6. Murdering one's wife (Part 3)
◎“Is she your wife?”◎
Ran Qinghe's words were like a spell, and the black energy that had just subsided surged back, surrounding the two of them completely.
Ran Qinghe offered no resistance, her lips curling into a cold smile as she let the black mist carry them away.
Yuan Yao was left standing there shouting, "Fellow Daoist Lou, Fellow Daoist Ran..."
In just a moment, the two were teleported by the black mist to a hermitage hidden in a bamboo forest. The green waves of bamboo around the hermitage almost swallowed the eaves.
Two bamboo-framed red silk lanterns hung under the eaves, their surfaces delicately painted with gold thread depicting a pair of mandarin ducks with intertwined necks. A gentle breeze stirred, causing the lanterns to rotate, and soft light flowed through the thin silk, making the "double happiness" character pasted on the lintel appear even more vibrant red.
The bamboo door was open, the curtain half-rolled up, and looking inside, one could see a plain screen with a soft red silk ribbon tied to it. On the wooden table in front of the screen were a pair of gilded jade cups, and next to them, a white porcelain plate was piled with red dates, peanuts, longans, and other items.
It is obvious that the owner of this bamboo house is getting married today.
That's why... they were tied up and brought here to drink the wedding wine.
The two sat back to back, their arms tightly bound by black energy, unable to move an inch, and collapsed onto the cold ground in front of the bamboo hut.
Lou Tinglan was puzzled and asked directly, "Why did you call me husband just now?" But he spoke the last two words very softly.
Ran Qinghe said casually, "I thought you had noticed."
Lou Tinglan nodded: "I did discover that this vengeful spirit can control the boundary gates used by Xuan Shui Sect disciples for training."
"But this doesn't seem to have anything to do with you calling me...husband?"
Ran Qinghe was taken aback because she had not observed that the vengeful spirit had silently manipulated the boundary gate. She had thought that the vengeful spirit was incredibly powerful and could take them away simply by manipulating resentment.
Ran Qinghe frowned and said, "So, you deliberately let the vengeful spirit take Xi Qilingyu away, and then wanted to follow the clues to find the vengeful spirit's lair?"
Lou Tinglan shook her head: "I only fulfill the duties of a disciple of the Discipline Hall."
Oh, so he deliberately stood by and watched her die. She thought too highly of him. He saved her before because of his duty, and now he's refusing to help her because of his duty as well.
Lou Tinglan persisted and asked, "So why did you call me just now...?" This was the third time he had asked this question.
But Ran Qinghe was inherently rebellious; the more he wanted to know something, the less she would tell him.
She did indeed make a discovery, because according to Yuan Yao, the Xuan Shui Sect disciples who were abducted by the vengeful spirit were a pair of Daoist partners. During the fight just now, the more Xi Qi protected Ling Yu behind him, the more powerful the vengeful spirit's attack became. In the end, it even found an opportunity to take the two of them away together. Therefore, she guessed that the vengeful spirit was targeting Daoist partners, or rather, people who seemed to be Daoist partners.
Sure enough, as soon as she called out to Lou Tinglan, her resentment seemed to understand her words and immediately clung to the two of them.
But she clearly had no good intentions; instead of telling Lou Tinglan the answer, she sarcastically remarked, "Naturally, it was uncontrollable."
“Fellow Daoist Lou risked exhausting his spiritual energy to save me in the Nightmare Forest. According to the rules of the mortal world, I should repay you with my body.”
Ran Qinghe spoke with a smile, but her expression was cold. Putting aside the fact that he had watched her being attacked by a vengeful spirit, she wanted to annoy Lou Tinglan for not caring about anything along the way.
Lou Tinglan, who had her back to Ran Qinghe, couldn't see her expression and actually believed it. After pondering for a long time, she answered in a very serious tone:
"I don't like Fellow Daoist Ran."
"I have no intention of forming a sworn brotherhood with Fellow Daoist Ran."
"Therefore, I urge Fellow Daoist Ran not to focus his attention on me."
However, before Ran Qinghe could retort with her three consecutive rejections, a woman dressed in a wedding robe stood at the entrance of the bamboo hut.
She stumbled towards the two men, collapsed in front of them, and was so anxious that she was almost in tears: "Fellow Daoists, have you seen my husband in the valley? I can't find him."
"We are supposed to get married today, but the time for the wedding ceremony has already passed, and he has not returned yet. What should I do?"
