The Traveler's Contract

Side Story - Linghun Jiasuo

     There was once a mortal who could see the red threads of fate ever since she was born. She could see who was connected to who, who had their threads intertwined, and those whose thread was

broken. She thought that it was normal, that everyone could see what she could. As soon as she could speak, she talked about these threads.

     Her parents thought that they had given birth to a demon even though their daughter looked very normal with brown skin and green hair. Both of them were simple mortal beings and they didn't know who cursed their child. They named her Linghun, for she could see your soul.

     Once Little Linghun was old enough, her parents made a pilgrimage to Jueyun Karst and seeked the knowledge of the Adepti. They were successful, but the information they received finalized her fate. She would see the threads that bind others forever. Fearing persecution, they made sure that Linghun would not see any other individual. They made a small hut in the mountains where she could stay the whole day and would only take her back home at night or whenever it rains. Her parents made excuses; she was very frail and needed the fresh air in the mountains all the time.

     Because of these circumstances, Linghun preferred the company of animals and birds. They never had any threads of fate connected, and her parents wouldn't yell at her if she was with her animal friends. This would go on until she reached womanhood. She never saw her own thread, not even a glimpse of it.

     One day, her mother finally asked her about her father's thread and she told her the truth.

     Her parents' threads were not in a knot, but going in different directions. Her mother asked her further, who was connected to her father? It is your sister, Linghun replied. She thought that it would be a great thing that her father and her mother's sister were connected. That's when Linghun's mother realized that whenever she would go to Linghun's hut, her husband would be in her sister's bed.

     Soon enough, her mother would bring one of her 'friends' into the mountain hut, someone who has his thread tied to her mother's, and Linghun would be tasked to gather Qingxin flowers. It would take her the entire afternoon to gather a bunch of them. Her mother and her male friend were happy that Linghun's flowers were freshly picked, which also made her very happy.

     Linghun reached the age where she was finally ready to marry, but her parents decided that she was too frail to wed. She believed them and told them that she would rather be with her animal friends.

     One day she saw poachers trying to hunt her friends down and in her desperation, she pulled into their thread and used her teeth to cut it off. As soon as the thread was cut, that person's heart changed. They lost all passion and drive until madness consumed them.

     One stormy day, Linghun was supposed to be brought to her home; however, no one went for her. She waited for a long time until the night started to fall. Her mother's friend appeared, with bloodshot eyes and anger in his heart. Linghun had also told her father about her mother's thread, and he struck his blade on her before he took his own life. Her mother's friend yelled in rage, and Linghun cowered in fear. Then he pulled her inside the hut as the storm raged on. She cried and prayed to the gods as he besmirched her purity throughout the night. When dawn came, Linghun woke up and saw thin green vines all around the room and from her abuser, as if the vines grew from inside him, and a small green gemstone with the sign of Dendro on her chest.

     She ran as shrubs tore her dirty clothes, she ran through the throbbing pain in her core, she ran away from the sight of her abuser's lifeless eyes.

     She reached her house and saw her neighbors gathered around, and they told her how her parents died. She was swarmed with all of the threads around her and overwhelmed her heart. Linghun passed out and was taken by one of her neighbors. The neighbor's husband was a burly man and disapproved of Linghun's presence. That's when she learned how to coax the threads. She would pull his thread slightly which will change his perspective about her. She practiced on this man until her kind neighbor, the one who took her in, noticed that her husband preferred to be in Linghun's company than hers, so she was thrown out. Linghun's response was to cut their threads before leaving and not a week has passed when the couple has killed each other as well.