Chapter 88: Joyful Wedding, Mourning Cry 19
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The words spoken by Jiang Yanran seemed like a carefully set trap, wrapped in a beautiful smile and an innocent young girl’s exterior. However, hidden inside was a sinister malice, waiting for the right moment to strike, and only the gushing flow of blood and flesh would make her smile again.
But Yan Shixun’s response caught her off guard.
She fell silent, allowing Yan Shixun to roam freely in the courtyard, neither stopping nor coaxing him. She just kept her eyes fixed on Yan Shixun with those bright and charming eyes, as if observing him, trying to discern his true nature from his actions.
While Yan Shixun was exploring the courtyard, Jiang Yanran was also investigating him.
Earlier, when they were outside the courtyard, Yan Shixun vaguely saw some items piled on the ground, wrapped in red cloth, presumably dowry items for the newlyweds.
However, once they entered the courtyard, Yan Shixun realized that what lay on the ground was not the usual daily necessities prepared for a newlywed couple, nor were they valuable or precious items. Instead, there were some wooden boxes with messy red cloth tied around them. It was unclear what was inside.
None of the older women or daughters-in-law were guarding these items, nor were there discussions about the valuable contents typically seen in happy occasions.
It was as if these wooden boxes placed on the ground neither required guarding nor had anything worth discussing.
They not only gathered in the courtyard and at the front of the house, but even several people were standing by the sides of the house and next to the windows at the back, all happily smiling and loudly congratulating the people inside the house.
The sounds of congratulations were getting louder and louder, with the suona horn playing enthusiastically, both joyful and mournful.
The musicians, dressed in bright red attire with white sashes tied around their waists, tilted their heads back, playing the suona with great vigor, blowing it so forcefully that their faces turned pale, and their eyes appeared vacant.
The drummers, cymbal players…the musicians were exaggerating their movements, their faces adorned with a constant warm smile, and their rosy cheeks radiated happiness.
However, inside the house where the newlywed bride was, it remained quiet. There was no sound of the bride, nor the laughter of her friends who should have been with her.
Only the villagers’ congratulatory voices overwhelmed the entire small courtyard.
Yan Shixun had witnessed village weddings before.
During his travels with his master, Li Chengyun, he had seen such joyful occasions more than once.
But what he was witnessing now was unlike anything he had seen before.
Although Yan Shixun had encountered families of varying wealth and preferences for their daughters in the past, on the day of his daughter’s wedding, relatives and friends would all gather around to celebrate with her. Even the sternest of fathers, on the day they watched their daughter leave home to get married, would have a hint of sorrow and nostalgia in their eyes.
That blessing and festivity were genuine, and the dowry prepared by parents and relatives for the newlywed bride was intended to closely match their daughter’s life, aiming to ensure she lived well and suffered as little as possible.
However, in this small courtyard, Yan Shixun did not see such a scene.
There was only the cold sound of congratulations, and the abrupt tearing of the village’s deathly silence.
But precisely because no one was guarding, it was convenient for Yan Shixun to inspect those boxes and find out the truth.
Yan Shixun was very tall, standing at over 1.8 meters, so even when he half-squatted down, it didn’t hinder his other hand from holding Jiang Yanran’s hand.
He extended his other free hand and skillfully opened the red cloth covering those wooden boxes on the ground. His long fingers intertwined with the red fabric strips, and perhaps due to the cheap fabric, they even stained his skin with a bit of red.
The red dots complemented his well-defined joints on his fingers, resembling blood splatters, yet not appearing eerie but revealing a sense of absolute strength and beauty that was irresistibly attractive yet intimidating.
Jiang Yanran was also captivated, unable to resist lowering her head to observe Yan Shixun’s actions as he deftly lifted the lid of the wooden box.
The young girl’s face slightly changed, contorting unnaturally.
Meanwhile, Yan Shixun, with his hand on the wooden box lid, also stood frozen in place.
What was inside the wooden box was not a dowry at all; it was a box of stones.
The bride’s family hadn’t prepared even the slightest dowry for the newlywed bride!
The sound of drums and gongs from nearby brought Yan Shixun back to his senses. He quickly regained his composure, placing the lid of the wooden box back down without retying the red cloth, and hurriedly checked the other boxes nearby.
Stones, stones, and more stones…
Inside all the wooden boxes piled up as part of the dowry, there was not a single valuable or practical item.
Did the bride’s parents and elders not like her, or did they feel there was no need for preparations?
