Chapter 63.2 Crazy Love Season
A melody far more grating than a crow’s caw resounded, instantly making the ears of all the guests feel like there were ten thousand saws cutting through wood, even covering their ears couldn’t block the impact of the sound waves. Each note was like a heavy blow to the soul!
There was soup boiled with corpse oil and meat chunks hiding maggots on the feast table. But at this moment, compared to this melody, they all seemed like exquisite delicacies.
A’Sang was on the verge of burying his head in his bowl, and for the first time, the eye inside the vial lost focus, as if the sound of the harp had materialized to an unbearable extent.
“Your war general is currently using the【Harp】skill.”
The system’s prompt arrived three seconds late.
Wen Shi closed his eyes briefly, suppressing the urge to vomit, and activated the【One Strike Flattens All】skill.
“As this is your first time using this skill, it synchronously activates the【Peerless Sword Dancing Princess】effect.”
The noise caused all the guests to move sluggishly, their reaction times greatly reduced. No one noticed that the newlywed, dressed in a bright red wedding robe, now held the Greenwood Sword in his hand.
The host was the first to realize that something was wrong. How did he suddenly pull out a deadly weapon?
The crew seemed to be protected by the game’s will, After retreating, they witnessed the most stunning scene of their lives. The dancing flames gathered into a blazing fireball amidst the sword’s glow. It wasn’t Wen Shi who was dancing, but the sword. The sword’s body became the heart of the fire, soaring like a nimble dragon, weaving through the bodies of the villagers. The black burial robes caught fire. Wen Shi stood at the center, his fair skin appearing even paler. His eyes were imprinted with a red glow, and his oversized sleeves fluttered in the wind.
The dancing swordsman stood, peerlessly breathtaking.
The red glow was similarly imprinted in the eye in the vial, and though the contours should have been blurred amidst the flames, they were remarkably clear. The light outlined the young man’s waistline inch by inch.
The monster villagers screamed wildly amidst the flames, “Help, save us—”
Those who had gleefully danced when the fire burnt Wen Shi’s shoulder now cursed in pain when their turn came.
Seeing the sword slashing chaotically, Red Jacket Lady’s father was so frightened that he nearly fell off his chair.
The players were also left in astonishment, except Ji Yuanzhi who adjusted his glasses and said, “Sweetheart.”
The female candidate beside him inexplicably felt a chill hearing those words.
“From this distance, how can you see the lion dance clearly?” Ji Yuanzhi laughed, grabbing her wrist without warning and charging towards the flames.
Judging from Wen Shi’s current expression, his rationality was intact. He was willing to burn not just one but several.
“Ah ah ah!” The candidate’s face turned pale.
Wen Shi didn’t mind lending a hand to Ji Yuanzhi to deal with his match. After all, these participants, whether human or ghost, take pleasure in slaughtering players. Unfortunately, in her current state, this female candidate seemed to be half-human and the game didn’t permit her to be harmed. The Greenwood Sword merely brushed past her knee, but the girl got hurt and fell to the ground, making her cry in pain.
Ji Yuanzhi half-knelt beside her, and gently wiped away the cold tears on her cheek. “Don’t cry, my dear. Even if you become disabled, I won’t abandon you.”
The sword’s aura rampaged, shaking Sealed Coffin Village to its core. Even farther away, the coffins in the graveyard violently swayed, almost tossing their contents outside.
White bones struggled to rise, the empty eye sockets staring towards the distant southern hills.
Damn it, was there going to be another landslide again?
The only one who remained unmoved from start to finish was the chief attendant.
The monster villagers’ bodies were roasted, meeting their end beneath the Greenwood Sword. Accompanied by the sound of thudding, their heads rolled on the ground like soccer balls. The sword dance reached the front row of empty tables, slashing chaotically at each seat with wine cups.
The air filled with screams, the green smoke vanished, leaving behind the bitter reproaches:
“Unworthy descendants, even in death, you still want to deceive your ancestors.”
