Fuyao noticed a little Ying huddled in the crowd and frowned, "Why is there a woman here?"
His tone wasn't hot, but it wasn't kind either. Xiaoying lowered her head. Xie Lian said, "She's afraid something might happen, so she came up to check."
Fuyao asked the others, "Did you come up here with her?"
Everyone hesitated at first, then said, "I don't remember." "I can't explain." "No, she wasn't there when we came up!" "I didn't see her anyway." "I didn't see her either."
Xiaoying said hurriedly, "Because I followed you secretly..." Xiaopengtou immediately said, "Why did you follow me secretly? Are you feeling guilty? Are you the ghost groom in disguise?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Xiaoying suddenly felt a large void around her. She frantically waved her hands, saying, "No... no, I'm Xiaoying, I'm real!" She said to Xie Lian, "Master, we just met! I put rouge on you and dressed you up..."
Xie Lian: “…”
Everyone stared at him, and some began to whisper. He caught words like "preference," "unusual," and "unbelievable." He coughed twice and said, "This, is a mission requirement. Mission requirement. Nanfeng Fuyao, you..."
When he turned around, he realized that Nanfeng and Fuyao had been staring at him strangely, and they were restrainedly keeping a distance from him.
Xie Lian felt his entire body crawl under their gazes. He asked, “…Do you have anything you want to say?”
How could he know how amazing the girl's makeup brush was, teaching him to shape his eyebrows, make his face look like jade powder, and paint his lips red. If he didn't speak, he would be a gentle and graceful beautiful girl. As a result, the two people were shocked when they looked at him, and they were in disbelief, questioning their lives and feeling uncomfortable. His face was still the same, but he had no idea who he was talking to. Fuyao asked Nanfeng, "What do you want to say?"
Nan Feng immediately shook his head: "I don't have anything to say."
“…” Xie Lian said, “You should say something.”
At this time, someone in the crowd said, "Huh? Is this a Mingguang Temple?" "There's actually a Mingguang Temple in this mountain? That's strange, I've never seen one before."
Everyone looked on in wonder. Xie Lian suddenly said, "Yes, Mingguang Temple."
Nan Feng heard something strange in his tone and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xie Lian asked, “The north is clearly General Mingguang’s territory. He’s well-respected and his magical powers are not weak. But why is there only the Nanyang Temple at the foot of Yujun Mountain?”
It's understandable that the official prayed to the Divine Martial Emperor, the foremost Martial God of the millennium, his status surpassing General Mingguang's. Naturally, praying higher up the hierarchy was the safer. However, General Mingguang and General Nanyang were of equal status, with little difference. To be honest, General Mingguang possessed nine thousand temples, a thousand more than Nanyang. Why would he choose to go far away when the nearest was near? He added, "Logically, even if the Mingguang Temple in Yujun Mountain was usurped by that evil bridegroom and no one could find it, we could easily build another one. Why build another Martial God Temple?"
Fuyao realized and said, "There must be another reason."
Xie Lian said, “Yes, there must be some other reason why the people of Junshan chose not to build the Mingguang Temple again. If anyone of you can lend me some more magic power, I’m afraid I’ll have to go and ask…”
At this time, someone shouted: "There are so many brides!"
Hearing the sound coming from the temple, Xie Lian turned abruptly. He had told these people to stay in the open space in front of the temple, but they had ignored him and run inside!
Nan Feng shouted, "The situation is dangerous, don't run around!"
But the little Pengtou said, "Don't listen to them, everyone! They don't dare to touch us! We are good citizens, do they really dare to kill us? Everyone, get up, get up!"
He was so sure these three wouldn't really break them, so he became unbridled. Nanfeng's knuckles cracked, and he seemed to be stifling a curse. But as a military officer of the Nanyang Palace, he couldn't just break any mortal's hands and feet. If some supervising priest found out and filed a complaint, that would be no fun. Little Pengtou sneered again, "Don't think I can't see what you're up to. Aren't you just trying to trick us into not moving so you can take all the credit and collect the reward?"
He incited them so much that half of the people were ready to make a move and followed him into the temple. Fuyao waved his sleeves and said indifferently, "Let them be. This bunch of unruly people." He was so disgusted that he didn't want to care about it anymore. And in Mingguang Temple, another scream was heard: "These are all dead people!"