However, when Yan Shixun turned to look at the betrothal gifts brought in from outside, those black-painted wooden boxes were neatly stacked beside the well in the center of the courtyard. The wooden boxes were all square-shaped, with golden patterns imprinted on them, giving them an elegant and valuable appearance, something not ordinary families would possess.
It seemed that what Jiang Yanran had said earlier when she asked him was correct; the bride had an ordinary status, but the groom’s status was different. Those villagers and even the musicians who had been invited were all here because of the groom.
Yan Shixun slowly stood up and whispered to Jiang Yanran beside him, “Who…… is the groom?”
Jiang Yanran blinked her eyes, withdrew her gaze from Yan Shixun’s fingers, and smiled as she looked at him. She said, “Are you so anxious to know who the groom is, good person Yan Shixun? Do you hate getting married?”
“Do you also want to wear a bridal dress, a phoenix coronet, and be carried away in a bridal sedan chair to marry your groom?”
Yan Shixun raised an eyebrow and didn’t continue with Jiang Yanran’s words. Instead, he asked, “You asked me earlier if it’s possible that the groom’s status is high, which is why there’s such a lively atmosphere here. Now I think the answer is definitely yes.”
“As for who holds a high status in the village, it’s probably just the clan leader and the senior elder. But I overheard the older women over there saying that the bride was originally supposed to marry the son of the clan elder’s family but was replaced by her older sister to marry the groom. Even the clan elder couldn’t contest it. In the village, the only one who could have a higher status than the clan elder is probably the clan leader, and there’s…”
Yan Shixun’s tone paused, his voice turning cold, “The land god, regarded by the clan as their protector.”
Previously, while chatting with Yang Tu, Yan Shixun had also casually and seemingly unintentionally inquired about many details concerning Family Tomb Village.
Because when looking down from the mountain, you can clearly see that the entire village is situated near the base of Moon Mountain, and the houses at the base of the mountain are the most densely packed. The closer you get to Moon Creek, the more sparse it becomes, with only a few households.
Generally, in places with water, due to the lack of advanced technology in the past, water couldn’t be transported too far. Considering convenience in daily life, development would usually occur around the vicinity of water sources.
However, Family Tomb Village went against the norm.
So Yan Shixun had asked Yang Tu why the village didn’t develop around Moon Creek.
At that time, Yang Tu had told Yan Shixun that at the base of Moon Mountain, there was an ancestral hall of the Yang clan and a temple dedicated to the land god worshipped by the clan.
Whether in the Family Tomb Village or the Jia Village, they firmly believed in the existence of ghosts and gods.
They not only believed that members of their clan could receive messages from their ancestors in dreams, but they also claimed that each generation of clan leaders was chosen by the Land God. It was believed that only through this process could the Yang clan be protected by the Land God. Additionally, they had great faith in and respect for Feng Shui masters. They would consult Feng Shui masters before making any significant decisions for the village.
The clan’s ancestral hall and the temple dedicated to the Land God were built at the foot of the mountain because a Feng Shui master advised over a century ago that this location had the best Feng Shui. It was said to be connected to the mountain range of the Moon Mountain, allowing them to draw power from it and bestow blessings upon the Yang clan. This practice was believed to ensure the continued prosperity and wealth of the Yang clan’s descendants.
To benefit from this auspicious Feng Shui, both the clan leader and the elder members of the clan built their houses near the ancestral hall and the Land God temple. It can be said that in the village, anyone with a higher status lived at the foot of the Moon Mountain. This explained the pattern of uneven population distribution that Yan Shixun observed.
Therefore, when he overheard the conversation between the older women, the identity of the groom had become apparent.
The bride was not marrying a mere mortal.
She was marrying a god.
A man-made god.
“Is the new bride marrying the Land God, right?”
How can a person marry a god? Should they live their whole life alone in the temple of the god, or should they be sent to the place where people believe the god resides, accompanied by those who celebrate?
Yan Shixun’s gaze was firm and gloomy, and the anger that had welled up in him made his eyes sharp and brilliant.
It was a radiant light that could burn even gods and spirits.
The words that Jiang Yanran had originally wanted to casually utter were stuck on the tip of her tongue. She looked up at Yan Shixun’s eyes and was vaguely reminded of a memory from a long time ago.
It seemed like back then, amid the noisy and argumentative crowd, there was also a young man in uniform who had something similar in his eyes to Yan Shixun.
What was it?
Who was it…
She had held onto that gaze for a long time, but it had ultimately succumbed to the passage of time and erosion, fading from her memory.
