Seeing that Ji Heng didnât mean to say anything for a while (T/N: Su Er broke him), Wen Buyu finally choked out a few words: âIsnât this a little⊠hasty?â
Su Er believed this was the best way at present.
After a long time, Ji Heng finally said: âWithin the game worlds, ghost marriage is a taboo, and the living avoids it.â He rationally analyzed the drawbacks to Su Er. âIt may be self-defeating.â
âI know,â Su Er said in a low voice. âAvoiding the ghostsâ onslaught is only one of the goals. If I can overcome the difficulties brought by the ghost marriage, the charm value may make great progress during settlement. AdditionallyâŠâ (1)
He swept his gaze over the two: âZhou Linjunâs mother was the culprit who killed him. Why didnât he retaliate after he turned into a ghost?â
Wen Buyu subconsciously said: âKilling your mother is a great crime.â
âAccording to the Chief Guard, Zhouâs mother was angry at her son because her sweetheart lost the election.â Su Er paused: âIf my heart was only moved a little when I was young, I wouldnât be so muddleheaded. No matter how you say it, heâs my flesh and blood.â
Wen Buyuâs face changed, and she hesitated slightly: âCould it be⊠Mother Zhou had an affair?â (2)
Su Er nodded: âNot only that. Zhou Linjun might have been aware of it, so she had no choice but to act first.â
In the face of the rules, family affection meant nothing in this village.
Li Shouzhang could poison his biological father and uncles for the position of Chief Guard, and Zhou Linjun naturally would want to get rid of his mother before she could implicate him. (3)
Wen Buyu had an urge to vomit. She wasnât a good person, but she could do nothing against her parents.
âCheating is undoubtedly against the rules, so Zhou Linjun would have reason to kill her.â Su Erâs eyes shook slightly: âUnless Zhouâs mother has something that protected her life.â
Wen Buyuâs eyes lit up as she vaguely thought of something. In each instance, there will be one or two hidden props for the players to dig out. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find them.
âItâs just a guess. We canât decide until weâve seen Zhouâs mother.â Su Er turned to Ji Heng: âThe marriage canât be in vain. You can sell me in exchange for props.â
ââŠâ Ji Heng: âAre you sure?â
Su Er nodded and suddenly asked: âWhere is Bai Yan?â
He remembered she was the female player that liked to play with Wen Buyu. (4)
âWhen we arrived, she suffered a few more lashes than us for responding to the conversation. The wound got infected, so sheâs resting,â Wen Buyu said. âLetâs think about how to plan the wedding. (5)
The town was conservative and did not allow men to marry men. In terms of candidates, Wen Buyu was more appropriate, but it was Su Er who needed to hold the red paper, so only he could do the marriage.
Wen Buyu bought rouge gouache, but Su Erâs hair was still a problem. No place in town sold wigs, so she found a bamboo hat to dress Su Er up in. With their limited resources, since men had larger bones and broader shoulders than women, they would be harder to disguise. However, Su Er was still young, so as long as no one looked carefully, they wouldnât have a clue. (6)
After tossing around, Wen Buyuâs face was somewhat strange: âDo you want to change into a skirt?â
Su Er shook his head: âFind a set of loose and neutral clothing The length of the trousers should be long enough to conceal running shoes.â
In case there is an accident, it wonât hinder his escape.
Wen Buyu almost suffocated: âYou still want to escape after marriage?â
âIâm just afraid of accidents,â Su Er said seriously. âWhen we begin the ceremony, you need to lead the skeleton away.â
Wen Buyu asked herself if she had the ability and subconsciously looked at Ji Heng. The latter said lightly: âI want to preside over the wedding.â (7)
ââŠâ
It was probably more appropriate to cooperate with Wan Yi and Shen Jiangbei, but the temptation of props was too great for her. Even if gaining them was only a possibility, she couldnât give up that easily.
Ji Heng nodded at Su Er, who asked: âAre you sure?â
Ji Heng: âIt will be troublesome to annoy Wan Yi.â (8)
The next moment, a box suddenly appeared in front of Wen Buyu, who gasped.
Ji Heng: âIt can last for about four hours, but if you use it properly, you wonât have a problem lasting until dawn.â (T/N: He gave her the ghost bone flower that was half bloomed so she can use it when distracting the ghost king)
Su Er only kept a few red papers and gave more than half of the rest to Wen Buyu. Ji Heng kept the remaining amount on him.
