Mythical Creature Series 1 Ah-Jiang

Chapter 01

Shi Tou's surname was Shi and named Tou.

He worked at the Yamen[1] of An Ling. He went from wiping the knife for the head Constable ever since he was seven to passing the test at age eighteen. Those thirteen years passed within the blink of an eye for him to become the Constable[2] he is today.

Even though he had just reached twenty, aside from the old ban head[3], he had been working at the Yamen the longest.

An Ling wasn't too big nor too small of a place, but in the past thirteen years, the magistrate has been changed nine times. It was unknown as to why each magistrate was changed, but anyone who came here wasn't able to keep the position for long. Some were transferred to different districts while most of the others had no good stories to tell. Dying of illness within the period of being here, being found guilty of crimes for their own actions or going missing after traveling outside. It even escalated as far as one choking to death just from drinking a mouthful of water…basically, it was either to be dead or be crippled.

After a long time passed, the official black gauze hat[4] of An Ling Yamen became the evilest existence within the whole Kingdom of Da Zhan. If the emperor saw any official that was an eyesore to him, heh, transfer that old crap to An Ling! After putting on that hat, it was time to wait for the god above to take care of him!

The emperor has used this trick for ten years, but the new magistrate that came two years ago was a lucky one. He had coincidentally met a monk of unknown background passing by and since the monk has accepted and ate the meal that the magistrate offered, he directed the magistrate to the right path. The monk pointed towards the Yamen's east gate and said, "The gate facing northeast is where the yin gate is at, and ten miles out from the east is the insidious land where evil lives."

Ten miles east from the Yamen happened to be Pu Jiang[5] and coincidentally, that place hasn't been very peaceful for the past couple of years. It didn't matter whether one was fishing, crossing the river, washing their clothes, or swimming in the water, many of them ended up drowning in the river. Therefore, rumors spread fast that within the deep waters of Pu Jiang, there lived a man-eating monster.

Constable Shi still remembered──the night from two years ago where the night wind was cold with only silence all around, it was the perfect timing for one to commit murder. He has just started to do this job for only two days, and never did he thought the higher-ups would give him such a difficult job by ordering him to go with the old bald donkey[6] at midnight[7] to the shore of Pu Jiang to exorcise the evil.

It was the 15th of August that day, the time of the Ghost Festival[8] where waves of chilling wind would last for a certain amount of time. Even the night patrollers[9] would take a night off so that they don't disturb any ghost and become their target!

Constable Shi followed behind the bald donkey with a huge sword equipped by his waist, wearing a fu tou hat[10] and a robe[11]. He had dark eyebrows and bright eyes as he stood seven feet tall. He was definitely a strikingly handsome and good young lad.

When the monk was deciding who to go with him earlier, his eyes were locked on Constable Shi. Cold sweat ran down handsome Shi's back from the stare he got and he did not have the guts to stand up for himself at that time. Then unexpectedly, the old bald donkey smiled kindly and pointed at him, "This young man has the thickest blessings out of them all, I'll[12] be taking him!"

Since the decision was approved by the magistrate, despite how unwilling Constable Shi was, he still had to carry the burden of everyone's hope on his two shoulders and followed the old bald donkey to exorcise the evil.

August was when ghosts would come out and the river water of Pu Jiang was rippling rapidly as the wind played tricks on the mind with its 'wu wu' sounds.

The old bald donkey pinched his fingers[13] and mumbled something to himself for a while then said, "Sir Shi, please close your eyes and walk ten steps towards the east. With each step you take, say 'return spirit, do not linger any longer.'"

Constable Shi rubbed the hilt of his knife a bit and was reassured then replied with a smile, "Yes!"

Then the old monk warned him again, "Remember dearie, do not open your eyes."

Shi Tou quickly replied, "Of course, of course."

And so, Constable Shi faced east with his eyes closed and straightened his back. The old monk stayed behind and sat facing the black water with both of his hands clasped together to hold onto a mala[14] as he mumbled spells from his mouth continuously.

