Chapter 30: The River God’s Bride — She Is a Star of Solitude Part 1

“No matter where you are, I will always find you.”

“It’s okay. We still have the next hundred years.”

“Little Yu… Little Yu…”

Someone was calling her with a voice full of grief. The sound pierced her heart, as if she wanted to reach out and embrace the person.

Who is it? Who are you?

Drip. A single tear fell, sending ripples across the still surface of the lake. The veil of mist that had always clouded her vision broke apart, and Shi Yu opened her eyes.

As consciousness returned, a tremendous roar of water filled her ears. The wind carried the dampness of spray.

She tilted her head up, and the sight before her froze her brain.

She seemed to be in the middle of a river. The instant she looked up, towering waves suddenly rose on both sides, surging toward her with the force to destroy everything in their path.

Setting aside the question of why she was here in the first place, those waves made one thing clear: there was no chance of escape.

She closed her eyes and accepted her fate, waiting for death.

Muddy waves towered skyward, blotting out the sun. The roar of the surf split the air with an eerie howl. A single wave crashed down, and Shi Yu was swept off the rock she’d been clinging to.

Cold river water enveloped her body as she sank. That voice echoed in her mind again.

“Little Yu, don’t be afraid…”

Shi Yu’s eyes stung. She curled herself into a ball with all her strength.

How could she not be afraid? She didn’t even know what was happening. Why had she opened her eyes only to find herself in a completely unknown place facing this? Was this some kind of test?

Water flooded her lungs through her mouth and nose, squeezing at her organs. Her consciousness faded bit by bit. Through the haze, Shi Yu glimpsed a blinding light on the surface of the river.

Sure enough, I’m dying. I’m already hallucinating.

She closed her eyes again, her arms falling limp at her sides. The light blazed to its peak, then abruptly dimmed. The river surged anew, waves hammering the banks. Cold wind whipped through, churning heaven and earth into a murky chaos.

“Hmph!”

A contemptuous snort echoed from every direction. Shi Yu felt the river churn even harder, dragging her into a whirlpool.

In the tumbling, falling current, she caught a glimpse of something enormous. A pair of green eyes glowed in the gloom.

What is that? The thought formed for an instant before consciousness left her entirely.

“This child really has the luck of the devil. Falling into the Star River and surviving.”

“Seems like she really is hard to kill. Not only did she curse her parents and family to death, even the Star River couldn’t finish her off.”

“Shut your mouth already! You can never keep it shut!”

Voices murmured around her. Shi Yu tried to listen more carefully, but her eyelids were heavy as lead and refused to open.

Someone was stroking her forehead. The hand was rough with calluses, dry and warm, chasing away the cold from her body.

Shi Yu instinctively pressed closer, nuzzling against that sturdy hand before falling back into deep sleep.

“Good child, from now on you’ll live with Grandma.”

Shi Yu wanted to answer, but no sound would come out.

Shi Yu didn’t know how long she’d been asleep. She only knew she had dreamt many strange, surreal dreams. Throughout them, a gentle voice kept calling her “Little Yu,” but she could never make out the person’s face.

Several times she asked, “Who are you?” Each time the other person fell silent, watching her with a sorrowful expression.

Even though she couldn’t see anything clearly, she could immediately discern the sadness in those eyes. Her heart would clench, and she would sink into even deeper darkness.

“Good child, it’s time to wake up.”

Something wet slid into her mouth, moistening her parched throat and pulling her free from the nightmare.

She opened her aching eyes to find a wrinkled face staring back at her. When the person saw she was awake, they broke into a grin, wrinkles folding together in a deeply kind expression.

“Do you still remember me? I’m Auntie He.”

Shi Yu stared at her. A sudden ringing filled her head, followed by sharp pain, as if someone were chiseling into her skull with an awl.

Auntie He immediately began patting her gently, saying urgently, “It’s fine if you can’t remember. Don’t force yourself.”

Thankfully, the pain didn’t last long. As it subsided, familiar yet unfamiliar memories flooded her mind.

There weren’t many. From birth to now, her fate had always been one of misfortune.

Her mother had damaged her body giving birth to her and passed away not long after. She was raised by her elder sister and father. Her father died when she was ten, and her sister took on the burden of raising her.

Her sister was only three years older, barely a child herself, yet she had to provide for them both. She gathered herbs in the mountains during the day and did washing and mending at night. With the occasional help from neighboring families, they scraped by.

But on her eleventh birthday, her sister went into the mountains and never came back.

People said her sister had slipped and fallen off a cliff. They never even found her remains. But her sister had promised to come back and celebrate her birthday with her. And she had always been careful when gathering herbs, never venturing into dangerous places.

With Auntie He and Auntie Li’s help, she held a funeral for her sister, took over her work, and learned to deal with people the way she had. She lived alone in this world.

A year passed like this. On her twelfth birthday, she visited her sister’s grave to pay respects. On the way back, she overheard a truth that had been buried.

“If she hadn’t insisted on fighting me for that seven-star flower, I wouldn’t have had to do what I did. She even begged me to give it to her, saying she had a little sister to feed. Hah! Who doesn’t have a family to support? She had it tough? What about me?”

Shi Yu froze on the spot. Her legs felt rooted to the ground, unable to take a single step.

The men walked over. Seeing her, they showed not an ounce of guilt. Instead, they sneered. “So it’s the Shi family jinx. Still alive, are you?”

Shi Yu stared at the man who had spoken, enunciating each word: “You killed my sister?!”

