Ning Caichen, a native of Zhejiang Province, was noted for his galantry, integrity and upright character. He often used to say, “In my whole life, I’ve only had my wife and never another woman.”
He was on his way to Jinhua when he came to a temple outside the north city gate and put down his luggage to rest. The temple hall and pagoda were splendid, but the man-high wild grass suggested that it had been neglected for a long time. The doors of the rooms on the east and west, usually occupied by the monks, were closed but unlocked; only a small room to the south seemed to have a new lock. East of the hall were tall bamboos, so big you needed both hands to clasp one. At the foot of the steps leading from the hall was a big pond in which wild lilies bloomed. Ning Caichen rather liked the quietude of this place. He figured that because the imperial examiner was in Jinhua at the moment, supervising the examinations for candidates for officialdom, rent in the city must be very high, so he thought he might as well stay here. He strolled about in the temple courtyard, waiting for the monks to return.
At sunset, a scholar came to the temple and opened the small south room. Ning went up immediately to greet him and told him he would like to spend some days there. The scholar said, “There’s no caretaker here. I’m a temporary tenant, too. Since you don’t mind the wilderness and solitude, I would be most fortunate to have you teach me in the morning and evening.”
Very pleased, Ning spread out some straw for a bed, put up a plank for a desk and decided to make this his home for the time being. That night, the moon was high and the evening sky as bright and clear as water. The two men sat on the veranda outside the hall and talked, introducing themselves to each other. “My family name is Yan, and I call myself Chixia,” the scholar said. Ning guessed that he was a xiucai who was going to sit for the examination, but from his accent, he did not sound like he was from Zhejiang. On inquiring, he was told, “I’m from Shaanxi.” The man spoke with simplicity and earnestness. When there was nothing more to say, he cupped his hands together and said goodnight. Then he went back to his room to sleep.
As this was a totally new place for him, Ning Caichen lay awake for a long time. Suddenly, he heard the soft voices of people talking north of the house. Somebody seemed to live there. He got up and stealthily crouched beneath the stone-framed window on the north wall and had a peep. Outside the low wall was a small courtyard. Two women were chatting in the moonlight. One was a woman in her forties, the other an elderly woman dressed in an old, faded red jacket. Set in her hair was a big silver comb. She was bent at the waist and hunchbacked and looked very old. The younger woman asked, “Why hasn’t Xiaoqian been here for such a long time?” The older one replied, “She’ll probably show up any time.” “Has she been complaining to you?” the other continued. “I haven’t heard. But I can tell from her expression that she’s not very happy” Then the woman said, “We shouldn’t be too kind to that girl!” She had hardly finished when a girl of seventeen or eighteen came up to them. She seemed very lovely. The old woman laughed and said, “You mustn’t talk behind people’s backs. We were just talking about you, you little witch, and here you are, tip-toeing up. Good thing we weren’t saying anything bad about you. Then she added, “You really are a beauty straight out of a painting, you little woman. If I were a man, I would certainly be enticed by you!” The girl said, “If you don’t praise me, Granny, who will?” Then she whispered something to the other woman which he couldn’t hear. Ning thought they must be members of the neighbor’s family, so he gave up listening and went back to bed. After a long while, it became totally quiet outside.
He was just about to fall asleep when he sensed someone come in. He quickly sat up and opened his eyes wide. It was the girl from the north courtyard. Astonished, he asked what she had come for. The girl smiled and said, “I couldn’t sleep on this moonlit night. So, I thought I’d spend the night with you.” At that, Ning said in all seriousness, “You shouldn’t risk ridicule and gossip. I don’t like to hear rumors and slanders, either. You have only to misbehave once to lose all your integrity and fall into moral degeneration.” But the girl said, “Nobody will know at this hour of night.” Ning harshly rebuked her. The girl hesitated as though she still had something to say, but Ning shouted at her, “Go away, quick, or I will call the scholar in the south room.” This frightened the girl and she withdrew. But then she came back and placed a gold ingot on the quilt. Ning picked it up and threw it onto the steps outside, saying, “That’s ill-gotten wealth. It will soil my luggage!” Ashamed, the girl picked up the gold ingot and mumbled to herself, “This man must have a heart of stone!”
