Guide to the Rebirth of the Evil Woman in the Immortal Realm - Chapter 25

Shen Sha’s home was not far from the market. It consisted of two adjacent tile-roofed houses at the foot of a mountain.

The Country of Ruo was desolate and dilapidated. Many locals lived in makeshift grass shacks or shared cramped quarters with livestock. In comparison, Shen Sha’s houses were sturdy refuges from the elements even if they were weathered and old.

Shen Sha pushed her wooden meat cart ahead of them. Sweat rolled down the firm muscles of her arms with a raw vitality. Back at the market, the cart’s canopy had partially obscured her. Now that she was walking in the open, Shen Fuxin realized just how tall the woman was.

Shen Fuxin was considered statuesque herself and Ji Ting was a head taller than her, yet Shen Sha still towered over Ji Ting by half a head.

Under the scorching sun, Shen Sha pushed the cart while it still carried a whole hog without any hint of exertion. Seeing her persistent silence, Shen Fuxin spoke up intentionally. “Let us give you a hand.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Sha practically began to run. She pushed the wooden cart so fast across the sandy ground that it seemed to smoke, leaving Shen Fuxin and Ji Ting staring at her retreating and slightly awkward back.

They followed her into the small courtyard. Unlike most villagers, Shen Sha kept no poultry. The yard was small but tidy. A large bundle of neatly chopped firewood was stacked in the corner. A simple stove sat under a small grass lean-to where she cooked and heated water for bathing.

Despite the constant wind and sand of this region, the courtyard was clean. Shen Sha tucked the cart into a corner and swept the ground with a broom made of twigs. Finally, she muttered to the two of them. “Come in.”

Shen Sha lived in the house on the left and settled the guests in the one on the right.

Whether because she rarely had visitors or was simply unaccustomed to social interaction, Shen Sha moved stiffly as she pulled clean sheets from a cabinet. After making the bed, she spoke. “Today’s pig was castrated so the meat won’t have a foul musk. I’ll mince some to cook for you tonight.”

Usually, Shen Fuxin wouldn’t mind but she truly didn’t want to eat a stew made from her father’s ribs. She lied to Shen Sha without blinking. “Today is my vegetarian day.”

Shen Sha frowned. “A vegetarian day? How will you have any strength if you only eat greens?” She tucked a few stray red hairs behind her ear, grabbed a basket, and headed out the door.

Shen Fuxin thought she had offended her. “Where are you going?”

“To pick some mushrooms,” Shen Sha replied without looking back.

As the gate closed, Shen Fuxin sat down to rest while Ji Ting inspected the bed. There was only one pillow and one quilt. Shen Fuxin naturally dictated the sleeping arrangements. “You sleep on the floor.”

Ji Ting remained silent. She looked at the tiny room which was barely larger than her previous Green Chamber. Aside from the bed and a wooden wardrobe, there was no space left. If she lay on the floor, given her height, half her head would likely be sticking out the door.

Just as they were staring at the bed in silence, a knock came from the gate.

Thinking Shen Sha had forgotten something, Ji Ting and Shen Fuxin went to open it. Instead of Shen Sha, they found a woman whose clothes were caked in dust. Half her face and neck were wrapped in a tattered yellow cloth, leaving only a pair of large, sunken eyes visible. Seeing strangers, the woman panicked and stepped back as if to flee.

Ji Ting and Shen Fuxin exchanged a look. Ji Ting called out. “Sister, do not be afraid. We are Shen Sha’s distant cousins here to visit her.”

The woman visibly relaxed. She kept her head low and did not dare look at their fine clothes and shoes. “Is the widow? Is she home?”

Shen Fuxin frowned. “She isn’t married. She’s not a widow.”

The woman seemed unable to grasp the distinction. She clutched her face cloth tighter and buried her head even lower.

Ji Ting intervened. “Shen Sha went up the mountain. You can leave a message with us and we’ll tell her when she returns so you don’t have to make another trip.”

Hearing Ji Ting call the woman Sister over and over made Shen Fuxin feel an inexplicable flash of annoyance. She looked away from Ji Ting’s breezy and charming smile. She thought the woman was far too flippant. One day she would find a way to wipe that smile off her face.

The woman finally looked up with a voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum. “My daughter is gravely ill. There’s no fat in her belly. I wanted to ask if I could borrow some pig offal. Not for free. I’ll pay her back later.”

A heavy silence fell.

