6 6
◎Offering◎
Mu Heqing thought it was a normal meal. Before entering the manor hall, she was wondering why Li Shi wanted to eat in the hall.
Now, standing in front of the auditorium, she suddenly didn't want to go in. The auditorium had two heavy doors, one of which was only half open. Before she even entered, she could smell a strong stench of blood.
Li Yu stood beside her and said, "I won't go in. He's inside."
Mu Heqing glanced at the child in Li Yu's arms but said nothing.
She wanted to go home early so she could maybe sleep in tomorrow morning.
"Oh, right," Li Yu added, "I don't know exactly what your relationship is like, but he doesn't like people calling him Li Shi now."
Mu Heqing had already entered the hall halfway through her journey, half her face visible. The hall was still dimly lit, casting a shadow over her face. "So, what will you call him?" she asked.
“Just call him by his name, Shi, because he no longer acknowledges the surname Li.”
Mu Heqing nodded and walked into the hall. The hall was high and spacious, and the crystal chandelier that should have been lit on the dome was now dark. Only the ambient lights used for the wedding were still on.
The hall was decorated with flowers, balloons, and ribbons; if the lights were on, it would be a very beautiful wedding venue.
The center of the hall, where the bride and groom should have stood, was instead occupied by a huge stainless steel table, which looked like it had been brought from a pork stall in a market, and was covered with all sorts of dead animals.
No wonder Li Yu didn't want to come in; the smell here was just too awful.
A man sat behind a long table, tearing apart animals rather than eating.
"Is it delicious?" Mu Heqing asked.
The man said, "It's alright, not particularly good, not very energetic."
"These cattle and sheep would probably faint from fright if they saw you. They'd be lucky to be alive."
Mu Heqing stepped forward, and an absolutely exquisite and perfect face appeared in front of her. Even though he was tearing raw meat, she would be attracted to his face first.
A face so perfect it's unreal.
It doesn't mean anything.
Those portrait painters still poured their own emotions into it; in reality, if you only look at the face, it's just a face cut according to the golden ratio.
In particular, Mu and Qing had little artistic talent and were tired of seeing that face.
“Li Shi”.
He was no different from the Li Shi in Mu and Qing's memories.
"Call me Shi, I don't want to have the surname Li anymore."
Li Shi tore a piece of meat from a dead cow on the table, its eyes wide open, and stuffed it into his mouth. His lips were stained bright red with cow's blood.
Mu Heqing frowned in disgust. The Li family worshipped Li Shi as a god, considering him like their family's guardian deity, but in Mu Heqing's eyes, Li Shi was no different from a wild beast.
They are simply raising wild animals.
Li Shi looked like he was really getting married, wearing a white groom's suit, except it was covered in blood.
Mu Heqing asked, "Did you have someone deliver the invitation to me?"
"What invitation? Oh, you mean that? I've been looking for you for so long. How did you manage to hide your presence? Later, they said they had a way to get you here, but they needed a reason. You know, I want to see you."
The reason is this absurd wedding.
Mu and Qing then realized their oversight: she could hide from "them," but she couldn't hide from people.
After she joined the company, at the boss's request, she acted as the company's online ambassador several times, which is probably how her name and company address were leaked.
"The second invitation, was it you who had Cai deliver it to me?"
Li Shi asked in confusion, "Cai? I've never contacted her."
Mu and Qing were troubled; they probably wouldn't be able to find her.
She figured out Li Shi's situation, but what about Cai?
"This is a wedding, where is your bride?"
Mu and Qing's primary objective right now is to find out if the missing girl is related to Li Shi. They can think about the rest later.
“I think there was one, but I forgot which room I put her in.” Li Shi smiled, his lips stained with blood.
How can I find her?
“Why care about unimportant things?” Li Shi stood up, walked out from behind the table, and came to Mu Heqing. “The important thing is that you’ve come, and we’ve met.”
This means that Li Shi can find Mu and Qing.
"Then who would know where the bride is? Your parents?" Mu Heqing ignored Li Shi's question. "Why don't they come to see you directly? Can they tell me where the bride is?"
Mu and Qing had a million questions.
But Li Shi didn't answer her question; they talked about their own things: "He Qing, why are you running away? Seven years ago, I asked you if you would like to be my family, and you refused. What about you now?"
Mu and Qing shook their heads decisively. At the time, she was curious about what it meant to become family. They weren't related by blood, so how could they become related by blood? Now she understood. It turned out that he was the next one to be born in their family. That was too shocking.
“If you find that hard to accept, I can be born into another of your relatives’ families, as long as we are related by blood.”
Li Shi put it another way: he was not giving up, and he also wanted to become Mu and Qing's "family".
"Then I don't want it either. Why won't you stay here?"
Li Shi sighed helplessly, and a rare human expression appeared on his face.
He pulled a walkie-talkie from a pile of blood and flesh on the table and said into it, "Come here for a moment."
Mu and Qing were completely unaware that there was a walkie-talkie here, and felt as if they had suddenly entered modern society.
