part 2

The sound of wind, the sound of the sea of trees, the howling and roaring of demonic creatures, all sank into a deadly silence in an instant, as if they were afraid of something.

And then, he heard a very soft chuckle.

It sounded like a man, but also a youth.

Xie Lian sat poised and quiet.

The silk band Ruoye was quietly encircling his hand, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. If whoever had come showed a trace of killing aura, it would instantly, wildly strike back with ten times the power.

Yet unexpectedly, what came wasn’t the anticipated attack or any murderous intent but something else.

The curtain of the bridal sedan was lightly lifted, and from underneath the bright red veil, Xie Lian saw the person had extended a hand to him.

The fingers were well defined. A red string was tied on the third finger, and on that long, slender, fair hand

Xie Lian maintained his composure. He hadn’t decided yet: should he continue to sit tall and still, or pretend to be a bride who was frightened and at a loss, dodging back? The owner of that hand was rather patient, however, and incredibly well mannered. Xie Lian didn’t move, and so that hand didn’t move either, seeming to be waiting for his response.

A moment later, as if something had taken control of him, Xie Lian reached out.

He rose to his feet, ready to push aside the curtain to descend the sedan, but the man had already moved first, lifting the red curtain for him. This man who had come grasped his hand but didn’t squeeze too hard, as if he was afraid of hurting him, somehow giving the impression of taking the utmost care.

Xie Lian had his head bowed and let the man guide him slowly out of the sedan. Below the veil, Xie Lian could see by his feet the dead body of a wolf that the silk band Ruoye had strangled. An idea came to him, and Xie Lian lightly tripped, falling forward with an alarmed gasp.

The man immediately reached out and caught him.

Xie Lian also twisted his hand to catch the man’s helping arm and felt something cold. It turned out the man was wearing a pair of silver vambraces around his wrists.

The vambraces were exquisitely beautiful, with primitive decorative patterns. Maple leaves, butterflies, and savage beasts were engraved upon them, quite mysterious and quite unlike anything from the Central Plains, more akin to the ancient artifacts of foreign tribes. The vambraces appeared polished and refined, locked around the man’s wrists.

Icy cold silver and fair white hands. Both were without a trace of life but carried an evil, killing aura.

Xie Lian’s trip and fall earlier was a feint; he had a mind to test this man who’d come. Ruoye had been circling languidly inside the large, expansive sleeves of his wedding robes, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. However, the man only took his hand and guided him forward.

Xie Lian purposely walked extremely slowly. This was because: one, he couldn’t see the path clearly with the veil on, and two, he wanted to stall for time. Yet this other person matched his pace and walked slowly along with him, the other arm coming around to support him every now and then, as if afraid Xie Lian would trip again.

No matter how high on his guard Xie Lian was, to be treated this way, he couldn’t help but think: If he was a real groom, then he’d genuinely be a most gentle and considerate one.

Then, he suddenly heard an exceedingly soft clinking sound. With every step the two took, that sound would ring crisply. Just as he was mulling over what that sound could be, there was suddenly the low, suppressed growls of wild beasts from all around.

Wild wolves!

Xie Lian jerked slightly, and the silk band Ruoye abruptly snapped tight around his wrist.

Yet unexpectedly, before he could do anything, the man who was holding his hand softly tapped the back of that hand like he was comforting him, telling him not to worry. The two taps were so soft they could practically be called gentle. Xie Lian was slightly taken aback, but the low growling was already suppressed. When Xie Lian listened closely, he suddenly realized that these wild wolves weren’t growling but whimpering.

It was clearly the whimpering of beasts that had reached the peak of fear and could not move while they struggled before death.

Now his curiosity for who this man was grew even stronger. He wanted to lift the veil to look first and worry about everything else later, but he knew that wasn’t the best course of action at the moment. So he could only peek through the crack below the red covering, his view limited, and miss the larger picture. The only thing he saw was the lower hem of a vividly red robe. Below the red robe were a pair of black leather boots, walking languidly.