Early next morning, a scholar from Lanxi County arrived with his servant and took up residence in the east wing, waiting for the examination to start. That night, he suddenly died. On the sole of his foot people found a small hole as if made by an awl. A thin trickle of blood was flowing from it. No one could explain the matter. The next night, the servant died too and the symptoms were the same. When the scholar Yan returned that evening, Ning Caichen asked if he could explain the strange happenings. Yan believed it was the work of ghosts and demons. Ning, with his strong and upright character, didn’t think much of that explanation. At midnight, the girl from the northern courtyard came again and said to Ning Caichen, “I’ve met many people, but never have I met anyone who is as hard-hearted as you. You are a sage. I dare not deceive you. My name is Xiaoqian, and my family name is Nie. I died at the young age of eighteen and was buried by the temple. I have constantly been threatened by demons who force me to do all sorts of low things. When I put on a smiling face and seduce men, it is really against my own will. Now that there’s no one else left in the temple to harm, I’m afraid they will send a yaksha to harm you.” (Trans. Note： A yaksha is a malevolent spirit that deliberately harms people.) Ning felt a little panicky, so he asked her what he should do. Xiaoqian said, “If you stay with the scholar Yan, you’ll be safe. “Why haven’t you tried to seduce him?” asked Ning, to which Xiaoqian replied, “He is a strange man. I don’t dare approach him.” Ning then asked, “How do you go about seducing and harming people?” Xiaoqian said,”Whoever plays with me, I prick the sole of his feet with an awl without his knowing, and when he falls into a coma, I suck out his blood for the demons to drink. Sometimes I lure people with gold. Actually, it is not gold but the bone of a demon. Whoever accepts it will have his heart gouged out. Women and gold are the two things used to satisfy the lust of ordinary people.” Ning thanked her and asked what time he should guard against the evil spirit. Xiaoqian said, tomorrow night. Bidding goodbye, she cried and said, “I have fallen into the dark, bitter sea and cannot see the shore. You are upright and lofty in spirit, you can surely rescue me from the bitter sea. If you would collect my bones and bury them in a safer place, it would be as good as bringing me back to life. Ning Caichen promised her that without hesitation. He asked where her original burial place was, and she said, “Just remember there’s a poplar tree on which the crows have made a nest.” Having said that, she floated out of sight.
The next day, fearing that the scholar Yan might go out, Ning invited him over early in the morning. By eight or nine o’clock, he had wine and food ready. As they drank together, he examined Yan to see what was unique about him. Then he proposed sleeping together at night, which Yan rejected, saying that he was by nature unsociable and preferred leading a quiet life. But Ning, regardless of his friend’s objection, carried his bedding over to the southern room, and Yan had no other choice but to move his cot aside to make way for Ning. He said to Ning, “I know you are an upright man and I respect you for that. But there are some secrets I cannot reveal to you all at once. I only hope that you will not open and look into my case and bundle, otherwise if something undesirable happens, it will benefit neither of us.” Ning sincerely accepted his advice. Then they both went to bed.
Yan first put his case on the window sill and seconds after he lay down, he was snoring like thunder. Ning, however, could not fall asleep. At about the first watch, a shadow seemed to appear outside the window. It pressed near the window and looked in, its eyes flashing with light. The frightened Ning Caichen was just going to wake up Yan when something brilliant shot forth from the case like a roll of white silk. It cut through the stone lattice of the window, made a quick dart at something and then withdrew into the case again, as quick as a flash of lightning. Conscious of what had happened, Yan got out of bed, while Ning pretended to be asleep and watched secretly on the side. Yan held up his small case and examined it. Then he took something out of it, held it up in the moonlight and smelled and scrutinized it. The thing was two inches
long and about as thin as a chive leaf, and shone with a bright light. Then he wrapped it up in several layers and put it back into the torn case, saying to himself as he did so, “The old devil. He’s bold enough to come here. And now my case is ruined.” Then he lay down again. Astounded by the miracle, Ning got up and told Yan everything that he had seen, asking for an explanation. Yan said, “Since you and I know each other quite well now, I should not hide the truth from you any more. I am a swordsman. If it hadn’t been for the stone lattice, the demon would have surely been killed on the spot. As it is, it must have been wounded.” What’s that thing you wrapped up?” Ning asked. Yan said, “A sword. Just now when I sniffed it, it had the smell of a demon.” Ning wanted to have a look, so Yan generously showed it to him. It was a small sword glistening with a cold light. From then on, Ning respected Yan even more.
