Chapter 9 The Spirit-Binding Village: Pretending to be a Bride
Natural has its advantages; it's so alluring without even realizing it.
Ao Bai was delighted with the outcome, his cat-like eyes gleaming as he watched the latest card game mode about to load successfully.
Huali was still immersed in the joy of upgrading her card, and she really wanted to find a place to try out such an awesome skill.
Suddenly, a plate smelling of rice was handed to her. "Little girl, this won't fill you up. Have some rice cakes." It was the old woman who had spoken earlier.
She seemed a little flustered, her fingertips curling as she held the plate, and explained, "It's clean."
The rice cakes on the plate are all white, soft, and glutinous, exuding the unique sweetness of rice.
But what attracted Huali was the hand holding the plate. Its skin was chapped, its nails were grayish-blue with small cracks at the edges, its knuckles were swollen like ancient bronze coins, and the calluses on the bumps had cracked open, revealing pink flesh.
Just by looking at her hands, one can glimpse the hardship and poverty of the old woman's life.
Lian Zhuo looked at Hua Li, thinking she wouldn't take it. But the girl beside her smiled and took it with both hands, picked up a small piece of rice cake, stuffed it into her mouth, swallowed it in two or three bites, and then gave a thumbs up: "Delicious!"
Despite being a habitual liar and a miser, she is a soft-hearted young woman.
If properly disciplined, they may very well achieve something.
"Amitabha."
The old woman's wariness was softened by Huali's obedient appearance, and she smiled and said, "That's good, eat more."
"You still haven't answered my question, old lady? Why are you hiding? And what's with the wedding silk outside?" Huali seized the opportunity to speak up. "My companions are very capable; perhaps they can help you."
"That happened half a year ago," sighed Old Zhang, who was standing nearby.
This village was originally called Fuling Village, and it is located at the foot of Baiyun Mountain.
Legend has it that a hundred years ago, a Yao Guang Zhenjun sealed an evil demon here. To prevent the demon from escaping, he set up a magic array here and ordered people to guard it for generations.
As time went by, this village of spirit binding, which was neither too big nor too small, gradually took shape.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhang are one of these households.
It is likely that the demon was sealed in the earth's veins, and the surrounding mountains and forests absorbed its power. Therefore, the mountains not only contain rare and exotic beasts, but also a large number of low-grade immortal herbs.
Mountain spirit beasts absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and most of them live deep in the mountains. The remaining low-level spirit beasts never actively harm people.
Therefore, the villagers relied on the mountains for their livelihood, and they all depended on collecting medicinal herbs to make a living.
But about six months ago, fewer and fewer people started gathering herbs in the mountains. They either disappeared without a trace or were eaten by unknown monsters, leaving only bones.
Ordinary people have no spiritual power to fight back, so the villagers discussed it and decided to ask a celestial master to help drive away the spirit beast.
As luck would have it, before they could report to the immortal sect, a mysterious wandering immortal arrived in the village.
Upon hearing this, the immortal told them that the mountain god was angry because they had been picking the sacred herbs without restraint.
To appease the mountain god's anger, a temple needs to be built on the mountaintop to worship him.
“At first we didn’t believe it, but who knew that the night the immortal finished speaking, everyone in our village had the same strange dream. In the dream, a goddess whose face we couldn’t see told us that the magic array here was about to fail, and if we didn’t build a temple, she would unleash monsters down the mountain the next day and eat everyone.”
"So you built it? And then what?" Mo Ziyan asked, frowning.
"It was indeed very effective for a while after it was built, and no one went missing again." Old Zhang's body trembled involuntarily as if he had thought of something terrible. "But the goddess made a request that we hold a wedding ceremony every half month."
Huali: "This goddess seems to enjoy a lively atmosphere."
Upon hearing this, her eyes, as clear as an ancient well, lifted.
"And on their wedding night, the bride and groom must go to the temple of the goddess alone. The goddess says that as long as the bride and groom pass her test, they will naturally return safely."
Hearing this, Aunt Zhang could no longer hold back her sobs.
“All the eligible men and women in the village were forced into marriage, but none of them have ever come back. My poor daughter Cuijin was only fourteen years old, and she just left like that and never came back.” Aunt Zhang’s voice trembled as she wiped away her tears. “The day she left, she said she would come back and eat the rice cakes I steamed for her.”
Hua Li gently patted Aunt Zhang's back: "Have you never thought about leaving?"
"Anyone in the village who refused to cooperate or tried to escape would have their body hung on the old locust tree at the entrance of the village the next morning."
Just as I expected.
Over time, people become increasingly anxious, which explains why it attracts evil spirits.
"The fate of the young people in the village is unknown, and what's left are just teenagers. With the half-month deadline fast approaching, no one dares to go out, fearing that their family will be next."
Human hearts are unpredictable; if you want to protect the people you cherish, you have to sacrifice the people others cherish.
Everyone was afraid that their child would be chosen as the bride, so no one dared to go out.
Hua Li sighed inwardly. In the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak, and the only way to survive is to become stronger.
Thinking of this, Huali turned to look at Lianzhuo. It would have been better if she hadn't looked, because she found that the monk had somehow moved to the doorway.
Huali choked with emotion, speechless: "......" Is she really that annoying?
"The wedding is the day after tomorrow. If we can't have the wedding, we'll probably all die." Aunt Zhang wiped away her tears. "Logically speaking, at our age, it's okay to die. There's nothing to regret. But we're really unwilling to wait until the day we can avenge Cuijin."
