Fuzhu's Ballad

2

Chapter 2 Purgatory

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Pain ripped Lan Dan’s face. Her whole head hurt so much that she just wanted to smash it to pieces.

When would it end? Would it… never end?

Her despair at this moment was a thousand times worse than she had ever felt before. Suddenly, the light hit her swollen eyes, shining into her heart like a beacon of life.

Life? In fact, she was yearning for the opposite. This agony was too excruciating that she only wanted relief. On the high platform that day, she died with a resolute conviction that she would bear any punishment for her crime, even if it meant an eternity of suffering. Yet in just a few days, she could no longer endure. Maybe she even misestimated. Who knew how long it had been? Maybe just a few hours.

Someone applied a cooling balm to her face, providing some much-needed relief from the pain.

She let out a long sigh, grateful for any means to end this torment.

“Looks like you’ve made it,” an old, indifferent voice said. “Given the copious amount of Mafeisan I used, especially since it was my own carefully concocted blend, you’re lucky to have survived.” The old man sneered a few times. “Sure enough, the wicked ones live for thousands of years.”

Lan Dan’s mobility and speech were still impaired. It turned out that someone had rescued her, but her savior didn’t seem to have any kindness towards her.

“Because your bones were moved, I have to use the maximum dosage of Mafeisan. I can’t say how long it will last but in the future, your arms and legs may not be very flexible. Don’t ask me anything because I don’t have answers. I was just entrusted by someone to help you change your appearance.”

Entrusted by someone? Lan Dan pondered the words carefully. Who could it be?

All she could think of was Shentu Cheng.

Except for him, everyone who knew her hated her to the bones, so who else would come to save her?

Under the care of the old man, she gradually improved. Her face was no longer as painful, and the swelling in her eyes have significantly reduced. She could even open her mouth slightly to accept some liquid food. However, her left leg and left arm felt very stiff, making it difficult to get up and walk. She was like a semi-paralyzed person.

The old man never spoke to her again, but contempt and disgust were clearly written on his wrinkled face. However, he was very meticulous in taking care of her injuries. His medical skills were truly extraordinary.

Lan Dan soon discovered that the thatched hut where she and the old man were staying was just next to the mass grave. No wonder she could always smell the stench of corpses. The hut actually belonged to a grave keeper.

Clad in tattered clothes, her head was wrapped in a clean gauze under a layer of dirty cloth strips. The unwashed hair, coupled with the abnormal gait, made her looked like a disabled hag who could only marry a grave keeper.

This year’s snow was more frequent than in previous years. The miserable white cover made the remote mass grave even more desolate and dilapidated. Lan Dan felt surreal, unsure whether the vibrant and splendid world she had seen a few days ago was real, or if the bleak graveyard in front of her was the reality. Who was she in the past, and who was she now? No one talked to her, and she didn’t want to talk. The past and the future were both burdens for her.

The battered wooden carts carrying heavy loads creaked along the solitary pathway as the handymen grumpily treaded on the snow. Disgusted and fed up, they brutally dumped the corpses into the shallow pit. Lan Dan saw them daily, sometimes making several trips in a day. In the beginning, they would wrap the bodies in simple straw mats before burying them, but later they became impatient and simply tossed the bodies in. They even threw several bodies into one shallow grave, and the loess used to cover the pit could not conceal their clothings. Lan Dan sat on the stone beside the wicker door and stared blankly at the abandoned bodies… She recognized many of them.