He Jiao was born in 1980 in an ordinary rural family. Her name Jiao, chosen by a literate villager, meant bright and shiny like the moon. At fifteen, she went to bathe in the river on a summer afternoon. She heard splashing but saw no one, only a white snake tail vanishing into the bamboo across the river. That night she developed a high fever and became completely paralyzed. Her stomach swelled over the years into a size resembling pregnancy. Her parents took her to hospitals within the province and even to a capital hospital, but no one could diagnose her. After three years of total dependence, her family saw her as a burden. They placed her in a room next to the pigsty under a tattered quilt, and she stared at the broken roof tiles day after day. They tried to marry her off, but no one wanted a paralyzed woman. He Jiao begged her second older sister for rat poison to end her life, but her sister refused. She stopped eating, determined to starve.On the third day of her hunger strike, her second older sister announced that a man from out of town wanted to marry her. The man, Su Qinghuai, was extraordinarily handsome, with white skin and alluring slanted eyes. He expressed no disgust at her condition. When her mother lifted the dirty quilt exposing her swollen belly and atrophic limbs, Su Qinghuai asked for hot water and carefully washed her. As he turned, He Jiao spotted a white fluffy tail tip beneath his coat, which immediately vanished. She asked why he would marry her; he answered that he had a peculiar fetish for those who could not move. He did not wait for her answer and left, saying he would return the next morning.That night, a snake crawled onto her bed and spoke, warning that Su Qinghuai was a fox spirit who intended to cut open her belly and take away what belonged to the Mountain Lord. The snake said she must not go with the fox or her life would end. It told her to hold on until the Mountain Lord came out of seclusion and bit her wrist, and the pain made her move for the first time in three years. She fell forward from the bed onto the ground, but she could move, and she nearly cried with joy. She called her parents and told them Su Qinghuai was a fox. Her father decided to take her to Old Woman Hu, a reclusive fortune teller.They traveled by donkey cart at night. On the mountain road, they encountered the ghost of Xu Jun, a man who had hanged himself, floating with his feet off the ground. The old donkey foamed at the mouth from the run, and father had to stop. He cursed and urinated toward the ghost, and it dissipated in the fog. At Old Woman Hu’s isolated house, the old woman at first refused, saying the thing in He Jiao’s belly had grown too large to be removed, but after the father pleaded, she agreed to see He Jiao. She said something had happened at the father’s home and sent him back.Inside, a bathtub of warm water topped with pink petals was prepared. He Jiao bathed after years and was given a red wedding dress. Old Woman Hu set up an altar with candles and lit incense. Her shadow on the wall transformed into a writhing snake. The room went dark, and when the candles reignited, Liu Jingchuan, the Mountain Lord, appeared in white robes, cold and divine. He stated that the snake egg in He Jiao’s belly was his and would be born only after they consummated the marriage. He ordered her to bow three times to become his wife, his face showing reluctance. He Jiao asked how she became pregnant, but he avoided answering. She saw Old Woman Hu’s snake shadow and suspected a trap.Before she could act, Su Qinghuai broke down the door, his sword bloody. He told her not to bow. He Jiao hesitated but chose Su Qinghuai, as he had shown willingness to clean her excrement while the Mountain Lord was commanding and reluctant. Su Qinghuai lifted her and leaped away, but he was wounded. In a secluded field, his attitude changed. He pressed her down and attempted to force intercourse. He kissed her neck, his breath urgent. He Jiao seized a sharp stone and struck his head. Blood dripped down his face. He stopped, saying she always seized every opportunity to try to kill him, then apologized and said he would take her home.Once at the village, He Jiao ran to her house and found her entire family dead—six bodies scattered in the courtyard: her father, mother, older sister, second older sister, younger brother, and five-year-old sister. She checked each for a sign of life, but they were all cold. She collapsed screaming. Neighbors woke up, gathered, and someone called for the police. Su Qinghuai stood nearby, still bleeding from his head wound, and denied responsibility. He Jiao knelt among the corpses, the horror overwhelming her.