Those black leather boots were wrapped tight around long, slender legs, looking mightily beautiful as they walked. On the sides of the black boots there dangled two fine silver chains, and with every step, the silver chains would sway, clinking and crinkling, sounding extremely pleasant to the ear.

The steps were nonchalant but sprightly, much like those of a youth. However, his every step was also confident, like there was nothing that could stand in his way. If anyone dared to block him, he’d rip them to pieces. Because of this, Xie Lian couldn’t quite say just who exactly this character was.

Just as he was deep in thought, something hauntingly white on the ground suddenly intruded on his vision.

It was a skull.

Xie Lian’s steps faltered for a moment.

He could immediately tell that the way the skull was placed was amiss. This was clearly a point in some magic formation, and if moved, the entire enchantment would probably attack this spot in an instant. But judging by that youth’s steps, it was as if he didn’t notice there was anything here at all. Xie Lian was just considering whether he should warn him when he heard the crisp sound of a tragic crack! The youth stepped down and instantly crushed the skull to dust.

And then, as if he sensed nothing, he walked over, stepping through that mound of dust indifferently.

Xie Lian was speechless. “…”

With just one step, he crushed the entire enchantment into a mound of wasted dust…

Just then, that youth’s step paused. Xie Lian tensed, wondering if he was about to act, but the youth only stopped for a moment before continuing to guide Xie Lian along. After a couple of steps, suddenly there was pitter-patter from above, as if beads of raindrops were beating down on the surface of an umbrella. Turns out, that youth had opened an umbrella and raised it over both of their heads.

Although it wasn’t the time for it, Xie Lian couldn’t help but praise inwardly that he really was quite thoughtful. But at the same time, he was also very curious.

Is it raining?

On the mystic black mountain, within the vast wilderness, somewhere deep in the far distant ranges there came the long howls of the wolves. Perhaps it was because a slaughter had just occurred on the mountain, but the faint scent of blood was still permeating the cold, frigid air.

Everything about this situation was eerie to the extreme, but that youth held him in one hand and the umbrella in the other as he walked leisurely on, appearing for no reason to be bewitchingly romantic and deeply affectionate.

That strange shower came strangely and ended strangely as well; it wasn’t long before the dripping sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella ended, and the youth also came to a stop. He seemed to have put away the umbrella while at the same time, he finally let go of Xie Lian’s hand and moved one step closer.

The hand that had been holding his own this entire way softly folded a corner of the veil and slowly lifted it upward.

Xie Lian had been waiting for this moment the entire time. He stood still, watching as the clinging red curtain was slowly pulled up—

The silk band shot out!

It wasn’t because the youth exuded a killing aura but rather because he must be apprehended: seize him first and talk later!

Yet unexpectedly, when the silk band Ruoye flew out and carried with it a blast of wind, that bright red veil left the youth’s hand, fluttering up, then down. Before Xie Lian had the chance to see the remnant shadow of that red-robed youth, Ruoye had shot through him.

The youth shattered into thousands of silver butterflies, scattering into a breeze of silver twinkling stars.

While it wasn’t the time for it, after Xie Lian had backed a couple of steps away, he couldn’t help but sigh in awe. This sight truly was as beautiful as a fantastic dream.

Just then, one silver butterfly errantly flew past his eyes. When he tried to look closer, however, that single silver butterfly fluttered twice around him before joining the whirl of butterflies, melting into a part of the silver that enveloped the sky as they fluttered their wings to fly into the night.

It was a good while before Xie Lian came back around, and he wondered, So was that youth the ghost groom?

In his opinion, he didn’t think so. If those wolves on Mount Yujun were his subordinates, why would they appear so terrified upon seeing him? And that enchanted array on the way must have been set up by the ghost groom, yet he so casually…crushed it.

The more he pondered, the stranger this was. But then Xie Lian tossed Ruoye over his shoulder and thought, Well, whatever. He could also just be a passerby. I’ll leave this for now and focus on the matter at hand.

