Yujun Mountain

After roughly recounting the Junshan case, Xie Lian said, “That’s basically it.”

Because some people looked very uncooperative, he didn't know whether they were listening or not.

Nan Feng raised his head and frowned, "What do the missing brides have in common?"

Xie Lian said, “Rich and poor, beautiful and ugly, wives and concubines. In short, there’s no pattern. It’s impossible to tell what this ghost groom’s tastes are.”

Nanfeng hummed, picked up the teacup and took a sip, as if he began to think.

Lan Yunqing held up his chin and said, "Perhaps the commonality between the missing brides isn't just outward appearance? What if they just did the same thing in their bridal sedans?"

Xie Lian pondered for a moment and said, “What you said does make sense, but I still can’t find any definitive evidence as to what the ghost groom’s selection criteria are.”

Fu Yao, however, didn't even touch the tea Xie Lian had pushed towards her. She simply wiped her fingers slowly with a white handkerchief, her expression cold as she spoke, "Your Highness, how do you know it's a ghost bridegroom? It's not certain. No one has ever seen it, so how can we know if it's a man or a woman, old or young? Aren't you taking things for granted?"

Xie Lian smiled and said, "The scroll was compiled by the civil servants of the Spiritual Literature Hall. 'Ghost Bridegroom' is just a popular term. However, what you said is worth considering."

After a few more words, Xie Lian realized that these two young officers had quite clear ideas. Although their expressions were unfriendly, their arguments were straightforward, which was quite gratifying. Su Sheng spoke little throughout the conversation, but he always got to the point and was a decisive person.

Seeing that it was getting late outside the window, the four of them left the shop for the time being.

Xie Lian's habitual search for a place to stay puzzled Nanfeng Fuyao for a while. After finding a Nanyang Temple, Xie Lian quickly discovered that most of the worshippers there were female.

Because just as they were talking, another girl came in to get incense and worship the gods.

Unfortunately, before Xie Lian could ask the question, the girl finished her worship, stood up to take the incense, and turned around again.

Xie Lian turned around and nudged the other two. They were initially quite impatient, but after he nudged them, they looked over and their expressions changed instantly.

Fuyao said, "It's so ugly!"

Xie Lian choked for a moment before saying, "Fuyao, you can't talk about girls like that."

Lan Yunqing turned around and patted Fuyao lightly: "Show some respect to girls."

But to be fair, Fuyao was telling the truth.

The girl's face was extremely flat, as if it had been slapped in the face. To say that her facial features were ordinary would be a bit unfair. If I had to describe them, I'm afraid the only way I could describe them would be "crooked nose and slanted eyes".

But Xie Lian couldn't tell whether she was beautiful or ugly. The main thing was that when she turned around, a huge hole was hanging on the back of her skirt, which made it impossible to pretend not to see it.

Fuyao was startled at first, but quickly calmed down. The veins on Nanfeng's forehead disappeared in an instant.

Lan Yunqing took out an outer robe from his Qiankun bag and put it on his hand.

The girl took the incense and hung it up again, not noticing that her skirt had been damaged.

At this rate, she would surely be ridiculed and humiliated when she went out. Xie Lian was about to step forward to give her the coat, but Lan Yunqing was quicker, passing the coat to the girl before Xie Lian could step forward to help (scare) her, thus avoiding many unnecessary misunderstandings.

…

The next evening, Nanyang Temple

Xie Lian, wearing a red wedding gown and with his hair loose, walked from the back of the hall.

Nan Feng cursed and rushed out. Fu Yao gave him a big eye roll.

Half an hour ago

Originally, they captured the ghost groom and wanted Lan Yunqing to play the bride, but unfortunately she declined.

"...Your Highness, I'm actually allergic to red clothes." Lan Yunqing smiled as he faced several glances. "I'm not lying."

"???" God is allergic to red clothes

Fuyao narrowed her eyes and asked, "Then why haven't I heard you mention it before?"

Lan Yunqing coughed lightly and said, "Why should I bring this up?"

“…”

But the reason for being allergic to red clothes was too outrageous, and soon Lan Yunqing was disliked by Nanfu Battery.

Xie Lian asked helplessly, "Then, what would happen if you wore it?"

Lan Yunqing pondered for a moment and said, "...There is a 90% chance of death." He was beaten to death by City Lord Hua.

“…”???

But after all, Su Sheng was only there to help, so Xie Lian couldn't force it. Besides, it was Lan Yunqing who forgave his debt to her, so Xie Lian said, "Forget it, I'll just find someone else. So, where can I find someone willing to dress up as a bride..."