When day broke, Ning Caichen saw a pool of blood outside the window. He walked out of the temple to the north side. Amid the many untended graves, he saw a poplar tree with a crow’s nest in it. When he had finished the preparations for transferring Xiaoqian’s remains to a new site, he spared no time putting his things together and getting ready to go home. Yan gave a send-off dinner for him and the two exchanged profound sentiments. Yan gave Ning a worn leather bag, saying, “This is a scabbard. Keep it and the ghosts and demons will stay away from you.”Ning expressed a wish to learn swordsmanship from him, to which Yan replied, “Being just and righteous as you are, you can learn swordsmanship. However, you are destined to become a rich man of high status, and that belongs to a different category from a swordsman!” Then Ning, under the pretext that his sister was buried behind the temple, went and dug up Xiaoqians bones, wrapped them up in his clothes and bedsheet, hired a boat and carried them home.
Ning’s study stood near the village outskirts. He built a new tomb next to it and buried Xiaoqian’s remains there. He placed some offerings at the tomb and prayed to the dead, saying, “You pitiful soul, who are without a dear one to depend on, I have buried you near my hut so that whether singing or weeping, we can hear each other. Perhaps this will protect you from being humiliated by the ghosts again. Here I offer you this cup of wine, though it cannot be described as sweet and fragrant. Please do not be offended.” Having finished the prayer, he turned to go home, but someone called from behind, “Slow down! Wait for me!” He turned around and saw it was Xiaoqian. She came up to him cheerfully and thanked him. “You keep your word. You’re loyal to a friend. I can never repay you even if I died ten times. Please let me go home with you and pay my respects to my parents-in-law. Or I can be your concubine, or your servant. I will never regret it.” Ning looked at her closely and saw that her complexion was tender and rosy like the glow in the sky, her tiny feet were as delicate as the tip of a bamboo shoot. In daylight, she appeared more attractive than ever. So he took her into the study and made her sit down and wait while he went in first to tell his mother. Ning’s mother was shocked and bid her son not to mention it to his sick wife so as not to shock her. While they were discussing the matter, Xiaoqian walked in with light steps and knelt down before the mother. “This is Xiaoqian,” Ning introduced her. The mother looked at the girl and was greatly alarmed. Xiaoqian said, “I am all alone, far from my parents and brothers. Thanks to the young master’s benevolence, I have been nourished by him as the flowers are nourished by rain and dew. I am willing to be his concubine, at his beck and call all my life, in repayment for his infinite kindness.” Seeing that she was slender and pretty, Ning’s mother became bolder and said to her, “I am overjoyed to learn that you are willing to look after my son. But I have only this one son and it is he who must continue the family line. Therefore, I dare not let him marry a ghost wife.” Xiaoqian said, “I have no evil intention whatsoever. I am but someone from the underworld. Since you have no faith in me, then allow me to regard him as a brother and let me remain at your side to serve you, his mother. Would you agree to that?” Moved by her sincerity and out of pity for her, Ning’s mother agreed. Right away, Xiaoqian wanted to pay her respects to her sister-in-law, but the mother said no, using her daughter-in-law’s illness as excuse. So Xiaogian went to the kitchen and did the cooking for the mother, moving around familiarly as if she had lived there for a long time.
When night came, Ning’s mother, with apprehension, urged Xiaoqian to go back to her own place of rest and would not provide her with a bed or quilt. Realizing what was on the mother’s mind, Xiaoqian left. Passing Ning’s study, she wanted to enter but stepped back. She lingered outside the hut as though afraid of something. Ning called her to come in, but she said, “There’s a sword atmosphere in your room, it’s scary. That’s the reason why I haven’t dared to show up and keep you company in the last few days.” Knowing it must be the leather scabbard she was afraid of, he took it down and hung it in another room. Only then did Xiaoqian enter. She sat down near the candlestick and was silent for a long time. Finally, she asked, “Do you read at night? I read the Leng Yan Jing when I was little but I’ve forgotten most of it now. Please lend me a book. You, brother, can teach me when you have some spare time in the evenings.” Ning consented. Again, Xiaoqian sat there in silence. The second watch had sounded, and she still said nothing about going back to her place. When Ning urged her to go back and rest, she said with a miserable look on her face, “A lonely soul from far away is particularly scared of a grave in the wild.” Ning said, “But there’s no other bed in this study for you to sleep on. Besides, even between brother and sister, one needs to avoid gossip.” Xiaoqian rose to her feet with knitted brows and misery on her face. She was on the verge of crying. Reluctantly, she lifted her foot but hesitated to take the step. Very slowly, she left the room and vanished as soon as she got to the steps. Ning was full of pity for her and would have let her sleep on another bed if it weren’t that he feared his mother’s disapproval. Every day, the first thing Xiaoqian did was to pay her respects to Ning’s mother, then bring her water and help her wash and comb, and then tend to other matters. Everything she did was done with meticulous care to please the mother. At dusk, she would leave the main hall and always go to Ning’s study to chant the sutras by candlelight, but when she saw that Ning was about to go to bed, she would sadly take her leave.
