Chapter 34: CH 19.1

15-18 minutes

The man in black and his assistant looked coldly at the bride.

They were not good people. They had already passed the impulsive period of being a newcomer, leaving only their focus on profit and gain.

But in a certain moment, something flashed quickly in the black-robed man’s mind as he saw the bride’s desperate pleading eyes, which he couldn’t capture in time.

The old man carved three bloody characters on the bride’s face, but because the blood was still flowing, the specific characters were unclear.

When the two released their hands from around the bride’s neck, she shook her head in pain uncontrollably.

Her expression was almost crazy, and coupled with her bloody face, it was unbearable to look at.

The man in black and his assistant knew at a glance that the pain inflicted on her was not just from the needle marks, there must have been something wrong with the red dye on the needle.

After the characters were carved onto her face, the bride was dragged back two steps, and the old lady lay on the ground, giggling as she opened the bride’s blouse and carved more characters onto her body.

The father of the ‘groom’: “The second step to recognizing one’s husband is to merge blood with him.”

The bride, almost numb with pain, was carried into the coffin.

Her head faced downward towards the groom, and her head was pressed against the groom’s face, their faces pressed together.

The dead person’s face was a terrifying purple-gray color. Ice blocks were placed in the coffin, but they still could not stop the decay. The cold smell of the corpse pressed against the bride’s face, squeezing her wounds.

Their lips met, and the bride seemed to feel the corpse’s putrid air flowing into her body through her mouth, corroding her organs.

The bride, already numb, struggled wildly and violently, her throat making a desperate “Ah ya ah ya” sound.

The sound was full of despair and misery, adding another layer of coldness to the wedding hall.

But no matter how she struggled, it was useless. The villagers who filled the wedding hall controlled her alone, while the other two looked on coldly.

All the blood from the bride’s forehead and the carved characters on her face melted into the corpse’s face."

“Groom’s” Father: “The first step in setting up the new household is to widen the clothes and remove all clothing from the bride.”

In the wedding hall, someone played a loud and joyful suona horn. Outside, firecrackers crackled and popped, and the red confetti rained down.

Most of the people in the wedding hall wore happy smiles that completely overwhelmed the bride’s tiny, struggling form.

They tore off the bride’s clothes, and she was pressed against the groom like a dead person, not only face to face but also body to body.

This method could be described as the most nauseating feudal practice. Even the black-robed man found it hard to watch.

In the name of setting up a new household, they imprisoned the bride in a coffin.

In this feudal village, they believed that a woman without clothes would not dare to go out and move about, especially with another man’s name engraved on her body. She could only stay here forever.

The black-robed man, who had become cold and ruthless after countless battles, was once a naïve child who loved to listen to fairy tales and legends.

It was only when he grew up that he realized that in the love legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl; the Cowherd saw a pretty fairy bathing and stole her clothes, making it impossible for her to return to heaven and forcing her to stay in the mortal world. This act carried the vile and disgusting traits of men.

The scene before him was a thousand times more disgusting.

But he realized that he, as a bystander, was also disgusting.

The black-robed sneered and closed his eyes wearily as he foresaw his own downfall.

“Groom’s” Father: “The second step in setting up the new household is to tie the bride to the groom with the Soul-Locking Red String, and the two will never be separated.”

When he heard the words “Soul-Locking Red String,” the hand holding the rope trembled, and his assistant noticed.

“Groom’s” Father: “Silence.”

In a silent struggle, the bride’s tongue was cut off and shoved into the groom’s mouth.

“Groom’s” Father: “The ceremony is complete. Close the coffin.”

The sound of the suona in the wedding hall stopped, the sound of firecrackers disappeared, and the laughter and applause were gone.

All that could be heard in the wedding hall was the dull sound of the coffin being pounded.

One could imagine the despair of the bride, who was stripped of her clothes and tied to a dead person, trapped in a small, enclosed space, stuck to the corpse, facing his face covered in corpse spots, slowly feeling the air running out, unable to breathe in the stench of the corpse, until she died.

The man in the black robe and his assistant were silent.

It was not just for the bride; that was only a small part of it.

The assistant said, “The system is not showing any activity.”

The man in the black robe closed his eyes and said, “Yin Daijun is not the ghost master. She cannot become a vengeful ghost.”

Who was the ghost master?

They had come this far and had no clues.

While they were talking, after the coffin was sealed, the villagers in the wedding hall all looked at them.

