Legend of Fu Yao

‘Little Princess… The youngest daughter of the Xuanji Empress? A princess, huh.’

‘The legendary prince in the Five Regions Continent… it’s him?’

‘It seems this princess is interested in him? Then again, he’s a rather handsome lad and is very intelligent too. Which girl wouldn’t? With his age, he would be able to get engaged since they get married early in the Five Regions Continent,’ she thought to herself.

As she was lost in her thoughts, she realized that her surroundings were completely silent. Then, she looked down, and to her utter shock, she had not properly kept the Xuanji Diagram. Half the diagram had slipped away and landed on the cupboard, while the other half had landed on the floor.

Her mind went blank as her heart quickened. Unsure whether the little princess had seen the diagram, she was torn between picking it up or leaving it there. But if the princess was quiet because her eyes were on this diagram, wouldn’t she expose herself?

Before she could come to a decision, the doors to the cupboard opened.

It was so sudden that she did not even notice any footsteps. After the initial blindness that the sudden brightness caused, she could see that in front of her was a red and gold dress with layers of hibiscus embroidered on to it, embellished with countless of pearls.

She heard a quiet “eh” before a small snow-white hand reached in, forcibly grabbing her chin up.

She stared into a pair of eyes.

Those eyes were not a boring black but mixed with a tinge of brown. In those eyes, it was as though there was a horizon, or perhaps, it was the shimmer of star light-years away that she was seeing. Those eyes were quietly profound, yet its gaze seemed to flicker as it landed on her.

Alluring eyes laced with a perplexing glint, it contained nothing of a youthful innocence or loneliness. Rather, those eyes resembled an abyss, an unfathomable abyss.

Lifting her chin in a rather derogatory manner, that little princess questioned her in a hubristic, authoritative manner, “Who are you?”

This time, she knew she wouldn’t be fooling anyone. She remained silent and turned away.

But that little princess probed no further as the princess looked her up and down. Surveying the surroundings, the realization hit the princess. “Very well, very well.” The princess laughed coldly as she nodded.

Then, the princess’ gaze landed on that half a piece of Xuanji diagram. Immediately, her face changed. She perused the diagram once more, again and again, and then, closed her eyes. Then, she lunged forward to grab that diagram.

Anxiously, she snatched the diagram over. Her long nails slit across the skinny girl’s hands leaving bloody streaks of red.

Unbothered, the skinny girl quickly stuffed the diagram into her dress.

The skinny girl was caught by surprise. She never expected the princess would try to snatch that. The princess’ eyes focused on her. Those initially calm and peaceful eyes were completely replaced with a tinge of wrath that even the skinny girl with the 22-year-old soul feared.

Then, that princess laughed.

Her laugh did not reach her cold eyes. Suddenly, the princess flung her sleeves and brushed past the girl’s face.

“What’s this?” She laughed inimically. “He wrote it? No wonder someone said he was here, but he wasn’t? He saw you, didn’t he? He saw you, didn’t he?”

She repeated the last sentence twice. The second time, her tone was icy cold as if lying on a block of ice.

“You? Just you?” She inspected the girl in the cupboard in a blatant, unrespectful manner. The corner of her lips twitched contemptuously, mixed with the fury of being defeated by this unseeming, disheveled girl. Then, she laughed.

The laugh was gentle, with hints of pity in it. “I guess I wouldn’t have to search for that diagram from you, it’s way too filthy,” she whispered tenderly.

The princess smiled as she closed the door, pulling out a lock from god knows where. The lock latched with a click and the moment darkness took over the girl’s vision, she heard:

“You will obediently offer it to me yourself.”

The cupboard was locked. Between the gaps where the sparse amount of light entered, a rainbow was reflected momentarily from that princess’ lavish dress. And then, it slowly disappeared. That prideful princess no longer said anything and actually left.

She heaved a sigh of relief. Hugging her knees, she continued waiting quietly in the darkness.

That little princess was definitely up to no good, but even so, the girl was powerless and could only wait in the darkness for the unknown fate to descend upon her.

‘I hope he comes, I hope he comes…’

Footsteps resounded once more from outside. This time, she did not move. She could tell it was her mother’s anxious footsteps.

Aside from her mother’s footsteps, she could hear another’s. It was so familiar, so hateful!

She began to tremble as she felt the hot and the cold alternately prickling against her skin, grinding against her skin like coarse sand to the point where her skin seemed to split apart.

No, no, no, no, no, no!

She could hear the muffled conversations from outside.

