Chapter 1: The Demon King's Selection of His Queen Consort

  What is life for? How much helplessness and pain are there? If life was originally like this, I am powerless to resist...

  The Tianli calendar year 365, July 15th.

  Today is the annual Ghost King's Concubine Selection of Tiancang Kingdom, one hundred pure yin females gathered outside the Black Bamboo Forest west of the Imperial City, wailing cries shook heaven and earth, the helplessness of women, the pain of family members all turned into despair here.

  I was originally the fifth 'daughter' of Zuo Xiang, but because I killed my mother at birth and belonged to the nine 'yin' fate, I was thrown into a corner of the West Garden. On the surface, someone would call me "Fifth Miss", but everyone knew that this illegitimate daughter who killed her mother at birth, Fifth Miss, wasn't even as good as a maid.

  The Tiancang Kingdom selects the girl with the heaviest 'yin' energy every year to be presented as a "gift" to the Ghost King, and the Black Bamboo Forest west of the Imperial City is where the Ghost King chooses his concubines. As one of the nine 'yin' lives, I am among these hundred girls.

  My father, Zaixiang Mei Gang, didn't even glance at me before ordering the eunuchs to throw me into the white flower palanquin sent by the palace.

  In the sixteen years, he had never really seen me. Even during New Year's Eve dinner gatherings, I would not allow myself to appear among family members. Sometimes I even doubted whether he knew what I looked like or remembered that there was a "daughter" in the corner of the West Garden.

  The Ghost King's selection of his queen is simple: those who can escape from the black bamboo forest on the west side of the imperial palace within one night will be considered to have escaped a calamity, while those who fail to escape will be chosen by the Ghost King. The consequences are unknown.

  I don't know how many innocent women die here every year, but I do know that I don't want to escape. Without family, without comfort, what's the point of escaping?

  Watching others have family by their side, I feel a deep sorrow in my heart.

  As the eunuchs, dressed in mourning attire, shouted loudly and began to clear the area, the guards holding long spears led away the wailing family members. Outside the black bamboo forest, only we, a hundred white-clad women, remained, sobbing softly.

  The sky's color is getting darker and darker, the black cloud in the west is slowly pressing over, the atmosphere on the scene is becoming more and more depressing. The old eunuch shouted "Time has come, present the gift!"

  As he finished speaking in his shrill voice, the long spear-wielding guards aimed their spearheads at us and step by step forced us closer to the black bamboo forest.

  The sky gradually darkened, the women around me had already begun to flee towards the depths of the bamboo forest. The soldiers behind would shoot poisonous arrows into the bamboo forest in a moment, if we didn't hide in time, there was only one way to die.

  I didn't run, I just walked slowly towards the depths of the bamboo forest, no hope means no disappointment.

  "Ah!" A girl was tripped by a fallen bamboo, and an arrow pierced her thigh. The black poisonous liquid instantly corroded the wound on her thigh.

  "Ah...... I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" She wailed and struggled, but in the next second, another flying arrow was stuck in her face, and blood splattered out.

  My body was pulled by someone, and a girl frowned at me: "Don't you hurry up and leave, are you stupid? As long as we reach a safe distance, those poisonous arrows can't hit us."

  The girl has big eyes and thick eyebrows, with a sunny disposition.

  I smiled slightly and ran deep into the bamboo forest. The bamboo forest was very large, people had already dispersed, in the dark, I could only move forward relying on my senses.

  The wind blew through the bamboo forest, a dark and gloomy atmosphere prevailed, fine rain fell down, accompanied by lightning, I saw a face staring at me in the flash of lightning ahead.

  A chill ran down my spine and I involuntarily took two steps back.

  "Sand..." Suddenly, I remembered a breathing sound beside my ear. A gust of cold wind blew towards me, and I turned around to look, but there was no one there.

  I spread my legs and ran, my previous calmness was gone, facing the choice between life and death, I still chose life.

  "Ah......" A woman's shrill cry echoed through the bamboo forest.

  I feel countless hands stretching out from the muddy ground, wanting to hold onto my legs, wanting to tear apart my advancing footsteps. It's as if there is a ghostly shadow following me, with the rustling sound constantly impacting my ears.

  I saw a bright light in front of me, I knew that those evil things were afraid of the light, so I ran towards that direction.

  In the bamboo forest, there is a spacious open space. In the open space, there is a two-story small building with red lanterns hanging from it. The rhombus-shaped copper bell in the wind and rain makes a clear sound.

  I think I saw hope, a living hope. As long as I run over there and hold on for one night, tomorrow when I get out of the bamboo forest, I will be free. At that time, I will leave the Zuo Xiang's house, go to a place where no one knows me, change my name and live a life of my own.

  A sudden idea made me extremely excited, the feeling of helplessness disappeared instantly, I suddenly found the direction for my future life, and ran even more vigorously.

  It's almost open space, I ran quickly while looking back.

  A female ghost with long white hair trailing behind her, covering her face, and floating half a meter off the ground stretched out her hand to chase me, I could almost see her eyes through her thick white hair.

  My speed increased again, at Zuo Xiang Fu, I was doing rough work every day, my body was still okay, in less than a minute, I had already rushed into that small hut.

  In the great hall of the small building, several white-clad women were huddled together weeping. Seeing me rush in, they let out a frightened "ah" and cried out in disarray.

  At this moment, the red lantern in front of the house suddenly flashed a few times and went out. A bolt of lightning cut across the sky with a loud crackle. A wild beast's cry suddenly came from the room on the second floor.

  "Ah wu......" The sound seemed like it was going to rush down from upstairs, scaring several girls who immediately ran out with their legs spread apart.

  I am the only one left standing in the hall, unable to see anything inside the house. How did the lanterns get lit just now? There must be a lighter. Living alone in this small courtyard for sixteen years, I have grown accustomed to this darkness.

  Groping around in the room, I finally found a lighter in the corner of the kitchen, lit the candle on the table, and only then did I notice that on the wall opposite the red candle was a big red wedding character.

  Although this room has strange noises, it's still better than the haunted bamboo forest outside. Plus, it's raining outside, so compared to that, this place is not bad.

  I picked up a red candle and headed to the second floor. In the air, I always felt that there were a pair of eyes staring at me from behind. I turned back several times, but didn't see anything.

  Upon arriving at the second floor, a stone coffin was placed in front of me, its lid open. It seemed as if some kind of voice was coming from inside... Ah wu, ah wu...

  I was startled, tightly holding the candle, leaning against the wall, wondering if a corpse would jump out of the coffin? Would he strangle my neck and devour me? I imagined a terrifying scene in my mind.