This man had pretended to be kind before, even helping with her sister’s funeral. But he hadn’t been kind at all; he’d just been easing his own conscience.

Wait, did he even have a conscience?

“What are you talking about, girl? Your sister fell on her own. What does it have to do with me?”

Shi Yu held back until her eyes ached, but the tears came anyway. She lunged at the man, kicking and hitting him, desperate to avenge her sister.

“It was you! You stole my sister’s seven-star flower. When she wouldn’t give it to you, you killed her!”

The man kicked her away and spat in her face. “Cut from the same cloth, you two. Stubborn to the death.”

“You killed my sister! I’m going to report you to the authorities!”

The kick sent pain lancing through her chest and abdomen. She curled up on the ground, glaring at the man with eyes that nearly burst from their sockets.

The man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth. “Sure, go ahead. I’ll wait right here for you to bring the constables.”

Star River Village was deep in the uninhabited mountains. The people lived off the land and were self-sufficient. A child like Shi Yu, with no ability to protect herself, would die on the road long before making it out of the mountains.

The man knew this, which was why he acted with such brazen impunity.

Shi Yu could barely breathe from the pain, but she clung to his trouser leg. “Then I’ll tell the village chief. He’ll stand up for me.”

“Ha ha ha!” The man laughed, his voice dripping with contempt. “Go on then. Tell the old man I killed someone. Let’s see how he stands up for you.”

He kicked her once more before leaving. “Oh right, I didn’t just kill your sister. I killed your parents too. Make sure you tell the magistrate all of that when you file your complaint.”

There were a few others with him. Not a single one stopped his violence. They stepped over Shi Yu’s body and walked away.

Shi Yu lay face down on the ground, her breathing so faint it barely existed.

Her body hurt, but her heart hurt more. She hated her own helplessness, hated that she couldn’t avenge her father and sister.

Boom. After a long stretch of gloom, the sky finally opened up. Raindrops the size of beans pounded her body, but the shock actually cleared her head a little.

She turned her gaze toward the Star River and made her decision.

Wasn’t it said that a god who protected the village lived in the Star River? If such a god truly existed, she prayed it would punish the wicked.

Shi Yu’s ribs were broken and her stomach throbbed with pain. The rain grew heavier, lightning splitting the sky. She stumbled and fell, her entire body swallowed by mud and rain, utterly wretched.

Raindrops struck the river surface, blossoming into tiny splashes. Rainwater carried silt and sand into the river, turning the once-clear water murky and ominous.

Shi Yu crawled bit by bit to the riverbank. Summoning all her strength, she cried out to the surface: “Lord River God, please help me punish the wicked. As long as they pay the price, I’ll do anything you ask.”

The water churned briefly, then settled. Shi Yu’s voice was swallowed by the sound of rain.

Shi Yu crawled forward a little more, half her body hanging over the bank. “Lord River God, as long as you help me, I’m willing to offer you my soul!”

BOOM. Thunder exploded across the sky. Shi Yu flinched violently and spotted a dark shape moving beneath the water.

Just as she strained her eyes to see more clearly, the river suddenly boiled. Waves stacked on top of each other until a massive swell, dozens of meters high, crashed down and knocked her into the river.

Shi Yu sank toward the riverbed before she could even struggle. Cold water flooded her lungs, the pain nearly explosive.

In the distance, she saw that dark shape again.

“Foolish human.”

A voice mingled with the roar of waves. Something lifted Shi Yu, and she slowly rose to the surface.

Fresh air filled her lungs and Shi Yu coughed violently. The motion jostled her broken ribs, the pain stealing her breath. She collapsed against the “rock” beneath her.

The river split down the middle, waves crashing inward from both sides. Before Shi Yu could make out what was swimming below, they slammed her back under.

Before consciousness faded, she heard a haughty, contemptuous snort.

“What a nuisance.”

Shi Yu jolted awake from sleep, only belatedly realizing that hadn’t been a rock, but some mysterious creature she’d never seen before.

Could it really be the river god?

But weren’t gods supposed to be noble and beautiful? How could one be that dark and hard…

She quickly reined in her thoughts before they went any further. If that really was the river god, wouldn’t she be blaspheming a deity?

Auntie He pushed the door open, carrying a bowl of medicine.

“Here, drink this. It’ll help you recover faster.”

Shi Yu hated taking medicine. Her sister used to coax her with candy. But now she needed to get better fast. She had a lot to do.

Shi Yu took the bowl from Auntie He, held her breath, and drained it in one gulp. Her face crumpled at the bitterness.

Auntie He stroked her head and opened her other hand. A single candy lay in her palm.

“Good girl. This will make the bitterness go away.”

Looking at that candy, her sister’s smiling face, the way she used to coax her, rose before Shi Yu’s eyes. Tears fell without her control.

“Good child, don’t cry now. Auntie He will take care of you from now on.”

Shi Yu nodded and threw herself into Auntie He’s arms.

Their parents had died early, and the two sisters had been looked down upon everywhere they went. Only Auntie He and Auntie Li had never turned up their noses at them, often giving them food and looking after her when her sister was away.

Shi Yu buried herself in Auntie He’s arms, crying until the old woman’s clothes were soaked. Auntie He said nothing, simply patting her back to soothe her.

Auntie He was a kind-hearted old woman with no children of her own. As far as Shi Yu could remember, she had always been alone.

Shi Yu cried herself to sleep. Auntie He laid her on the bed and watched over her with deep affection before finally leaving the room.

The moment the door closed, a blue-green mark appeared on her forehead, then vanished as quickly as it had come.