Ghost marriage

Ye Jingan was woken up by the sound of firecrackers. He opened his eyes and found that Liu Muze, who was curled up in his arms, was also woken up. Looking at the time, it was exactly eleven o'clock. Ye Jingan said, "You didn't get enough sleep. Let's go back to sleep after we finish our business."

Ye Jing got up and went to look for Song Yiyu. The door to the next room was half open. Song Yiyu had already left, so they hurried downstairs. The road from the village entrance to the house was covered with two rows of firecrackers. The crackling sound of firecrackers covered the ground with red paper, and green smoke filled the entire road.

Song Yiyu and Uncle Xu stood at the intersection, looking at the village entrance. Ye Jingan asked, "Uncle, is this starting?"

"Well, let's go pick up the bride now." Uncle Xu said.

"Where are we going to pick up the bride?" Song Yiyu asked.

"How would I know? I'm just a flower maker." said Uncle Xu.

After the first round of firecrackers, the sounds of suona, gongs and drums rang out from the village entrance. Ye Jingan wanted to go over and take a look, but Uncle Xu stopped him, saying, "Don't go and cause trouble. Picking up the bride is no joke. Be careful not to bring bad luck. You can only watch from here."

The sound of suona music grew closer, and a second round of firecrackers rang out. Ye Jing'an saw someone riding a horse approaching from the village entrance, followed by two people holding red wedding signs. A large red sedan chair was carried by eight people towards the end of the village.

As the wedding procession approached, Ye Jing'an discovered that the person leading the horse was a Taoist priest in a yellow robe, holding a bell in his other hand, which he shook twice every few steps.

The person riding the horse was a paper figure, with a black box tied to the front of the saddle, and the paper figure's hands resting on it, as if holding the box. The people holding the signs and carrying the sedan chair behind were all real people, but each of them wore a paper smiley mask on his face.

The sedan chair swayed, and occasionally the bride's embroidered shoes could be seen. Song Yiyu wanted to rush forward, but Ye Jingan pulled her aside: "Don't be impulsive, leave it to me and Brother Liu."

After passing Uncle Xu's house, the wedding procession headed towards the groom's house, with Ye Jing'an and the others following. When they reached the flat ground outside the door, the man in the yellow Taoist robe made a gesture, and the suona and drums stopped, and the wedding procession behind them also stopped.

The villagers stood in two rows outside the door. Their expressions did not show the joy of getting married. Instead, they were all very frightened, as if they were forced to stand here.

The Taoist priest swung a bell and circled around the groom, then walked to the bride's sedan chair, muttered some words that no one could understand, swung the bell in a circle with one hand, placed the bell in front of the sedan chair, and shouted, "The bride has arrived, welcome her!"

A young girl came out of the groom's room, holding a paper phoenix in both hands, walked around the sedan chair, and knelt at the place where she got out of the sedan chair.

There were a few sounds of wooden boards shaking in the sedan chair, and the red curtain was lifted. A woman wearing a red wedding dress and a red veil walked out.

Song Yiyu forced herself to remain calm and whispered to Ye Jingan, "She is Ren Heshu."

"You know it before my face is even revealed?" Ye Jing'an asked.

Song Yiyu asked Ye Jing'an to look at the bride's fingernails. He was the one who did the manicure for Ren Heshu.

"You... can also do manicures?" Ye Jing'an glanced at him playfully. "You're such a complete sissy. You can do everything."

"Get lost! Heshu said that manicure was beautiful, but she thought it was expensive and she absolutely refused to go to the store to get it done. So I secretly learned how to do it for her myself." Song Yiyu stared at Ren Heshu, "How are we going to save her now?"

"Your girlfriend isn't in a good state..." Ye Jing'an turned his head to look at Liu Muze, "Brother Liu, now that we've confirmed that the bride is Ren Heshu, how do we proceed?"

"See the power switch at the door? Find some time to turn it off, and leave the rest to me." Liu Muzhe said.

"That's fine. These people are superstitious and must be afraid of ghosts. We can create some trouble when the time comes." Ye Jing'an said with a smile.

At this time, the bride had already followed the girl holding the phoenix into the house. The Taoist priest took down the black box, and a young man came and carefully dismounted the paper figure on the horse, and followed the Taoist priest into the house.

"Congratulations to the newlyweds, relatives and friends!" the Taoist priest shouted in the house.

The people standing outside the house turned around silently and went into the house, and Ye Jingan and his companions followed in. The villagers should not have come all together, and there were no old people or children to be seen, but the house was already full of people, so Ye Jingan and his companions had to stand outside the door with their heads exposed to look.

Although it was a wedding, the atmosphere in the room was extremely depressing. No one had a smile on their face, and most people kept their heads down, not daring to look up at the bride and groom.

The Taoist priest took out a small bottle from his bag and poured the liquid in the bottle onto the phoenix's crown. He then led the phoenix to circle around the bride and groom and then burned it.

Ye Jingan waited until the phoenix in the brazier burned out and the flames faded before turning off the power. The room was instantly dark, with only the sparks from the brazier on the floor visible. The people around him began to stir, whispering about why the lights had gone out. The Taoist priest shouted, "Everyone, be quiet! Don't panic!"

Someone shouted in the darkness, "There's a ghost! He's coming!"

"Ahhhhhhhh!" The people in the room ran around like frightened birds, trying desperately to squeeze out the door. The scene was in chaos.

