The Serpent's Dowry
By @john1208
The story opens in a smoky mahjong parlor, where orphan servant Pei San is striking a cheeky deal to buy his freedom from the wealthy Jin family, using the chilling, pale woman standing behind him as leverage. He thinks he's brilliant. Days earlier in the rain-slicked alleys of 1987 Shiyan Town, Pei San had taken a brutal beating to save a black snake from the Jin heirs' firecrackers. Soon after, the immortal serpent manifested as Rong Yin, offering herself in marriage. Delighted, the shameless Pei San accepted, assuming he’d stumbled into a classic folklore tale where a beautiful spirit brings her husband effortless wealth. But he fundamentally misunderstood the rules of the supernatural. Rong Yin wasn't dying; she was undergoing a catastrophic tribulation, and Pei San's intervention accidentally bound their souls. Now, his "wife" is a fiercely possessive, eerie deity whose dowry is dominion over the town's lurking shadows. As the Jin family's arrogance draws Rong Yin's horrifying wrath, Pei San must navigate his terrifying honeymoon. Alternating between Pei San's cheeky survival tactics and Rong Yin's alien, predatory devotion, the question remains: can he survive his own marriage, or will his monstrous bride consume the whole town?
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