The vast misty waters of Lake Taihu in the depths of winter seemed to glimmer with silver light amidst the night. A thin layer of fog drifted over the surface of the lake, crystallized slightly by the cold. When the wind blew, it was like raindrops falling onto one’s skin.
When Ling Qingyu fell from the small boat into the icy waters of the lake, she was shocked awake from her drunken stupor. She tried to stretch out her body but found she was already frozen stiff, her limbs not only disobedient but also cramping up as the frigid water seized them.
As her body continued to sink, in the throes of suffocating pain, segments and snippets of the past 30 some years began to flash before her eyes.
Her entire life slowly rewound, finally stopping on the celebratory banquet after her father’s funeral – the beautiful woman nestled against her husband’s chest, giggling softly, and the look of surprised yet relaxed delight on her own husband’s face.
Just after completing the divorce paperwork, she was here alone, celebrating her newfound freedom, only for it all to end like this?
Should she just sink silently into oblivion? Yet a spark of unwillingness and attachment suddenly arose in Ling Qingyu’s heart.
“Yu’er~~ Yu’er~~”
“Mama! What will I do without you?”
Ling Qingyu began to struggle, but her frozen limbs only hastened her descent.
“No! Mother!”
A cry seemed to come from both far away and right next to her.
There was a flash before her eyes, and her body left the frigid waters. Ling Qingyu found herself in a vast white space. So this was the afterlife, heaven or hell?
Mother…
That soft cry came again. Ling Qingyu groped toward the sound and saw a young girl kneeling on the ground weeping.
“Is that you?” The girl lifted her head, her round cheeks flushed and swollen eyes suddenly shining brightly.
“It’s me,” Ling Qingyu responded reflexively, then felt a tinge of regret. What kind of conversation was this! But the girl’s face looked so familiar – her figure, doughy face, gangly hips, budding breasts. An image suddenly popped into her mind of the teenage girl brawling at the late night food stall that she saw as she was dying.
Damn! This was her younger self!
But why was she dressed in ancient robes, looking so weak and fragile?
“I was murdered by villains and drowned in Taihu Lake,” the girl said as she stood up. “My father and brothers have also been killed by those villains. I’m powerless to take revenge, so I beg you, since we’re the same person, please take care of Mother and avenge us.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she rushed forward and leapt into Ling Qingyu, knocking her down. The ground suddenly vanished, and with a swoosh, Ling Qingyu felt herself falling into a new vessel, noisy clamor filling her ears…