Little Pengtou was also shocked and said, "They're all dead?!" "They're all dead!" "This is weird, how come it looks like it's been dead for decades and hasn't rotted yet?" After a few seconds, he quickly thought it through and said, "It doesn't matter if it's dead. If we carry the bride's body down the mountain, won't her family have money to buy it?"
Xie Lian's gaze gradually darkened. As everyone thought about it, they realized this was the truth. Some sighed, some murmured, and some cheered up again. Xie Lian stood at the temple entrance and said, "Everyone, please come out first. Behind this temple, there's been no wind for years, and corpse qi has accumulated. If an ordinary person inhaled it, it would be dangerous."
This sounded very reasonable. Everyone was wondering whether they should listen or not. Xiaoying whispered, "Let's stop being like this, okay? It's so dangerous here. Why don't we just listen to this young master and go out and sit down..."
But this group of people didn't even listen to Xie Lian and the others, so how could they listen to her? No one paid any attention. Xiao Ying was not discouraged and repeated her words several times. Xiao Pengtou also taught them: "Everyone, focus on picking fresh corpses. If the corpses are too old, their families may not even know whether they are still alive. Don't bother carrying them." Some people actually praised him for being smart and capable. Xie Lian was really amused and helpless when he heard this. Seeing someone making a move, he said: "Don't lift the veil! The veil can block the corpse qi and yang energy. There are so many of you and your yang energy is too strong. If they absorb it, there is no guarantee that something will not happen."
However, the group had already removed most of the veils in order to pick out fresh corpses. Xie Lian exchanged glances with Nan Feng, who had just arrived at the door, and shook his head. He knew he couldn't stop them. After all, he couldn't beat them until they were unable to move, and if anything happened later, wouldn't they be unable to escape? He felt helpless. At this moment, a large man lifted the veil of a bride and exclaimed, "My God, this young woman is absolutely beautiful!"
Everyone gathered around and said, "It's a shame to die like this without even passing this door." "The clothes are a little torn, but this is the most beautiful one!"
The bride must have died recently, as her skin was still quite elastic. Someone asked, "Do you dare to touch it?" Little Pengtou replied, "Why not?" He then pinched the corpse's face twice, feeling the slippery, slippery feeling that made him itch. He was about to touch it again, but Xie Lian couldn't bear to watch it anymore and was about to stop him when Xiaoying rushed over and said, "Don't do that!"
Little Pengtou pushed him away and said, "Don't interfere with the master's work!"
Xiaoying got up again and said, "You will be punished by God for doing this!"
Little Pengtou got angry and said, "Damn it, you ugly bastard, you are such a troublemaker!"
He cursed and was about to kick someone, but Xie Lian grabbed Xiaoying by the back of her collar and gently pulled her away. Unexpectedly, there was a "bang" and Xiao Pengtou screamed, "Who hit me?"
Xie Lian looked back and saw that he was bleeding profusely, a large hole had been smashed into his skull, and a bloody stone had fallen to the ground. Xiao Ying was stunned and said hurriedly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I... I was scared and accidentally dropped it..."
However, even if she rushed to admit it, no one would believe her. Because the direction was completely wrong. The stone was thrown in from a window behind Xiao Pengtou. When Xiao Pengtou shouted, everyone looked in that direction and happened to see a figure passing by the window.
The little Pengtou yelled, "It's him! That ugly guy with the bandage on his face!"
Xie Lian shoved Xiaoying into Nanfeng's hand, took two steps forward, and with a light push of his right hand on the window frame, he flipped over and chased after him into the woods. A few brave men who wanted to collect the reward also jumped out of the window after him. But when they reached the edge of the woods, Xie Lian suddenly smelled a bloody scent. He sensed something was wrong, and with a wary heart, he abruptly stopped and said, "Don't go in!"
He had warned them, but the men, thinking, "If you don't chase me, I'll do it," didn't stop, dashing straight into the woods. Those who had gathered inside the temple also rushed out. Seeing Xie Lian pause at the edge of the woods, the less courageous ones followed suit. Not long after, a few screams were heard, and several dark figures stumbled out of the woods. They were the ones who had rushed in first. As they staggered out of the woods and into the moonlight, everyone was terrified.
He was still alive when he went in, but turned into a bloody person when he came out?
From their faces to their clothes, these men were covered in blood, gushing out like a fountain. A person who had lost so much blood would surely die. Yet, they continued to approach, step by step. Everyone retreated in fear, until they were behind Xie Lian. Xie Lian raised his hand and said, "Calm down. The blood isn't theirs."
