『Paper Bride Final Boss Derivative Work』
Nie Moli
The world brands Nie Moli as a sinister, paranoid villain—the ruthless mastermind who stirred up the tempest in the world of Paper Bride, calculating and merciless. Yet no one in this world is born evil. Her descent into darkness, becoming the fiend the world despises, was never her true nature. It was the cruelty of fate, the absence of familial love, and the world's deep injustices that crushed her gentleness bit by bit, breeding a heart consumed by resentment and obsession. Her entire life was a tragedy predetermined from the moment of her birth. Nie Moli's tragedy began the instant she drew her first breath. She and her twin sister, Nie Moqi, were born under an inauspicious Yin hour. Though bound by blood as the closest of kin, they were brutally torn apart by the ignorant, feudal superstitions of Zangling Village. The village shaman falsely decreed that their twin Yin destinies disrupted the village's Feng Shui, insisting that one child must be sacrificed to safeguard the village's peace. Bound by these cold, unyielding rules, their birth parents chose to keep the quiet, docile younger sister, abandoning the infant Nie Moli, still crying for milk in her swaddling clothes, in the City God Temple to perish in the bitter wind and isolation. The parents named the two girls "Moli" and "Moqi"—a homophone for "never part, never abandon." That tender wish ultimately became the cruellest mockery of Nie Moli: she was the only child utterly cast away by her own flesh and blood. By both fortune and misfortune, the kind Granny Tang rescued the dying infant and secretly raised her in a secluded Taoist temple. Yet this lifesaving grace never filled the void deep within her soul. Her childhood held no carefree play with peers, no parental affection, no warmth of a home—only a desolate Taoist temple, chilling ritual implements, and endless confinement. To evade the searches of Zangling Village, she lived in perpetual seclusion, cut off from the mortal world. Though Granny Tang raised her, she remained distant, never offering warmth or guidance, merely commenting coolly that Nie Moli was cold by nature. Loneliness twined around her childhood like creeping vines. Day after day, year after year, resentment and defiance toward fate and family quietly took root in the bewildered child's heart. At the age of fourteen, Nie Moli's life reached a pivotal turning point. She stumbled upon the hidden Scripture of the Six Bodhisattvas. A single sacred text laid bare the cruel truth. She finally learned that she was meant to have a bright life just like her sister—deserving of her parents' doting love, a peaceful existence, and a promising betrothal. Yet purely because of ignorant prejudice, she was stripped of everything. The life, fortune, and destiny that rightfully belonged to her had all been handed to her sister, Nie Moqi, who had never suffered an ounce of hardship. Deepening her obsession even further, the scriptures revealed that even ghosts could transcend heavenly tribulations and become immortals, breaking free from the shackles of destiny. In that moment, the gentleness of her youth was extinguished completely. She no longer yearned for hollow familial ties, nor did she harbor hope for the world's benevolence. In her eyes, kindness and compliance would only invite slaughter, and weakness would only be met with abandonment and betrayal. An unjust fate, heartless parents, and an ignorant village became indelible scars upon her soul. From then on, two seeds took root in her heart: one of revenge, to bring retribution upon everyone who had abandoned and wronged her; the other of ascension, to break the shackles of fate, reclaim everything that was rightfully hers with her own hands, and never again be manipulated by anyone. Upon reaching adulthood, Nie Moli began her calculated transformation. She enrolled in university to major in psychology, dedicating herself to the study of psychological suggestion and human nature. No longer the helpless, solitary little girl, she forged her knowledge into the sharpest weapon to see through and manipulate the human heart. At the same time, she practiced sinister occult arts and mastered the secrets of Yin and Yang, melding psychological cunning with esoteric sorcery to become a meticulous, commanding mastermind. She bided her time in silence, meticulously plotting for years, setting her traps step by step to disrupt the mortal order. She usurped her sister's identity, contested the promised betrothal and blessings, plotted against the villagers who wronged her, and exploited human greed and cowardice to achieve her ends. The world saw only an unscrupulous, sinister, and paranoid villain, yet none knew that behind her calculating demeanor lay half a lifetime of unheeded agony. Everyone else enjoyed earthly warmth and fulfillment; only she had been stripped of everything since birth, enduring the world's bitterest cruelties. Down this path, Nie Moli walked entirely into the role of a "villain" defined by the world. She committed evil, schemed, harbored paranoia and indignation—seemingly driven by greed and malice, but in truth, it was the ultimate rebellion of a soul devoid of love and cast aside for a lifetime. What she sought was never chaos in the mortal realm, but simply the fairness that should have been hers, the warmth she had never possessed, and a life she could control for herself. Looking back at Nie Moli's life, from an abandoned infant to a sinister antagonist, it was never a decline born of innate malice, but that fate never granted her the chance to be kind. The world denounces her madness and obsession, yet none pity the solitary grief of her half-lifetime. Her descent into darkness was a tragedy forged by ignorant convention—the final struggle and rebellion of a pitiable soul in an abyss devoid of salvation.
Human nature? It's really nothing special!