Chapter One: The Kingdom of Women

Wailing drifted through the air as sheets of spirit money lay scattered on the ground, and a group of women in mourning garments and hempen sackcloth made their way toward the bamboo grove.

None of this was known to Hantian Yue, Mao Xuanzi, Fang Zhe, or Feng Shang, for the funeral procession was moving along the eastern edge of the grove, while the four of them were at the far western side. From above, the bamboo sea stretched vast as far as the eye could see, veiled all around in mist and cloud, so that its true shape could not be made out.

This was the place people called the Purple Bamboo Grove, a place one could enter but never leave.

“Could there be monsters here?” Feng Shang said a little wistfully. It had been a long time since they had encountered a creature like the Old Demon of Black Mountain, and he was growing lonely.

“What, you still want to run into the Old Demon of Black Mountain?” Fang Zhe asked.

Feng Shang hurriedly waved both hands. “Too strong, too strong. I’d be happy with just a little monster!”

“Like the world is going to hand you such good luck,” Fang Zhe mocked.

Just then, a bamboo monkey fell from the grove above.

Feng Shang immediately rushed over and caught it, laughing. “See? Isn’t that a little monster?”

Hantian Yue took a look and said, “It’s only a bamboo monkey. Let it go.”

Feng Shang looked as well. It really was just a bamboo monkey. Bored, he tossed it aside and said dully, “At this rate, if we keep walking like this, there’s nothing to do, no direction to follow, and no excitement either. Why don’t we go back to school? The principal is looking for us anyway.”

As soon as Feng Shang said this, Hantian Yue shot him a cold glance.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m telling the truth,” Feng Shang said, retreating to one side and leaning against a bamboo stalk, determined not to move another step.

In truth, even Fang Zhe had begun to think of turning back. On this entire journey, apart from the time they had heard news of Prince Mao in a mountain village, they had not heard a single thing about the prince since.

A vast bamboo forest, a breeze passing through. Everyone sat down.

“Are we really going to give up like this?” Hantian Yue knew what they were all thinking. They had been out for so long that some weariness was only natural.

At that moment, crying came drifting over. Everyone stood up and looked toward the source of the sound.

The weeping drew nearer and nearer. Hantian Yue, Mao Xuanzi, Fang Zhe, and Feng Shang crouched down at a point closest to the cries, and saw that among the funeral procession there were only women, no men at all.

The coffin was set down near where they were hiding, and the women gathered around it, bursting into loud sobs.

Then, clearly and distinctly, they heard a man’s shout from inside the coffin.

“Let me out! Let me out!”

At the sound, the women stopped crying one by one.

“The ritual isn’t even finished yet. How is he awake already?”

“It must be because we used too little sleeping powder. Should I open the coffin and give him a bit more?”

One woman stepped forward and said as much.

“Forget it. The lucky hour has arrived. Bury him at once. Don’t miss the time!”

The women hurriedly carried the coffin to the grave and buried it with frantic hands. Inside it was, shockingly, a living man.

“Let me out! Let me out!”

The man’s voice still rang from within the coffin, but the women showed no intention of sparing him. They simply covered him with earth.

Mao Xuanzi was about to rush out.

Hantian Yue grabbed his arm.

Mao Xuanzi had no choice but to stay his feet and hold still.

After the women had hastily buried the man, they dispersed.

Only after watching them leave did Hantian Yue and the others rush out to dig up the grave.

The coffin appeared before them. Mao Xuanzi stepped forward and yanked open the lid, only to find that the man had already stopped breathing.

Mao Xuanzi glanced at Hantian Yue, then closed the lid again and shoveled the earth back over him.

Hantian Yue had originally not wanted to alarm those women, intending to save the man only after they had gone. He had not expected that, because of this moment’s hesitation, the man would die.

The group stood in silence for a while in mourning, then quietly followed the women who had conducted the funeral.

The women crossed the Purple Bamboo Grove and led Hantian Yue and the others to a beautiful mountain city ringed by rivers and peaks.

This was the renowned Kingdom of Women.

Watching the women enter the city, Hantian Yue and the others hid behind a hillside outside the city, at a loss for what to do, when the woman in white suddenly appeared behind them.

“What are you doing here?” Fang Zhe asked in surprise.

The woman in white did not answer. Instead, she handed each of the four a woman’s outfit. Hantian Yue and the others understood what she meant at once. They quickly changed into the women’s clothes, covered themselves with gauze veils, and followed her toward the gates of the Kingdom of Women.

The gatekeepers were two sturdy women. When they saw the woman in white, they bowed with palms pressed together. The woman in white returned the salute in kind.

Hantian Yue, Mao Xuanzi, Fang Zhe, and Feng Shang followed her example.

Only then did the woman in white lead them into the Women’s City.

They passed through its bustling streets, and the woman in white brought them to a quiet inn in a secluded corner of the city. She arranged for them to stay in a private room. Once inside, Hantian Yue summoned an ice blade and pointed it at her.

“Who are you, really? Why have you been following us all this time? And why did you bring us into the Kingdom of Women?”

The woman in white did not panic. She slowly removed the veil from her face, and everyone was stunned.