

How dare?

All I had found was a monstrous tale of old sins and deep bitterness.

Its not clear wjether her mom did anything wrong

I had completely forgotten to think of some pretext for entry. “For work?” he barked.

Protagonist luck

We don’t talk about funerals here. Nobody wants to be reminded about his death.

It was unfortunate that he was so fat. His corpulence only served to accentuate his resemblance to a pig,

Wow judgey

wondering again at this ghost world, which seemed to have so many of the vices and failings of life.

Neither did it bleed. As I watched, one of the servants whacked off the heavy head, leaving it blinking placidly on the flagstones.

“Who are you?” I sighed. In my brief existence parted from my flesh, I was invariably greeted with a lack of ceremony.

Lol spoiled

a gaunt old man, very yellow and wrinkled, with eyes that glittered like paring knives. A single wart with two long hairs sprouted from his cheek.

Uggo so evil

Her nose was a trifle too long and the tip drooped; in old age it might become unsightly.

Lol she gotta be uggo

Was this my mother? I

Y

If I died here, truly died with no hope of an afterlife or rebirth,

?

And my mother. The sting of her betrayal cut deep, even though I tried to tell myself she had no idea who I was.

Lol you do not know she is your mom

before I made my way over to the window and began to work on the shutters again with the scale.

Why did she wait

Why had I been in such a hurry to reach this wretched place?

Are you reading the same book imreadijng?

A dark thought crossed my mind, however. Such a marriage would make me a member of the Lim family, dooming me to reenter this house if I ever truly died and passed on to the Plains of the Dead.

but I was there to talk to her about the Plains of the Dead.”

well, it’s not my fault that you proved to be such an inept spy.” “Inept!”

Hes like 120 % right tho

“Couldn’t you have asked some other ghost to help you?” Er Lang paused. “What makes you think you were the first?”

Lol

Er Lang’s tapering, elegant fingers, so different from Tian Bai’s square hands.

Yet, I was exquisitely aware of our proximity and how my back was pressed against the warmth of his chest.

I did not expect a love triangle lol

“I hate you,” I said before I could stop myself. He seemed genuinely surprised. “Most women say they love me.”

Tsun i mean at this point she has spent more time with him than tian bai

Formerly a marshal of the Heavenly Hosts, he had accidentally been reborn into a sow’s litter, and spent most of the time chasing women in the mistaken belief that he was irresistible.

I just realized this is also porco rosso

“Beyond lays a series of small courtyards.

Typo

too much self-absorption to blind him to all but his own concerns.”

Enough not too much

It was a tempting offer and I paused—to hide in her room, to burrow down behind a mattress and cover myself with blankets until the danger had passed—these were all things I longed for.

I couldn’t help but feel a frisson of excitement at all that I had accomplished already.

Literally what has she accomplished

was no better than any common prostitute.

Ew judgmental

Tian Bai was better than all of them, I told myself.

the thought of my mother, who had now rejected me in more ways than I could count.

Lol shes not thinking about u

“How dare you touch me!” I said. “You kidnapper! You fiend!” His thick lips loosened in surprise as he quailed momentarily before this barrage. “What are you talking about? You’re the one who came here. How did you get here?”

Lol he right

I thought illogically that it must have been difficult for him to grow up in the shadow of Tian Bai’s pleasant features.

You were promised to me.” “I did no such thing.”

Gtammar how does it work

It’s because of the special status of my case that we have a relationship with the border officials.

You know he was once a medical student—who else in the house would know about drugs and dosages? And who profited from my death but Tian Bai?”

“Did you know he had a mistress in Hong Kong?” Seeing my reaction, he pursued his advantage relentlessly. “She was some half-caste Portuguese girl.

So don’t believe him if he says you’re the only one he loves.

I thought with despair of Tian Bai and realized that I didn’t know whether he was capable of such a deliberate risk.

Uh deliberate MURDER

When Lim Tian Ching had complimented me, I had merely felt revulsion, but praise from Er Lang made my chest flutter unexpectedly.

“I left you alone, motherless. But I traded my youth for your recovery from the smallpox.”

Duh

He rose up into the sky, shaking and snapping at the flock, curling back on his snakelike length and slashing with his claws. A great dragon, a loong, lord of the water and air.

Oh its haku with the paper birds

Fan was standing there waiting for me. She was one of the last people I wished to see, but there was no hope for it.

Lol what an ass

“You said you were from heaven.” “I never said that. You just assumed it.”

Douche

“And socially—well! It was far better than my last visit. I met a number of high-ranking people who were very kind to me.”

Uh oh

My path was as narrow as the blade of a knife. One false step, and I would be permanently severed from my body.

? Isnt it jut a matter of time?

The sky was a pure cerulean, as blue as the finest Ming porcelain. Butterflies the size of my hand fluttered slowly past, their wings glittering.

Ooo the hobbit