Before he could finish his words, several rays of blazing light fell on him.

Xie Lian: “…?”

So the scene just now happened.

Xie Lian: “…?” While his appearance wasn’t particularly pleasing to the eye, it wasn’t that scary either, was it?

Well...it's just that the clothes don't fit me well.

Lan Yunqing was the most kindhearted. He held his forehead and sighed, then helped him tidy up his appearance and even got him a new wedding dress that fit him.

She reapplied Xie Lian's makeup, softening his masculine features without making him look too feminine. His hair bun was removed, letting it drape loosely behind him. Only a few strands of hair that blocked his view were tied back loosely.

But what Xie Lian found strange was the red wedding dress.

He had been in the human world for over eight hundred years and had witnessed many weddings. The patterns on brides' wedding gowns were mostly dragons, phoenixes, and mandarin ducks, but this dress had a silver thread base, embroidered with butterflies and maple leaves—something he had never seen before.

Seeing Xie Lian dressed neatly and getting ready to get into the bridal sedan, Lan Yunqing covered his mouth with his hands and smiled, then turned around and sent out a telepathic message.

…

The red sedan stood quietly in the open space. There was dead silence all around, and the intermittent howling of wolves could be heard from afar.

Xie Lian sat upright in the sedan chair, his head covered with a veil. A piece of white silk was wrapped around his wrist, ready to go.

After a while, he heard a chuckle.

The laughter sounded like that of a young man, or perhaps a teenager. The tone rose slightly at the end, and it seemed very happy.

Xie Lian sat upright and said nothing.

A moment later, Xie Lian saw through the gap in the veil that the curtain of the sedan chair was lifted, and the person slightly extended a hand towards him.

The knuckles were distinct. A red string was tied around the third finger, like a bright knot of fate on the slender, pale hand.

To give, or not to give?

Xie Lian remained calm, still undecided as to whether he should continue to sit there unperturbed or feign fear and retreat backwards like a panicked bride.

The owner of that hand was quite patient and graceful. He didn't move, as if he was just waiting for his reply.

After a while, as if possessed by some mysterious force, Xie Lian reached out his hand.

He stood up and was about to lift the curtain and get out of the sedan chair, but the other person had already taken a step forward and lifted the red curtain for him.

The person who came held his hand, but not too tightly, as if afraid of hurting him, giving people the illusion of being cautious.

The hand was cold, not like a living person's. Yet Xie Lian felt a strange warmth in it.

Through the gap in the veil, Xie Lian could clearly see the pair of silver wrist guards worn on the young man's wrists at the junction of his palm and his own.

This wristband was ornate and exquisite, with ancient patterns. Carved with maple leaves, butterflies, and ferocious beasts, it was quite mysterious, not something from the Central Plains, but rather an ancient artifact from a foreign race. It barely grasped the man's wrist, appearing refined and neat.

The man's bright red clothes were also lightly embroidered with similar patterns.

this……?

Xie Lian looked down and happened to see the pattern on his wedding dress: "...?"

After getting off the sedan chair and walking through a forest, Xie Lian faintly heard a dripping sound.

The young man seemed to pause for a moment, and then a light mist spread out.

The ticking sound also disappeared.

The young man next to him paused, moved slowly for a while, as if he was putting something away.

He took Xie Lian's hand and continued walking with him.

The fog became thicker and thicker, a light red color, interweaving and blending with the white fog that was already present in the mountains, like ink drops in clear water.

Suddenly, Xie Lian felt something passing under his feet. He slowed down slightly and looked down.

A ball of light-colored mist gathered together and swirled around his feet, forming the shape of a cat.

The mist cat opened its mouth and seemed to call out, then followed the two of them, bouncing around.

The young man snorted, and then several silver psionic butterflies flew over and flitted around the group of mist cats, as if trying to drive them away.

The mist cat opened its mouth angrily, flicked its tail, and dissipated into the air.

Xie Lian watched the "fight" between the two things and actually thought, "This behavior is so childish."

Looking back at the young man in red, he seemed calm and continued to lead him forward.

When they reached a certain place, the young man finally stopped moving. The hand that had been holding Xie Lian earlier gently pinched a corner of his veil and slowly lifted it up.

Aya moves!

It’s not that the young man is murderous, but we must take the initiative and subdue him first!

Unexpectedly, the Ruo Xie Ling flew out, bringing with it a gust of wind. The bright red veil left the young man's hand, flew up and down again. Xie Lian only had time to see the afterimage of a young man in red before the Ruo Xie Ling passed through.

The young man was broken into thousands of silver butterflies, which scattered into a brilliant star wind with shining silver light.

