The sedan chair was woven entirely of crimson satin, embroidered with images of flowers, a full moon, dragons, and phoenixes. Nanfeng and Fuyao flanked the sedan, one on each side. Xie Lian sat upright in the sedan, swaying leisurely as the bearers moved.
The eight bearers of the eight-man sedan chair were all military officers with exceptional martial arts skills. To find skilled bearers, Nanfeng and Fuyao disguised themselves as a wedding procession and went directly to the official's residence to demonstrate their skills, stating they were planning a nighttime exploration of Yujun Mountain. Without further ado, the official summoned a row of burly military officers. However, the reason they sought these skilled bearers wasn't to rely on their abilities for assistance, but simply to ensure they could escape if the demons attacked.
But in reality, the eight military officers actually looked down on them. They were top-notch fighters in the palace, leaders of the pack wherever they went. The two pretty boys actually took advantage of them right away and made them sedan bearers, which was extremely unpleasant. They had to obey their master's orders, but they suppressed their disdain. However, their anger was unavoidable, and they deliberately lurched forward, shaking their feet and hands from time to time, causing the sedan to jolt. Outsiders wouldn't notice, but anyone sitting in the sedan, even the most delicate, would have been vomiting profusely.
As the sedan was rocking, they heard Xie Lian sigh softly, and several military officers couldn't help but feel secretly proud.
Fuyao said coldly from outside: "Miss, what's wrong with you? Are you crying tears of joy for getting married at such an advanced age?"
Indeed, many brides weep in their bridal sedan chairs upon their wedding. Xie Lian was both amused and annoyed, but his voice was calm and composed, without a trace of discomfort from being tossed around. "No, it's just that I suddenly realized there's something very important missing from this wedding procession."
Nan Feng said: "What's missing? We should have prepared everything we need."
Xie Lian smiled and said, “Two dowry maids.”
“…”
The two people outside glanced at each other at the same time, and they were both filled with a chill, not knowing what they imagined. Fuyao said, "Just think of it as your family being poor and unable to afford a maid, so just make do with it."
Xie Lian said, “Alright.”
The sedan bearers and military officers couldn't help laughing at their banter. Their resentment faded somewhat, and they felt a little more attuned to each other. The sedan chair also became more stable. Xie Lian leaned back, sat upright, and closed his eyes to rest.
Unexpectedly, not long after, a string of children's laughter suddenly rang in his ears.
Hehehe, hahaha.
The laughter spread across the mountains like ripples, eerie and ethereal. However, the sedan chair didn't stop, continuing its steady progress. Even Nanfeng and Fuyao remained silent, seemingly unaware of anything unusual.
Xie Lian opened his eyes and whispered, "Nanfeng, Fuyao."
Nan Feng was on the left side of the sedan chair and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xie Lian said, “Something is coming.”
At this time, this "wedding escort team" had gradually entered the depths of Yujun Mountain.
The surroundings became increasingly quiet; even the creaking of the wooden sedan, the sound of broken branches and leaves being trampled, and the breathing of the sedan bearers seemed a little noisy in this silence.
The child's laughter had not yet died away, sometimes distant, as if deep in the woods, sometimes near, as if lying beside the sedan chair.
Nan Feng said solemnly, "I didn't hear any sound."
Fuyao also said coldly: "Me neither."
It was even more impossible for the rest of the sedan chair bearers to have any.
Xie Lian said, “That means it was meant to be heard by only me.
The eight military officers, confident of their martial prowess and convinced that the ghost groom's weddings were irregular, were bound to end in failure tonight. They weren't particularly fearful, but for some reason, they suddenly remembered the forty mysteriously missing military officers who had escorted the bride to the wedding. A few of them felt a slight sweat on their foreheads. Xie Lian noticed someone pause and said, "Don't stop. Act like nothing happened."
Nan Feng waved, signaling them to continue walking. Xie Lian added, "He's singing."
Fuyao asked, "What are you singing?"
Listening carefully to the child's voice, Xie Lian spoke word by word, emphasizing each sentence: "The bride, the bride, the bride in the red sedan chair..."
In the silent night, his slightly slow voice was clearly audible, and it was clearly him reciting the poem. However, the eight military officers seemed to hear the voice of a child, singing this strange little ballad with him, and they felt a chill in their hearts.
