Chapter 43 Ghost Marriage

Tonight on the mountain, the ghosts were clamoring incessantly. Large vats of fine wine were carried up. The ghosts clinked cups and drank for a long while, most of them already three parts drunk. Some grabbed a headless ghost and played finger-guessing games, while others sought out a starving ghost to compete in drinking. The mountainside was already a chaotic mess.

Wei Yuan used his ghost-dispelling technique to summon a ghostly aura around himself.

His expression normal, he blended into this netherworld of ghosts.

Although the place where the Ghost King's wedding was taking place was noisy, there was something extremely strange about the sounds. The laughter was either shrill or eerie, appearing suddenly and unpredictably, making one's hair stand on end.

Ordinary people use bright red lanterns for weddings, but here, blue oil lamps were lit, emitting a faint blue-white light. The white smoke from the oil made living people nauseous and disgusted, but it made the ghosts revel as if drunk.

Large platters of bloody meat were placed on the tables and on the ground, for the ghosts to take as they pleased. Demonic ghosts revealed their sharp teeth to tear and bite, sometimes gulping down wine and sometimes laughing loudly. A bridge spirit covered in water stains patted the bluestone, as if singing a song. As she sang, she crooned softly:

"Husband, listen to my words,
Rather than both of us starving to death,
I would rather go to the meat market.
To get three thousand coins for your return,
A slice can travel a li,
Both limbs are first cut off and hung in the butcher's shop,
Slowly cut the plump thighs to make soup,
To prevent life from ending, fresh meat is needed,
Slice by slice, watch it enter the hungry man's belly,
Tell the passersby not to cover their noses,
How can a living person compare to a dead person's fragrance?"

The melody was low and eerie, the lyrics ghastly, making one's back tingle. The ghosts and demons, however, listened attentively and applauded.

Shadows swayed.

Ghostly aura permeated the air, a spectacular scene of the netherworld!

Wei Yuan resisted the urge to draw his sword and level the place. Like an ordinary wandering ghost, a gaunt ghost saw that Wei Yuan had no wine in his hand, and smiled drunkenly as he picked up a wine vat and approached him, hiccuping.

"Eh? You're not drinking or eating meat, where are you going? Come eat, come eat!"

Wei Yuan only declined, saying, "I'm saving room for the main course later."

The ghost paused, then laughed suddenly, "Haha, so you're waiting for those dozens of living people down the mountain? Good eye, good appetite, but the wedding is tomorrow. Today is just the welcoming of the bride. Those living people main courses won't be tasted until tomorrow. You'll have to starve for a day."

Wei Yuan's eyes turned cold, but he smiled as usual:

"Just thinking about those living people, how can I eat anything else?"

The ghost nodded in agreement, "Indeed."

Wei Yuan was about to go up, when the ghost glanced at him and suddenly said:

"Hey buddy, are you going up the mountain to see the Heavenly Maiden?"

Wei Yuan's expression did not change. He chuckled and said, "The wedding is tomorrow. I just want to see what's so different about the Heavenly Maiden compared to women in the mortal world.

"Don't look at me, aren't you curious?"

The ghost nodded at first, then shook his head repeatedly, saying, "I advise you to give up on that idea. The Heavenly Maiden's fragrance is tempting, but it's not good to get close. These days, many brothers wanted to smell the flesh, but they were all scattered by the pure energy. If you go, wouldn't you end up the same?"

"At a time like this, don't go looking for death."

The ghost only offered a few words of advice while half-drunk, then saw that the 'ghost' had already walked away.

He simply didn't care, took two more sips of wine, and pulled a few familiar ghosts around him, talking about which little ghost was still不死 (busi, refusing to give up) and wanted to see what the Heavenly Maiden looked like. The ghosts and demons laughed loudly, urging each other to drink, guessing when the reckless fellow would be annihilated, and didn't take it to heart.

...

Wei Yuan quickly found the place.

It was a wooden pavilion, with no guards around. But thinking about it, one could understand that a pure energy always permeated the vicinity of the pavilion, opposing the ghostly aura. Even if a ghost was bold enough to want to enter, it would be annihilated by the pure energy.

Over time, the Ghost King's defenses against this place became less of a concern.

But now, the ghostly aura was constantly rising and surging, forcing forward, causing the pure energy to retreat constantly, unable to maintain the initial balance.

After Wei Yuan approached, he took out his waist tag, and a faint, deep tiger roar could be heard.

Without a word, the Heavenly Maiden inside the pavilion sensed his arrival. A path appeared in the pure energy surrounding the pavilion, and Wei Yuan flashed inside. At the same time, he dispelled the ghost dispelling, causing the trend of ghostly aura to collapse under the pure energy.