Ye Jingan found that Liu Muze had disappeared, so he pulled Song Yiyu and ran towards the car. Not long after running, the lights in the groom's room came on, and the Taoist priest stood at the door and shouted for everyone to come back quickly. Ye Jingan ignored him and continued to run forward. After running a few steps, someone pressed his shoulder. He turned around and found that it was Liu Muze. Ye Jingan asked: "Brother Liu, have you settled everyone?"

Liu Muze shook his head: "Ren Heshu is being controlled by someone. I can't break the spell that controls her. As long as she leaves this house, she will cover her head and cry out in pain."

"What should we do then?" Song Yiyu asked.

"It must be related to that Taoist priest. Let's go back first." Liu Muzhe said.

Nearly half of the people in the house were gone, and the remaining villagers were discussing something in a low voice. Liu Muze heard them say that the monster was dissatisfied with the bride and was therefore not allowing the wedding to proceed normally.

One of the men asked in surprise: "Where is the bride? Why is she gone?"

The Taoist priest had just burned paper money on the ground when he heard what the man said. He immediately turned around and saw that the bride was no longer standing in the same place. He looked around and said, "Don't panic! She can't get far."

The Taoist priest walked to the door and rang the bell outside. Not long after, a woman in red came out of the darkness. Her red veil had fallen off in the chaos. Ye Jingan saw clearly that it was Ren Heshu.

Liu Muze snorted coldly and said to Ye Jingan, "I'll burn the house with the fire talisman later, and you go drive the car."

"Brother Liu, you are so wild. You not only steal someone else's bride but also burn down their house." Ye Jing'an said with a smile.

"What if it's burned?" Liu Muzhe asked.

"Hehe, the grandmaster has the final say." Ye Jing'an said.

"Why did she go out by herself?" asked the villagers.

"I don't know. Does she want to run away?" said another villager.

"Impossible, she couldn't run away by herself. I'm afraid she was dragged out by someone." The Taoist priest lowered his head and thought about what was going on.

The villagers around looked at each other, and finally their eyes turned to Ye Jingan and the other two.

"Why are you looking at us? We just ran out with you, but the Taoist priest called us and we ran back. We are just three students, and we all have partners. Why are we dragging your bride with us?" Ye Jing'an said.

"Yes, they didn't do it. They are my relatives. They came here to take some photos." Uncle Xu came to the rescue.

"Maybe it was dark and he ran out and grabbed the wrong person in the chaos. This bride belongs to the groom, who dares to mess with her? Let's continue, otherwise the groom will be unhappy." said the aunt.

The Taoist priest said nothing, and the wedding continued. Liu Muze had been waiting for the opportunity to burn the fire talisman. Perhaps the villagers' words had attracted the attention of others, and people kept looking in their direction. The Taoist priest was also particularly wary of them, so Liu Muze couldn't find a suitable opportunity to make his move.

The wedding ceremony was over, and the Taoist priest asked people to carry the bride and groom into the same coffin. Song Yiyu couldn't sit still anymore, not wanting them to do this, and was stopped by Ye Jingan just as he took a step.

"Why are you pulling me? I'm going to fight them!" Song Yiyu said in a low voice.

"Don't make trouble. Didn't you see that the Taoist priest can control your girlfriend? Why fight? Just stay still. Brother Liu will find a way." Ye Jing'an said.

"How long do we have to wait? He Shu will be scared in the coffin!" Song Yiyu was extremely anxious. Not to mention Ren He Shu, even he, a grown man, would be scared to death if he lay in the coffin.

"Don't be afraid of her. She is already unconscious. Be patient and don't make trouble!" Ye Jing'an grabbed the man, fearing that he would rush out if he was not careful.

The bride and groom had already closed the coffin. The Taoist priest said, "Those born in the years of the Pig, Ox, and Rat may go home. The rest of you may follow me to the funeral."

Four tall and strong men tied a large wooden stick to the coffin, carried the coffin and followed the Taoist priest out of the house. The others followed behind with red and white paper money in their hands and scattered it. Ye Jingan was also stuffed with a bamboo basket of paper money.

Two rows of candles were placed on the roadside at the entrance of the village at some point. The candlelight flickered faintly in the darkness, blown by the cool night breeze, illuminating the way ahead.

At the entrance to the village, the candle went out. Two young girls carrying red lanterns came out of the house and approached the Taoist priest. The funeral procession continued towards the road leading into the mountains.

After walking for about half an hour, they arrived at a cemetery. This wasn't a restricted burial area, and cremation hadn't yet been practiced. Each grave had a small mound, some planted with bamboo, others with evergreens and hanging Qingming hangings. There were many people buried in this area, and several new graves were visible. Ye Jing'an looked around; they hadn't come to this place that afternoon.

The procession stopped at a new grave in the middle of the cemetery. The headstone belonged to Cao Lei. The Taoist priest instructed the two young girls to place lanterns on either side of the tombstone and instructed four strong men to bury the coffin. In front of the tombstone stood a small iron basin. The Taoist priest took out incense and paper money, burning them while chanting.

Liu Muze whispered to Ye Jingan, "After everyone leaves, you two dig the person out and we'll meet in the car."

"Okay, Brother Liu, where are you going?" Ye Jing'an asked.

"Catch that Taoist priest." Liu Muzhe said.

"Well, be careful." Ye Jingan said.

After the paper money was burned and the coffin was buried, the Taoist priest scattered the remaining red and white paper money on the grave and said to the others, "Let's go. Don't disturb the bride and groom. Remember to come and burn incense tomorrow."

The village chief heaved a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, Taoist priest. Please come in!"