Jiang Yanran didn’t space out for too long. She quickly refocused her gaze, and her previously bewildered eyes regained their clarity.
“Why are you asking me?” the young girl smiled and said, “Isn’t the answer right in front of you?”
Yan Shixun was momentarily stunned but quickly realized that this was Jiang Yanran’s answer to him.
He pulled Jiang Yanran and strode quickly towards the stack of wooden boxes in the middle of the courtyard next to the well. The muscles in his arm tightened instantly, and he lifted the heavy lid of one of the wooden boxes with a muffled sound.
Inside, he saw that the box was filled with dry grass. In the center was an old incense burner, along with years’ worth of incense ash.
Would they normally include such items as part of the dowry in a joyous occasion?
Yan Shixun didn’t pause; he just glanced at the incense burner and immediately opened another box.
Yet, it was still items used for rituals.
Buddhist bells, golden vessels…
It appeared that in these seemingly grand dozen or so boxes, there was not a single practical or valuable item, only ceremonial utensils.
an Shixun’s heart sank.
Jiang Yanran’s attitude and even her actions in guiding him to inspect these dowry wooden boxes were indirectly telling him—
You guessed it right, the bride isn’t marrying a regular person; she’s marrying the Land God.
“As the new bride departs, she kneels to her parents, from now on, an unobstructed path to heaven, free from worldly troubles, a perfect marriage…”
Jiang Yiran hummed along with the melody of the suona. The lyrics matched the rhythm of the suona, growing louder with each line, as if trying to break through the sky and leave the village surrounded by mountains behind.
“Yan Shixun~”
Taking advantage of Yan Shixun’s bewilderment, Jiang Yiran reached out and gave him a playful push, smiling slyly. “You should go now.”
The hand that landed on Yan Shixun was delicate and fair, but it was chillingly cold, sending shivers down his spine.
Because of his momentary distraction, Yan Shixun couldn’t react immediately. When he tried to grasp Jiang Yiran’s hand again, it felt like trying to hold onto a slippery fish, slipping smoothly from his palm.
Yan Shixun staggered backward a few steps, distancing himself from Jiang Yiran.
In that instant, all the villagers who had been laughing and playing just a moment ago abruptly stopped their actions. The smiles vanished from their faces, and they turned in unison to look at Yan Shixun in the center of the courtyard.
The once lively courtyard had instantly turned into a deathly silence.
The villagers and the women of the household had faces as pale as paper, with two red spots on their cheeks. Their eyes were hollow and stern. Each person had the exact same expression, and even the angle at which they turned their heads was identical.
In an instant, dozens, even hundreds of pairs of eyes fixed firmly on Yan Shixun, staring at him with vacant, rigid faces.
Amidst them all, Jiang Yanran stood as the only one with vitality.
“Yan Shixun, you are an outsider. You should return to your own life. Don’t insist on staying here.”
Jiang Yanran said, her hands behind her back. When she smiled, her expression was lively, but her gaze was as deep as twilight, carrying a composure beyond her years.
“A new bride is about to cry and leave for her husband’s home. How can we let an outsider remain here? We mustn’t spoil the auspicious moment.”
Jiang Yanran murmured, as if speaking to someone in particular.
In the next moment, all the villagers who had frozen in place seemed to come back to life. With vacant eyes and stiff limbs, they moved from all directions toward Yan Shixun, reaching out their hands as if trying to grab him.
Yan Shixun’s eyes sharpened, and without hesitation, he immediately leaped into the air. His slender body somersaulted a full circle in mid-air, directly soaring over the villagers and landing gracefully behind them.
The villagers in his line of sight stared with vacant eyes, looking around in confusion. On the other hand, the villagers across from him saw Yan Shixun and, with ferocious expressions, tried to charge at him, but they stiffly fell upon the villagers in front of Yan Shixun, knocking them to the ground.
Yan Shixun leaped repeatedly and swiftly evaded all the villagers attempting to rush him. Finally, he created a winding and meandering path in the crowded courtyard, retreating to the entrance of the small courtyard.
Suddenly, these villagers who had been repeatedly toyed with by Yan Shixun became disoriented. They clawed and bit each other mechanically, their movements stiff and unnatural. On the other side, the opposing villagers showed no weakness, grappling and thrashing about.
There were also villagers who tried to rush out from the courtyard but were tripped by those who had already fallen to the ground, landing on top of them.
Red fabric strips fluttered about, resembling splattered blood everywhere.
