The Ghost Bride

by Yangsze Choo

“If I had known how easy it is to lose your life, I would have treasured mine better.”

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

Before, I had speculated whether Er Lang was hiding the head of a cold-blooded fish beneath his impenetrable hat brim, but now I decided that he must be the Pig Marshal—a monstrous hog who was the companion to the Monkey King of Chinese mythology. 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. That, I thought sourly, was probably Er Lang’s true form.

Journey to the West reference!!!!!!! 😯😆😀

He shook me roughly and, reflexively, I slapped him. The sting of my hand upon his face was the best feeling I had experienced since I had lost my body.

She grasped my hand, her grip surprisingly strong. I gazed into her rheumy eyes, the irises clouded with the bloom of old age, and understood with a shudder that she, more so than others, realized what it meant to be in the clutches of a demon.

I realized now how little I’d appreciated my body while I had it, seldom thinking about it other than to braid my hair or change my clothes hastily.