The first step, he yelled, "Return spirit, do not linger any longer!"

The second step, he yelled again, "Return spirit, do not linger any longer!"

Third step……

Constable Shi's voice rang like a large bell as waves of echo traveled around, he couldn't see or hear and did not know what was happening. But the monk behind him became more and more rushed with his spell. Suddenly, huge waves of water raised from the river as sounds of thunder rumbled from the black clouds up above.

Constable Shi could feel the ground shaking beneath his feet and yet, he stayed steady and was just about to take the last step.

When suddenly, the old bald donkey cried out in fear and shock, "Please forgive me, Lord Yi[15]!"

Then a miserable scream was heard and Constable Shi immediately realized something was wrong and immediately opened his eyes. Only to see white lights before his eyes and suddenly the whistling sounds of thousands upon thousands of horses and soldiers went past him. He was not yet able to process everything before a hand came from nowhere and dragged him down into the river!

Constable Shi struggled for his life but the evil being entangled all his four limbs and within the angry water, the young male's two limbs gradually grew weak──

His first thought was, 'that old bald donkey dragged me down!'

The second thought was…he saw a blurry face within the dark water and had a sudden realization, 'it's a female ghost!'

Not only was it a female ghost, but it was also a gorgeous ghost.

Then the last of the last, Constable Shi quickly thought, 'dying in the hands of this gorgeous ghost, was at least worth it.'

If Constable Shi's life ended just like this, then it could honestly have been counted as a type of blessing. But the god above felt merciful and so the Shi Tou who worked at the Yamen was found washed up on the river shore the next morning.

Constable Shi woke up and immediately asked, "Has the female ghost been captured?"

The old ban head smacked him upside the head, "There is no female ghost, you want some monk meat instead?!"

Constable Shi was shocked when later he found out that he was able to escape death from the horrible disaster, but the old bald donkey was not as lucky. It was said that his look of death was wretched, he bled from all seven openings[16] of his head, had ten black fingers and a face full of terror. The district magistrate readied a casket for him the day it happened and buried him in peace. Later, Constable Shi also went there to pay his respects.

It was unknown if the attempt to catch the ghost that night had any effect, but after that night, no evil-like events ever happened at Pu Jiang again. There was no such news of anyone's child not returning from a swim, nor was there anything about fisherman drowning from their boats getting flipped over. Even the magistrate was living quite well right now. His new wedded third wife also gave birth to a healthy little baby this spring.

So everything was good and basically, everyone should be happy, right?

──From Constable Shi's experience, it told us that this was definitely not over yet.

Ever since the day that the magistrate hadn't need to live in fear anymore, it got harder and harder for Constable Shi to sleep at night. It wasn't because of something physical. His shoulders could still carry and his hands could still lift. He wasn't missing an arm or a leg, he was even born with a fairly well-constructed face──so why?

When he was training his martial art skills as a kid, little girls would give him water and wipe off his sweat for him! Looking at the beauty standard of An Ling, Constable Shi's visual was definitely far above all the other males around his age.

A man with a stable job, great looks, and manners, it should've already attracted all the matchmakers here to step over the Yamen doorstep until it was broken. Yet, even though Constable Shi had reached twenty this year, there was still no sight of him welcoming a wife back to his little house[17] in the South alley. If one did not know the inside details, then they would ask in secret if it could be that……Sir Shi has some kind of incurable disease?!

Oh no, no, no! Just look at Shi Tou who has always been a tall one since he was young along with his good martial art skills, on hot days when he takes off the outer clothing and exposes those arms of his; they were always way more built compared to the person next to him. Where does he look like he has any illness?

If one carefully researched around, then they would find out that even though Constable Shi was such a fine young man, he had reasons as to why he was still single.

If any family was interested in him and went asking a matchmaker for help, the response would definitely surprise them──Constable Shi was unexpectedly…a nemesis of wives!

Sigh, our Sir Shi would to express that he also feels very helpless towards this situation──but no matter what, the reason for his anti-wife ability all started from the ghost exorcism from two years ago.