Xie Lian continued, "Tears welling up in my eyes, crossing the hills, don't… smile beneath the veil… ghost bridegroom… ghost bridegroom? Or what?"
After a pause, he said, "No. It keeps laughing, and I can't hear it clearly."
Nan Feng frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Xie Lian said, “It means literally. It means the bride in the sedan chair should only cry, not laugh.”
Nan Feng said, "I mean, what does it mean for this thing to come and remind you?"
Fuyao, however, always disagreed, saying, "It might not be a reminder, it could be deliberately doing the opposite. In fact, only by laughing can one be safe, but its purpose is to trick people into crying. Who knows if brides in the past haven't been fooled this way."
Xie Lian said, "Fuyao, an ordinary bride would be terrified to death if she heard such a noise on the street, how could she possibly laugh? Besides, whether I laugh or cry, what's the worst that could happen?"
Fuyao said, "He was kidnapped."
Xie Lian asked, “Isn’t this the purpose of our trip tonight?”
Fuyao snorted, but didn't continue to refute. Xie Lian said, "Also, there's something I feel I must tell you."
Nan Feng asked, "What's the matter?"
Xie Lian said, “I’ve been smiling since I got into the bridal sedan.”
“…”
As soon as he finished speaking, the sedan chair sank suddenly!
The eight military officers outside suddenly became agitated, and the sedan chair came to a complete stop. Nan Feng shouted, "Don't panic!"
Xie Lian raised his head slightly and asked, "What's wrong?"
Fuyao said calmly, "Nothing serious. Just ran into a bunch of beasts."
As soon as he finished answering, Xie Lian heard a sharp wolf howl piercing the night sky.
Wolves blocking the road!
No matter how Xie Lian thought about it, he felt that this was not normal. He asked, “Let me ask you, are there often wolves in Yujun Mountain?”
A military officer's sedan bearer outside replied, "Never heard of it! How could this be Yujun Mountain?"
Xie Lian raised an eyebrow and said, "Well, then we have come to the right place."
The wolves of the wild mountains were nothing more than a pack of wolves. They couldn't do anything to Nanfeng and Fuyao, nor to the military officers who had lived on the edge of a knife for years. They had just been pondering the eerie ballad, and were caught off guard by the sudden startle. In the dark forest, pairs of green wolf eyes lit up. One hungry wolf after another slowly emerged from the forest, surrounding them. But compared to the intangible, invisible beasts, these beasts that could be seen and struck were far more formidable. So, everyone rubbed their hands, ready to unleash their skills and engage in a mighty slaughter. However, the best was yet to come. Following their footsteps, a strange, rustling sound, like neither animal nor human, arose.
A military officer exclaimed in surprise: "What...what is this! What is this thing!!!"
Nan Feng cursed as well. Xie Lian sensed something was amiss and tried to stand up, asking, "What's going on?"
Nan Feng immediately said, "Don't come out!"
Xie Lianfang raised his hand, and the sedan shook violently, as if something was clinging to the door. He kept his head straight, his gaze slightly lowered, and through the gap under the veil, he saw the back of a black head.
It actually climbed into the sedan chair!
The thing crashed into the sedan door, but was suddenly dragged out by someone outside. Nanfeng cursed in front of the sedan: "Damn it, it's a despicable slave!"
As soon as he heard the name “Bismu”, Xie Lian knew that he was in trouble.
In the judgment of the Lingwen Palace, a slave is something that does not even deserve the word "bad".
It's said that this slave was originally human, but even if it's human now, it's a deformed one. It has a head and face, but they're blurry; it has hands and feet, but it can't walk straight; it has a mouth and teeth, but it can't bite anyone to death. However, if we had to choose, we'd rather encounter the more terrifying "evil" or "fierce" than this one.
Because the Bitter Slave often appears in conjunction with other demons and monsters. It suddenly appears while its prey is engaged in combat, entangling them like taffy with its entangled limbs, sticky bodily fluids, and a constant stream of companions. Despite its low combat effectiveness, its immense resilience and its tendency to appear in large groups make it difficult to shake it off or quickly kill it all. Gradually, it will drain your strength, trip you up, and there's always a moment of carelessness, allowing the opportune enemy to seize the opportunity.
When the prey was killed by other monsters, I would pick up some of the remaining limbs and arms, and eat them with relish, leaving pits and holes in them.
