Jingfei

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  This story comes from Manzhouli, inner Mongolia. There lived a family of twelve, a mum, dad and ten children. Among the ten children, there was Jingfei. Jingfei was a humble farm girl.   

  The summer rains did not bless the crops. The farmer and his family were desperate. Without the crops, they would not have any income or food. Weeks had passed and there was still no rain. Jingfei begged her father to sent her into the city to find a job. He refused to send her to the concrete jungle. Monzhouli was the boarder of Russia. Many Russians would pass through and trade with the locals.   

  One morning, a group of travelers were passing through and stopped at the farm for some water and food. The farmer did not have much to offer. The travelers noticed that the farmer was desperate to sell them anything that he could find on the farm. One of the travelers noticed young Jingfei and immediately offered her father to buy her. The farmer replied “She is not for sale!” The traveler and his companions began to beat the farmer and abduct Jingfei, leaving her father unconscious and her family devastated.   

  The travelers cross the border with Jingfei. One of the older travelers take Jingfei into his bungalow. An old lady is sent into the bungalow to clean Jingfei up. Jingfei begins to cry and explains her situation to the old lady. The old lady informs Jingfei, “I am sorry, they did not spare your family”. Hearing the news about her family, Jingfei becomes very bitter.   

  The old lady convinces her that she is there to help Jingfei and gives her a book on the dark arts. The old lady advises her that the only way she could avenge the death of her family is to take her life and use the dark arts to haunt the old man. Jingfei, heartbroken, confused, bitter and gullible, decides to take the old lady’s advice. The old lady gives her a sharp dagger.   

  Jingfei slits both her wrists and watches herself bleed and doze into a deep sleep. She wakes up confused and hears bickering. As she looks up, she sees her lifeless body lying on the ground. The old lady is reciting verses from her dark arts book. The traveler was very angry and chased the old woman out of the bungalow.  

  He looked over Jingfei’s body and wept. She stood there trying to make sense of her situation and remembered her dad telling her “Death is by God’s hands and not for humans to take, should you take your soul, it will not depart until it’s appointed time.”    

  The traveler's take her body outside and bury her. Suddenly, she feels something pull her and she has no control. She is dragged into the old lady’s hut. The old lady knocks a nail into the head of Jingfei and tells her, “Your soul is mine.” Jingfei realizes that she had sold her soul to the devil. Jingfei cannot move or walk without the order of the old lady.  

  When the night fell, the old lady calls out to Jingfei and recites from her dark arts book, “Jingfei! Jingfei! Go to the old traveler's bungalow and disturb his sleep.” Jingfei fights her own soul but automatically, she is dragged into the old man’s bungalow. She spends the night in his room, doing nothing. However, he is very restless and cannot sleep, as if he was aware of her presence.   

  When the sun rises, she is called and automatically is dragged into the old lady’s hut. The old lady uses Jingfei for spying on people, scaring people and mostly for haunting the old man who lived in the bungalow.   

  A few years had passed. The old man had to go travelling across the border to do business. Jingfei was sent to him as usual at sunset to disturb his sleep. She is dragged to where ever he is. Jingfei’s soul was dragged across the border and onto the farm, where she once lived. She finds herself in the bedroom and the old man enters with her father and mother. Jingfei realizes that the old lady lied to her. Her family was alive. They begin to pray and the father calls out to Jingfei, telling her “We can help you. You do not need to be the old lady’s prisoner. We do not have time, at sunrise the old lady will call you back.”   

  Jingfei does not know how to communicate. She tries to move a wooden hair brush that belonged to her. After a few attempts, she manages to drop it off the table. Her mother begins to cry and immediately acknowledges her presence. Another unknown man enters the room and calls out to Jingfei and begins to pray. He calls her forward and tells her that he needs to remove the nail from her head. She stands in front of him. It seemed as if he could see and her and removes the nail. She feels great relief. Jingfei feels her soul ascending into the heavens.    

  The old man narrates to her parents the night they abducted Jingfei. He was not in his senses and will regret it for the rest of his life. Her parent’s console him and are grateful that he helped free her spirit. The old man mentions that the old lady did this dozens of times to innocent young girls and boys, which he was unaware of until Jingfei was abducted. She did not die in vain. The old man vows to take revenge on the old lady and free all the souls she captured.   

  The old lady, Anastuis, was the ex-wife of the old man, Konstantin. He left his wife when she began to practice the dark arts. The old man, Konstantin, lures Anastius across the border by telling her that there are many orphan girls across the border. Once they cross the border, Jingfei’s parents and the unknown man who wanted to remain  anonymous, flee to the old lady’s hut. On arriving there, the anonymous man asks Jingfei’s parents to leave the hut, an evil captured soul could posses them.   

  The man uses his gift and is able to see the souls. He removes each and every nail from each and every soul. As soon as the souls were free, the good ones raised up into the heavens and the bad ones went for the old lady. Anastuis was found shredded into pieces.  

 Your skin is not paper, don’t cut it. your face is not a mask, don’t hide is. Your size is not a book, don’t judge it. Your life is not a film, DON’T END IT.