Baihe’s pair of dark, ominous eyes swept across the silent crowd, stunned into frozen statues by her ghostly appearance. Nobody moved, even the wind was quiet and the trees were still. Satisfied with their reactions, her cold eyes landed on Prince Zhao’s stiff face.

Putting on her best actress skills, she imitated how vengeful spirits would behave based on her knowledge from modern day horror movies. Baihe didn’t need additional makeup because her complexion was already deadly pale. Her body showed evidence of malnutrition and her eye sockets were hollowed like a zombie. The long black hair added to the finishing touches as it framed down the entire length of her figure, covering most of her ghastly, white face, revealing a pair of dark, cold eyes.

It was said that most people in ancient days were extremely superstitious. Under the hands of Prince Zhao, how could a useless trash like her survive? Thus, in the hearts and minds of everyone present, they all believed her to be dead and the phantom before them was her vengeful spirit.

“Why did you kill me? Why? Injustice! Injustice!” Baihe adjusted her pitch as she wailed.

By sheer luck, gloomy clouds sheltered the sky as the world turned dark. The sun had abandoned the humans below and the moon refused to grace them with her presence tonight. Even the stars in the night sky were absent. The quiet wind suddenly howled, swaying the trees and flapping the edges of the robes worn by all the people.

Her white robe fluttered and her mass of long black hair fanned out from the gust of wind, creating an illusion like she was levitating inside the coffin.

To think that nightfall would arrive at such a pivoting moment…even heaven was on her side! Such a perfect opportunity, Baihe obviously wouldn’t waste the good will of heaven.

“I will haunt you for eternity! I will curse you! You shall never live in peace!” Her shrieking voice sent shivers down the spines of her audience. The angry wind carried her sinister words as they echoed throughout the eerie night.

A young lady’s scream broke the others out of their stupor. Fei Fei was sprawled on the ground, her butt kissing the hard pavement, while her knees were huddled close to her body as her mouth sprouted guilty words.

“It — it wasn’t me! It had nothing to do with me! It… it wasn’t me! N—not me!”

Baihe looked at her younger sister Fei Fei, born from the same father, but different mother. A frosty chill glazed over her heart as she stared at Fei Fei curled up in the fetal position. Unless one possessed a guilty conscious, such strong reaction was unwarranted.

Ah Fei Fei, seems like you and Prince Zhao both plotted together for my demise! In fact, based on the reactions of all those attending tonight’s funeral, they more or less knew the truth, but turned a blind eye to the crime. Some most likely even participated and were happy accomplices — her cheap father included. Good! Good! One day, this debt of grievance I’ll make sure to return back ten folds! No, hundred folds!

To deal with such shrewd people, one must target their weak spot. Adding an extra oomph behind her performance, she slowly lifted her slender arms and stretched both of them out in front of her. The sickly, pale hands dangled limply from the air like a white powdered jiangshi corpse stalking them. Everyone backed a few steps away, sticking closely to those behind them, almost to the point of stacking up together like sacks of rice.

At this moment of supernatural chaos, none of them were rational enough to realize that they were all martial art practitioners. Superstitious fear had overwhelmed their logical brain.

Altering the pitch of her voice again, Baihe raised it a few notches higher, summoning the sound of a spooky, creepy banshee. She unleashed her killing intent, the thick dangerous aura blanketed over every inch of the surface.

Such strong killing intent! Definitely a ghost! If they weren’t convinced before, now they were! Otherwise, based on the Baihe they knew, how could she be capable of such feast?

“All of you, I will make sure your generation of bloodline ends here. I curse you all! None of your offspring will live pass their mother’s womb! The prestigious ladies attending my funeral, by morning, your beauty will be gone along with time. And as for you Prince Zhao…” Her eyes darted to the frozen prince, hands quivering by his side.

“You shall never get the seat on the dragon throne! I’ll thwart your every path unless…”

Her warning wails penetrated their core and their weak hearts quaked in fear as they all held their breath, waiting with rapt attention for her conditions.

“Unless… you all complete three of my dying wishes; then, I’ll leave peacefully to the underworld. First condition…I’m hungry, so bow down to me and kowtow three times in respect while burning incense sticks.”

The moment her words were spoken, the group of people bustled into action. Since this was supposed to be a funeral, there were already joss sticks available. Each of them grabbed two incense sticks and burned them to appease the vengeful ghost. Their knees connected with the cold pavement as they all knelt down, holding the incense sticks before them to pay their respect.

Every one of them were selfish men with ambition and women with hidden agendas. None of them wanted their bloodline to end with them. They all wished for glory, wealth, and honor. All those present, were aligned with Prince Zhao. If kneeling down can appease a spirit and give way, then it was a small price to pay.

None of them dared to look at Baihe’s face anymore as they were all busy praying earnestly on the ground while holding the burning incense sticks. Seeing the high and mighty Prince Zhao, bowing down with his head lowered as he paid her respect, a small dose of satisfaction drizzled into Baihe’s heart. Each time their forehead connected with the ground, the blissful sound rejuvenated Baihe’s mood.

In the same eerie voice, she continued her speech. “Hmm…good. That tasted delicious! Thank you for all the incense sticks. I was worried I would go hungry in the underworld. Leaving on a full belly will be much better. Now for my second condition…leave behind all your valuables, gold, and jewelries.”

Women began to remove their hairpins and jewelry; men removed their heavy money pouches. All of the valuables were dumped into a pile before Baihe. Contented with her free loot, she gave them her last wish. “Finally, set my coffin on fire. Let my ashes become one with the wind, as I journey to the underworld, hoping for a happy and free afterlife. After you’re done, all of you can scram!”

Immediately, a spark of fire brought the lively flames to life. None of them were willing to stay a moment longer and all of them scurried away as if they were the one being burned. Baihe scanned the surrounding, only after her sharp eyes confirmed that all of them were gone, did she hopped out of the coffin.

Such performance was worthy of an Oscar award! Either that, or these people were truly too gullible and easy to fool!

Author's Note: Thank you to all those who took the time to comment and leave feedback for me on my blog. For those who haven't already, I would love to hear from you; if not, I'm still happy to have you reading this novel and enjoying it.

For faster release and access to new chapters (usually ahead by a few chapters), always visit my blog at Queendrops.Wordpress.Com

I reply to all comments on my wordpress blog because I check it frequently and post new chapters there first, so do return to see my response if you leave feedback or comments. This is my appreciation to those who take time out of their day to leave a little comment; the least I could do is set some time aside and reply to their good wishes.

If you comment here on RRL, a reply will only be given when I check RRL, which will most likely be on a much, much later date.