This thing was truly disgusting. If it were a priest from the Upper Heavenly Court, a simple release of spiritual light and a single sacrifice of weapons would naturally scare them away. However, for the lesser priests from the Middle Heavenly Court, this thing was far more formidable. Fuyao said with disgust from afar, "I hate this thing the most! Didn't Lingwen Hall mention this?"
Xie Lian said, “No.”
Fuyao said: "What's the use of him!"
Xie Lian asked, “How many have come?”
Nan Feng said, "There are over a hundred of them, maybe even more! Don't come out!"
The more of these slaves there are, the stronger they become. More than ten would be difficult to deal with. Over a hundred? It would be more than enough to wear them down to death. They usually prefer to live in densely populated areas, but I never expected there would be so many on Yujun Mountain. Xie Lian pondered for a moment, then raised his arm slightly, revealing a small portion of his bandaged wrist.
He said, "Go ahead."
As soon as these two words came out, the white silk suddenly slid down from his wrist automatically, and flew out from the curtain of the sedan chair as if it had life.
Xie Lian sat upright in the sedan chair and said in a gentle voice, "Strangle."
In the darkness, a white shadow suddenly swam out like a poisonous snake.
The white silk, disguised as a bandage, seemed no more than a few feet long when wrapped around Xie Lian's arm. But as it flew like a ghostly lightning among the fighting crowd, it seemed endless. "Crack, crack," "crack," a series of crisp, uninterrupted sounds were heard, and dozens of wild wolves and slaves were wrung to pieces by it in an instant!
The six slaves that had been entangled with Nan Feng fell to the ground in an instant. He chopped a wild wolf away with one palm, but he didn't feel at all relieved. He looked at the sedan chair in disbelief and said, "What is that thing!? Don't you have no magic power to drive magic weapons?!"
Xie Lian said, “There are always exceptions to everything…”
Nan Feng was furious and slammed the sedan door shut. "Xie Lian! Tell me clearly, what exactly is that thing? Is it…"
His palm strike nearly tore the sedan apart, forcing Xie Lian to hold the door open. He was startled, his tone reminiscent of Feng Xin's anger. Before Nanfeng could say more, he heard the screams of military officers in the distance. Fuyao said coldly, "If you have anything to say, fight this wave off first!"
Nanfeng had no choice but to go to the rescue. Xie Lian quickly came to his senses and said, "Nanfeng Fuyao, you two go first."
Nan Feng turned around: "What?"
Xie Lian said, “If you surround the sedan chair, there will be more and more things coming. You can’t finish them all. Take the people away first. I will stay and meet the groom.”
Nan Feng was about to scold again: "You are alone..." Fu Yao said coldly: "He can control Ling anyway, nothing will happen for a while. You have time to pull and tug, why not settle this group first and come back to help. I'm leaving first."
He was quite straightforward and left without a moment's delay. Nan Feng gritted his teeth, knowing that what he said was true, and said to the remaining military officers, "Follow me first!"
Sure enough, after leaving the sedan chair, the wolves and the slaves continued to tangle, but no new waves joined the siege. The two men each protected four military officers. On the way, they beat Fuyao and said angrily, "How can this be so? If it weren't for me..."
Having said this, the two exchanged a strange glance. Fuyao swallowed his words and turned away. They both stopped talking for the moment and continued on their hurried journey.
There were corpses all around the sedan chair.
The Ruo Xie Ling had already strangled the wolves and slaves that had pounced on it, then flew back and automatically and flexibly wrapped itself around his wrist. Xie Lian sat quietly in the sedan chair, surrounded by endless darkness and a sea of rustling trees.
Suddenly, everything was quiet.
The sound of the wind, the sound of the forest, and the roar of monsters all fell into dead silence in an instant, as if they were afraid of something.
Then he heard two light laughs.
Like a young man, but also like a teenager.
Xie Lian sat upright and said nothing.
The Ruo Xie Ling quietly coiled around his hand, ready to strike. If anyone showed even a hint of murderous intent, it would immediately and frantically strike back with ten times the force.
Unexpectedly, he did not wait for the sudden attack and murderous intent, but waited for something else.
The curtain of the bridal sedan was lifted slightly, and through the gap under the bright red veil, Xie Lian saw that the person reached out a hand to 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.
The author has something to say: I won't reveal the identity of the top. You can guess, but it's unlikely to be accurate.
Ruoye (ye) Ling.
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