She was deeply grateful to Family Deity, thankful for his protection and indulgence during this time. Originally, she was a death row inmate about to be executed, but now she could go on living, and perhaps even accomplish what she wanted to do. She was grateful for this encounter.
On her last night in the shrine, Ethan Clark folded many camellia paper flowers as offerings to Family Deity. Other than these, she had nothing else—she was all alone, not knowing what else she could use to express her gratitude.
The next day, the clan women came to offer incense, and heard their Family Deity speak: “Escort her out safely.”
Escort her out safely? Escort who? The eyes of the two old women, full of confusion, were quickly overtaken by shock.
Suddenly, a young woman appeared beneath the altar beside Family Deity. Her hair was jet black, and she stood there a little awkwardly. When she met their wide-eyed stares, she gave an embarrassed smile and nodded at them.
After being a “ghost” for several months, Ethan Clark was still not used to suddenly appearing before people and being seen. The astonishment and shock in the two old women’s eyes were so obvious that Ethan Clark wondered if they might faint from the shock—at their age, it was indeed quite dangerous.
“You... you’re the sacrificial offering from that time? You’re still alive? How is that possible, we never noticed... it was Family Deity...” one old woman cried out in surprise, only to be tugged by the other, realizing her loss of composure. She glanced at Family Deity at the head of the room and quickly fell silent.
“Escort her out safely,” Family Deity spoke again.
The two clan women would never question or defy Family Deity’s words. They bowed their heads in assent and signaled for Ethan Clark to follow them. Ethan Clark suddenly felt like a bird leaving its nest, too timid to take a step, but the timidity lasted only a moment. Without hesitation, she lifted her foot and followed the two women.
As she walked out of the shrine, she looked back just in time to see the curtain fall, blocking the view of the lavish, smoke-filled altar. Family Deity’s figure was completely swallowed by the darkness.
She followed silently behind the two clan women, just as she had on the day she first arrived. The corridor was empty, the spring wind not yet warm, and she felt a little cold. When she walked this corridor with Family Deity, she never felt cold.
When they reached the outer courtyard, the calm and composed old woman seemed unable to hold on any longer. Suddenly, she gasped for breath, clutching her chest and crying out in pain, “How could something like this happen!”
The other old woman didn’t cry out, but her expression as she looked at Ethan Clark was also very complicated.
Then, the courtyard suddenly became chaotic. The old woman, too old and too shocked, was quickly attended to by a doctor who rushed over, but she still insisted on personally escorting Ethan Clark out.
“This is Family Deity’s command!”
At the old women’s order, a car drove into the old mansion, and men in suits ushered them into the vehicle. Ethan Clark sat across from the two elders, feeling as if she were sitting on pins and needles under their gaze.
She thought the old women would interrogate her with many questions, but they didn’t. The two of them simply stared at her with cold, stern, unfriendly eyes, as if picking apart a piece of unworthy meat.
The red-pillared gates along the long forest road fell behind into the deep woods as the car sped by. When they reached the edge of the forest, another car was already waiting. Ethan Clark would ride this car alone, leaving this place far behind.
A middle-aged man inside the car got out to greet them. Seeing the two rarely-seen clan women, he put on a courteous smile. “Ladies, everything you instructed has been taken care of. I will escort her away from the old residence.”
The clan women responded with a cold, proud indifference, the same attitude they showed to everyone except Family Deity. As for the departing Ethan Clark, one of the women finally couldn’t hold back. It was as if her lifelong faith had been defiled, and she said angrily:
“You have desecrated our god!”
Ethan Clark instinctively wanted to defend herself, to say she hadn’t, but in a flash she remembered how she had hidden in Family Deity’s red thread, often concealed behind him, tugged on his sleeve every day to eat, asked him to take her to bathe, eaten his offerings, and even accidentally thrown hair into his statue... Did these count as desecration? Lacking confidence, she decided to remain silent.
The old woman, still beside herself with grief and anger, gasped, “You despicable...!”
Even though she didn’t finish, Ethan Clark could guess she was about to call her a despicable rat. It didn’t matter. She was just a small person struggling to survive, as ordinary as a mouse, and she was well aware of it.
But she knew that Family Deity definitely didn’t see her that way. The greater and more noble a person is, the more equally they treat everyone.
Leaning into the car, shutting the old woman’s anger outside the door, Ethan Clark gripped tightly a small red paper packet in her hand. It was the only thing she took from here, and inside was a dried camellia flower.
Chapter 10 09 Committing Evil
“You scholar, with your poor and shabby looks, how dare you covet my lady! My lady is noble and precious, as beautiful as a fairy, eats dragon liver and phoenix marrow, wears the finest silks and satins, and you? If my lady were to follow you, she’d suffer terribly! A toad wanting to eat swan meat—how could there be such a thing? Go find a mirror and take a good look at yourself, hmph!” The sharp-featured maid stood with her hands on her hips, fierce and scowling.