But after scanning around, he eh’d. It turned out there was a building not far away, standing there somberly.

Since that youth had brought him here and this building was so painstakingly hidden inside this enchantment array, Xie Lian decided he must go inside and take a look.

Xie Lian took a few steps, then halted abruptly. After some thought, he turned back and picked up the veil from the ground. He dusted it off and clutched it in his hand before continuing to make his way to the building.

This building was a tall structure with red walls, the bricks and wood appearing rather mottled, much like an aged local town temple. However, in Xie Lian’s experience, this design was most likely a martial god temple. Sure enough, when he looked up, he saw the large, solidly metal words nailed on the top of the entrance:

“Temple of Ming Guang.”

The Martial God of the North, General Ming Guang, was also the General Pei that Ling Wen spoke of in the communication array, whose worship was abundant in the north. No wonder they didn’t find any Temples of Ming Guang nearby, but found a Temple of Nan Yang. Turns out, the Temple of Ming Guang on Mount Yujun had long since been locked away by an enchantment array. Could this ghost groom have anything to do with General Ming Guang?

However, this General Ming Guang was a mighty and unapproachable great heavenly official, flush with success. Additionally, his status in the north was very secure. Personally, Xie Lian didn’t think a heavenly official like that would have any connection with a malicious creature like the ghost groom. It wasn’t strange to have one’s base be overtaken by a malicious creature without one’s knowledge; he’d have to wait and see what the truth really was.

He walked up to the temple and the doors were closed but not locked, so when he pushed, they opened. After pushing the doors in, a strange smell assaulted his senses.

It wasn’t the dusty air common to an unvisited place of many years but rather a faint stench of rot.

Xie Lian closed the doors behind him to make it seem like no one had entered, then crossed the threshold into the temple. At the center of the great hall was a martial god statue, naturally that of the Martial God of the North, General Ming Guang. Humanoid objects such as sculptures, puppets, and portraits were easily tainted by the aura of evil. Thus, the first thing Xie Lian did was to go up and look closely at this martial god statue.

After examining it for a while, his conclusion was: this divine statue was exquisitely sculpted. Wielding a sacred sword and wearing a jade belt, his appearance was handsome with an imposing bearing. There weren’t any issues, and the rotting smell didn’t come from this divine statue either. Thus, Xie Lian put it out of his mind and started to make his way to the back of the great hall.

When he turned around, Xie Lian froze completely, and his pupils shrank.

A group of women dressed in bright red wedding robes, their heads covered with veils, stood tall before him.

The faint stench of rot was exuding from these women.

Xie Lian quickly composed himself, then started counting. One, two, three, four…until he counted to seventeen.

They were the seventeen brides who went missing in the Mount Yujun area!

The red on some of the wedding dresses had faded, the robes looking exceedingly old and tattered, so he assumed they were the earliest brides who went missing. Some of the brides were still wearing brand-new wedding dresses, and the styles were new too. The smell of aged, rotting corpse was still very light on them, so they must be the ones who went missing recently. Xie Lian thought for a moment, then removed the veil of one of the brides.

There was a tragically pale face under the bright red veil, so white that it was faintly glowing green. With the soft light of the moon shining upon it, it was quite horrifying. But the most horrifying part was that, while the muscles of this woman’s face were already contorted with death, on this face there hung a stiff smile.

Xie Lian pulled off the veil of the next woman, and there were the same curled lips.

An entire building full of dead people, and they were all dressed in wedding robes with smiles on their faces.

The strange nursery rhyme sung by that child seemed to be ringing in Xie Lian’s ears again: New bride, new bride, new bride in the red bridal sedan… Brimming tears, past the hills, smile not under the bridal veil…

Suddenly, there was a strange sound coming from outside the temple.

It truly was a strange sound. So strange that it was hard to describe: like two rods wrapped in heavy cloth were violently thumping on the forest floor, but also like something heavy was being pulled with difficulty along the ground. That sound traveled far and came close very quickly. It was merely an instant before it reached the entrance of the Temple of Ming Guang. Creeeak, the doors of the Temple of Ming Guang opened.