Before Wen Buyu left, Ji Heng suddenly said: âIf you get scared and run away with the box to tell Shen Jiangbei everything, I will kill Li Shouzhang.â (9)
And then everything would have been in vain. (10)
Wen Buyu trembled in fear and pushed down her excessive thoughts: âOf course I wonât.â
After she left, Su Er put on his hat: âLetâs go.â
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. Translated by lucia Elys. If youâre not reading this on luciaelys . wordpress . com, this translation was stolen.
Describing where the mother lived as âquietâ could not do the place justice. Not a single noise could be heard from the surroundings, and the yard was full of weeds due to neglect. When the door opened, the house was unexpectedly tidy inside, but the windows were deliberately sealed shut.
Ji Heng bowed and introduced himself, stating that he came from the Educational Hall.
The womanâs hair was greying at the temples, but her eyes were sharp, and she looked difficult to get along with.
Ji Heng: âA few days ago, a man died in the Educational Hall.â
The old lady was already a little impatient and wanted to drive the annoying guests away with her crutches. Before she could, Ji Heng continued: âA ghost killed him.â
The crutches hit the ground twice, and the old woman scoffed: âNonsense!â
âI saw it with my own eyes.â
The old lady spoke harshly: âWhy didnât that ghost take you away too?â
âI thought about it.â Ji Heng said: âAt that time, I pleaded anxiously that my sister would be taken care of when I died, so he changed his mind.â (11)
The Chief Guard had said that the old lady was crazy, but he found she was actually quite smart after meeting her face to face.
Ji Heng paused and said, âThat ghost claimed to be Zhou Linjun.â
As soon as that name appeared, the old ladyâs complexion changed drastically. Her lips trembled, and she unconsciously wanted to slam the door.
Ji Heng pretended not to notice: âHe said he was too young to get married before he died, so he asked me to match my sister with him in a ghost wedding.â
The old lady turned a deaf ear: âGo quickly! If you donât leave, Iâll call the Chief Guard!â
Ji Heng smiled bitterly: âI am not a liar. Would a liar send his own sister to your door?â
After a few seconds of silence, the suspicion in the old ladyâs eyes dissipated a little.
Ji Heng: âThere are other cases of living people marrying into the underworld. It is said that marriage can calm the anger of the deceased and reduce family disasters.â
Behind him, Su Er was surprised. Ji Heng was usually a serious person, yet here he was talking one nonsense after another. If you didnât know (T/N: that it was bullshit), you would have been fooled.
The last point on reducing disasters seemed to convince the old lady: âYour sister agrees too?â
Ji Heng nodded: âSheâs mute and grew up in the Educational Hall. It will be difficult for her to marry into a good family in the future.â
Su Er nodded cooperatively, cowering behind Ji Heng timidly.
Ji Heng took out an envelope with some scattered money in it. He handed it over and said, âThis is the dowry. Consider it as the bride price.â
Giving money showed he wasnât trying to swindle her, and she completely let go of her doubts.
Ji Heng struck when the iron was hot and indicated it was better to get the marriage done tonight: âIf it is later known by the other people in the town, theyâre likely to gossip. The weight on the ghostâs mind must be settled so he can reincarnate as soon as possible.â (12)
Thus, Su Erâs âmarriageâ was finalized in a few words.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
At night, the moon hid behind the clouds.
Two Geng Cards, one which held Su Erâs eight characters birth date and the other which held Zhou Linjunâs, were placed together. Two white banners (flags) stood in the yard, fluttering in the night wind. (13)
Ji Heng had experienced a game with a zombie bride before, so he understood the basic steps of a ghost marriage and roughly imitated it. During this period, he pretended to be busy decorating the inside and outside of the house, but he actually took the opportunity to find props.
Su Er folded his hands on his lap and sat very dignified. Taking advantage of the time Zhouâs mother was in the yard, he whispered: âDid you find it?â
Su Er only asked: âWhen this game ends, is it possible to ever see the Ghost King (of this game) again (in future games)?â
Ji Heng laughed: âThe chance of that happening is lower than meeting the same host.â (T/N: Oh god if only they knew LMAO)
Su Er let out a sigh of relief and said neatly, âbind.â (15)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wen Buyu felt cold all over as her footsteps clattering down the cold, quiet street. She constantly looked left and right, wary of ghosts suddenly emerging from around a corner. The excessive tension was making her hallucinate sounds, and she swore she heard firecrackers and drums were ringing out in the distance. (16)
On the night candles lit up in the bridal chamber of others, she was left to freeze on the streets while luring monsters. How sad.
