Chapter 76
Chapter 76
The hammering from every corner of Shen Manor never stopped.
After eating and drinking her fill, Qiao Ying could no longer contain her curiosity. “What are the people outside doing?”
Shen Qingyu’s lips curved mysteriously. “Working.”
Qiao Ying remained suspicious. She went to the door, pushed it open, and was instantly assaulted by red everywhere.
In a remarkably short time, the estate that had looked abandoned for years was almost fully repaired. Red silk hung everywhere, old lanterns had been replaced by red ones, and the double-happiness character covered doors and windows.
Against the gray sky and oppressive black estate, the brilliant red looked not festive but even more sinister.
“The couple who sold wontons told me this is how a wedding should look.”
Qiao Ying turned to the person behind her.
His verdant blue robes framed a slender body like a tall yet delicate cedar. His nose was elegant and his lips slightly pale. Even with his eyes hidden behind a white silk blindfold, he retained a youthful, refined beauty.
Shen Qingyu smiled. “When we attended Zhao Zhiyi and the Sword Spirit’s wedding at Zhao Manor, there was a great deal of red too. Yingying, do you like it?”
Drip. Drip.
Qiao Ying saw suspicious red liquid falling from the silk beneath the eaves. She strongly suspected that the fabric had been dyed with blood, but lacked proof.
He was serious about marrying her.
Qiao Ying tried to delay matters. “Well… Didn’t we agree that we had to meet the elders first? If our parents are alive…”
“My parents like you very much.”
Qiao Ying blinked. “What?”
Shen Qingyu took her hand. “I will bring you to them.”
He led her through a corridor into a sinister courtyard. Without announcing their arrival, he pushed open a door.
A figure hung from the rafters directly before Qiao Ying. She screamed.
Shen Qingyu patted her back. “Don’t be afraid. Mother is playing on a swing.”
When Qiao Ying opened her eyes again, the figure whose head had hung in a loop of white silk was gone, and so was the silk. Master Shen and Madam Shen sat stiff-backed upon chairs, identical smiles on their pale faces.
The “swing” seemed like an illusion.
Shen Qingyu said, “I intend to marry Yingying. Do you agree?”
Master Shen and Madam Shen answered together, “We agree.”
Shen Qingyu smiled. “Yingying, the elders have agreed. We can marry tonight.”
Qiao Ying’s expression turned strange. Unable to hold back, she confessed, “Shen Qingyu, I think I recovered some memories.”
He asked with concern, “What do you remember?”
“My parents are still alive, and it seems… my family may have arranged a marriage for me. Perhaps we should find my parents, determine whether I truly am betrothed, and then…”
Her voice failed because the habitually smiling young man no longer smiled. Without expression, every trace of his gentle disguise vanished, leaving something dark and terrifying.
A chill ran down Qiao Ying’s back. She felt as she had in Phoenix Village, the first time she saw him brutally kill a Chang Ghost.
After a moment, the beautiful young man smiled again in the dim room. He resembled a gorgeous ghost wearing human skin, ready to tear it away and devour his prey.
“Yingying, you’re so foolish. What does it matter whether you’re betrothed? If you are not, there is no problem. If you are, I can kill the man. No one can take you from me.”
Shen Qingyu caressed her face. “Besides, today is the fifteenth, the finest day.”
Yes. Today was the fifteenth.
The hand on Qiao Ying’s cheek suddenly felt cold, raising goose bumps over her entire body.
Perhaps sensing her reluctance, Shen Qingyu remembered what he had learned about being human. Enlightenment dawned. Smiling at the seated couple, he asked, “After Yingying marries me, will you bully her?”
“No,” Master Shen said.
Madam Shen said, “If it makes Yingying happy, I will serve her tea and water day and night.”
Master Shen said, “If it makes Yingying happy, she may even eat our flesh and blood raw.”
Madam Shen said, “We will labor like oxen and horses, serve as slaves…”
“And consider it our honor,” Master Shen finished.
“Yingying, marry Qingyu,” Madam Shen urged.
“Marry Qingyu,” Master Shen echoed.
They gazed at her fervently, their smiles stretched almost to their ears. Their faces looked ready to tear apart, yet even bloodied flesh would have struggled to preserve those smiles.
Then the young man’s picturesque face appeared before Qiao Ying.
He bent very close, until each could feel the warmth of the other’s breath. He liked doing this because he had cleverly realized Qiao Ying loved his face.
How strange. Others saw his features as ghostly, yet she cherished them above all else.
The young man laughed softly. “Yingying, marry Qingyu.”
The sentence repeated in Qiao Ying’s ears. Her mind grew heavy, and the light in her eyes dimmed. Only one command, branded there by everyone, remained.
Yingying must marry Shen Qingyu.
In a daze, she answered blankly, “All right.”
Shen Qingyu rewarded her with a kiss at the corner of her mouth. He gathered her into his arms like a priceless treasure and caressed her lips, laughing with delight.
“Yingying, I knew you liked me.”
Fog rose again when deep night arrived.
Crows perched on the branches and tilted their heads, staring at two figures emerging from the path.
“Senior Brother, the Yin energy here is too strong. Perhaps we should forget this.”
“We’ve come this far, and now you want to quit?” The senior glared at his junior. “If fortune favors us, we might truly find the treasure. Don’t you want immortality?”
The junior gritted his teeth. “Of course I do. But everyone here died ten years ago. Many Demon Hunters investigated afterward, and none met a good end. I’m afraid!”
“Fortune comes only through danger. All seventy-three members of the Shen family died without intact corpses overnight. It must have happened because someone coveted the treasure they possessed, the one said to prolong life. The treasure vanished after the family died. If we find a clue, we’ll be rich.”
The two men in yellow Daoist robes were not orthodox Demon Hunters. They possessed a little skill but usually survived by cheating ordinary people.
Only because the lord of Yunling City had placed them on the wanted list were they desperate enough to gamble here.
The senior raised the sword in his hand. “This is the Demon-Subduing Sword. Demons and monsters fear it above all else. Even if danger appears, it will preserve our lives.”
The junior muttered, “Everyone knows the Demon-Subduing Sword belongs to Yan Yanchi. We happened to find it by the roadside. Could it be fake?”
“I once infiltrated Zhenxiang Temple and saw the sword myself. This is genuine!” The senior gloated. “That arrogant brat Yan Yanchi must have met with disaster. We were fortunate enough to find his weapon.”
With the sword in hand, the two grew bolder. They crossed the fog, and the black estate gradually appeared.
Two red lanterns flickered at the gate, making the sinister residence even more frightening.
The junior swallowed. “S-Senior Brother, is… is someone holding a wedding?”
“Nonsense. Those lanterns must be stained red with blood. The resentful dead remain trapped in their former state. There may be countless wronged souls inside, so stay alert.”
“I-I’m still afraid.”
The senior kicked him in exasperation. “Of what? Do you truly think the Ghost King is taking a bride?”