Chapter 32 (032) The bride and groom have arrived; they bow to heaven and earth.
This feeling of not needing to control others, nor being controlled by others, put Yun Tianjiao in a great mood. She looked back at Zhiwei's always affectionate eyes, and for a moment, the curse from her nightmare flashed through her mind, as did Qingyuan's reminder and all the suspicious things that happened between her and Zhiwei. In the end, she still placed her hand in his palm.
As soon as Yun Tianjiao stepped into the main hall, she felt as if she were stepping on cotton, and was plunged into darkness. It was as if someone had cast a spell on her, and she could neither speak nor move.
Meanwhile, as Zhiwei led Yun Tianjiao into the hall, she also suddenly sensed something amiss—
The soft hand in his palm suddenly became stiff and cold. He turned around and found that the "bride" he was holding had her head covered with a veil at some point.
The bridal veil that Yun Tianjiao had personally wrapped around her hand still seemed to retain the warmth of his touch. Zhiwei's originally gentle gaze suddenly turned cold, and she abruptly shook off the imposter bride's hand.
At the same time, the "bride" dressed in the exact same wedding attire as Yun Tianjiao suddenly attacked him. Her hard, pale hand, like a wedge, thrust straight towards Zhiwei's vital point.
The red veil made of wedding scarf fell off, revealing no longer Yun Tianjiao's face, but a puppet face that resembled Yun Tianjiao but was not a living person.
Zhiwei showed no mercy and knocked the puppet bride down with a single palm strike.
But when the lights came on inside the hall, he discovered that the hall was filled with countless identical brides!
Their heads were covered with identical veils, and they wore identical wedding attire. Regardless of their height or weight, they were all exactly like Yun Tianjiao.
Then the shrill voice that had been silent for so long rang out again—"The newlyweds have arrived, let them bow to heaven and earth—"
With this almost commanding chant, a tall man dressed in red descended from the hall.
The man was wearing a mask; he must be the so-called Mountain Lord.
He completely ignored Zhiwei, walked up to a bride, stood still for a moment, then suddenly raised his demonic claw and slapped the bride down on the head, instantly shattering her!
Fortunately, it was a lifeless puppet bride, but upon seeing this, Zhiwei's pupils contracted slightly, realizing a fact—
The eldest princess is currently among these puppet brides. Once she is chosen, she will likely face the same fate of being cruelly harmed.
Zhiwei's eyes flashed with murderous intent. She flew through the air past the puppet brides filling the hall, heading straight for the mountain master.
The mountain lord, wearing a ghost mask, not only did not dodge, but continued to walk to the next puppet bride. This time, he did not smash the bride directly, but lifted the red veil and looked at the puppet's face under the veil from left to right, seemingly very satisfied. He lovingly stroked the puppet bride's face a few times, and then suddenly broke off one of the puppet bride's arms.
Zhiwei reached for the mountain lord's throat, but unexpectedly grabbed nothing.
He landed beside the mountain lord and observed for a moment before realizing a problem: they seemed to be in two different time and space. The mountain lord could not perceive his existence, and he could not harm the mountain lord.
However, the harm that the mountain lord inflicted on every puppet bride present was real.
Therefore, Zhiwei must find Yun Tianjiao before the Mountain Lord finds her.
Zhiwei raised his hand, intending to lift the red veil of the bride closest to him, but the moment the veil was lifted, the bride attacked him frantically.
Zhiwei casually made a hand seal, intending to shatter the puppet bride like the mountain lord had done, thus reducing the number of confusing options and making it easier for him to find the real Yun Tianjiao. Unexpectedly, the puppet bride was somehow imbued with magic, and after his attack, she remained completely unharmed.
Time was of the essence, and Zhiwei could not continue to waste time like this. His face darkened, and a golden object slid out from his sleeve and was grasped in his hand.
It was a vajra, radiant with brilliant light.
The vajra spun and flew out, striking the puppet bride once more. This time, the puppet bride crumbled instantly, turning into a clump of yellow earth within her wedding dress.
Without a moment's hesitation, Zhiwei launched the vajra back into his hand and spun out again, piercing through the heads of an entire row of puppet brides.
One after another, the puppet brides, before they could even mount a counterattack, turned to dust and lay slumped on the ground. They were merely puppets, soulless, manipulated at will, with no chance of resistance from birth to death, silent and unnoticed.
Meanwhile, in the silent darkness, Yun Tianjiao heard one desperate scream and wail after another from women, as if they were suffering some unbearable pain, each one screaming more pitifully than the last.
A chorus of murmurs began to fill the air—
"Nobody cares, they're just puppets, selling their bodies for dowries..."
"Don't want to get married? Hehe, you have a choice? A woman who doesn't get married can't live..."
"You'll be talked about behind your back..."
"They should drown the pig in a cage..."
"A blood-red wedding dress, a blood-stained lock..."
"To be a woman is a sin!"
The sound echoed one after another, like a demonic chant piercing her ears, making Yun Tianjiao's heart clench, almost causing her to vomit blood. But she couldn't open her eyes, nor could she utter a sound.
The voices seemed to gradually notice her presence and began to speak to her.
"Oh? Another one? Wearing a bright red wedding dress, she looks so beautiful!"
"Oh dear, another pair of heartless parents..."
"Hehe, her lover seems to be trying to save her!"
"Useless, useless! It's an arranged marriage, do you think she'd dare elope? We'd drown her in spit!"
"You'll be talked about behind your back..."
"Drowning a pig in a cage..."
"Tsk tsk tsk, being a woman is a sin!"
Yun Tianjiao was driven crazy by these voices. The feeling of despair seemed to be contagious. All the resentment in those voices was directed at her, as if she had returned to the situation when she first arrived in the illusion and was bound by the puppet threads.