Although it was still inappropriate, after Xie Lian took two steps back, he couldn't help but marvel in his heart. This scene was truly beautiful and dreamlike.

At this moment, a silver butterfly flew past his eyes. He was about to take a closer look, but the silver butterfly flew around him twice, then merged into the butterfly wind, and together they became part of the silver light in the sky, flapping their wings and flying into the night sky.

The surrounding mist slowly dissipated. In the darkness, Xie Lian could vaguely see a few silver butterflies fly to a nearby area, dispelling a cloud of angry mist.

After a while, Xie Lian came back to his senses and wondered, "Is this young man a ghost groom?"

…

Hua Cheng had just "married" Xie Lian and was in a good mood. He hummed a little tune and raised an eyebrow at Mo Qiuyan, who had a wooden face in front of him.

"Huahua, what do you mean?! Are you not going to show off your presence to others?!"

Hua Cheng looked at her proudly, his chin in his hand: "Did you record the image talisman?"

Mo Qiuyan rolled his eyes. "I recorded it! It's not just the footage of you taking His Highness through the woods."

Huacheng: “…”

That’s right, City Lord Hua was a little timid and hesitated for a while before showing up.

So Mo Qiuyan happily recorded all of this into the photo talisman.

Hua Cheng was speechless, but he knew that getting Mo Qiuyan to delete his memory was as difficult as getting Qi Rong to become a model citizen, so he automatically ignored what he had just said.

Mo Qiuyan held the Xiaowu in his hand and fanned it outwards, gathering the mist in front of him into the shape of Xiu Mao.

This is a new feature she discovered not long ago. It’s not very useful, just fun!

Hua Cheng watched expressionlessly as the mist cat darted around his head, occasionally giving him a big slap with its claws. He twitched his lips and waved it away with a palm. "Alright, alright, go back to Yunfan Valley. Don't you have to take a few months off just to support that couple? Hurry and get your documents approved."

Mo Qiuyan had already asked for leave. In order to avoid being overwhelmed by a pile of documents of all sizes when he returned to Yunfan Valley, he really had to go back and finish his work.

She turned around and removed the seal of the forest of hanging corpses behind her, shamelessly took Hua Cheng's dice of shrinking the earth by a thousand miles, and returned to Yunfan Valley without consuming any mana.

How can you not pluck the wool from your own farm?!

…

Xie Lian was being strangled by Xuan Ji, and he raised his hand to summon Ruo Xie.

This female ghost is worthy of being called "evil". Even though her legs are broken, her movements are extremely ghostly and swift. She is still so fierce after being hit by Ruo Xie.

She was so strong that Xie Lian and her were in a stalemate. He was about to call Ruo Xie over when he heard a loud cry: "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh——"

When the girl Xiaoying saw that he was in a stalemate with the female ghost, she picked up a branch from the ground and rushed over, shouting as she rushed, as if to give herself courage.

Xuan Ji didn't need to do anything at all, she just looked back, and Sen Sen flew out before she got close, flying several feet away, head down, body up, and fell heavily to the ground!

The bandaged boy screamed hoarsely, "Ahhh!" and ran over. Xie Lian was also startled and sat up, but suddenly felt a chill on the back of his head. Xuan Ji had already placed five fingers on him, as if she was going to peel his skull out from his scalp like before.

In a moment of desperation, Xie Lian suddenly grabbed her wrist with his right hand and shouted, “Bind her!”

There was a "swish" sound of breaking through the air, and a white silk came in response to the call, wrapped around Xuan Ji in nine twists and turns, and tied her up.

Xuan Ji's legs were broken and she couldn't dodge in time. She fell to her knees with a bang and rolled on the ground, trying to break free from the white silk, but it only got tighter and tighter.

As soon as he got away, Xie Lian didn't even have time to catch his breath before he immediately stood up and ran towards where Xiaoying had landed.

Unexpectedly, Xiaoying only had a minor scratch on her skin and was fine.

With this kind of fall, coupled with Xuan Ji's magical power, how could he be fine?!

Lan Yunqing stepped forward to feel the pulse, and after a moment he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "No internal injuries."

She was about to come to the rescue, but it seemed someone was faster.

Xiaoying slowly sat up with the help of everyone, looking bewildered. "She did hit me... but it seemed like something purple blocked it for a bit, so I didn't even feel any pain."

Xie Lian remained silent, recalling the mist he had seen before.

Ordinary fog wouldn't be so strange, it must be controlled by someone.

Xie Lian felt that ever since his ascension, the troubles he encountered were getting bigger and bigger.