Zhao Hun

Original Title: 招魂

Author: Shan Zhi Zi

Raw Link: Zhao Hun

Male Lead:

Female Lead:

Synopsis:

—A fallen boudoir lady × a dead young general—

From a spirited youth among the noble sons of Wuling to a traitorous and treacherous minister, the crimes of Xu Hexue’s life were too numerous to record. Even fifteen years after he had confessed and died, people in the streets and marketplaces of Great Qi still spoke of his past and spat curses at his misdeeds.

Ni Su never imagined that in the fifteenth year after Xu Hexue’s death, she would meet him in a vast expanse of snowy wilderness. He was nothing like the ferocious fiend described in rumors, nor a towering monster several zhang tall with a green face and protruding fangs. He wore the dark black cloak she had just burned to ashes, carried a solitary lantern, and though the wind did not stir his clothes nor the snow settle upon his shoulders, he walked barefoot to her side.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Countless times Ni Su regretted that, had she known the garment was meant for Xu Hexue, she would never have lit that brazier.

But later, when her elder brother vanished, her estate and fields were seized, and she fell into the dust and mud in her most wretched state, it was only the lone soul of Xu Hexue who remained by her side. He accompanied her as she gritted her teeth and rose from the mire, straightened her back, searched for her brother, and sought justice. He stayed with her through rain and snow, through winter and spring.

When Ni Su finally fulfilled her long-cherished wish and parted ways with Xu Hexue, she donned her bridal gown to marry a suitor of fine family background, appearance, and bearing.

Yet that night, the solitary spirit Xu Hexue sat beneath a tree heavy with frost, and saw the girl dressed all in red come running through wind and snow, her arms full of incense candles.

“Not getting married?” he asked.

“I am,” she replied.

Xu Hexue tightened his jaw and turned his face aside, unwilling to speak to her further.

But the girl beneath the tree looked up at him, her temples wet with melted snow.

“Xu Hexue, I have plenty of incense and candles. I can support you for a long, long time. I am not afraid of the divide between the living and the dead. Let us spend our lives like this, shall we?”