Sin Eater

General Lai, her face etched with grief, surveyed the mounds of funerary offerings: mountains of spiced meats, glistening fruits, and potent wines, all laid out for her slaughtered battalion—a beautiful display for people who died so horrendously. The whispers started - she was mad, a ghoul, feasting on the dead.

But Lai knew the ancient ritual. Each bite and swallow was a transference. She absorbed their sins, regrets, and unfulfilled desires. The shimmering light emanating from the offerings confirmed this. Her soldiers’ souls, cleansed, ascended.

Her reflection, in the polished surface of a wine goblet, showed a hollow-eyed woman devoid of light. The price for their salvation was a heavy one—her oblivion. The final offering, a single, blooming rose, lay untouched. Her afterlife surrendered. A monster like her wouldn’t need one.

The onlookers covered their faces as if Lai couldn't read the disgust in their furrowed brows. To them, she was anathema. But they didn't know anything, she thought.

All these people cursing her and the Crown for sending their loved ones to fight in an unnecessary war. But shouldn't they be honored to have contributed so significantly to the cause?

Another bite, another glance at the crowd. They should be weeping with praise for her final service to her fallen soldiers. But instead, they ridicule, cringe, and glower. The lonely general could feel the hatred pooling in her gut. Her thoughts became more and more horrifying with each mouthful.

General Lai had always been known as a cursed creature, able to see beyond what others could. She would find victims of unjust death so often that her neighbors began to associate her with bad omens.

Ostracized from her village, young Lai became a wanderer without purpose. Lost and without guidance, she would follow the only light she could see—souls who couldn’t find a place to rest.

She would find their bodies, see the bao buns and sweet wine laid out for them, and eat—eternal rest for the dead, and another day of life for her.

It was a small, subtle change at first. But the more she did this, the more her thoughts, feelings, and actions began spiraling out of her control. She started feeling like a drifting ghost, lost with no one to give her peace. It wasn’t until she reached the Capital that she thought she could be saved.

There, she met Death. In his silhouette, Lai felt a cold familiarity. She then found that it wasn’t a curse that allowed her to see the lingering essence of life, but rather the makeup of her genetic being.

“Allow me to show you what has been closed off to you.” The words were whispers uttered by the strange, wraith-like man. But no matter how low he spoke, she could always hear him.

He took her to many places, none belonging to the corporal world she had grown up in. She found joyful creatures, peaceful souls, and warmth in each place. She felt an overwhelming pride for helping those lost souls find such a fantastic home.

And then he showed her the moonless plane, reserved for those undeserving of the light the other realm offered. But why did they have to go there? Even Death didn’t know.

“My belief,” he said, “ is that each person goes to the afterlife they think they deserve. While it is my job to open a path to a brighter or moonless place, it is the soul who dictates what happens there and what they did in life to deserve that space.” He paused; the silence felt like ice. “However, many do not get the opportunity to see these passages. Souls of those who sin tend to linger.” A warning seemed to hover, but nothing else was said.

The journey with her father gave Lai purpose. “If I can ensure everyone gets a pleasant afterlife, wouldn’t that make me a hero?” She became obsessed with this idea.

Against Death’s wishes, Lai joined the military. She trained alone daily, took on any mission available, and worked her way up until she was gifted the title General. The Crown wanted to expand its land into enemy territory, and they needed her to lead a battalion to clear the way.

It didn’t matter whether she was right or wrong about this. Even when she had no other choice but to kill, she could ensure they didn’t linger in purgatory. She told herself they should be relieved for no longer suffering on the battlefield.

After every battle, she would wait until night fell, sneak out of camp, and take a bite from every dead soldier on the field. A dim light glistened, signaling the soul’s ascent. Death would hover nearby, watching as his daughter lost more and more of her sanity. And with it, access to her afterlife. He watched as her fingers slowly blackened, her skin became translucent, and the rationality left her eyes.

Only she and one other person made it out unscathed when her camp was ambushed.

Lai knew her soldiers. Knew they took no pride in the people they killed and the families they ruined. She, more than anyone, knew they would not find green fields and a soft breeze in their afterlives.

She knew what to do. She would save them all, even if it meant becoming a creature unbelonging to the corporeal world. She would be a hero.

General Lai wiped the wine from the side of her lip with the back of her brittle, blackened wrist. The rose, vibrant and alive only moments before, now lay withered. The sun was setting, and many onlookers had turned their backs to head home. She could still hear their gossip. Sin-Eater, they were calling her.

She wanted to kill them.

A shadowy figure stuck out from the rest. Although the distance between them was great, she heard him. And for the first and last time, the sadness in his voice.

“My child,” he murmured, “you have only ever lied to yourself, and look where it’s gotten you.”

General Lai crushed the dead rose in her fist, watching as the figure and sun disappeared from sight.