Sure enough, those people said: "Yes! The blood is not ours, it is... it is..."
Even the blood covering their faces couldn't hide the utter terror on their faces. Following their gaze, the group looked into the woods. It was pitch black, and it was impossible to make out what lay within. Xie Lian grabbed a torch, took a few steps forward, and held it up as he peered forward. In the darkness, something dripped onto the torch, making a sizzling sound. He glanced at the torch, then looked up, paused for a moment, then tossed it away.
Although the thrown torch only illuminated the sky for a moment, everyone could still see clearly what was above the woods.
Long black hair, pale face, tattered military officer's uniform, and arms dangling in the air and swinging back and forth.
Over forty men's bodies, staggering and swaying, dangled upside down from the trees. The blood, having flowed for who knows how long, hadn't yet dried, dripping from them. The scene was a horrifying spectacle of a forest of upside-down corpses and a rain of blood.
Although the group outside were all strong and sturdy, they had never seen such a scene before. They were all stunned and silent. When Nanfeng and Fuyao came over and saw this scene, their expressions were frozen.
After a moment, Nan Feng said, "Green Ghost."
Fuyao said, "Indeed, it is his favorite trick."
Nan Feng said to Xie Lian, "Don't go over there. If it's him, it'll be a bit troublesome."
Xie Lian turned around and asked, "Who are you talking about?"
Nan Feng said: "A 'near extinction'."
Xie Lian wondered, "What do you mean by 'near absolute'? 'Close to absolute'?"
Fuyao said, "Indeed. The 'Near-Absolute' Green Ghost is a ferocious creature in the Lingwen Palace, whose realm is considered very close to 'Absolute'. He is very fond of this game of hanging corpses upside down, and is quite famous."
Xie Lian thought to himself, "This is really unnecessary. If it's absolute, it's absolute. If it's not, it's not. Just like there's only 'ascended' and 'not ascended', there's no such thing as 'close to ascending' or 'about to ascend'. Adding the word 'nearly' actually makes it a bit awkward."
He recalled the sound of rain hitting the umbrella as the young man led him along. Could it be that he was holding the umbrella to shield him from the bloody rain of corpses? He let out a soft "Ah!" and the two men immediately asked, "What's wrong?"
He then briefly recounted the story of a young man he met in the bridal sedan chair and how that young man had brought him here. Finally, Fuyao, half-convinced, said, "I noticed this mountain maze when I came up here. It's very dangerous. How could he have broken it so easily?"
Xie Lian thought to himself, "It wasn't a casual move at all. He just casually stepped on it, not even paying any attention." He said, "That's right. Could this 'near-absolute' green ghost you're talking about be him?"
Nan Feng thought for a moment and said, "I've never seen a green ghost, so I can't say. What are the characteristics of the young man you saw?"
Xie Lian said, “Silver Butterfly.”
Nanfeng and Fuyao had remained remarkably calm when they had seen the forest of hanging corpses. But as soon as these words came out, Xie Lian could clearly see the expressions on their faces change instantly.
Fuyao said in disbelief, "What did you say? Silver butterfly? What kind of silver butterfly?"
Xie Lian sensed that he had said something significant, and said, “It looks like silver and crystal, not like a living thing. But it looks quite beautiful.”
He saw Nanfeng and Fuyao looking at each other, their faces looking extremely ugly, almost blue.
After a while, Fuyao said in a deep voice, "Let's go. Let's go now."
Xie Lian asked, “The ghost bridegroom here hasn’t been dealt with yet, how can we leave?”
Fuyao asked, "Solved?"
He turned around and sneered, "It seems you've really stayed in the human world for too long. This ghost bridegroom is just a 'ferocious' one; even the green ghost in the forest of hanging corpses, while a headache, is just a 'near-death' one."
After another pause, he suddenly changed his tone and said sternly, "But do you know who the owner of that silver butterfly is?"
Xie Lian answered truthfully, “I don’t know.”
"..." Fuyao said stiffly, "I don't know, but I don't have time to talk about it right now. Anyway, it's beyond your ability to handle. You should hurry back to the heavens and get help."
Xie Lian said, “Then you should go back first.”
"you……"
Xie Lian said, “The owner of that silver butterfly hasn’t shown any ill intentions. If he harbored any ill intentions, and was truly as formidable as you claim, he would have no chance of escaping the many miles surrounding Junshan. Someone would be even more crucial to guard this place right now. So why don’t you go back and see if you can get some reinforcements for me?”
