Chapter 126

It was late at night.

Inside the bridal chamber, a pair of red candles had been lit.

By the time Li Zhi and her teammates arrived, the old nanny had already been standing outside the door with the maids for quite a while.

"Madam."

Seeing her enter the newlywed courtyard, the old nanny reminded her,

"It's time to perform the bridal chamber ceremony."

A traditional Chinese wedding included ceremonies such as drinking the nuptial wine from joined cups and tying the couple's hair together. In some places, all the ceremonies performed inside the bridal chamber were collectively called the bridal chamber ceremony, while in others it was simply called teasing the bridal chamber.

What none of them had expected was that this ghost marriage would also include all these rituals.

Chi Yi really didn't want to go back inside and face that rotting corpse again. She cautiously suggested,

"Nanny, it's already late. How about we skip the bridal chamber ceremony?"

The old nanny shot her a cold glance, her voice eerie.

"If the living won't celebrate, then the ghosts will. If the living won't make merry, then the ghosts will. If you want to cancel the young lady's bridal chamber ceremony, then you'd better guard this bridal chamber carefully tonight."

Chi Yi shuddered in fright.

Li Zhi stepped forward.

"If it should be celebrated, then it should be celebrated. What others have, Green Green can't be denied. Let's go inside."

"She must be getting impatient."

Only then did the old nanny let Chi Yi off. She turned toward the door and slowly pushed it open.

The doors and windows of the bridal chamber had remained tightly shut all day.

The moment the door opened, a nauseating stench of decay rushed out to meet them.

Everyone's faces turned green as they uncontrollably retched.

The thought that he would soon have to get close to that rotting corpse made Ou Wendong's vision go black. He wished he could simply faint on the spot.

The candlelight inside the bridal chamber flickered.

The flames reflected off the bride's crimson wedding dress, making it appear as though it had been soaked in blood.

"Young Master Husband."

The old nanny walked to the bedside, turned around, and eerily called to Ou Wendong.

"Please come this way."

There were many people in the room, and all of his teammates were present.

Ou Wendong felt slightly reassured.

Secretly cheering himself on, he shuffled over one step at a time.

Following the old nanny's instructions, he sat down beside Pan Qiping on the edge of the bed.

The closer he got, the stronger the stench of decay became.

He remembered the face he had seen during the wedding ceremony earlier that morning.

His face alternated between pale and green, and his trembling lips had completely lost their color.

The old nanny crouched down and tied the corners of their robes together.

Then she turned around, picked up the wedding tray from the round table, and presented the red wedding scale from it to Ou Wendong.

"Young Master Husband, please lift the bridal veil."

Looking at the red wedding scale lying in the tray before him, Ou Wendong swallowed nervously.

Slowly, he reached out and gripped one end of it.

The old nanny stepped aside.

Her rigid voice seemed much gentler than before.

"One heavenly star scale, adorned with sixteen stars."

As she recited the auspicious wedding blessing, her final syllables dragged on endlessly.

Rather than announcing a joyous occasion, it sounded more like she was announcing a funeral.

"Seven in the north, six in the south. Together embracing fortune, prosperity, and longevity. Groom, slowly raise your hand."

Ou Wendong turned sideways to face the bride, who was right before him.

Clenching his heart, squeezing his eyes shut, he used the wedding scale to lift her red bridal veil in one motion.

The red veil drifted gently to the floor.

Behind the beaded curtain, that bluish-black face had rotted even more severely than it had that morning.

Bloody, foul-smelling tissue fluid seeped through her skin, carving dark yellow streaks through the thick layer of face powder that covered her face.

They looked like the tears of a dead person.

Ou Wendong kept his eyes tightly shut.

He heard the old nanny chant,

"Lifting the bridal veil, growing old together with joined hair."

He suddenly felt someone tugging at his hair.

Unable to resist, he opened his eyes.

The old nanny was tying a lock of Pan Qiping's hair together with his own.

Their heads were forced close together.

The old nanny smiled in satisfaction.

"Head and hair joined together, love without end."

At such close range, Ou Wendong's nose was filled entirely with the stench of decay.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could even see white maggots wriggling beneath the rotten skin of that face.

His eyes rolled back.

He nearly fainted again.

His body swayed.

Suddenly, a pair of hands steadied his shoulders.

Li Zhi's calm voice sounded above his head.

"That's enough, Nanny. Leave the rest of the time to the husband and wife."