In this situation, an ordinary person would first comfort the woman and then offer her help, saying something like, "Don't cry, I'll help you find your husband."
But now, she has encountered Ran Qinghe and Lou Tinglan.
Ran Qinghe yawned lazily and ignored him.
Lou Tinglan was still deep in thought, wondering if her rejection had been too harsh.
Therefore, only silence answered the weeping woman.
Seeing that no one responded for a long time, the woman suddenly tightened the black energy binding the two people, with such force that it almost snapped their wrists.
Ran Qinghe hissed in pain before saying, "Alright, alright, don't you know why your husband ran away?"
"Of course I don't want to marry you."
The woman said with a miserable face, "You're talking nonsense. He just went to practice his sword today. He practices his sword every day."
"But today is our wedding night, and I can't find him. Can you help me look for him?"
So, she was just a vengeful spirit betrayed by her beloved? If that were all, how could there be such resentment that almost overflows the valley?
Ran Qinghe's mind raced, and she lowered her head, saying, "I don't want to. My husband doesn't want to talk to me either, unless you help me appease him first. He's angry with me now and doesn't even acknowledge me as his husband."
Upon hearing this, the woman tightened the black thread binding Lou Tinglan's wrists and threatened, "Isn't she your wife?"
Ran Qinghe sat aside watching the excitement. If Lou Tinglan refused, there would be a good show to watch next.
She refused to believe that Lou Tinglan could remain unmoved and detached even after she had focused all the vengeful spirit's attention on him.
Unexpectedly, Lou Tinglan replied, "Yes."
Ran Qinghe: ? ? ?
So, inside the bamboo hut, the bride waved her bridal veil and once again urged the two who had already gone far away, "My husband is practicing swordsmanship in the bamboo forest outside. You two must find him and bring him back."
Ran Qinghe was furious, but smiled and asked, "Why did Fellow Daoist Lou say I was your wife?"
Lou Tinglan said, "If I say no, the vengeful spirit might take its anger out on me, which would be detrimental to Fellow Daoist Ran's mission. So please don't take it to heart, Fellow Daoist Ran."
Ran Qinghe mentally translated Lou Tinglan's words. In short, it meant that this task was his, and it was impossible for him to force her to take action. She was going to just watch the show from the sidelines.
She was holding her breath, wanting to draw her long whip from her waist, but she forgot that the vengeful spirit had already bound their hands tightly together. The two of them were now like conjoined twins, let alone being able to attack him.
Ran Qinghe had lost count of how many times she had been humiliated by this person.
She had intended to use the vengeful spirit to force Lou Tinglan to take action and drag him into the mess, but not only was she bound by the vengeful spirit herself, this man remained unmoved, making one want to take a bite out of him.
"So we really need to go find that groom now?"
Lou Tinglan continued, "I will leave everything to Fellow Daoist Ran and will not interfere."
Ran Qinghe: ...
Enough is enough. A gentleman takes his revenge even after ten years. Once she leaves the Discipline Hall, let's see how she gets back at this man.
In her experience, there is only one way to exterminate a vengeful spirit: resolving its resentment. It seems simple, but it's not. There are countless ways to resolve resentment. For example, a vengeful spirit that starved to death can be resolved by giving it a full meal; one that died in poverty can be resolved by giving it a bag of money. But the most troublesome vengeful spirits are those that died resentfully after being betrayed by loved ones. In short, the greater the resentment before death, the more powerful the vengeful spirit.
As Ran Qinghe pondered, if she wanted to resolve the grievance, she needed to know where the grievance of the vengeful spirit came from.
Suddenly, a spirit leaf fell out of her arms, and she remembered that she and Yuan Yao had exchanged spirit leaves on the flying boat earlier.
The sound coming from the spirit leaf was intermittent, disturbed by the resentment in the valley. On the other side, Yuan Yao asked anxiously, "Fellow Daoist Ran... Fellow Daoist Lou, are you alright?"
"Finally got in touch with you. How's the situation on your end?"
Ran Qinghe replied briefly, "We were bound and threatened by a vengeful spirit, who wants us to go to the bamboo forest to find her groom."
Yuan Yao paused briefly before answering, "What's that vengeful spirit's name?"
Ran Qinghe recalled, "A-Nian."
Suddenly, an unfamiliar male voice appeared from across the room, urgently asking, "Is this my Anian? Where is my Anian?"