He could see that Fuyao didn't want to stay and deal with all these troubles, so if that was the case, he couldn't force her. Fuyao was a very decisive person. She swept her sleeves and left, actually leaving on her own. Xie Lian turned to Nanfeng, about to ask more about the young man, but the crowd suddenly became agitated, and someone shouted, "He's got him! He's got him!"
Xie Lian didn't have time to ask any more questions now, so he asked, "What did you catch?"
Two more blood-soaked figures emerged from the woods. One was a large man, the one who had rushed into the woods first, undeterred by the rain of blood and corpses—truly audacious. The other was dragging a young man, held tightly in his grasp, his head and face tangled in bandages.
Xie Lian still remembered what Tea Master had said back at the Xiangfeng Shop: "It's said that the ghost groom is an ugly freak with a bandage on his face. Because he's so ugly, no woman wants him, so he can't stand seeing others get married." At the time, they had thought it was probably just a rumor, but unexpectedly, such a person really existed.
But whether it was the ghost groom or not was another matter. He was just about to take a closer look at the bandaged boy when Xiaoying rushed over and said, "You're wrong! This is not the ghost groom, he is not!"
Little Pengtou said, "We were caught red-handed, and you still say no? I..." He paused, as if suddenly realizing something, and said, "Oh, I was wondering why you were always acting so weird, saying 'no' all the time.' So you and this wicked groom were in cahoots?!"
Xiaoying was startled and waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "No, no, I didn't, and neither did he. He really didn't do anything. He's just an ordinary... ordinary..."
Little Pengtou pressed the issue: "What do you mean by ordinary? Ordinary ugly freak?" He randomly grabbed the bandaged boy's head twice and said, "Why don't we see what this ordinary ghost groom looks like? Why is he so fond of stealing other people's women?"
He tugged at the bandages, and the bandaged boy immediately clutched his head and screamed in terror. His cry was shrill and pitiful. Xie Lian grabbed the little Pengtou's arm and said, "That's enough."
Xiaoying heard the young man's screams and tears rolled down her cheeks. Seeing Xie Lian trying to stop him, she felt as if she saw hope. She quickly grabbed his sleeve and said, "Master... Master, help me, help him."
Xie Lian glanced at her, and Xiao Ying awkwardly let go of his sleeve, as if afraid he'd be disgusted by her advances and wouldn't want to help her. Xie Lian said, "It's okay." He glanced again at the bloodied, bandaged boy, realizing his bloodshot eyes peeked out from between the bandages beneath his arm, peering back at him. He glanced briefly before quickly lowering them and busily re-bandaging the bandages. While his face wasn't visible, a sliver of skin was visible, and even that was terrifying, as if it had been burned by fire. It wasn't hard to imagine what a terrifying face lay beneath the bandages, drawing gasps from those around him, and he flinched even further.
Xie Lian noticed that the two men's cowering expressions were remarkably similar, as if they had both been afraid of the light and the public for years, and he sighed inwardly. Little Pengtou, standing nearby, was wary, "What do you want to do? We caught the ghost bridegroom."
Xie Lian released him, saying, “I’m afraid it won’t be that easy for you to catch me. My friend just searched the area and couldn’t find him. This young man could have arrived later. The real ghost groom should still be here.”
Xiaoying also mustered up the courage to say, "You want to offer a reward... but you can't just arrest random people to make up the numbers..."
When Little Pengtou heard this, he wanted to fight again. He had been causing trouble since just now. Xie Lian finally couldn't stand it anymore. He waved his hand, and Ruo Xie Ling suddenly appeared. With a "snap", Little Pengtou fell to the ground. Nanfeng seemed to have reached his limit. He kicked him again and finally fell to the ground. This man was a troublemaker. If he didn't move, the crowd didn't know who to follow. They became very obedient. After a few scattered shouts, they stopped making trouble. Xie Lian thought to himself: "Finally, I can do something." He looked at the young man on the ground for a moment and asked: "Were you the one who threw stones at people by the window just now?"
His voice was gentle, and the bandaged boy trembled like a sieve. He secretly glanced at him and nodded. Xiaoying said, "He didn't mean to hurt anyone. He just saw that Xiao Pengtou looked like he was going to hit me, so he wanted to help me..."