It was said that the event was just a false alarm, Constable Shi only rested for two days then he was able to move at full energy again and could chase robbers down the alleys. He never had a mom or a dad since he was a child and was still unmarried at the age of eighteen since the old ban head that raised him had arranged a marriage with a girl's parents for Shi Tou and their daughter to be married when he was young. The girl's family lived in a poor neighboring district and she was a steady and hard-working person. They were supposed to be married three years ago, but just like how you have to go through hardship for every good thing in life, the senior of the young woman's family had to pass away at that time. So, following the ancestor's words, the marriage was delayed for three years.

Just as the exorcism of Pu Jiang ended, it was also the end of the three years wait for Constable Shi's marriage. Constable Shi happily took the woman's name post[18], hoping to get the wedding done quickly to wash away all the bad luck with blessings. But who knew that just as the bride price[19] was prepared, the older brother of the bride came over on a mule cart from the neighboring district and cried and said that his little sister caught a sudden illness last month and died!

Constable Shi was stunned, just yesterday he had used a few taels[20] of silver for a pair of custom bracelets in his desire to give a gift to his future wife. A few days passed since then and the bracelets got here, but his bride was gone. Constable Shi touched the cloudy bluish-green colored bracelet and sighed non-stop.

A month quickly passed and matchmakers within the district all started to make their move; each of them came to the handsome Shi's house to drop in and drink some tea. Another marriage was soon decided from the continuous meetings in only under dozens of days, the young woman this time was the daughter of a wealthy man's concubine. It could be said that she is made for Constable Shi seeing as they seem like a match made in heaven or a pair set on earth.

But who knew that just as the marriage was decided, instead of sleeping like usual, the young woman went to the pond within her mansion for unknown reasons and was found the next morning soaked in the water by the house servant.

The first woman's death from an illness was fine, but the second one died in a very unusual way. It was no wonder that a weird rumor quickly spread around the district.

Many more months passed and the magistrate decided to stand up for the handsome Shi himself by betrothing his distant relative, the niece of his third wife, who held a pretty high status in her family, to Constable Shi.

The magistrate patted his chest and sword to Shi Tou, saying that the woman's eight characters[21] had already been seen by someone and she definitely has a long life! This time Constable Shi was not picky and quickly agreed in hopes that the girl would hang in there no matter what and be able to wash away his sinister anti-wife title as soon as possible.

But then this time, after the two families had already exchanged geng posts[22] and with the bride price delivered. Just when it seemed like there were just merely a few days left until she would be his wife. Just when it seemed like the big rock in Constable Shi's heart was finally about to disappear……who knew! On the day of the wedding, an old woman from the bride's family came over crying and explained that the woman had left a letter behind, and was nowhere to be found! Too bad for Constable Shi, not only was he not able to become a groom that day, but at the same time, he had to carry the responsibility. For half a year he looked everywhere for her. Not only did he not know the whereabouts of his bride, he doesn't even know if the other party was dead or alive.

This was it. Oh Shi Tou, oh Shi Tou. He's got the title of wife's nemesis fixed on his head now!

Even though females did not have a high place in society during this time, but whose parents would be willing to give their daughter's life away?

And just like this, even when another Constable younger than Shi Tou from Yamen already had two kids crawling around everywhere, not even a single shadow of Constable Shi's bride was to be seen.

The old ban head treated him like his own son and one time when the two men drank together, the old ban head slammed his hand on the table with a red face then said, "Hey! Little Rock[23], this is definitely because you did wrong to the ghost spirit that year and they want to cut off your line of generation! Tomorrow, prepare some good wine and dishes, then go to the river and offer some joss paper to the mighty ghost, plead for it to forgive you!"

A troubled look could be seen on Constable Shi's face then. He had been avoiding the Pu Jiang by walking around it for the past few years. Even if he had to travel three extra days to get to a neighboring district, he would still not cross the river easily. Now, the old man was telling him to pick a good time at midnight to burn joss paper for the ghost, what if the ghost found out that he never drowned and wanted to drag him down again?