The villagers’ eyes were bloodshot, their mouths wide open as they bit at each other. Their hands firmly grasped each other’s necks.
They were no longer behaving like humans but rather like wild beasts devoid of reason.
The ground was in chaos.
After avoiding the crisis, Yan Shixun took a moment to catch his breath and then looked back at Jiang Yanran.
She stood amidst the chaos of bloodshed, seemingly unaffected by it, her gaze fixed on Yan Shixun as she looked past the people.
“Go back and never return, Yan Shixun. Forget everything you saw today. Curiosity, once satisfied, should end here.”
All the smiles and expressions vanished from Jiang Yanran’s face, the vitality in her fading, leaving her cold and emotionless.
Jiang Yanran’s voice was very light, as if it would dissipate with the mountain breeze.
“No matter what you hear after you go back, don’t come out. Sleep soundly, and tomorrow, leave before sunset… “
Yan Shixun struggled to hear what Jiang Yanran was saying, but her voice grew fainter in his ears, becoming muffled as if separated by frosted glass.
The scene before him also became blurry and chaotic, as if stones had fallen into the water, causing ripples that obscured all the surroundings.
Yan Shixun was overwhelmed by the dazzling, blood-red shapes in front of him, which made his eyes hurt. He instinctively closed his eyes and turned his head away.
When he reopened his eyes, he found himself standing behind the same corner where he had initially taken cover.
Crimson leaves fell onto his shoulders, and against his black shirt, they looked like splatters of blood.
All around was eerily silent, except for the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves, with no other noises in sight.
Whether it was the sound of the suona horn, the villagers’ congratulatory laughter, or the gruesome sounds of their faces tearing at each other…
All had disappeared without a trace.
Instinctively, Yan Shixun looked behind him, surveyed his surroundings, but didn’t see Jiang Yanran.
There was only a middle-aged man walking by with his head down, looking at Yan Shixun strangely, as if he found Yan Shixun’s behavior peculiar.
Yan Shixun paused and immediately grabbed the middle-aged villager, asking him if there was any family nearby celebrating, what their name was, and what the situation was.
Initially, the middle-aged villager was reluctant and seemed like he wanted to curse at Yan Shixun.
However, when Yan Shixun raised his clenched fist. The muscles in his arm visibly tensed, the middle-aged villager reluctantly yielded and listened to Yan Shixun’s inquiry.
“What’s the celebration? Are you crazy?”
The middle-aged man regarded Yan Shixun with a bewildered expression. “It’s hard enough to send off a girl; you can just send her away directly. Why would you need a music ensemble? No household would do that. Besides, our village hasn’t had any girls for years. Thanks to the blessings of the Land God and the clan leader, we’ve been blessed with only boys. How could anyone possibly marry their daughter off?”
“Furthermore, the houses around here have been abandoned for a long time, ever since Yang Laosan died, along with his old mother, wife, and son. We’ve considered this place cursed, and nobody comes here. It’s impossible for a large gathering like you described to happen.”
Yan Shixun, taken aback by this unexpected response, looked slightly puzzled.
As for the middle-aged villager, he took advantage of this moment and, realizing that Yan Shixun hadn’t noticed him, quickly made his escape.
Yan Shixun slowly lowered his raised arm, stood still for a moment, and then turned away, emerging from his hiding spot in the corner.
Before him lay a narrow, long-abandoned path overgrown with wild grass and moss.
The wild grass had grown taller than a person, concealing the way to the equally dilapidated village houses further inside.
It seemed that the middle-aged villager he had spoken to earlier hadn’t lied. This path had indeed been unused for a very long time. Even the village houses had partially collapsed due to years of neglect, with bricks and tiles falling apart, and the courtyard in ruins.
As for what Yan Shixun had seen earlier, the joyous villagers gathered on the village road and in the courtyard, the wooden boxes wrapped in red cloth, and the musicians playing their instruments—all of it had disappeared without a trace.
It was as if everything he had just witnessed had been a figment of Yan Shixun’s imagination.
Yan Shixun stood there in silence for a long time, and Jiang Yanran’s voice echoed in his ears, warning him not to get any closer.
But the problem was—
Ever since he entered this abandoned village, he hadn’t sensed the presence of any Land God on this land. The heavens and earth had collapsed, countless divine beings had declined and died, and even the Land God here had long departed, leaving behind not even a trace of their presence.
So, where had that girl who was supposed to marry the Land God gone?
Why did Jiang Yanran repeatedly remind him not to get closer?
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