The underground industry of Huaiyang Village had been a secret for so many years, and they could not let outsiders who knew about it live, even if they had cooperated before.

The assistant chuckled and suddenly said, “Master in Black, is your soul-locking rope useless?”

The man in the black robe grabbed the soul-locking rope tightly.

The assistant turned his head and said, “I have been serving you diligently for so long, and I have contributed so much to Yinhua. Shouldn’t I be promoted to the management level?”

Who wouldn’t want to be at the management level? In the large organization, the treatment of management and ordinary members was worlds apart.

The man in the black robe said, “It’s not that easy to enter the management level of Yinhua.”

The assistant smiled, “If you sacrifice yourself here, it will open up a position in the management level, which is perfect for me, a person who has contributed a lot to the organization, and bring back the map and secrets of ‘Ghost Animal’ dungeon.”

Before the black-robed man could say a word, his assistant grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up to smash him against the coffin.

When the black-robed man hit the coffin, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

His head was dizzy and his vision blurred, and he saw some marks scratched on the coffin lid.

The black-robed blinked hard and finally saw what it was.

III.

It was the emblem of the Yinhua Club.

It was taken out when the coffin lid was still on the ground, and the bride was forced to kowtow to it.

He finally knew who the mysterious bride was.

It was Scarface, who he ordered to keep an eye on Wang Ming at the villa.

The black-robed chuckled lowly.

He had always thought that in this crazy game, indifference was the key to survival, but he did not expect that his last bout of indifference would cost him his only chance of survival.

Scarface held him in awe from the bottom of his heart, and even if he did not have the Soul-Locking Rope, his fear would not have diminished much.

Moreover, he was Scarface’s assessor for his promotion to a regular member, and if he died, Scarface would not be able to become a regular member.

If he had instructed his assistant to save the bride at that time, Scarface would still be alive and he would protect him. His assistant would also have some reservations and not act so blatantly.

With his last bit of strength, the black-robed placed his palm on the “III” and silently said in his heart, “President, I have failed your expectations.”

Suddenly, the black-robed opened his eyes wide.

***

Ning Su and the others safely left the groom’s house.

Zhu Shuangshuang had escaped from death and then cried with joy, followed by shock and confusion when she came out.

At this time, her brain was in chaos, and her emotions were unstable.

She didn’t know where to start. After walking out with the two people, she grabbed onto the initial question, “Ning Su, how did you get out?”

Ning Su said, “We entered the inner world. The inner world is a ghost world that is basically synchronized with the time in the outside world.”

Zhu Shuangshuang turned pale.

“That place is very interesting.” Ning Su talked about what they had seen in the small square, especially the wedding.

“The ghost who announced that he was getting remarried was standing next to a female ghost, who was the bride.”

The amount of information was overwhelming, so the two needed to take a break.

“That ghost’s name is Bai Xiangning. He got married for the first time with the bride, so the bride was actually going to marry a ghost, or a dead person.”

“If he got married for the first time with the bride, who is he going to get married to for the second time? At that time, in the outside world of Huaiyang Village, there was only one girl from out of town.”

Zhu Shuangshuang was moved and happy. “So, did you come back specifically to save me?”

Ning Su thought about it and didn’t say anything.

Zhu Shuangshuang smiled and didn’t dwell on the issue. “Why did you save me this time? Is it because I was noisy?”

The redness in her eyes from her tears earlier had not yet faded, and now she was smiling again. She remembered that she was indeed very noisy when Ning Su came, even noisier than when they were on the bus.

Ning Su said, “Because you gave me candy to eat.”

Zhu Shuangshuang paused for a moment and suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She didn’t know if it was because of herself or because of Ning Su.

She cried and laughed again, “Just because I gave you candy?”

Zhu Shuangshuang suddenly remembered her college roommate.

The roommate had a boyfriend who, in Zhu Shuangshunag’s opinion, was ordinary and treated her friend in an average manner.

They had only been dating for a month when the boyfriend had a serious car accident. The roommate had to deal with her studies, take care of her boyfriend, and work three jobs to help him pay for the surgery. She only slept for two hours each day.

Over time, she became so haggard that Zhu Shuangshuang could hardly bear to look at her anymore. She asked her friend if it was worth it.

At that time, the roommate’s eyes were particularly bright, and her tone was firm, saying, “It’s worth it.”

Zhu Shuangshuang asked her friend, “What did he do to make you sacrifice so much?”

“Because he picks me up after class every day, takes me home, and cooks for me.”

