"The entire Lu family—every last one of them—perished a year ago."
"All… dead?"
The old woman lifted her gaze and saw that the silent girl, who had stood motionless until now, had suddenly spoken.
In the next instant, a string of copper coins was pressed into her palm. Olivia Yin, smiling sweetly, bought every last fuling cake from the top of the basket, adding a few extra coins besides. "We've come from afar and know little of what has happened here," she said with gentle curiosity. "Please, Auntie, could you tell us—what became of the Lu family?"
The old woman weighed the coins in her hand before sighing. "Ah, ill fortune shadowed that house. The Lus once thought themselves blessed—why, they'd even married their eldest daughter into a family from the capital. The neighbors were green with envy back then… who could have foreseen what was to come?"
Two years ago, the Lus' eldest daughter, Emma Lu, was married into a wealthy merchant household in the imperial city. The bride price alone filled fourteen sedan chests, dazzling the whole neighborhood. Old Master Lu had been but a humble teacher in Changwu, a man of modest means. By all accounts, this was a match far above their station. And the young master of the merchant house was said to be refined and gentle—a perfect complement to Emma's beauty. Together, they were the very picture of grace and harmony.
After the wedding, Emma Lu left with her husband for the capital.
It had seemed the finest of matches—until, half a year later, word arrived that Emma was dead.
Along with the death notice came whispers—ugly, poisonous rumors. The Lus' second son, Alan Lu, who had always been devoted to his elder sister, packed his belongings and traveled to the capital to uncover the truth.
The family waited and waited, until at last the yamen sent word from the capital: Alan had broken into a private residence, stolen valuables, and dishonored a woman. He had been captured and imprisoned.
Changwu was a small place—everyone knew Alan Lu. He had grown up among them, a bright, good-hearted youth, known for his sense of justice. No one believed such a thing of him, least of all his parents. In righteous anger, Old Master Lu wrote a formal petition to the court and set out for the capital himself. But before he could arrive, his boat met a storm upon the river. It capsized, leaving no body to bury.
In a single year, the Lus lost a daughter, a son, and a husband. Madam Wang, the mother, could not withstand the blow. Overnight, she lost her wits.
"She went mad, poor thing," the old woman murmured. "Didn't cry, didn't scream—just sat by the lakeside all day, smiling to herself, holding her daughter's little rattle and singing nursery songs…"
Neighbors, fearing for her safety, brought her back home. But one night, fire broke out at the Lu residence.
Perhaps she had knocked over an oil lamp in her delirium—or perhaps she had awoken for a moment, realized the emptiness of the house, and chose to end it all in the flames. Either way, by dawn, nothing remained.
"The Lus were cursed," the woman went on in a low, uneasy tone. "An entire family gone within a year—it's unnatural, I tell you. Best not linger too near this place, girls. Bad luck rubs off on those who tarry."
"Where was Madam Lu's body laid to rest?" Alice Lu interrupted, her voice cold.
The old woman hesitated under the weight of Alice's dark, fathomless gaze. Her heart fluttered with unease as she stammered, "The fire was fierce and it happened at night. By the time anyone noticed, it was too late. It burned till morning. When people entered, they found nothing but a handful of ashes. We swept them away, and that was the end of it. The house was too ruined to repair—so it was left as you see it."
When she finished speaking, she saw that neither Olivia Yin nor Alice Lu made any move to leave. Muttering under her breath, she hoisted her yoke once more. "Suit yourselves, but don't say you weren't warned. The Lus died strange deaths—surely they offended something unclean. Stay away from the homes of the dead, or you'll have only yourselves to blame." With that, she hurried off down the lane.
Olivia still held the bundle of fuling cakes she had just bought. Turning back toward her mistress, she began to speak—only to see Alice Lu already stepping through the blackened doorway.
The fire had devoured everything. The house bore no trace of its former life—only the stench of soot and the ruins of charred wood.
Alice walked slowly, her steps measured.
She had been gone so long that even her memories had grown faint. She could scarcely recall the layout of the house—only that the main hall had stood near the rear, joined to a small kitchen courtyard. The eaves had been low, and when it rained, the courtyard always flooded.
Now, the fallen beams and rubble lay so tangled that one could no longer tell where the kitchen had stood, or where the courtyard began.
Her boots crunched against the debris. Glancing down, she saw a sliver of something pale glinting among the ashes.
Bending to pick it up, she found a fragment of green stone—part of the water jar that once stood by the kitchen corridor, always filled with fresh well-water. Seven years ago, the last bucket she had drawn before leaving home had been from that very jar.
Behind her, Olivia Yin followed cautiously, shivering at the sight of the blackened ruins. "Miss," she whispered, "perhaps we should leave for now. That woman said this place is cursed, and if by chance—"
"If by chance what?" Alice Lu asked evenly. "That the Lu family was cursed?"
Olivia fell silent.
Alice lowered her gaze, closing her hand slowly around the fragment of a wind chime she had found among the ashes. Her voice, when she spoke again, was like the chill of winter steel.
"Cursed indeed."
Death, imprisonment, drowning, fire… Coincidence upon coincidence—too precise to be mere fate. She too wished to know what "unclean thing" her family had supposedly provoked, that they should be so ruthlessly erased from this world.
"That woman said Emma Lu was married into the Ke family of the capital?" she asked.
Olivia nodded quickly. "Yes, miss—the old porcelain merchants. A most respected household, so I've heard."
"The Ke family…" Alice murmured. Then, standing amid the ashes, she said quietly, "I will remember that name."