The old man's hoarse and sorrowful voice echoed in the room. The night was deep, and only the moonlight quietly peeked into the room.
No candles were lit in the village.
“My junior sister and I are both disciples of the Spirit Sword Sect. Now that we know about the strange things happening here, we will not sit idly by. Please rest assured, old man,” Mo Ziyan reassured him.
The elderly couple exchanged a glance and shook their heads: "The two previous immortal masters said the same thing, but they never came back. The goddess is very powerful; if she finds out, she definitely won't let you off the hook."
"In that case, what if we pretend to be a newlywed couple?" Tang Wanwan suddenly said. "Wouldn't that make it easier for us to get close to the goddess?"
Tang Wanwan looked at Mo Ziyan: "Senior Brother Ziyan, Zhu Qi and the others must have exposed their whereabouts by forcibly breaking in, so the Goddess must be even more vigilant now."
Mo Ziyan nodded, "That's not a bad idea. But..." He looked a little awkward, "...it's just that it would be unfair to my junior sister."
Tang Wanwan waved her hand, "It's alright, it's an emergency. Anyway, it's all fake, the Buddha will definitely forgive me."
"Wait a minute." Huali, who had been watching the drama unfold, raised her hand. "What does this have to do with the Buddhist disciple?"
Tang Wanwan snorted, "It's very important. Tan Chen Buddhist Master is the person I admire most. I definitely have to tell him about something this important."
Karin: "How can I tell you? Haven't you two never met before?"
Tang Wanwan rolled her eyes. "You're so old-fashioned. There's a Buddha's communication bell on the immortal artifact inside the communication stone."
I see. So that's like a celebrity's Weibo account, where the person can accept private messages from fans, but never reads them.
Huali curiously picked up the communication stone, opened the Immortal Book to search for the Buddha's disciple, and indeed saw the other party's name: Tan Chen of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect.
She had always used this communication stone for quests; she never expected it to have this function.
Hua Li scrolled down curiously, and found that the top names were all well-known big shots in the cultivation world.
"Sunset City Lord Wen Jin... isn't that a demon?" Hua Li was about to click on it out of curiosity when the communication stone was suddenly blocked. When she looked up, she saw Tang Wanwan's sullen face.
"Why did you just swipe away without even looking at the Buddha's disciple?"
Huali was speechless: "Can't I just not be interested? I'm not a fan of the Buddha."
"What kind of powder?"
"It means I admire him. I don't admire the Buddhist monk, nor do I like him. To me, he's just a nobody."
The fanatical Buddhist disciple immediately retorted, "You're not even interested in someone as pure and otherworldly as the Buddhist disciple? Fine, then tell me, who are you interested in?"
She wanted to see who this person was!
She'd never even seen him before and he had absolutely no connection to her, so how could she not be interested? Huali immediately pointed to Lianzhuo by the door, "Look, he's right there."
Lian Zhuo, who was trying to sense the location of the demonic beast Bi Fang by making hand seals and chanting incantations, looked up upon hearing this.
“Master Lianzhuo is a unique existence to me, ten thousand times more important than your disciple Tanchen.”
The hand seal paused slightly, and spiritual energy exploded from between the fingers, creating a starlight.
Aunt Zhang, who had been silent, shook her head. "The goddess will send the wedding dress for the wedding day the night before. Only ordinary people without spiritual power can wear it."
"None of you can do it, only this little girl can."
Karin, forced to accept everyone's gaze: "..." Wasn't she just here to give directions? How did she end up joining the main characters and becoming the center?
Even Tang Wanwan, who was always outspoken, hesitated to speak. She simply couldn't bring herself to put an ordinary person in danger.
"Forget it, we might as well fight it out. Anyway, my dad has given me plenty of magic weapons. We can smash our way through."
Just as Huali was about to agree, Aobai on the stove meowed and jumped onto her shoulder in two steps: "Wait a minute! The Earth-type SR card has been successfully upgraded. It's not some ultimate move, but rather the activation of a timed mission mode."
"If the host wants to light up the third star and upgrade the card to double SS, he must accept the mission issued by the headquarters system!"
A sense of foreboding rose in Karin's heart. "What mission?"
Ao Bai quickly read the information: "Upgrade Task 1: Disguise yourself as a bride at Baiyun Mountain and team up with the Chosen One to capture a demon. Task reward: half a star."
What kind of mission is this?
Is it because they think she has the attack and defense of an Earth-type SR card, so they're making her play like a monster?
She knew why it was so easy to light up the two little stars; it turned out they were waiting for her here.
If she doesn't go, she can still survive for a while, but if she goes, she'll die immediately.
"I refuse. Didn't you hear what Tang Wanwan said? Even Zhu Qi, who is at the peak of Foundation Establishment, is missing. What about me?" Hua Li had just finished speaking when her dizziness returned, this time much worse. She staggered and almost fell off the chair.
Ao Bai's eyes widened: "Host, your health is decreasing."
"If you fail to accept and complete the task as required by the system, your health will be reduced to zero within one hour!"
Karin stared blankly at the blood dripping on the ground, then reached up and touched her nose. "...Damn it."
On the other side, Tang Wanwan was so worried that she was pulling her hair out. Then, Huali suddenly stood up, covered her nose, and spoke bravely.
“I can pretend to be the bride, but I have one condition: the spirit stones must be tripled.”
"And the groom must be Lian Zhuo."
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