Soon, Uncle Li, Yi Juan, and Li Yu arrived. The baby didn't come; it's likely that it was placed elsewhere.
They stood next to Li Shi, their styles completely different; one was realistic, the other seemed like something out of a fantasy.
The three members of Uncle Li's family looked at the sky, the ground, and Mu Heqing, but not at Li Shi. They had completely lost the imposing manner they had shown when facing Mu Heqing.
The group looked at each other in silence for a long time. Uncle Li couldn't help but ask, "Are you finished talking? How did it go? Did you change your minds?"
Yijuan, who was tall, stood silently to the side, as quiet as a puppet. Their son, Liyu, was the same, trembling with his arms crossed.
Are you so afraid of Li Shi? When Uncle Li spoke, he was also looking at Mu and Qing, without glancing at Li Shi at all.
Mu and Qing suddenly wondered if Uncle Li and the others really regarded Li Shi as a god worshipped by the family, and why they were unwilling to look at Li Shi at all.
The fear in their eyes clearly outweighed their reverence. Yet, when they weren't in Li Shi's presence, they addressed him as such naturally.
Could it be that the real Rish would frighten them, while the Rish they remembered was their son?
Ignoring the tense atmosphere, Li Shi said, "He Qing, I can let them tell you, but you have to promise me."
Before Mu and Qing could speak, Uncle Li exclaimed urgently, "No! Absolutely not!"
Uncle Li, who had been so composed in front of Mu and Qing, now had a look of terror on his round face as he looked at Li Shi. "Our family has supported you for a hundred years! A hundred years! And you just abandon us like this?"
To Li Shi, Uncle Li's words were like a fly buzzing around. He walked to the table, ignoring the sticky clumps of dead flesh scattered on it, and chose a spot that looked relatively clean, and sat down directly there.
He was dressed in a white groom's suit, his features exquisitely perfect like a god's, yet blood stained the corners of his mouth, and large patches of dried blood marred his pure white clothes. The center of the hall was already elevated, and he, seated on the high table, towered even higher than everyone else.
He sat amidst a pool of blood, a half-smile playing on his lips, his eyes lowered as he looked down at the four people below the stage.
He stretched out a hand, palm down, fingers drooping, a hand comparable to one sculpted by a top sculptor with a lifetime of skill, now displayed before Mu and Qing.
He said, "Make offerings to me, Heqing."
Mu Heqing's fingers trembled slightly.
The scene before her was so familiar, so familiar that it made her feel nauseous.
In high school, it was the same thing. Li Shi sat on the podium, stretched out a hand to her, and asked her to worship him. Mu Heqing was only seventeen years old at the time. She knew that her classmates were not quite normal and seemed to have strange abilities. She also knew that if she agreed, her life would be completely changed.
At that time, she had no choice.
But that's all in the past. She has now left No. 13 Middle School and returned to her own world.
"Even if you don't want me to join your family, you can still make offerings to me and Qing. I will give you everything you want."
Li Shi's words sounded like a coax, and Mu Heqing was somewhat tempted; he found it even harder to refuse than before.
She stepped forward and gently took Li Shi's hand.
Before Li Shi could even feel happy, Mu and Qing pulled him off the table. The table was already unstable, so it fell over as well, and the things on it slid off the platform. A section in the center of the hall was stained with dark red blood, and the white lace gauze used for decoration was also soaked in red.
Now everyone is standing amidst the bloodstains.
This was truly the bloodiest wedding Mu and Qing had ever seen.
Mu Heqing: "Don't sit so high. My cervical spine isn't very good, and I can't lift my head that high."
In the real world, her job wasn't great, but her colleagues were kind. Although she had to rent a place, her landlord and neighbors were also very nice people.
She was very content.
She doesn't need Li Shi in her current life.
Li Yu was startled by this sudden turn of events and looked up immediately upon hearing Mu Heqing's words. He sensed that Mu Heqing, who had seemed quite amiable, had suddenly changed his demeanor.
Li Shi wasn't angry at all. Instead, he chuckled and said, "He Qing, I still really like you."
"Thank you, but no need." Mu Heqing refused directly. She stepped forward and looked at the four people. At this moment, her position was switched with Li Shi's. "The price of worshipping you is too high. My family and I cannot afford it."
Looking at Uncle Li's family, although they seem to have become wealthy, they live in constant fear, afraid that one day Li Shi will abandon them.
Mu and Qing had long known that there's no such thing as a free lunch. If Li Shi had taken this opportunity, she would be the one crying here today.
She was in a bad mood. Dealing with this matter on the weekend was already annoying, and her good temper, which she had cultivated for seven years, instantly crumbled.
She grabbed Li Shi by the collar and said coldly, "Now, tell me where that missing girl is?"
Li Shi was pulled forward a step by Mu and Qing, and his smile deepened. "Why care about unrelated people? Are you worried that if you agree to my request, you'll end up like them? No, I like you the most, so I can let you get the greatest value at the lowest cost."
[Author's Note]
If you like this, feel free to add it to your favorites. [pity][pity]
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