Chapter 14 - Fate (1/2)

Chapter 14: Fate

Translator: Jacquelin

Nima incinerated Ci’s bones and lute, and put the ashes in a box. After her death, she left him nothing but a handful of ashes.

It was unbearable to meet as well as to depart for all lovers. Ci was just like a passenger in Nima’s life who had brought him temporary happiness and then left him alone in the cold world. In the eyes of sad people, even the splendid spring, the hard-working bees and the beautiful butterflies would remind them of their sad stories.

‘I’m getting old, both physically and psychologically,’ Nima thought.

He finally knew why Yang Zhen had took such a huge rat back to Nima Mansion. It liked to stay in Ci’s bedroom. When he stroked it, it was so quiet and obedient. It turned out that the rat was Ci. Her experience was like going through purgatory and she had suffered a lot. There were lots of things that she wanted to say, however, the man she loved had stepped on her stomach, flung her to the ground and starved her to death before she was recognized by him.

‘Ci, were you indebted to me in your previous life?’ he thought to himself.

Nima was drunk. He lay on the bed in Ci’s bedroom, laughing and shouting, “Come here and play a tune for me… Give me this girl… Hahahaha…”

It was raining outside and lots of flowers wilted. The dead people were like petals in the mud, waiting for a reincarnation.

Rat became the most popular animal in Tange Town. Peasants stopped farming and began to catch rats. Why did they suddenly take a fancy to rats? Because the servants of Nima Mansion quietly started buying rats. A small rat could be exchanged for half a kilo of rice. A big rat was worth 1.8 ounces of fine silver.

Townsmen went around spreading the news. Soon everyone in Tange town knew it and it became a well-known secret.

People only cared about rice and silver, and nobody was curious about why the servants of Nima Mansion bought so many rats. Some villagers even thought that Nima was doing good deeds on the pretext of buying rats. In their eyes, Nima wanted to help them but was afraid that they wouldn’t accept charity because of their dignity. So he gave them rice and silver in the name of business.

The servants of Nima Mansion, with hoes in their hands, were digging a pit in the backyard day and night.

Ji Jing, Nidazu who had just learned to toddle, Ju Juxian and Yang Zhen were taken to the backyard. When they took off blindfolds, they were frightened and couldn’t help trembling violently.

It was spring already. The clear, bright moonlight was streaming into the backyard. The air was full of fragrance of flowers. Countless rats were squeaking in the deep pit. Because of hunger, some of the rats began to eat other rats. They disembowelled one another with sharp teeth and paws as if a couple hugged and kissed each other.

“Have you ever seen a pit of ten thousand rats?” Nima asked.

Ju Juxian, Ji Jing and Yang Zhen knelt down, shivering with fear. Nidazu, who was ignorant of worldly affairs, looked at those rats curiously. The pit was jammed with ten thousand rats. They were different colors and sizes, squeaking with hunger. There were also some golden-haired rats which looked cute. The pit was deep and the pit walls were so smooth that rats couldn’t climb out.

“Master, don’t!” Ju Juxian begged in a trembling voice, as her hand also shook violently.

“I don’t want to break the rules for you.” Nima raised his foot and kicked her into the pit. She gave a frightened scream and soon disappeared in the waves of rats. Her clothes and shoes could be seen at first, but after a while, nothing was left but hungry rats.

“Master, I will jump into the pit myself.” Ji Jing whimpered, “I only hope that you can forgive Nidazu. He’s your son. You like him best, don’t you?”

She held Nidazu down and forced him to kowtow to Nima. “Come on, beg your father to pardon you.”

Nima looked at Nidazu. This boy was indeed smart and sensitive.