Chapter 19
It was quiet around the cemetery, with a cold wind blowing and the flames of the red candles flickering, but Xie could hear his own heartbeat.
"Boom, boom, boom." The heart beat slowly in the chest.
The more paper money he burned, the lower the temperature around him became. Xie's hands turned red and he trembled unconsciously. He had no doubt that after burning all the paper money, his exposed skin would be frostbitten.
The paper figures noticed Xie Que's pause and surrounded him. They inserted bamboo sticks into Xie Que's flesh, and blood flowed out, dyeing the paper money red.
The paper man grabbed Xie Que's hand and threw paper money into the burning paper basin. His movements were very urgent, and he was trembling slightly, with his eyes wide open, as if he had seen something terrible.
The blood flowed into the paper burning basin, emitting an unpleasant smell, and instantly ignited a fire. The flames shot up very high, but the temperature did not rise. Although Xie was right next to the fire, he could not feel a trace of warmth.
The paper man was afraid of fire, but he did not stop burning paper money. He even pulled Xie Que's hand into the fire.
Seeing this, Xie Que's eyes widened, and he desperately pulled his hand back, causing the paper money to scatter all over the ground and burn fiercely. The paper figure didn't react for a moment, allowing Xie Que to break free. Xie Que was quick-witted and picked up a burning paper money from the ground and threw it at the paper figure. The paper figure didn't dodge, but reached out to grab Xie Que with the paper money.
Xie was pinned to the ground by the other paper figures, unable to move. He watched helplessly as the pair of hands, which had been burned so much that the dark bamboo strips could be seen inside, approached him.
Beads of sweat the size of beans fell into his eyes one by one, but Xie had no choice but to close his eyes and pray in his heart that the fire would burn the paper man to death, otherwise he would really die here today.
Even with his eyes closed, he could feel the paper man getting closer and closer to him. Almost at the moment it touched his eyelids, a gust of wind suddenly came, followed by the sound of the paper man falling to the ground.
Xie Que: “?”
The pressure on his body did not disappear. A pair of hands came from behind and held Xie Que. The knuckles were thick and covered with a thin layer of calluses. There was a dark red mole on the back of his index finger.
"Jing Xiebai?"
Xie spoke hesitantly. He didn't understand how Jing Xiebai had changed back to normal. Wasn't he still a paper man not long ago?
Xie wanted to look back, but his head was held down tightly.
Jing Xiebai didn't say anything, but just wrote the word "wait" on Xie Que's arm.
wait?
What are you waiting for?
Xie was a little confused. Jing Xiebai asked him to wait, but what was he waiting for?
However, Xie was frantically recalling the entire journey of their ghost marriage in his mind. From the time they were forced into the hotel to arriving here, they had not encountered anything dangerous. Even the God of Death did not pose a threat to them.
That's not right. If it were that simple, why hadn't anyone been able to get out of here in all these years? Why did Chen Shan become famous overnight because of this incident?
Xie calmed down, and all the abnormalities that he had previously ignored came to mind.
Why do ghost marriages fail? In ancient times, only wealthy families could afford ghost marriages, and their treatment of such matters was undoubtedly much stricter than that of ordinary families. It's unlikely that there were oversights in the ghost marriage process. Could it be the bride's fault?
That’s not right, Xie immediately refuted this view.
Since they were so serious about ghost marriages, they couldn't possibly be careless about the bride. They'd definitely consult someone to determine her horoscope, and few fortune tellers would dare to offend them by reporting a false horoscope. Even the sedan chair carrying the bride was sealed with wooden boards, containing only stale snacks, meaning the chosen woman wouldn't even have the freedom to commit suicide.
In other words, it couldn't be an obvious reason; it must be something that could fool humans but not ghosts. If the man's ancestral grave disagreed with the ghost marriage, then the ghost marriage would naturally fail. By then, the ghosts of the deceased man and the recently wrongfully killed woman would remain in the human world and could easily kill the entire village.
What could be the reason?
Xie was frantically thinking about the answer, he looked up at the man's tablet.
The tablet is made of high-quality wood, and even though it is covered in dust, there is no sign of damage.
No, why is there only one tablet?
Xie was stunned and got goosebumps all over his body.
The bride will die in the end. Since she is the legal wife, she can be buried in the ancestral tomb, but why is there no tablet prepared for her?
Xie suddenly remembered the God of Death who appeared halfway. Logically, the God of Death would not care about these things, let alone appearing her portrait in the hotel.
Since there were two ghosts in the village back then, is it possible that the God of Death was the bride?
Xie's heart tightened. He remembered the God of Death's cut open belly and suddenly realized.
Why ghost marriage cannot be performed? Because the bride is not a virgin!
Only such private matters can be hidden from everyone, but not from ghosts.
In ancient times, women were held to extremely high standards. Misguided notions such as "male superiority and female inferiority," "three obediences and four virtues," and "virtue is the absence of talent" distorted society and inflicted immense harm on women. Rumors of unchaste women could lead to lifelong scorn and oppression, at best, and even forced to jump into a well or drink poison. In such an environment, a bride would undoubtedly have been afraid to reveal her virginity, perhaps even internally resenting herself and yearning for death.
Xie felt nauseous. He finally understood what Jing Xiebai meant by "wait".
If the bride is discovered to be not a virgin during the wedding ceremony, then they just need to wait until the wedding ceremony.
By that time, the evil spirit will inevitably appear, and they will be able to truly resolve this ghost marriage.
