t precedes the appearance of the ghost. However, even more vicious than ghosts is a masked bandit who suddenly holds up the procession and strips the men off their money on the pretext that he is the infamous local gangster, Sanpao. As expected, the bandit moves curiously towards the sedan chair to see the hidden bride. Upon pulling off her red bridal veil, he sees Nine observing him calmly. Entranced by her beauty, he reaches down to hold her foot encased in a red embroidered shoe. Looking at the masked bandit, Nine's face registers understanding of her power over him; at this moment, he is the conquered and she the conqueror. As if amused by the thought, Nine breaks into a sudden smile, revealing a flash of white teeth. Taken aback by the bride's unexpected boldness, the bandit orders her out of the sedan and into the thick sorghum plantation where his intention is obvious. The cool compliance of Nine reveals her dauntless confidence. As she walks leisurely into the sorghum, she turns towards Yu who is forced to crouch beside the sedan chair with the other men, and looks challengingly at him to rescue her. Making her way slowly into the tall sorghum, she pauses and looks at Yu again. Heeding Nine's plea, Yu lunges at the bandit, and the other sedan chair carriers follow suit. The bandit is beaten to death and the men discover that he is only an imposter of Sanpao. All this while, not a word has been exchanged between Nine and Yu, but their mutual attraction, conveyed by the exchange of desiring glances, is unmistakable. Seated calmly again in the bridal sedan, Nine gazes at the enraptured Yu before she abruptly lets the sedan's red curtain fall before her. Throughout this sequence red is given prominence as a symbol of passion and sexual desire. In one of Zhang's first utilisation of repetition, Yu, like the murdered bandit, moves towards the sedan chair and grabs hold of Nine's foot protruding slightly under the curtain. In a reversa...