Yuan Yao: "Fellow Daoist Ran, it's a long story. After parting ways with you, I lost my way in the valley and ended up back in the bamboo forest we first passed through. I happened to meet this Fellow Daoist Bu Si who was with me. He said he was practicing his sword here, but this time, he got lost in the valley, so he asked me to find his sweetheart Niannian."
Is it really possible for something to happen so coincidentally?
The bride asked them to find the groom, but the groom asked Yuan Yao to find the bride? What exactly is the relationship between them?
She initially thought that finding a groom was just an excuse for the vengeful spirit, but to her surprise, there really was a groom. Could it be that the vengeful spirit had transformed into him?
She had read in a book that powerful vengeful spirits could create clones from their original bodies. Could this groom be a clone created by a vengeful spirit? What kind of show is this?
Thinking too much was pointless, so she transmitted her voice again: "Fellow Daoist Yuan, you can take him directly through the boundary gate." The vengeful spirit controlled the boundary gate, so it lost its original random teleportation function. Whoever enters the boundary gate will be teleported to this bamboo forest courtyard.
Following Ran Qinghe's advice, Yuan Yao staggered back to the boundary gate, passed through it, and appeared in front of the courtyard gate the next second.
Yuan Yao was covered in dust and dirt, as if he had rolled around on the ground several times, while the man next to him named Bu Si was dressed in white and was spotless.
Bu Si bowed and thanked everyone, saying, "Thank you all, fellow Daoists. I am deeply grateful. May I invite you all to my humble abode for a cup of tea?"
"To my shame, I practice my sword every day and have walked the path to the bamboo forest countless times, but today I couldn't find my way back. I am very grateful for the help of my fellow Daoists."
Ran Qinghe remained expressionless, wanting to refuse, but the black energy binding her body invisibly entangled Yuan Yao as well, forcibly bringing her back.
"A-Nian," who had been eagerly waiting at the entrance of the bamboo hut, finally welcomed her groom.
She scolded, "Today is our big day, and you silly boy, you actually went out to practice your sword. Hurry up and change into your wedding robes, or you'll be late."
Bu Si replied in shock, "Our wedding day? When? How could this be..."
Ah Nian smiled shyly, "My fourth brother and I grew up together and are in love with each other, so it's only natural that we should get married."
Bu Si hurriedly replied, "But we haven't gone through the proper marriage rituals yet, and your father won't agree to you marrying a good-for-nothing poor boy like me."
Anian asked doubtfully, "The Three Books and Six Rites are etiquettes that only mortals follow. Fourth Brother will soon be able to comprehend the Dao. Once he enters the Qingxiao Sect to cultivate, he won't need to care about these formalities anymore."
Bu Si said with shame, "Although I have mastered the Azure Sky Sword Manual that the immortal taught me, I have not yet comprehended the Dao. Anian, please wait for me for a while longer, okay? When that time comes, I will definitely pay a formal visit to my uncle and openly and honorably marry you into the family."
A-Nian suddenly chuckled, her smile somewhat eerie: "Fourth Brother, don't worry, I've already found a way for you to attain enlightenment. After you and I have our wedding ceremony, I will teach you this method, okay?"
After hesitating for a moment, Bu Si reluctantly agreed. The two, with heaven and earth as their hall, formally became husband and wife.
Ran Qinghe pinched Lou Tinglan's palm out of boredom. She really didn't know what the vengeful spirit was trying to do by putting on such a show.
"I wonder if Senior Lou has any advice for us? These two are deeply in love, so where does their resentment come from?"
Lou Tinglan shook her head.
Ran Qinghe gritted her teeth. Fine, this guy is a blabbermouth; he knows nothing when asked.
She glared at them, but out of the corner of her eye she saw that the couple, who had been playing harmoniously just moments before, suddenly started acting like they were dying.
Anian drew Bu Si's sword and handed it to him. "Fourth Brother, that immortal told me that there is an even easier way to attain enlightenment: kill your wife to achieve enlightenment."
"Fourth brother, you have been cultivating diligently for many years but have not yet achieved your goal. I'm here to help you."
As she spoke, Anian lunged forward and brought the sword to her heart. The sharp blade sliced through flesh and bone with a dull thud.
The three onlookers' mouths agape, their expressions of surprise barely contained.
In the blink of an eye, Ah Nian and Bu Si, who had been stabbed, had vanished from the spot. In their place stood another bride in a wedding robe at the doorway.
She turned around anxiously and asked, "Fellow Daoists, have you seen my husband in the valley? I can't find him."
The bride's face was exactly the same as Lingyu's.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
