Today's wedding seems to be very important to the villagers, as many people have come to help, and the increased liveliness in the courtyard makes Qin Nan feel better.
He observed carefully and realized that these villagers were all alive, but they seemed to be bewitched and controlled, as if they were performing, playing different roles.
Qin Nan didn't know why he was conscious, but the strangeness of this place made him restless, especially since he had amnesia.
He watched everyone bustling about until the sun rose, when suddenly the sounds of suona horns and gongs rang out in the village.
Qin Nan stood at the gate of the courtyard and looked out into the distance. She saw a group of people dressed in red and black short-sleeved shirts, with white face powder, blush on their cheeks, and white cloth strips covering their eyes.
If it weren't for the fact that they could walk and in different postures, they would really be no different from paper effigies in funeral parlors.
Walking in front was a woman who looked like a matchmaker. Her eyes were covered with red cloth, and she held a bright red handkerchief and a red veil embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water.
Qin Nan overheard the crowd talking about how the red veil was meant to be given to the bride by the matchmaker when they went to fetch her later.
Following the matchmaker were two children, seemingly a golden boy and a jade girl. They carried a basket covered with a red cloth, so the contents could not be seen.
Following them was the music troupe, each member of which wore a large white silk flower tied around their waist. They played various instruments, including the sheng, suona, xun, cymbals, panpipes, and gong.
The music is not a lament, but a joyful one.
Behind the band were people carrying gifts, a total of four large boxes.
After the ceremony, the sedan chair bearers and the bridal sedan chair arrived.
There were four sedan bearers, two in front and two in the back. Together they carried a large red sedan chair. The sedan chair was very ordinary, with few decorations, and only one large red flower on the top.
As the wedding procession approached, Qin Nan silently retreated to the back of the crowd. He had seen many people from the village yesterday, though not all of them, but he was certain that this group of people were definitely not from the village.
Or... are they human?
Qin Nan was startled by his own thoughts, but when he looked up at the sun rising from the clouds on the horizon, he felt somewhat at ease. However, he still couldn't act rashly and had to take it one step at a time.
Since there are so many people and it's so lively today, he might take the opportunity to visit the Moon Goddess Temple, or... leave the village.
But for some reason, he always had a feeling that he could never leave this village!
Qin Nan was puzzled, guessing that perhaps he had tried it before losing his memory, which left him with this feeling.
The wedding procession stopped at the entrance, the music stopped, and the group stood frozen in one position, no longer moving.
Seeing this scene, Qin Nan's heart skipped a beat. Just now, when it moved, it was somewhat like a human being, but now that it was frozen in place, it was completely unlike a human being!
However, it seemed that only Qin Nan felt something was amiss. The other villagers ignored their presence after the wedding procession stopped and began to chat about the happy occasion.
Surrounded by the crowd, Luo Lin was all smiles, clearly delighted by the marriage.
Qin Nan huddled silently in the corner. The morning sun only appeared for a short while before the sky darkened. Unlike the overcast sky that meant rain, it seemed as if snowflakes were about to fall.
He was certain that this time was definitely not August, but rather December or January.
Just before noon, the wedding procession suddenly started moving, and the music that suddenly rang out startled Qin Nan, making her heart almost jump out of her throat.
Luo Lin pushed through the crowd, pulled out Qin Nan, and two other young men whom Qin Nan did not recognize, and walked at the front of the wedding procession, as if leading the way, towards the bride's house.
The wedding procession was very close behind them, and Qin Nan felt a chill run down her spine. She didn't dare to turn around and stayed close to Luo Lin and the others.
Qin Nan wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the village was bigger today than it was yesterday, or perhaps he hadn't seen the whole village yesterday.
White cloth strips fluttered at the door of every household, and white lanterns hung outside.
No one from Luo Lin's village followed. Luo Lin and his two companions remained silent, as did the wedding procession behind them. Only loud, joyful music echoed between heaven and earth.
Qin Nan felt a chill run down her spine as she found herself in the situation, but to save her life, she had to remain calm and pretend not to notice the abnormalities that those being controlled hadn't noticed.
It wasn't until she got closer to the woman's house and saw the rest of the villagers that Qin Nan felt she could breathe freely again.
Although this place is set up like a funeral parlor, at least there are still living people here.
Before Qin Nan went to pick chestnuts, he had seen four people, three men and one woman, but now they were dressed like the villagers.
The man who seemed to know Qin Nan and wanted to talk to him had a blank stare, just like the other villagers, as if he were being manipulated.
Qin Nan had originally hoped to ask him some questions, but now it was too late.
Besides them, there were several young people with unhealed wounds on their faces and bodies, and a middle-aged man with glasses perched on his nose.
Qin Nan felt that the word "glasses" was unfamiliar, but the moment he saw the object, he recognized it naturally.
Perhaps these people have only recently become villagers, and this so-called village may not even exist. The so-called villagers are just people who are lost and cannot leave this place.
Qin Nan stood at the back of the crowd, watching the villagers on both sides see the matchmaker carrying the red veil into the house. Not long after, the matchmaker helped the bride, dressed in a red wedding gown, to the sedan chair and escorted her into it.
The bride appeared to be short and rather thin, with only her hands visible. Qin Nan noticed through the gaps in the crowd that the hands being supported by the matchmaker had pale skin and bright red nails.
This marriage seems very important, especially with the decorations resembling a ghost marriage. Since Luo Lin has body temperature and is human, then the bride is very likely not human.
When the sedan chair was lifted again, Qin Nan didn't need to walk in front with Luo Lin; he followed the crowd at the back.
At this moment, Qin Nan finally realized that the baskets of the two boys behind the matchmaker were actually filled with white paper money. As the wedding procession moved forward, the paper money fluttered down like snowflakes along the way.
Looking at the wedding procession ahead and the villagers gathered around, Qin Nan really wanted to quietly slip away from the crowd right now and go to the Moon Goddess Temple on the mountain, or... try to leave the village.
But before he could find a chance to leave, he overheard something amidst the crowd's chatter.
After the wedding ceremony, the bride is not taken to the bridal chamber to wait, and the groom does not entertain the guests. Instead, everyone goes to the Moon Goddess Temple on the mountain, seemingly to perform some kind of ceremony, similar to worshipping a god.
Therefore, it was inconvenient for Qin Nan to go to the Moon Goddess Temple alone at this time. Since they were going there eventually, they might as well wait and go together.
After all, he was actually somewhat reluctant to go to the Moon Goddess Temple alone. He didn't know why, but he always felt that there was something scary there.
But he didn't want to stay in this eerie village like a lost lamb forever. Even though he was scared, he had to go!
He wanted to leave no matter what.
He wants to go home!
There must be someone at home waiting for him!
Thinking of the children in the photo and the man who never showed up, Qin Nan mustered her courage.
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