Whatever had come, whether it be human or creature, was most likely that ghost groom. And now, it had returned!

There was nowhere to escape at the back of the hall, nor anywhere to hide. Xie Lian’s mind spun for a second. Seeing the row of brides, he instantly put on his own veil, joining the line and standing still.

If there were only five to six corpses standing there, then of course it’d be easy to see that the numbers weren’t correct. But there were seventeen bride corpses here, and unless each one was counted like he did earlier, it’d be difficult to notice someone was mixed in.

He’d only just joined the line before he heard that strange THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP “walk” in.

Xie Lian remained still while he pondered. What exactly is this sound? By the length and pauses, it’s a bit like the sound of footsteps, but what creature’s footsteps sound like this? It’s definitely not the youth who brought me here. He was extremely at ease, and when he walked, he clinked.

Suddenly, he realized something, and his heart jumped to his throat.

Oh no, my height is wrong!

These corpses were all women, but he was very much a man, and was born a notch taller than women. While an extra person couldn’t be noticed with a glance, if there was someone particularly tall in the group of corpses, then that was very noticeable!

But then again, Xie Lian’s mind turned, and he quickly collected himself once more. He certainly was taller than these brides, but the girl Xiao-Ying had only bound his hair simply and didn’t do much else with it. The brides here were all dressed to the nines, their hairdos shooting for the skies. There were even some who were wearing phoenix crowns, a giant piece rising high on their heads, so they might not be shorter than him, considering. Even if he was taller, he shouldn’t be that conspicuous.

Just as he was thinking this, he heard a sshhhh sound that was about six meters away from him.

A moment later, there was another sshhhh, and this time, it was a bit closer.

Xie Lian realized what the ghost groom was doing now.

It was pulling off the veil of each one of the brides and checking the faces of the corpses one by one!

WHAM!

If he didn’t strike now, when would there be a better time? The silk band Ruoye shot out and hit the ghost groom squarely.

There was a loud rumble, and black mist assaulted his face. Xie Lian didn’t know whether that evil mist was toxic or not, but since he had no spiritual light to shield his body, he immediately covered his nose and mouth. At the same time, he prompted Ruoye to whirl widely to vent the air, dispersing the black mist. There was another THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP, and when Xie Lian cracked open his eyes, he saw a small, short form by the entrance of the temple flash past. The entrance was thrown open, and a ball of black mist bolted for the forest.

Xie Lian made the decision on the spot and chased after it immediately. Yet who knew he hadn’t gone far before he saw fires blazing within the woods. The screams and shouts of a rampage came from the distance.

“Charge—!”

The voice of a youth was particularly loud and clear. “Catch the ugly freak and exterminate evil for the people! Catch the ugly freak and exterminate evil for the people! We’ll split the bounty evenly!”

It was indeed Xiao-Pengtou. Xie Lian inwardly let out a frustrated cry; this group had said they were going to come to the mountain, and they actually did. There was originally an enchanted array concealing the area, but that array had been crushed to smithereens by the youth earlier. And this group, with their blind luck, actually found the place. Upon a second look, the direction the noise came from just so happened to be the direction in which the ghost groom had fled!

Xie Lian grabbed Ruoye and charged out, shouting, “Don’t move!”

The group froze for a moment. He was about to say more when he heard Xiao-Pengtou inquire enthusiastically, “Miss! You were kidnapped by the ghost groom, right? What’s your name? We’re here to rescue you; you can relax now!”

Xie Lian was taken aback, finding this hilarious before remembering that he was still dressed in women’s attire. There were no mirrors inside the Temple of Nan Yang, so he had no idea how he looked right now, but from their reaction, Miss Xiao-Ying’s hands must be adept. In their shock, the group actually took him for a real bride, and this Xiao-Pengtou was probably hoping Xie Lian would be that seventeenth bride so he could go collect the reward money. However, given the situation, he could not allow these villagers to run amok under any circumstance. Moreover, he couldn’t guarantee that the ghost groom had continued to flee.