Prior to this, Ning’s wife had been so ill that she couldn’t do anything in the house, so that his mother was kept very busy and tired. Ever since Xiaoqian had come along to help, the old lady had felt very much relaxed and was grateful to her. As the days went by, she came to know her better and loved her like her own daughter, forgetting she was a ghost. When night came, she did not have the heart to tell her to go, so she let her sleep with her in her room. When she first came, Xiaoqian never ate anything and after six months, only had some porridge. Both mother and son were very fond of her and avoided referring to her as a ghost. Others couldn’t tell.
Soon, Ning’s wife passed away. His mother thought about letting her son marry Xiaoqian, but was afraid it might do him harm. Xiaoqian, for her part, had some idea of what was on the mother’s mind and so at the first opportunity, she said to her, “I’ve been here for more than a year, so you should know me now. It was precisely because I didn’t want to harm innocent folk that I followed the young master here. I have no other intention. He is so open and above-board that everybody admires him. Heaven admires him. To tell you the truth, I was thinking that if I serve him for four or five years, when he becomes an official, the Emperor might confer a title on me, thanks to him, and that will make life better for me in Hell.”
Ning’s mother was aware that Xiaoqian meant no ill, but she was afraid the girl would not be able to give birth and carry on the family line. However, Xiaoqian said, “Children are bestowed on us by Heaven. The young master is a lucky person. He is destined to have three worthy sons. That won’t change simply because he marries a ghost wife.” The mother was totally convinced, and when she talked it over with her son, Ning was also very happy. So at a grand banquet, the marriage was announced to all their friends and relatives. When several people asked if they could meet the bride, Xiaoqian walked into the hall with ease and confidence, dressed in a gorgeous new gown. Everybody in the room was dumb-founded. Rather than think she was a ghost, they wondered if she weren’t an angel from Heaven. So all the women among the friends and relatives came forward to congratulate her with gifts and vied to become acquainted with her. As she was a good painter of orchids and plum blossoms, she presented them each with a small painting in return. All those who received such a painting felt very honored and kept it as something precious.
One day, sitting with head bowed at the window, Xiaoqian looked ill at ease and troubled. She suddenly asked, “Where is the leather scabbard?” Ning said, “Since you are afraid of it, I wrapped it up and put it somewhere else.” Then Xiaoqian said, “I’ve been receiving the breath of mortals for so long, I shouldn’t be afraid of it any more. You had better get it and hang it up at the head of the bed.” Ning asked what she meant, and she said, “For three days now, I’ve been in a state of fear all the time. It must be that old demon at Jinhua who’s so angry at me for running far away that he will seek me out one of these days.” So Ning brought out the scabbard and Xiaoqian had a good look at it. She said, “This is what the sword god used to carry the heads of those he killed. Look how worn it is. I wonder how many people he killed! Even today, seeing it still makes my flesh crawl.” Then she hung it at the head of the bed.
The next day, she made Ning hang it on the door. That night, Xiaoqian, sitting by the candle, forbade her husband to sleep. Suddenly, a thing dropped to the ground from the sky, like a flying bird. Xiaoqian was so frightened that she hid behind the curtains. Ning looked and saw that it was something like the yaksha, with eyes emitting rays like lightning, a huge mouth and a bloody tongue. The light from his eyes was vicious. With teeth bared and paws outstretched, it was charging towards the hut. But at the door, it retreated a few steps and hesitated, bobbing back and forth for a long time. Gradually, it approached the scabbard and stretched out a paw to grab it as if it would tear it to pieces. All of a sudden, with a loud crack, the scabbard swelled to the size of a big basket and as it waved about, a goblin popped the upper part of its body out of it, grabbed the yaksha and pulled it into the bag. The cracking sound ended and the scabbard shrank to its original size. Ning Caichen was speechless with surprise. Xiaoqian came out from behind the curtains and said cheerfully, “It’s all over!” They looked at the scabbard and there was nothing but water inside.
A few years later, Ning Caichen passed the imperial examination at the highest level and became a jinshi while Xiaoqian gave birth to a baby boy. After Ning added a concubine to his household, the two women gave birth to two more sons. The boys all grew up to become officials, enjoying excellent reputations.
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