At the time, Zhu Shuangshuang had a hard time understanding and was confused.

Later, she slowly understood.

Her roommate’s relationship with her parents was not good. When she was a child, the parents did not want to go home and were busy outside.

Countless times, the roommate was alone at home, standing on a chair, half-leaning on the windowsill, watching a family come home together outside.

At school, alone in the classroom, she watched people leaving the school while holding their parents’ hands.

That was the most lonely and profound gray and white image in the memory of her youth. She really wanted someone to pick her up, accompany her at home, and eat with her.

Picking her up, cooking for her, and accompanying her were common little things for many people who grew up with the love of their parents. But for her, they were worth a lot.

Zhu Shuangshuang opened her mouth and said warmly, “Ning Su, if we can get out of this dungeon, I’ll buy you a big bag of candy with my points. You must remember that I am the big sister who bought you candy.”

“Mm.” Ning Su thought for a while. If there were so many candies, he wouldn’t mention the fact that he was older than her.

Zhu Shuangshuang’s emotions stabilized a bit, and she asked Su Wangsheng, “Why don’t we continue to watch? Isn’t the bridal line important?”

Su Wangsheng said, “Yin Daijun is not the ghost master. We only need to know that she has experienced a ghost marriage.”

Chen Tian and Chen Qing had told them that in this type of decryption dungeon instance with a ghost master, finding the ghost master was the key.

Even if they decrypted other things without finding the ghost master, it would not be a complete decryption and they would not be able to pass the level.

Zhu Shuangshuang was confused and asked, “How do you know that Yin Daijun is not the ghost master?”

Su Wangsheng replied, “Because she cannot become a fierce ghost. The ghost master is a ghost that creates or derives this world and must be very strong.”

He knew that Zhu Shuangshuang would ask what he meant, so he said directly, “Huaiyang Village is very mature in the area of ghost marriage and ghost marriage with a dead person’s yin and yang partner. How could they not know that they should hire someone to eliminate the resentment and grievances?”

“Ghost marriages for the living are outrageously expensive, and the customers are all wealthy people. They cannot ignore this point.”

Zhu Shuangshuang fell silent.

Su Wangsheng sighed, “No matter how much suffering they have experienced, they cannot seek revenge or justice, and they may even be unable to speak out. This is the case for ghosts in the underworld and for people in the human world.”

As they were discussing this, they saw the middle-aged couple that Su Wangsheng had mentioned - the parents of the dead person that the bride was supposed to marry.

Su Wangsheng told them, “Ghost marriage only damages Yin virtue.”

They were stunned for a moment. The woman was as if she had been stimulated and she cried and yelled at them, “You don’t understand anything! He died before he got married and can only be a lonely ghost. He can’t even be reincarnated!”

Su Wangsheng remained silent.

Ning Su looked up at the man and asked, “Is your surname Bai?”

The man looked at him nervously.

Ning Su said, “Hmm. Have you ever thought that your son might not want to get married, and that he might hate you for it?”

Zhu Shuangshuang was puzzled.

When they saw the woman was about to hit someone, Su Wangsheng and she hurriedly pulled Ning Su and ran away.

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “Do you two know how to talk? They are in the midst of the grief of burying their son. This may be their only consolation. Can they withstand your negation and stimulation?”

Although what they said was true, there was no need to offend the NPC.

The two boys remained silent.

They walked silently towards the slaughterhouse.

On the way, Ning Su picked up a broken pillow from the trash can, followed by a paint-chipped iron bucket.

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “...”

She didn’t know if it was because of the candy-saving incident, but every time she saw Ning Su doing something, she felt sorry for him.

Although he had solved the black-robed man with one hand.

Seeing Ning Su stuffing the pillow into the bucket, it felt like seeing a homeless orphan making a nest for himself.

When they reached the incinerator, Ning Su pointed to the nest and said to Zhu Shuangshuang, who was pale and sweating, “Get in there.”

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “? “

Ning Su said, “There are millions of little ghost hands on the furnace wall with faces that will grab you.”

Zhu Shuangshuang quickly climbed into the bucket and used the broken pillow to protect her head.

Aww, he even prepared a pillow to protect her head. What a considerate little angel.

Zhu Shuangshuang wanted to thank Ning Su, but when she looked up, he was also looking at her and hesitated to speak.

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “What’s wrong? Just tell me directly, it’s okay.”

Ning Su said, “Can you also give me two more buns and a bottle of milk? From the one next to the game hall.”

Zhu Shuangshuang: “...”