Coincidentally, right then, two black-clad youths came rushing over. Xie Lian immediately called, “Nan Feng, Fu Yao, come aid me, quick!”

Yet who knew, when those two heard and looked over, they were both taken aback, then backed a couple of steps away in unison. Xie Lian had to ask many times before they came around.

Xie Lian asked, “Did you two come from that direction? Did you run into anything on the way?”

“No!” Nan Feng replied.

“Good,” Xie Lian said. “Fu Yao, follow this path immediately and search the surrounding area. Make sure the ghost groom hasn’t escaped.”

Fu Yao turned and left when he heard the instructions.

Xie Lian then said, “Nan Feng, you stay and guard this place, and make sure not a single person leaves. If Fu Yao doesn’t find the ghost groom on the mountain, then it must be in that crowd right now!”

Upon hearing this, commotion erupted within the crowd. Xiao-Pengtou had realized he wasn’t a woman by now, and he was the first to jump.

“Not a single one can leave? ON WHAT GROUNDS?! Are there no laws in this land?! Guys, don’t listen to them…”

He hadn’t yet landed from his jump when Nan Feng struck out a palm, and a large tree, as wide as a man’s hug, snapped and collapsed. The crowd instantly remembered that this young man chopped things whenever there was a disagreement. If he chopped them like that pillar, then any form of monetary repayment would be useless, so they all shut up.

Xiao-Pengtou exclaimed, “You said the ghost groom is among us? Every single one of us has a proper name and family. If you don’t believe me, use a torch to light up everyone’s face and check individually!”

“Nan Feng,” Xie Lian called.

Nan Feng took the torch from Xiao-Pengtou and went around to shine it over every single person. Each face was covered in sweat, or nervous, or at a loss, or excited, all extremely spirited.

groom and it escaped. It definitely couldn’t have gone far. My two young friends here didn’t run into it on the way here, so I’m afraid this creature is mixed within the group. Will you please take a good look at each other, see each other’s faces clearly, and check if there’s anyone you don’t recognize in the crowd.”

When the crowd heard that the ghost groom could be mixed within their own group of people, their blood ran cold. They didn’t dare to be careless. They peered at each other, you looking at me and me looking at you. They had looked for a while when there was a sudden yell.

“Why are you here?!”

Xie Lian’s brows shot up, and he rushed over. “Who is it?”

Xiao-Pengtou snatched someone else’s torch and shined it at the corner of the crowd. “THIS UGLY FREAK!”

The one he was pointing at was Xiao-Ying. Xiao-Ying’s slanted eyes and crooked nose appeared somewhat contorted under the firelight, and she had her arms raised to block her face, looking like she couldn’t bear to be exposed under the firelight’s glare.

“I…I was worried, so I wanted to come up and look…”

Seeing how alarmed she looked, Xie Lian took away the torch in Xiao-Pengtou’s hand and turned to the others. “How is it, everyone?”

The group all shook their heads.

“There isn’t anyone we don’t know.”

“We’ve seen everyone here.”

“Could it be possessing someone?” Nan Feng asked.

Xie Lian hummed for a moment. “It’s doubtful. That was a solid body.”

“Since it’s a wrath, it’s hard to say whether it can change shape,” Nan Feng said.

While the two were hesitating, Xiao-Pengtou was again the first to shout, “The ghost groom isn’t among us, do you see? If you see, then why won’t you let us go?!”

Scattered voices agreed here and there, and Xie Lian gave them a sweeping look.

“Will everyone please stay here in front of this Temple of Ming Guang and not move even half a step away.”

The group was about to complain again, but when they saw Nan Feng’s cold glare, they didn’t dare.

Just then, Fu Yao also returned. He reported, “There’s nothing nearby.”

Gazing at this heavily packed crowd before the Temple of Ming Guang, Xie Lian slowly said, “Then it must be one of these people.”

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