On second thought, Su Er was getting married to a ghost, so what she was experiencing now was barely acceptable.
Clang!
There seemed to be a sound.
This time, it was definitely not a hallucination. Wen Buyu opened the box without hesitation, and the petals began to bloom extremely slowly once more.
Obviously, it had felt his prey was nearby, but it couldnât approach at all! It was like a ghost hitting the wall. Enraged, more maggots writhed out of his eyes. This was the first time Wen Buyu ever faced such a thing. She covered her mouth in terror and pressed against the wall (17)
The skeleton turned several times before gradually moving in the right direction. (18)
Thump-thump. Wen Buyu held her breath, but she couldnât hide her intensely beating heart. Just as she was wondering if she could survive the night, the skeleton suddenly smashed into the boulder next to her. The flying gravel scraped the corner of her mouth, leaving a bloody tear, and she had to quickly press on it with her hand to prevent the smell of blood from attracting the ghost. (19)
Unexpectedly, the skeleton had just started to vent out its anger when it turned and sped away in a certain direction. With no lower body, it was like some kind of reptile, and itâs claw marks could clearly be seen on the ground.
She didnât know how long it had been. Wen Buyu slid down the wall and sat on the ground, cold sweat dripping down her forehead.
As the Ghost King crossed the town, the creatures of the night all cowered in their nests, afraid to provoke the skeletonâs wrath.
It was being forcibly married!
Itâs a pity he had long since lost his eyes, otherwise, the current state of the skeleton would have definitely cracked his canthus. (20)
The ghost king held hatred in his heart. He should have figured out a way to kill that old woman long ago. He died under the rules, liked and feared the rules. If asked what was the most disgusting, it was definitely the continued shared blood. Fortunately for the other ghosts, they had long since rid themselves of that bondage. However, half of his corpse still lived, which was the equivalent of owing half of his body to the old woman.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Geng Card burned fiercely in the brazier.
Ji Heng indicated with his eyes, silently hinting at Su Er to look somewhere. Su Er looked over, and there was a pendant hanging from the old womanâs neck. Within, there was a red coral pattern that disappeared into and then reappeared out from the deeper core of the pendant. (21)
âAn eminent monk blessed the jade pendant,â Ji Heng said: âUmbilical cord blood had been injected into the inner wall.â
Su Er: âHow can you tell?â
Ji Heng: âI have an appraisal prop.â
Su Er didnât ask further but secretly thought that this man probably reincarnated as a treasure hunter in his last life.
The wind blew dark grey powder into the air, and the Geng Cards completely turned to ash. The white banners shook violently. Terrified, the old woman backed away from the brazier and ran to the house to shut the door.
Ever since entering the game, Ji Heng had always let Su Er make the choice: âEscape or go in?â
âGo in,â Su Er said decisively.
It was probably difficult to run now. How can people be faster than ghosts?
The two moved quickly and squeezed in before the old lady closed the door.
The old lady looked horrified: âIs he⊠dissatisfied with his new bride?â
Ji Heng: âDonât worry, we just came in for a cup of tea first.â
At this time, it was better to do something than to stand still. The old lady muttered something, she turned around to pour water.
Su Er lowered his voice: âThe ceremony is complete. Now, the skeleton can never kill me.â
Currently, Ji Heng was still in the mood to joke: âThe old lady has a jade pendant to defend herself with, and you got married. Iâm afraid it will start with me first.â
Su Er shook his head: âIâm currently your sister, so that means youâre his elder brother.â
As he spoke, whatever was approaching outside was getting louder and louder, and the two white banners in the yard snapped from the middle, breaking into several pieces.
The author has something to say:
Wen Buyu: While his front foot climbs into Mr. Shuhaiâs bed, his back foot canât wait to marry the Ghost King. What is his secret? (22)
Su Er: Men of great sanctity are bold. (23)
Wen Buyu: âŠ
Actually, the ghost marriage is a very important plot, because itâs related to the following storyâŠ