Speaking of which, Undying City hadnât always gone by that name; it used to be called Shuyang City. But, after the arrival of a group of strange people, their leader decided to change its name and it became Undying City.
Undying City, Undying City. What an inauspicious name. Unable to withstand the current state of affairs any longer, a fair number of older men, coupled with several elders who held status within the city, decided to seek an audience with the City Lord.
When they entered the City Lordâs mansion, the elders worked together to draft a jointly signed letter on behalf of more than half the cityâs population. Lianshui was also one of the signatories. Sheâd originally hoped that the elders would be able to revert the cityâs name, but who would have thought that the corpses of the elders and the City Lord would be found hanging from the city gates on the second day.
The row of corpses hung from the city gates; their tattered clothes hanging from their blood-soaked bodies. One look was all it took to tell that theyâd been subjected to utterly inhumane torture before their death.
Lianshui had gone to see it with the rest of the members from Pear Garden. When she returned home, she fell ill for seven full days. While waiting for her body to recover, she tried to get the full story from one of her good friends in Pear Garden. But, she found that everyoneâs lips were sealed. The only person who was willing to talk about it said a mere two words, "Shinra Sect" before they too clammed up.
This was how Shuyang City completely turned into the Shinra Sectâs Undying City.
Lianshui looked at the man in front of her with astonishment. "Yang dearest... you belong to the Shinra Sect?"
Seeing the man calmly nod his head at her, Lianshui released her grip on his sleeve in surprise and retreated two steps backwards.
Her actions caused the last flicker of light to extinguish within the manâs eyes. He gave her a profound look before he asked, "So youâre afraid of me as well?"
Lianshuiâs mind was filled with images of corpses whoâd died gruesome deaths and she wasnât able to make out what heâd said.
The man advanced a step, gripped her shoulders, and shouted, "Youâre afraid of me as well, arenât you?!"
The manâs sudden action scared her out of her wits, causing her to unconsciously nod her head.
This wasnât her Yang dearest! Her darling was charming and suave, handsome and easygoing. He definitely wasnât one of those fiends from the Shinra Sect!
Lianshuiâs nod had clearly hurt the man. He loosened his grip on her shoulders and slowly retreated backwards, eventually stopping when he was ten paces away from her.
"I thought... that youâd be different," said the man in a low voice as he cast his eyes downwards.
Lianshui suddenly felt as if sheâd been struck by something, a dull pain rising up from within her.
The manâs name was Yang Wuyu, and he was recruited by the owner of Pear Garden in its early days. His facial features were extremely handsome; just one look was all it took for others to know that heâd grow up looking even more handsome in the future. Reality soon proved that this was true. Yang Wuyuâs first time on stage had landed him in the good books of many of Undying Cityâs maidens, Lianshui being one of them.
As one of Pear Gardenâs popular Hua dans,1 Lianshui frequently acted on the same stage as Yang Wuyu. Privately, the two of them would often meet up and discuss matters relating to Chinese opera, allowing their feelings for one another to slowly blossom.
Lianshuiâs personality was somewhat similar to that of a Jiangnan girl. She was deeply devoted, gentle, and kind, all traits that Yang Wuyu admired. Which was why if nothing unexpected happened, theyâd planned to secretly get married.
Theyâd decided to save up enough money on the side and leave Pear Garden to set up a small shop together.
But alas, the heavens decreed that her "Mr Right" was actually the fiend from legend. All that nonsense about helping one another was all a lie! "Elder Yang, the Sect Leader is still waiting for you, you canât tarry here any longer," Wuyang had clearly noticed the emotional undercurrents between Yang Wuyu and Lianshui, so sheâd raised her voice to catch the attention of the pair.
Yang Wuyu stared at Lianshuiâs face for a good long while, but he was disappointed to find only fear and disbelief written all over it. Not a trace remained of her previously kind, gentle, and warm expression.
In the end, he gave up and resolutely turned around to leap off the stage. He then walked over to Wuyang and said, "Letâs go."
He then made his way towards the City Lordâs mansion, with the men that Wuyang brought along breaking into two lines and following behind.
Looking at Yang Wuyuâs figure that was getting further and further away, an unexpected occurrence took place. "Yang dearest," Lianshui cried out.
Her pitiful and innocent voice fell upon his ears, causing Yang Wuyu to pause in his tracks for a moment before he continued taking large strides forward.
Once Yang Wuyu disappeared from sight, Wuyang turned to look at Lianshui with a malicious smile on her face.
"The Sect Leader has decreed that Undying Cityâs new name shouldnât just on paper. The only people who should exist here are those whoâve died once and now live forever... All of you have twelve hours to massacre everyone in the city, move out!"
After her last two words descended, countless black shadows immediately dispersed from Wuyangâs side; like arrows fired from a bow. At the same time, countless blood-curdling shrieks rang out in the ears of those present.
The musicians that accompanied them on stage had long since fled the scene, leaving behind Lianshui who stood dumbly at the center of the stage as she looked on at the scene of hell on earth.
Refers to a role in Chinese opera played by young to middle-aged women. A Hua dan usually has an energetic or ill-natured and free-willed personality. â©