“… Her Highness has called for me. I’m already off duty, so I wonder what is wrong. Eunuch Lu… Sorry to trouble you…”

“Fret not! Go ahead with ease,” the voice coated with sincerity replied.

“… Sorry to trouble you every time…” Mother said between sobs. “Back then, when I was giving birth to her, it was thanks to you too… I don’t have anything to thank you with…”

“Why are you bringing this up, it’s been such a long time.” That ever so honest and benevolent voice responded. But to the girl’s ears, this voice was nothing short of sickening and repulsive. She began to tremble as her stomach churned and gastric juices seemingly rushing up the throat. She felt nauseous, yet she couldn’t vomit anything out. Everything seemed to choke her, preventing her from breathing normally. She sat there, drowning in that never-ending darkness. She struggled and struggled in that sea of darkness and disgust, begging for help…

‘Don’t let him come over! Please don’t let him come over! I’m begging you please!’

Her thoughts raced quietly as cold sweat dripped. All functions of language seemed to completely shut down, and the words she wanted to say choked her as they remained unsaid. The world seemed to collapse around her, covering her in its debris.

Her mother could not hear her silent cries of help and rushed out, unsettled.

But this time, she left and was never able to return.

Those heavy footsteps echoed in the room, louder and louder by the moment, obnoxiously, announcing its unwelcomed arrival. The spaces between the footsteps were filled with creepily, eager, and lascivious laughter.

‘Don’t let him come over! Please don’t let him come over! I’m begging you please!’

The inaudible cries for help and painful struggles were unable to save her from the five years of suffering; thousands of nights.

Through the gap, she could see a pair of feet in black shoes; a familiar pair of shoes that the monster of her dreams would wear.

A pasty pair of hands with its urine-like odor made its way into the cupboard, slithering over like a snake slowly and steadily.

It swayed from side to side like a snake, with those uncommon slender fingers, it explored the darkness, skillful searching for the body of that child.

She trembled and curled into a ball, retreating into the corner of the cupboard, just like she did in the past. She desperately wanted to shrink herself and become a part of those smelly, moldy wood. She wanted to be the dust, pieces of wood, air, anything except… her.

That snake slithered freely along… Tears dripped down her face in the dark as she hit her head against the cupboard wall.

‘You promised to come back and find me. You promised me! Why aren’t you back? Why aren’t you back?!’

… Those fingers meandered around, morphing into a snake that wrapped itself around her body… And then it moved away…

That eunuch seemed to enjoy the process of hunting for his prey. It seemed to give his empty and repetitive lifestyle a different kind of excitement—this lowly eunuch that was robbed away of his masculinity could too, regain his power by controlling someone’s will and… body.

In front of this tiny, powerless child, he could retrieve the power long taken away from him.

The biggest compensation for his tragic, sorrowful life.

He giggled excitedly as his fingers caressed her body till he had enough and then headed for the place, with accuracy and precision, he had wanted to enter since the very beginning…

“Ahh!”

“Ahh!”

Meng Fuyao jumped out of bed in cold sweat. She knocked down the table, destroyed the chair, put out the light, and screamed in agony.

With a bunch of sheets on her, she dashed out of the room. In that instant, there was no more light in her vision. All that was left was endless darkness.

In the boundless darkness, the burden of life was too heavy!

The thousands of night living in the wooden hell with never-ending pain, hunger, and silence. That perpetually curled tiny body stuffed into the cupboard, the bitter winter and exhausting summer. Days of darkness with occasional light entering through the gaps of the cupboard. That inescapable sexual abuse and humiliation by the perverted eunuch…

Ah—

Why did she have to remember? Why did she have to know? Why? Why? Why?! Those painful and humiliating memories!

14 years ago, she had chosen to forget the nightmares and never remember it again. But why, why must her wounds be torn open, letting her see her sufferings through this bloody lens?

She yelled towards the sky and rushed out. She did not know where or what she was running into, but she felt that everyone in this universe was her enemy. The thing called fate stood at the top of the mountain, watching her as she became all broken and battered up with each obstacle. Struggling, she would then stand back up, only for fate to send another obstacle in her way.

She screamed, alarming the entire inn. Morphing into a huge typhoon, the furniture raised with the wind, hurled out of the room.

Suddenly, a white figure appeared with a flash.

Zong Yue rushed out from the next room.

But at this point, Meng Fuyao, taken over by her emotions, was unable to recognize anyone. All she saw was a snow-white figure. A snow-white… Icy mountain… An obstacle to be shattered!