After figuring it out, Xie calmed down, picked up the paper money in front of him, and threw it into the paper burning basin as if to vent his anger.
Just because someone died without getting married, you want to deprive someone of their life. Just because a beautiful girl is not a virgin, you want to force her to become a death god who will never be able to reincarnate. Why?
However, Xie felt a surge of anger in his heart. He said that the ones who really deserved to be tortured day and night in the cycle of reincarnation were the feudal moralists who used feudal ideas to demand things of women. The women who were forced to death could not enjoy their lives, and they could not be free after death.
The paper money burned very quickly, and a hint of paleness appeared in the distant sky. Day was about to break, and the ghost marriage was about to end.
Xie took off the complicated phoenix crown and was pressed down by a paper man and sent to the corpse.
There was no one to preside over the meeting, and the two corpses stared at Xie Que with horror.
Xie did not hesitate for a moment, took the tablet to his side, and worshipped in the hall on his own.
"Bow to heaven and earth." Xie counted silently in his heart and bent down towards the distant mountains.
As he bent down, Xie Que heard the cries of many people, each one more shrill than the last, filled with despair and sorrow, as if they were crying out for justice for the lives that had been lost in vain. Bones sprouted from the ground, tearing at each other, twisting and clawing at Xie Que's legs.
The paper figures in the distance began to riot and rushed towards Xie Que one by one. Jing Xie Bai, holding a long sword, blocked the way from the outside and did not let any of the paper figures rush in.
"Hurry! Finish the ghost marriage! He's about to show up!"
However, Xie felt that Jing Xie Bai was very far away from him, otherwise why did the voice sound so vague.
It hurts so much, why, why does my ear hurt so much.
Blood dripped down his face and onto the white bones, which was very glaring. Xie realized later that it was his ear that was bleeding.
He straightened up with an effort and turned around.
"Bow to your parents twice."
The skeleton crawled up and clutched at Xie Que's neck, making every movement difficult. Xie Que bent over. The corpse had fallen to the ground, being gnawed by countless maggots. Xie Que stared at the corpse and thought sarcastically, "If it weren't for you, perhaps the whole village wouldn't have died."
This time, Xie did not hear any crying or screaming. He felt a sharp pain in his stomach, as if a knife had cut through it, and blood kept flowing out. A child's sharp cry was heard but quickly disappeared.
He must have been suffocated to death.
Xie thought numbly that there were indeed examples of babies being born from corpses, but such fetuses usually did not live long, not to mention that no one wanted them to live. They were probably suffocated to death with a handkerchief the second after they were taken out of their mother's womb.
"Husband and wife bow to each other."
More and more white bones climbed up Xie Que's body. It was just a matter of turning around, but it took him five minutes to complete the action.
This time, Xie didn't bend down, he just lowered his head. There were so many bones on his body that he couldn't even breathe.
The moment he lowered his head, a cold wind blew and the tablet fell to the ground. Xie saw a pair of wet shoes appear in front of him.
Xie Que: “!”
He wanted to call out Jing Xiebai, but he couldn't open his mouth.
Bai Gu made a fatal move, but Xie seemed to hear the sound of his own bones breaking.
What’s even more terrifying is that the evil ghost stretched out his hand towards Xie.
The hands were cold, with drops of water flowing down, constantly approaching Xie Que's shoulders.
Oh no! He's going to extinguish my fire!
Xie opened his eyes wide and struggled continuously, but he was pressed down by the bones and could not move. He could only watch the hands getting closer and closer to him.
"Lower your head!"
Jing Xiebai shouted, but Xie suddenly lowered his head, and a sharp sword energy came, cutting off the evil ghost's arm.
"Run!" Jing Xiebai rushed towards Xie Que, pinched his face, and stuffed a pill into Xie Que's mouth.
Jing Xiebai's yang energy is stronger than Xie Que's. Bai Gu turned around and crawled towards Jing Xiebai like a snake smelling meat.
"Fuck." Jing Xiebai cursed, took out the talisman paper and threw it on the ground, and quickly set up a ghost-exorcising formation.
"Get up!" Jing Xiebai did not use the blood formation this time. The formation made up of hundreds of talismans was enough to burn all the bones to death.
"Cough cough cough." Finally getting rid of the bones, Xie knelt on the ground, touching his neck and coughing violently.
"Ghost....Ghost is there..."
Xie Que didn't even have the strength to stand up, let alone fight the evil spirit. The evil spirit could kill him just by appearing next to him.
"It's too late." Jing Xiebai pulled Xie Que up and said in a deep voice while looking at the God of Death not far away.
Xie Que: “?”
Why is it too late?
He had obviously discovered the God of Death, but he did not feel afraid, but rather a sense of regret.
“Ahhhhh——” The evil ghost knelt on the ground, kowtowed continuously, and said words of thanks but no one could understand.
"What's going on?" Xie didn't quite understand.
Jing Xiebai didn't answer him, but looked at the God of Death who was approaching with a sullen face.
"Little boy from the Jing family, this cause and effect is not something you can interfere with. Do you want to become my enemy?"
The God of Death stared at Jing Xiebai coldly, his voice hoarse.
Jing Xiebai raised the corner of his mouth and saluted the God of Death: "I have heard of your great reputation for a long time. Now that I see you, I really admire you."
The God of Death clearly didn't buy his tricks and warned, "If you insist on interfering in this matter, I'm afraid your life will be in danger."
Jing Xiebai was not frightened. He maintained his calm demeanor and retorted, "I will not interfere with the karma between you two, but I will be the one to sever the karma of those who died before."
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