The ghosts down the mountain sensed the fluctuation of pure energy, and then a ghostly aura dissipated.

They all laughed.

"Another reckless fellow has gone."

"Haha, ignore him. There are many fools like that these days. Drink, drink."

...

The view in front of Wei Yuan's eyes brightened slightly, and then returned to normal.

He was already in an antique pavilion. The room had everything, simple and elegant. On one side was a wooden box, inside which was a red wedding dress, obviously untouched. The Heavenly Maiden, dressed in white, sat on a prayer mat with a calm expression.

Wei Yuan withdrew his gaze, took out the wooden box from his arms, placed it in front of the Heavenly Maiden, and said:

"Fortunately, I have not failed my mission."

Even though the Heavenly Maiden had always appeared calm and collected, she still felt a slight sense of relief at this moment. She was slightly surprised to see that the seal on the wooden box had been removed, nodded to Wei Yuan, and said, "Thank you."

Her palm gently stroked the wooden box.

A ball of pure energy lit up in the box and slowly flowed towards the Heavenly Maiden. However, after more than a thousand years, the process of absorbing the feather garment's magic power was not as fast as Wei Yuan had imagined. It would still take some time. Wei Yuan sat cross-legged to the side, circulating the Crouching Tiger Art to restore his spirit, in preparation for a possible fierce battle.

He also had a question in his mind. After a little thought, he asked:

"There is one thing I still don't quite understand."

"Since Crouching Tiger had already discovered this matter back then, why didn't he rescue you?"

The Heavenly Maiden replied: "That generation of Crouching Tiger originally planned to send me back to the mountain, but the foul air tainted the feather garment. At that time, I had exhausted my magic power and needed to spend three years to let the evil energy dissipate before I could take out the wooden box and feather garment without it backfiring on me."

"Then why..."

"Unfortunately, two years later, the current Crouching Tiger received the General's Seal and led his troops to destroy Wu."

"After that, an evil Taoist took my feather garment away."

An evil Taoist?

Wei Yuan was surprised, and thought of the Taoist who claimed to be able to make the Ghost King forcibly marry the Heavenly Maiden, and the various spells that had been circulated from that Taoist. He wondered if there was any connection between the two. He pondered in his heart, while the Heavenly Maiden also concentrated on absorbing the magic power imprint in the feather garment.

The room gradually fell silent.

Less than an hour had passed when a burst of yin energy suddenly pressed in.

Wei Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, raised his hand and gripped his sword, looking towards the entrance of the pavilion.

The Heavenly Maiden's speed of absorbing magic power also obviously accelerated.

Wei Yuan pressed his sword and walked forward slowly, looking out through the window, and immediately felt a chill down his spine.

He saw a group of ghosts, wearing dark red long-sleeved clothes, carrying a large red sedan chair with eighteen bearers, coming from down the mountain. The sound of suona horns came from the mist. This should have been festive music, but it was playing funeral songs, filled with ghostly aura.

The bright red color used for weddings by ordinary people is fiery and can drive away evil spirits, but the red color worn by these ghosts was a dark red color, with an impure hue. In the ghostly aura, it was shadowy and only reminded people of blood that was about to congeal. They were heading straight towards this place, and the pure energy that could be used for defense before was now retreating steadily.

It was the Ghost King's wedding procession.

Wei Yuan looked back at the Heavenly Maiden. It was clear that it would still take some time for her to recover her strength.

If those ghosts were allowed to break through the pure energy and rush in, everything would be over.

And with his strength alone, he could at most disperse ordinary demons and ghosts before being killed by the Ghost King.

The Heavenly Maiden opened her eyes and withdrew her hand, seemingly intending to fight the Ghost King with her incomplete body. Wei Yuan also saw that the Ghost King was not among the ghosts who came to welcome the bride. Seeing the Heavenly Maiden stand up, he raised his right hand and pressed down slightly, saying softly:

"Wait."

The Heavenly Maiden looked at Wei Yuan in confusion.

Wei Yuan thought for a moment, cupped his hands and said, "Please grant me an illusionary trick to deceive them."

The maiden was stunned, then widened her eyes and said, "You...?"

The Sili Colonel raised the Eight-Sided Han Sword and smiled:

"Today, this sedan chair, I, Wei, will sit in for you, Maiden."

His voice paused slightly, and he said decisively:

"And give him a sword!"

ps: Thank you to Pear Blossom Watching the Begonia for the ten thousand reward, thank you~

Well~ Colonel Wei obviously can't win, he's just buying time

Thanks to Sister Baihe of 《Mythical Three Kingdoms》 for the recommendation, let's see, this is the third time.

Starting from My Master Has a Lot, there's one for every book~ Thank you