The old ban head then exclaimed, "If it actually wanted you dead, then it wouldn't let you be as alive and energetic as you are now! Go quick! If you don't get me a grandchild by next year, this old man here is gonna beat you!"

The old ban head had lost his wife way too early, even his only child had died and so, like him, he also had no family. Shi Tou knew the old man was really just caring for him and he felt his nose tingling then finally nodded his head in agreement.

It was August of the Ghost Festival once again, there were the same chilly waves of wind with only silence in the dark windy night.

Only a human figure was seen standing by the Pu Jiang, it was the same figure that carried a huge sword on his waist, still wearing the same fu tou hat and robe. Constable Shi kneeled down with a new, unused censer and lit three joss sticks to give three sincere bows before setting up the wine and delicacies.

"Mighty Lord, as the bigger person here, please do not be angered by the actions from someone as small as me. Jiejie[24], if you could accept these little gifts of mine, please forgive my sins so that I would not cause my teacher to worry anymore." Constable Shi still thought that a female ghost lived within the river and since it's a girl, calling it jiejie couldn't be wrong!

He talked with full sincerity and bowed on his knees with full devotion. These actions were not for his own sake though──he was abandoned by his parents within the mountain's forest ever since he was a baby, good thing that the old ban head took him back and raised him or else he would have already been taken as a wild animal's prey. He was not afraid of his line of generation being cut, but the old ban head was already at such an old age and what he has always wanted from his heart was to have a complete family. All Shi Tou wanted to do was to make the old man happy for the rest of his life and wished for the spirit to fulfill the filial piety[25] of his.

The river water was in peace tonight as no ripples or waves occurred, Constable Shi burned joss papers and opened the wine lid. He poured half of the bottle into the black water then swallowed the rest without thinking much and wiped his mouth with his arm, "Please take this wine as Shi Tou's respect towards you, I pray for jiejie to help me marry a good wife and I will cherish her with all my heart, devote myself to love and protect her. I'll let her live in peace and happiness for the rest of her life!"

A chilling wind blew by and a soft chuckle passed by his ear and with a drunk red face, Constable Shi smiled in return.

When a boatman passed by in the morning, he saw that on the river shore was Sir Shi of Yamen sleeping there with all his four limbs carelessly spread out. The boatman softly poked him with his bamboo pole and he woke up in shock. He had a confused face as he looked at the tree leaves that covered his body. He saw that the three joss sticks had already been burned to its end. The roasted chicken on the side was still there, but the pig trotter had been taken by some unknown hungry animal.

He scratched his face a bit and even though he slept outside for one night, he felt extremely refreshed, just as if the black cloud above his head had dispersed.

From then on, each day passed by as usual and now, it was already the end of the year. Constable Shi still had no partner as no matchmakers had come for him and he did not have the face to go and beg someone for marriage now. Mostly because he did not want to bring misfortune upon another family's girl.

The god played odd tricks that year and caused much heavy snow to pour within a month. The river water also froze and even if one was to wear three layers of cotton coat, they would still get frost bites. The commoners were saying that the god was angered and also talked about how absurd the landed gentry[26] of the capital were. Basically, people just had too much time on their hands because of the snow so they did not do much but gossip with their neighbors.

No burglars felt like working in such cold weather either. So, with no one doing any shady stuff around, the Yamen was a lot more quiet and peaceful than usual. One day, Constable Shi was off work early and decided to roast some pig trotters at home──he'd always spent days by himself since he was young and so having to take care of the house by himself from a young age, he was able to acquire many skills. Therefore, his roasted pig trotters were definitely good. The magistrate kept complimenting him after having a taste of it and even wanted Shi Tou to stop being a Constable and become a kitchen staff at the Yamen instead.

Constable Shi did not have much to do, so he took a knife and started carving flowers. When the trotters were done, he placed some in another bowl and offered it to his teacher and the neighbors.

Oh, what a good delicate man, why did he have to be the nemesis of wives? Everyone sighed in their hearts again.

