The Trial of Mortal Love - Chapter 1

Before we parted in the mortal world, Mother made me sign a document severing our family ties.

“I don’t know if it’ll work,” she said, “but it can’t hurt to be prepared.”

“If you’re unlucky enough to get caught, you must cry and insist you cut ties with the Taotie clan long ago.”

“Tell them I found you somewhere. I’m not your real mother.”

“Child, you kissed that man yourself. You’ll have to take the blame for the trouble you stirred up. Understand?”

I nodded firmly. “Yes, Mother. I don’t want to drag the rest of you into it.”

She patted my head gently. “Good. From now on, don’t come back unless it’s a matter of life and death!”

With that, she turned and left.

Only then did I remember I had no money.

“Mother, you could at least leave me some money or a treasure…”

Her voice drifted back from a distance. “The more I interfere with your life, the easier it’ll be to trace you.”

She called out one final warning. “Remember, before a Taotie reaches adulthood in their true form, their mind isn’t fully developed. We aren’t very bright.”

“Think things through when something happens. Don’t let anyone fool you.”

“Don’t worry, Mother,” I answered earnestly.

And so I began drifting around the mortal world.

For the first twenty-odd years, I stayed hidden deep in the mountains.

But I grew tired of eating wild game. Taotie loved food, and I wanted to taste every delicacy the world had to offer.

I spent some time begging alongside mortal beggars. The food was awful and meals were uncertain, so I gave that up.

I tried being a farm girl and an embroiderer too. Both left me poor, hungry, and overworked. I gave them up as well.

In my thirty-seventh year among mortals, I saved a young woman who had fallen into the water.

Grateful, she took me home and taught me to play the pipa.

I played beautifully and was pretty to look at, so she introduced me to her employer.

I settled in a place called Spring Breeze House.

They gave me all the good food and drink I wanted. All I had to do was play two or three pieces on the pipa each night.

Oddly, every guest who came to listen was a man.

The people around me treated me well, though they occasionally talked about me behind my back.

I heard things like “Tao Tao, the top courtesan,” “She sells her art, not her body,” and “Famous throughout Yuncheng.”

I didn’t know what a top courtesan was. And that wasn’t even how my name was written.

I’d told the proprietor my name was Taotao, with the *tao* meaning “strategy,” not the *tao* meaning “peach.” He must have misheard me.

It didn’t matter. I didn’t care.

Work was work, wherever I did it. In all my decades among mortals, this was the easiest job with the best food.

But tonight, a man decided he could take liberties with me after listening to my music.

I sent him flying with a slap!

That brought the proprietor and the woman who had taught me the pipa running.

She pulled me back to my room and tried to reason with me. “That was the county magistrate. His uncle is a fourth-rank official at court. If you go with him, you’ll live in wealth and comfort for the rest of your life!”

The proprietor stormed in.

“Yanniang, what’s the point of telling her all that?”

“She’s slow in the head. I was already getting the worse end of the bargain when you sold her to me for thirty taels.”

“If you can’t persuade the little slut to serve the magistrate today, I’ll make you pay for it too!”

Now I understood.

Yanniang hadn’t introduced me to her employer because she admired my playing. She had sold me like an object.

And Spring Breeze House was a filthy place that didn’t treat women as people.

Yanniang seized my hand in a panic. “Miss Tao Tao, just give in! He’s the mighty county magistrate, and you’re nothing but a lowly—”

Smack!

I backhanded her into the wall. She screamed and fell unconscious.

The proprietor’s eyes widened. He pointed at me. “You little slut, if you dare touch me—”

Smack!

I stepped forward and slapped him out of the second-floor window.

That night, I found every woman’s deed of sale in Spring Breeze House and burned them all.

Then I found the proprietor’s money, divided it among the women, and set them free.

Finally, I smashed up Spring Breeze House and ran away myself.

I intended to hide in the mountains for a while. But the moment I entered the woods, I came upon a white-robed man being hunted by a band of black-clad men.

I didn’t want to get involved.

Yet the white-robed man looked familiar. He was almost identical to the divine lord I’d forcibly kissed.

To be precise, the only difference was a small red mole at the end of his left eyebrow.

I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. I stepped in to save him.

“Th-thank you, my savior…” A sword had pierced his chest. Blood covered him, and he fainted in my arms.