...
At the same time, the gods of the heavens were monitoring the situation in various illusions in front of the light screen. The one that attracted the most attention was naturally the Puppet Bride illusion where Zhiwei and Yun Tianjiao were.
Zhiwei's name has already risen to the top of the Heavenly Ranking, surpassing the second-ranked Immortal Lord Zhujing, which shows that the folk pilgrims now have enough recognition for his performance in passing several trials.
However, when Zhiwei brought out the Vajra, the gods, who had been in a peaceful atmosphere, suddenly fell silent as if they had been frozen in place. Their expressions were incredibly varied, ranging from astonishment to fear to amusement, but all their eyes were fixed on the Vajra in the light screen.
Until someone spoke up first, "Um, this vajra... it looks kind of familiar?"
"Yes, I think so too. Could this be...that person's?"
"How could that be? That person has been gone for so many years, and there has been no news of him since. Maybe we saw it wrong, haha. After all, there is a layer of light between us."
"That's right, although the vajra is not a common ritual implement, quite a few people use it, and they all look pretty much the same..."
After some careful discussion and probing, the gods looked at the Heavenly Venerable Lin Shen, who sat at the head of the table.
Lin Shen's expression didn't change much. He just stared at the light screen for a long time before speaking slowly: "You all saw it correctly. That vajra is indeed hers."
With the Celestial Venerable's final decision, the gods were once again in an uproar.
"Could it be... that this Zhiwei Celestial God is actually the reincarnation of that person?"
"That can't be right. Back then, that person's divine essence completely dissipated, leaving no possibility of reincarnation."
Lin Shen said, "Please be patient, everyone. After the competition of this conference is over, we can summon this Zhiwei Heavenly God into the hall to inquire about the matter. Perhaps he also had other opportunities and obtained this Vajra Pestle unintentionally."
The gods readily agreed and ceased discussing this person who was shrouded in mystery. At that moment, the teleportation array outside the main hall lit up, revealing a figure carrying a paper umbrella—it was Yu Li.
Yu Li, abandoning his usual calm and composed demeanor, revealed a grave expression. "Heavenly Venerable, I have received news from Divine Venerable Mo Bei that Miss Shen... is dead."
Like Zhiwei Yun Tianjiao, Zhu Jing and Shen Qiongzhi also entered the illusion of the puppet bride. However, just half an hour ago, after they entered the Sea of Desire, they disappeared from the light screen and have not reappeared since.
The accompanying deity of this illusion is the God of Ink Sorrow, but due to the restrictions of the magic, the illusion cannot contact the outside world. Lin Shen then sent Yu Li to investigate the situation.
Unexpectedly, something really did happen.
Upon hearing this, the gods were immediately agitated. Shen Qiongzhi was the daughter of the prime minister of Yunchi Kingdom, and her life was extremely valuable. If anything happened to her, even they, the high and mighty gods, would be in deep trouble.
Lin Shen was indeed furious. "Wasn't Mo Bei keeping watch inside? How could such a huge blunder have occurred! Where is Zhu Jing?"
Yu Li shook his head, a look of sorrow in his compassionate eyes. "We have not yet found Zhu Jing's whereabouts. Mo Bei Divine Lord only found Miss Shen's body in the Sea of Desire."
After pondering for a moment, Lin Shen rose from his throne and said to Yu Li, "I will go and see for myself. You and Gong Xin will accompany me. The gods are here, so do not act rashly."
The gods rose and acknowledged, bowing respectfully as they saw Lin Shen and the two deities off.
...
In the illusion of the puppet bride, Zhiwei's eyes grew increasingly gloomy. One after another, the red-clad brides dressed like Yun Tianjiao were struck to dust by the blazing golden vajra.
But he could never find the real Yun Tianjiao.
Meanwhile, the mountain lord wearing the demon mask was methodically lifting the bride's red veil one by one.
Zhiwei was blinded by rage, and the Vajra, under his control, was almost like a sun, threatening to melt the entire palace.
"Can't find it again...?"
He muttered to himself, his pupils reflecting the spiritual light of the vajra into a pale gold, giving him a somewhat eerie appearance.
"Are we going to lose it again?"
He repeated it in a low voice, his eyebrows lowered, making his originally charming and beautiful peach blossom eyes sharp and sinister, and the corners of his lips even curled into a sinister and morbid arc.
The vajra trembled slightly in mid-air, as if bearing some immense power. No one could detect the wisp of black energy gradually spreading from the center of the dazzling golden light.
As the masked groom was about to lift the veil of the next bride, the suspended vajra suddenly swelled dozens of times in size, becoming more than a person tall, and began to spin rapidly. Wherever it passed, it was like a meat grinder, instantly shredding a large number of puppet brides to pieces.
At this moment, the vajra was no longer as holy and solemn as before, nor as radiant as it had been; instead, it had become bloodthirsty and murderous, like a rampaging demonic weapon.
Zhiwei chanted a spell with one hand, his robe sleeves fluttering wildly as powerful spiritual energy surged through them, and his golden eyes turned almost entirely into a dazzling white, as if he had lost his mind.
The carved beams and painted rafters crumbled, and the entire Puppet Bride illusion trembled, on the verge of collapse.
"Knowing the subtle!"
With a soft exclamation, Zhiwei's eyelashes trembled slightly, and the Vajra Pestle stopped just in front of one of the brides. The spiritual power gently lifted the red veil on the bride's head, revealing Yun Tianjiao's beautiful and radiant face.
Her lips were crimson, and her cheeks were rosy. Unlike the cold, hard, and wooden puppet, she was vibrant and dazzling.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
