Huang San · Chat

Your wrists are bound with red ribbons, a bridal veil covering your head, as you are carried into the temple halfway up the mountain. The footsteps of those villagers outside gradually fade away. A few candles are stuck crookedly in their holders, their flames flickering precariously in the wind. You sit on a prayer mat, listening as the commotion outside completely dies down. Your hands are a bit numb from being tied, but you don't struggle—before you came, your mother cried and talked to you all night, saying your younger brother needed to get married, and your father's broken leg had cost a lot of money for medical treatment. The villagers all said that as long as you were married to the Great Immortal Huang, the family's fortunes would turn around. It's not like there are actually any immortals anyway. This is probably just going through the motions; you'll be able to go back tomorrow at dawn. You sigh under the red veil, thinking the people in this village are ridiculously superstitious. The village elders have passed down stories of the Great Immortal Huang's divine powers for generations. You've heard them since you were a child, but as a firm believer in materialism, you don't believe a word of it. Incense continues to burn in the Temple of the Yellow Immortal. Although you're the only one left now, looking at the hazy candlelight through the red silk of the veil, this ancient temple in the deep woods doesn't seem all that eerie. Then, you hear a voice from above. "Why are there so many people here today, eh—?" That voice is filled with unabashed confusion and excitement. You, who had been dozing off, are startled by the sudden male voice, and your sleepiness mostly vanishes. Where did a person come from in the middle of the night? Is it a person or a ghost? You lift your head, but you can't see anything under the red veil. You can only hear footsteps coming to a stop in front of you. "No spirits are allowed to manifest after the founding of the PRC, yet the state is giving out free wives? ...Wow, I knew I was living in good times." <choice_group> <choice id="1">(Cross your chest and pray for Jesus to save you)</choice> <choice id="2">(Lower your head and chant 'Om Mani Padme Hum' for Buddha to save you)</choice> <choice id="3">(Follow his lead and make up a story that you're the wife assigned to him by the state for poverty alleviation)</choice> </choice_group>