The old nanny nodded.

Before leaving, she reminded Ou Wendong once more.

"Young Master Husband, remember to feed the young lady the nuptial wine."

"Only after drinking the nuptial wine can husband and wife truly become one."

Ou Wendong forced the corners of his mouth into a stiff smile.

"...Understood."

The old nanny left with the servants.

The other players each gave Ou Wendong an encouraging look before slowly filing out of the bridal chamber.

Li Zhi squeezed his shoulder.

Her words carried a deeper meaning.

"I'm leaving Green Green in your hands."

Ou Wendong's eyes shimmered with tears.

He watched as his teammates disappeared from the room one after another.

Then the door was locked from the outside.

The room fell completely silent.

Ou Wendong immediately untied the hair and the corners of the robes that had been bound together with Pan Qiping.

As though his backside had been set on fire, he leaped away and hid behind the display shelf.

By the bridal bed, the beaded curtain before the Ghost Bride swayed gently, producing crisp clinking sounds.

Her eyes remained closed.

A strange smile rested on her lips.

Her hands were folded neatly before her, as though she were gracefully waiting for her husband.

—Pull out the steel frame, find the exit, stick on the Immobilization Talisman, open the door and call the teammates, then run away together!

Ou Wendong silently repeated the steps Li Zhi had told him.

The boss had said that the exit would most likely appear somewhere inside the room.

He had to clearly locate the exit before using the Immobilization Talisman.

Thirty seconds was far too short.

If he used the talisman first and only then searched for the exit, wasting precious time, they might not make it out in time.

His teammates wouldn't go far.

They were hiding just outside the courtyard.

If anything unexpected happened inside the room, the boss had promised that she would definitely come to save him!

Don't let yourself be bewitched into losing your senses. You have to pull out the steel frame on your own!

Ou Wendong repeated this to himself over and over, forcing himself to calm down.

"...Heh."

A faint, sinister sneer suddenly echoed through the deathly silent room.

Ou Wendong, who had been mentally psyching himself up, suddenly looked up, his forehead instantly drenched in cold sweat.

Who?!

Who just sneered?!

Was it Pan Qiping?!

Gripping the display shelf tightly with both hands, he secretly peeked through the gap toward the bridal bed.

Pan Qiping was still sitting perfectly motionless on the edge of the bed, as though that cold laugh had not come from her at all.

He couldn't wait any longer!

The longer he delayed, the longer he'd be trapped alone with her, and the longer the torment would last!

Better to get it over with!

A quick death was better than prolonged suffering!

Gritting his teeth, Ou Wendong stepped out from behind the display shelf.

Putting on as much determination as he could muster, he marched toward the corpse sitting on the bed.

Chi Yi had said the steel frame was around her abdomen.

She had felt it that morning.

Ou Wendong stopped in front of Pan Qiping.

Stiffly, he crouched down.

His outstretched fingers trembled like chicken claws as they shakily touched the corpse before him.

The wedding dress was too thick.

He lifted one layer.

Then another.

Her abdomen...

Her abdomen should be a little lower...

Why couldn't he find it?

Large beads of cold sweat rolled down Ou Wendong's forehead.

In the utter silence, he could clearly hear his own heartbeat.

"Husband..."

A gloomy, icy voice suddenly sounded above his head.

"What are you looking for?"

"I'll help you find it."

"Mommy!!!"

Ou Wendong let out a shrill scream.

Landing on his backside, he scrambled backward in a panic.

Beneath the phoenix coronet and beaded veil, Pan Qiping slowly opened those rotten, blackened eyes and stared straight at him.

She seemed to be smiling.

Yet she also seemed filled with hatred.

The two expressions blended together on her decaying face into a hideous look of vicious resentment.

Ou Wendong couldn't utter a single word.

Supporting himself on the floor with both hands, his legs had gone completely limp.

His face deathly pale, he frantically shook his head.

A voice inside his heart screamed itself hoarse:

Ou Wendong!

Stand up!

Go pull out the steel frame!

But no matter how hard he tried, his body refused to obey him.

Ou Wendong couldn't stop himself from bursting into tears.

He didn't know whether he was crying because he had been frightened to tears...

Or because he was weeping over his own weakness and helplessness.

Creak—

Crack—

The corpse in the wedding dress let out the sound of joints twisting.

Pan Qiping stiffly raised one arm, braced herself against the edge of the bed, and slowly stood up.

