Chapter 132 The Princess and the Pea

You Qing stood three steps away, gazing at Lu Yao's slender back.

The mountain wind whipped up her blue Taoist robe, making it flutter loudly.

The mist churned in Broken Soul Ridge, and the ancient stele inscribed with the words "Shattered Bones" gleamed with a chilling light.

Lu Yao's fingertips traced the deep engravings of the words "shattered bones," her voice carried on the wind: "You Qing, do you think she... is she trembling with pain right now?"

Youqing suddenly gripped the string of copper coins tightly.

Having spent her childhood immersed in the Lingxiao Sect's scripture pavilion, she knew the story of the Imperial Preceptor by heart.

She knew about the soul-suppressing magic array, the nine human-shaped stone tablets, and that the person who broke the Bone-Shattering Tablet would have to endure the pain of being shattered to pieces for nine lifetimes.

As the incantation began, a talisman flew out from Lu Yao's sleeve and ignited into a ghostly blue flame in front of the monument.

As the last bit of ashes dissipated, she suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze fixed on the southwest with a terrifying intensity.

“Found it.” Lu Yao turned around with a flick of her sleeve, and as her sleeve swept across the surface of the monument, the two characters “Shattered Bones” seemed to bleed. “In southern Yunnan.”

...

The Wuling Hongguang van rolled along the rugged mountain road and finally stopped in front of an old hotel called Yuelai.

Beneath the faded signboard, a crooked "double happiness" character is pasted on the glass door, and colorful balloons sway gently in the wind, creating an inexplicable sense of incongruity.

You Qing frowned as she stared at the roll-up banner by the door.

The newlyweds in the photo look like they were forcibly pieced together.

The bride wore a stiff smile on her pale face, while the groom stared intently at the camera with a sinister gaze.

There are obvious signs of Photoshop manipulation on the necks of both individuals.

"Who are you two...?" The old woman behind the gift table raised her cloudy eyes.

Lu Yao pulled out eight red bills from her wallet: "This is a small token from the bride's friend."

As she walked through the corridor toward the wedding hall, Youqing felt a chill run down her spine.

There was no joy, no laughter, only whispers echoing.

Lu Yao said coldly, "Don't touch any offerings. The groom is dead. They're using a living person for a ghost marriage."

You Qing was shocked, gritted her teeth, and took out her phone: "I want the whole world to see these beasts!"

Lu Yao nodded: "Remember to blur the faces, don't scare the audience."

They casually found a round table in the corner and sat down, while Youqing's camera recorded everything inside the auditorium.

In the center of each round table was a photo frame wrapped in black gauze, in which the groom was dressed in funeral clothes, and the artist had deliberately drawn a happy smile on his lips.

On the main table sat a cake that looked like it was going to break your teeth, topped with a pair of crudely made paper bride and groom figures.

Even though the viewers in the live stream weren't there in person, they could still feel the chilling atmosphere emanating from the room.

This wedding hall is more eerie than a funeral hall!

[Holy crap! What a terrifying wedding scene! Is that eerie filter a special effect or real?!]

[Oh my god!! What about the bride? Can the anchor save her?]

[She has fainted from fright]

"Dear friends and family..." The emcee's voice suddenly blared from the speakers, accompanied by a piercing static, "Let's welcome the bride into the room!"

You Qing clenched her fists tightly.

At the end of the red carpet, a middle-aged woman with a pale face was slowly pushing a thin girl in a wheelchair.

Lu Yao looked at the bride, her pupils shrinking slightly.

This bride is not only alive, but she is also only sixteen years old!

"Distinguished guests," the emcee said with great emotion, "our bride, Ms. Wen Lei, has suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta since childhood."

The projector lit up, playing images of the girl lying in a hospital bed, "For sixteen years, her parents have gone bankrupt..."

When the recording of her screams during her last fracture was played, a few affected sobs were heard from the guests.

"In her final moments," the emcee said, wiping away imaginary tears, "Miss Wen took the initiative to propose this marriage, using the dowry to repay her parents for raising her!"

Wen Lei's wheelchair stopped at the end of the red carpet, like a pale paper doll.

This sixteen-year-old girl, just as she has every day in the past, is quietly enduring the pain that fate has given her.

From the moment she was born, fate sentenced her to life imprisonment.

Her bones were like the most fragile icicles in winter; even the slightest push could cause them to break.

What was ordinary play in kindergarten was a serious disaster for her.

Xiao Ming gently pushed her, and "snap," her right arm bent at an odd angle.

In the classroom, the students all tacitly maintained a safe distance from her.

It wasn't out of concern, but out of fear.

No one wants to take responsibility for "breaking the porcelain doll".

During recess, she would always lean against the window alone, watching the figures jumping on the playground.

She held on until she was fifteen, but her condition did not improve; in fact, it worsened.

Her right arm has been repeatedly fractured in the same spot, resulting in permanent deformity.

During this final hospitalization, the fracture was in the spine.

The doctors who take turns working in the orthopedic clinic of the People's Hospital are the people she knows best.

Director Chen, a decisive and efficient businesswoman, always kept fruit candies in her white coat pocket. Every time she put a cast on Wen Lei, she would magically pull one out.

Director Chen would always comfort the tearful Wen Lei like this: "The little butterfly is about to wrap up a new cocoon."

When Wen Lei's spine finally began to deform, the entire orthopedic department spontaneously arranged special care shifts.

No one said it outright, but everyone knew that they couldn't cure her illness; they could only try their best to make each fracture less painful.

They all had their backs to her, their faces showing reluctance.

Lying in her hospital bed, she counted the cracks in the ceiling and listened to her parents arguing in hushed tones in the hallway.

How could I have given birth to such a daughter? She has no princess's destiny, but instead suffers from the princess and the pea's ailment.

The boy who lived next to her in the hospital bed died.

Where the boy lay last night, now only a crumpled sheet remains, stained with sweat in the shape of a human.

She felt that she too was nearing her end, and felt a sense of sorrow for those of the same kind.

A hushed voice came from outside the door.