Love Spell

That night, I don’t even know how I slept. I woke in the middle of the night, my body icy […]

I didn’t expect that the next day, I wouldn’t see Shen Jianqing. I woke early, back aching. I had curled

By evening, Shen Jianqing came again to bring me food. The main door was tightly closed. The previously hollow windows

Shen Jianqing had gone mad. That was the only thought racing through my mind. Finding strength I didn’t know I

Being alone made time stretch, slow and unbearable. I took some fever medicine, and at least my body wasn’t swinging

My joy at finding water had made me careless. In the darkness, I never saw the pit at my feet.

A single thread of sky stretched over the gorge, endless green rolling out to infinity. In woods this deep, a

What kind of person is Shen Jianqing? I once thought he was gentle and pure, that even if his upbringing

We needed to leave. That was the only clear thought in my head. What exactly was the purpose of the

By the time the sky started to darken, we headed out together to take part in the fire-cutting ritual. As

“How’d you sleep last night?” I went downstairs. Shen Jianqing had just finished making breakfast and was already eating. Holding

At the base, we ran into Qiu Lu and the others. They were surrounded by a group of villagers, happily

Morning light filtered through the leaves, golden and bright, forming a holy beam that seemed perfectly aimed at Shen Jianqing,

I wandered into a bamboo grove nearby. Far from the settlement and fields, the grove leaned against a mountain. The

Today, we had agreed with Shen Jianqing to wander around the village, taking photographs for our field research records and

“What’s with that girl?” Xu Zirong pointed at her retreating figure, then turned to Shen Jianqing. “She seemed pretty familiar

Happy to see us? But every record and rumor said the Shengmiao people hated outsiders. Yet Shen Jianqing had welcomed

So this was his house. The only stilt house in the entire forest—lonely, quiet. I’d assumed it was abandoned, but

Among us, some had bungee-jumped, some had paraglided—but always with safety gear and careful preparation. Now, staring at a rope

We stayed frozen, watching it glide out of sight, not daring to move a muscle. My sweat dripped into my