"Husband..."

She wore a smile on her face.

Twisting her rigid limbs, she walked toward him like a wind-up puppet.

The steel frame supporting her body dragged across the floor.

Scrape—

Scrape—

Its sharp scraping sound pierced the room.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH—"

Ou Wendong let out a heart-rending scream.

The beaded curtain swayed.

The wedding dress flowed like blood.

Just as Pan Qiping's bluish-black hand was about to touch Ou Wendong—

Knock knock.

A knock suddenly came from outside the door.

"My worthy son-in-law, what's wrong?"

It was Boss Li Zhi's voice!!!

At that instant, Ou Wendong felt as though someone had pulled him up from the bottom of the water after he had drowned.

He could finally breathe again.

He gasped for air.

Li Zhi's voice steadied him.

Strength seemed to return to his limbs.

He hurriedly staggered back several steps and pulled himself to his feet by holding onto the table.

Pan Qiping, however, remained where she stood.

Her face twisted with venomous hatred as she slowly turned toward the doorway.

She had recognized her mother.

At that moment, Pan Qiping's resentment surged to its absolute peak.

The face hidden beneath the thick layer of face powder split apart like a shattered mirror.

Chunks of flesh mixed with powder crumbled away piece by piece.

Ou Wendong heard a shrill, agonized scream tear from her throat.

Bloody tears rolled from her rotten eyes, carving streaks of blood down her face.

Now!!!

Perhaps it was the familiar figure reflected on the door that gave him strength.

The thought suddenly flashed through Ou Wendong's mind.

By the time he realized what he was doing, he had already thrown himself at Pan Qiping.

She was standing there.

Her abdomen was completely exposed.

Ou Wendong found the steel frame embedded in her body.

Gritting his teeth, he yanked it out.

Squelch—

Pan Qiping lowered her head and looked at the wound that no longer bled.

But it still hurt so much.

Even after being dead for so long, that agonizing pain had never left her.

Clutching the steel frame, Ou Wendong was sent flying backward by a single slap from her.

He stumbled and fell hard onto the floor, staring in terror as Pan Qiping twisted her limbs as though resetting them into place.

Crack.

Crack.

Her bones clicked loudly.

And beside the bridal bed, a long, narrow arched doorway appeared.

A green lantern hung from the top of the arch, casting a faint green glow.

Green.

The emergency exit.

Ou Wendong screamed,

"The exit!!! The exit appeared!!!"

He frantically reached into his sleeve for the Immobilization Talisman.

But Pan Qiping, now that the seal had been removed and her strength restored, seemed to teleport directly to the doorway.

She pulled the door open.

Her bluish-black hand shot out and wrapped around Li Zhi's throat as she stood outside.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

By the time Ou Wendong fumbled the Immobilization Talisman out of his sleeve, Pan Qiping had already lifted Li Zhi completely off the ground by her neck.

Behind the beaded curtain, those eyes streaming tears of blood were filled with both hatred and agony.

Li Zhi dangled in midair, desperately prying at the ghostly hand choking her.

The next second—

Crack.

Pan Qiping snapped her neck.

Li Zhi's eyes remained open.

Her head hung at an unnatural angle.

Her struggling arms and legs went limp.

Seeing this scene, Ou Wendong's eyes nearly split with rage.

Roaring, he charged toward the doorway and slapped the Immobilization Talisman onto Pan Qiping's back.

"Boss!!! Li Zhi!!!"

He cried so hard that tears and snot streamed down his face.

His wailing was even more miserable than before.

"Li Zhi!!!"

The teammates hiding outside the courtyard rushed in.

Ou Wendong heard Chi Yi shout,

"Quick, quick, quick! Twenty-five seconds left!"

One after another, his teammates rushed into the room and sprinted toward the arched doorway.

Still crying, Ou Wendong shouted at the top of his lungs,

"The boss is dead!!! Didn't you see it?! The boss is dead!!!"

"Ten seconds left!"

That was Brother Qi's voice.

Ou Wendong wiped away his tears and snot.

Gritting his teeth, he bent down to pick up Li Zhi's body lying on the floor.

Just as he leaned over, one final figure entered through the doorway.

A hand grabbed his.

"I didn't die. Let's go."

Ou Wendong jerked his head up.

His mind hadn't even processed what was happening before Li Zhi had already grabbed him and dragged him through the emergency exit that was on the verge of disappearing.