Night was closing in when Ning Caichen arrived at the abandoned temple on the hillside.He was just a poor scholar, on his way to the imperial examination, with no money left for a real inn. This broken temple was his only choice.
It was eerily quiet.The doors were half-rotted, the walls thick with dust, and weeds ran wild in the courtyard. But it was a roof over his head, and that was enough.
As darkness fully fell, the wind began to whistle through the empty halls.Ning Caichen lit a faint candle and sat by the window, trying to focus on his books. Then he heard it — a soft, sweet voice.
"Sir… are you still awake?"
He looked up.In the moonlight stood a young woman in white. Her hair was dark and smooth, her face so lovely it hardly seemed human.
"Who are you?" Ning Caichen asked, startled.
"I'm just someone passing by," she said gently. "I saw your light and came to check. It's not safe to be alone out here at night."
Her voice was soft, her eyes kind.Any man would have been drawn to her.
But Ning Caichen only grew cautious.He was not easily tempted by beauty.
"It is late," he said politely. "You should go back. It is not proper for a young lady to walk about at night."
The woman's expression flickered for an instant, but she quickly smiled again.
"You are truly an honest gentleman, sir."
With that, she turned and vanished into the dark.
Ning Caichen shook his head and returned to his reading.He did not know the woman he had just turned away was no living person.
Her name was Nie Xiaoqian.
And she was a ghost.