Xie Lian then asked the young man, "Do you know what's going on with those corpses hanging in the woods?"
Xiaoying said, "I don't know what happened, but it definitely wasn't him who killed me..."
The bandaged boy trembled and shook his head repeatedly. Nan Feng stared at him and suddenly asked, "Who are you, Green Ghost Qi Rong?"
Hearing the name, Xie Lian was slightly startled. The bandaged boy was clearly bewildered, showing no reaction to the name and not daring to reply to Nan Feng. Xiao Ying said, "He...he's just afraid. He doesn't dare to speak..."
She had been trying her best to defend this strange young man. Xie Lian said gently, "Miss Xiaoying, what's going on with this child? Tell me everything you know."
Seeing Xie Lian, Xiaoying seemed to summon a little courage. The firelight shone brightly on her face, and she didn't hide. She wrung her hands and said, "He really didn't do anything bad. He just lived in Yujun Mountain. Sometimes, when he was really hungry, he'd run down the mountain to steal food. One time, he happened to steal into my house... I saw that he couldn't speak much and had a wound on his face, so I found him some cloth to wrap it up and sometimes brought him some food..."
Xie Lian had originally thought they might be a couple, but now it seemed Xiaoying's protection of the young man was more like that of a sister, even a caring elder. She continued, "Later, many people thought he was the ghost groom. I couldn't say anything, I just hoped to catch the real troublemaker quickly... I thought, since you, my lords, are so capable, if you were to disguise yourself as a bride to catch the ghost groom, you wouldn't catch the wrong person, because he definitely wouldn't try to rob the bridal sedan. But as soon as I left, I heard that Xiao Pengtou and his men were also going to search the mountain today. I was so worried, I secretly followed to see for myself."
She stood in front of the young man, as if afraid that someone would beat him again, and defended herself, "He's really not a ghost groom. Look at him, he was beaten like this by just a few people. How could he beat so many military officers escorting the bride's sedan chair..."
Xie Lian and Nan Feng exchanged a glance, both feeling a headache.
If it is true as she said, then this young man has nothing to do with this matter at all?
The bandaged boy, the "evil" ghost groom, the "nearly extinct" green ghost, and the Silver Butterfly Master, whose background was so prominent that the celestial priests shuddered at the mere mention of him—a small mountain like Yujun Mountain was constantly flooded with strange visitors, a truly overwhelming task. Who was who? And what was the relationship between who? Xie Lian felt his head multiply.
He rubbed his brows, not wanting to think about whether Xiaoying's words were true or not. Suddenly, he remembered something he had been wanting to ask, and said, "Miss Xiaoying, have you always lived near Yujun Mountain?"
Xiaoying said, "Yes. I have always lived here. I can guarantee that he has never done anything bad here."
Xie Lian said, “No, I want to ask you another question. Aside from the one on this mountain, have there never been other Mingguang temples built in the area around Yujun Mountain?”
Xiaoying was startled: "This..." She thought for a moment and said, "It should have been built."
After hearing her say this, Xie Lian suddenly felt that he had grasped something important.
He asked, "Then why is there only the Nanyang Temple at the foot of the mountain, but no Mingguang Hall?"
Xiaoying scratched her head and said, "It was built, but I heard that every time they tried to build the Minguang Palace, a fire would break out for no apparent reason during construction. Some people said that General Minguang might not be able to control the place for some reason, so they replaced him with General Nanyang..."
Nan Feng noticed Xie Lian's expression and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Xie Lian suddenly realized that it was too simple.
The bride who couldn't smile, the temple that caught fire for no apparent reason, the Mingguang Temple locked deep in the mountains by a maze, the majestic statue of General Pei, the ghostly groom who vanished into thin air after being injured by Ruo Xie Ling—
It’s so easy!
It's just that there was always something else distracting his vision, so he didn't realize such a simple fact at the beginning!
He suddenly grabbed Nanfeng and said, "Lend me some magic power!"
Nan Feng was startled by his grasp, and hurriedly clashed with him in the air, asking, "What's wrong?"
Xie Lian grabbed him and ran away, saying, "I'll explain later. First, find a way to subdue the corpses of the eighteen brides!"
Nan Feng said, "Are you confused? There are only seventeen bodies of brides, and you are only the eighteenth!"
Xie Lian said, “No, no, no, there were only seventeen before, but now there are eighteen. Among the eighteen bride corpses, one is a fake—the ghost groom is mixed in!”
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