Shen Fuxin looked at the mother. She looked at her sunken eyes, her hollow stomach, and her skeletal limbs. She couldn’t help but think of her own mother who had abandoned her. If I weren’t an immortal but just an ordinary child, would my mother have abandoned my swaddling clothes in that wild lotus pond just the same? Did she truly love me? If she did, what could have possibly been so difficult that she had to let me go?

Seeing the woman nervously twisting her tattered cloth, Ji Ting spoke. “We will tell Shen Sha. Your daughter is ill and needs you. Go back to her for now.”

As the gaunt woman hurried away, Shen Fuxin asked her own question. “If her daughter is sick, why doesn’t she borrow money for medicine instead of asking for scraps of pork?”

Ji Ting picked up the broom to sweep the sand that had blown into the yard. Without looking up, she said in a casual tone. “In many poor families, medicine is more expensive than a human life. Not everyone can afford to stay alive.”

Shen Fuxin thought of the woman’s blackened straw shoes and fell silent. The image of the celestial flowers that bloomed year-round and the eternal dances of the God Realm clashed violently with that tattered yellow cloth.

At dusk, Shen Sha returned with mushrooms, cabbage, and sweet potatoes. She saw the two of them in the yard, washed her face and hands with a ladle of water, and ushered them inside. “The wind is picking up. Go to your room.”

Shen Fuxin bit her lip. “A woman came looking for you. She said her daughter is very ill and wanted to buy offal on credit.”

Shen Sha straightened up and dried herself with a cloth. She seemed to know exactly who the woman was. She immediately chopped two pounds of ribs and some minced meat, placed them in a basket, and headed out.

Ji Ting and Shen Fuxin followed. They passed several crumbling grass huts before arriving at the woman’s home.

Inside, the sound of a baby crying pierced the air. The house was little more than a lean-to. Two children barely four or five years old were stirring a pot of thin soup. The woman from earlier sat inside cradling an infant while a pale little girl lay by her legs.

Shen Sha didn’t say a word. She placed the meat on a chopping block and began to cut it with heavy, rhythmic thuds. Shen Fuxin knew nothing of cooking, so she crouched down to look at the sick girl.

The girl was older than the others but terrifyingly thin. Her head looked disproportionately large for her skeletal body. Her ribs rose and fell with shallow breaths as she clutched something to her chest.

It was a ceramic idol of a male deity. He held a sword and his expression was carved with a gentle, pitying gaze. It was the perfect image of a god as envisioned by mortals.

Shen Fuxin looked up and saw another idol nearby that had been broken and clumsily glued back together. It was a female deity with a cracked face holding a small medicine bottle. That is High God Yandan.

The dying girl opened her eyes. Her pale face was suddenly flushed with an unnatural and feverish red. It was the final glow of a life about to be extinguished. Her small hand reached out for Shen Fuxin’s while her idol slipped onto the bedding. She carefully propped it back up and smiled at Shen Fuxin.

“Sister, I think I’m better.”

Shen Fuxin remained silent.

“It must be the God of War who relieves suffering who saved me,” the girl whispered. “Mother says the God of War has great powers. He is in heaven and will not ignore the suffering of the world.”

In the last light of the sunset, Ji Ting and Shen Sha were busy at the cutting board. One was cooking soup and the other was butchering meat with hands stained with blood. They looked like the most ordinary of mortals who were accustomed to swallowing bitterness.

Shen Fuxin spoke with a cold voice. “This God of War who relieves suffering is utter bullshit.”

The girl froze. Shen Fuxin snatched the male idol and tossed it aside. Then, looking like a being that didn’t belong to this world, she stood up and took down the broken idol of Yandan and pressed it into the girl’s hands.

“It wasn’t that God of War who saved you,” Shen Fuxin said earnestly while pointing to the cracked ceramic. “It was High God Yandan. Do you understand?”

High God Yandan? The girl stared in confusion. Shen Fuxin’s fingertip brushed over the shattered face of the goddess. Instantly, the cracks vanished and the porcelain became smooth as new. The missing pieces filled in perfectly.

Before the girl could process the miracle, Shen Fuxin popped a cool and round pill into her mouth. It was a standard health restoring pill given to her by Yandan.

Shen Fuxin tilted the girl’s head back to help her swallow. The girl felt the burning heat in her body vanish and it was replaced by a soothing coolness. “High God Yandan?” she rasped.

“Yes, High God Yandan,” Shen Fuxin said. She stepped on the discarded male idol and crushed it into dust that vanished instantly. “If you can’t remember that, then just remember the sister who killed the pig and the sister who made the food.”

The aroma of meat began to fill the small yard. Shen Fuxin stood up and looked back at the girl who was now able to sit up on her own.

“Get up. It’s time to eat.”