It was lightly snowing outside and the charcoal fire within the little house was able to provide him enough warmth. Shi Tou had finished eating and was drinking wine by himself before hearing two knocks on his door.

"Coming!" It was already very late  at night, who could be visiting at this time?

As he opened the door, Constable Shi felt as if his eyes were blinded by the white  light before his eyes. Then he focused his eyes and was finally able to see that a person was standing there outside his door.

To be more accurate, it was a beautiful person.

To be even more accurate, their beauty was a one out of a million that was hard to find within a radius of ten thousand miles. Their gorgeousness is able to pull the beauty standards to the top of a mountain for all the good-looking youths around their age within a whole district. They were a first class, ferociously-beautiful looking──

Mn, man.

Translator's note:

Ah-Jiang is predicted to have about five chapters, it could be shorter or longer depending on how many words there are in each chapter.

PS: Shi Tou is the uke.

[1] Yamen – 衙门, Basically the administrative office of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamen

[2] Constable – 捕快, literally means quick/fast catcher/captor, a specific term for policies back in ancient China, I'm using the term Constable since it is supposedly an older well-known slang for police.

Image for reference;

[3] Ban head – 班头, literal means 'class head' the title for the head of people who worked at the Yamen.

[4] Black gauze hat – 乌纱帽, a county magistrate's official headwear; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_official_headwear

[5] Pu Jiang – 浦江, a made up place (river) within the novel, does not refer to the actual city in Shanghai.

[6] Old bald donkey – 老秃驴, literal translation and it is an insulting slang to address a monk with.

[7] Midnight – 子时, specifically it's the time from 23:00 to 1:00 (11:00PM-1:00AM) from the ancient Chinese shichen time.

[8] 15th of August (on lunar calendar) – 七月孟兰, it is believed to be the day where ghosts and spirits come out from the lower realm; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Festival

[9] Night patrollers – 打更的, someone that would report the time at night by hitting something loud like a drum every two hours back in ancient China.

[10] Fu tou – 襆头, also known as pu tou (幞头) a type of headwear usually for officials and academics.

[11] Shen yi – 深衣, a type of robe;

[12] I'll – 老衲, a way that monks addresses themselves because of the clothing they wear.

[13] 'pinched his fingers' – 掐指算算, a technique fortune tellers use to predict future outcomes.

[14] Mala – 佛珠, beads for praying in Buddhism; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_prayer_beads

[15] Lord Yi – 翼王, literally means 'wing king' and it is a title that can be interpreted as the king of a country or a commander, but there is not much information on the term since only four specific people had the title in Chinese history but the most popular example to base off of would be Shi Dakai; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi_Dakai

[16] Seven openings – 七窍(流血), describing one's two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and their mouth.

[17] Little house – 毛坯房, specifically this term stands for a house that's at the beginning stages of construction, but here it was to show that Shi Tou's isn't really wealthy and does not imply that the house is gonna be done at a later time.

[18] Name post – 名帖, literal translation, basically the people's business card in ancient China.

[19] Bride price – 彩礼, a sum of money or quantity of goods given to a bride's family by the groom.

[20] Tael – 两, the currency value that is measured by weights in ancient China, and one tael of silver is 1000 wen = 200 yuan ≈ 30 USD ≈ 26 EUR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tael

[21] Eight characters – 八字, someone's birth time, place, and etc. used for a type of horosConstablee fortune telling;

[22] Geng post – 庚帖, an old tradition where before the wedding, both sides would give each other a post with the information of their own eight characters of birth, birthplace, ancestors and etc.

[23] Little rock – 小石头, Shi Tou's nickname because his actual name literally means rock.

[24] Jiejie – 姐姐, directly means older sister, here is used to show respect towards a non-blood related senior.

[25] Filial piety – 孝心, The respect for one's parents; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filial_piety

[26] Landed gentry – 士族, basically aristocrat statused people; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landed_gentry_in_China

                                                                                                                   Chapter 2