The Greenwood Sword wandered around and returned to Wen Shi’s hand.
Uncle Li and the servants crawled around on the ground in fear. Their survival wasn’t the game’s whim. Some NPCs in the instance could be violently slain, while others could not, relying on rules or other means.
Wen Shi didn’t forget about the quest—he needed to enter the bridal chamber before midnight. The sword’s tip rested on the ground, and the trembling figure of Uncle Li, who resembled a crouched dog, lifted his head.
“Which room is the bridal chamber?”
Uncle Li couldn’t hold back his tears. “The chief attendant, only the chief attendant knows.”
Judging from his behavior, he didn’t seem to be lying.
Wen Shi coldly raised his gaze, looking at the still smiling chief attendant. “Lead the way.”
A’Sang wanted to follow, but the chief attendant raised his hand to stop him.
Wen Shi nodded at A’Sang, indicating that he could stay back. He wasn’t sure if taking the child into the bridal chamber would violate any rules.
After getting caught in a brief rain earlier, which contributed to Wen Shi’s susceptibility to catching fire, the wedding chaos was approaching its end. He unabashedly opened the large black umbrella he snatched from the old lady.
Before leaving, Wen Shi looked at Yan Yan sternly. “Be prepared.” The last few words were mouthed silently: “You’re next.”
In terms of cunning, no one was better than Wen Shi at exploiting the rules. It was not difficult to deceive a player to their death. However, the collective gaming phase hadn’t arrived yet, and moreover… Wen Shi didn’t mind letting the other party experience the fear only a living person could truly understand.
Yan Yan struggled to suppress the trembling in his voice. “What are you so proud of? You don’t even know who will die first.”
The chief attendant’s eerie demeanor suggested that the Dark Wedding still had some challenges left.
At this point, Yan Yan had no retreat. He even moved closer to the camera lens, eager to create more spectacle for the audience.
After stepping outside, with the chief attendant leading the way, Wen Shi strolled in the rain under the umbrella. He sparingly cast admiring glances at the greenery around the corridor. With the conclusion of the wedding ceremony, this place would become his domain as the head of the family.
The chief attendant turned into a covered walkway. Wen Shi’s admiration for the surroundings gradually faded as he walked along. They had been walking along this long path for nearly ten minutes, and the endless corridor still stretched ahead of them. The red lanterns hanging on both sides continued to emit a dim glow in the rain, with only their two slender figures moving forward. Time ticked away, and the rain grew heavier. Wen Shi’s legs felt like they were filled with lead, and he grew more exhausted with each step. The wound on his shoulder hadn’t fully healed, and he experienced occasional bursts of pain.
The stench of corpse oil grew stronger, the pungent odor affecting his senses. Wen Shi felt as though he was back in the factory, undergoing a maddening loop.
Double images blurred his vision, and everything around him turned into illusions. His mind was fixated on a single thought: Keep walking, just keep walking.
Driven by this thought, Wen Shi unconsciously passed through the corridor, exited the gate, and eventually, in the eyes of the villagers who peeked through windows, he walked into the darkness of the forest.
The old lady, who had her umbrella snatched by Wen Shi, had no idea what had happened to the Red Jacket Lady and her family. Seeing the scene, she closed the window in satisfaction and cheerfully mumbled, “The groom is going up the mountain to feed the wolves, yoo!”
The mountain path was rugged, and the distance between Wen Shi and the chief attendant grew larger. He struggled to catch up, but ultimately could only watch the chief attendant’ figure gradually blur until everything around him turned into darkness.
Wild grass grew untamed on the ground. Wen Shi, not paying attention, stumbled and fell, hitting his forehead on the ground and scraping his hand.
A chilly wind blew. The combination of pain and the sensation jolted Wen Shi awake.
“Where is this?”
The environment was unfamiliar, with no illumination from red lanterns around and no winding, mysterious covered walkway.
A damp, decaying smell pervaded the air. Wen Shi got up. The eerie ancient trees made the light even dimmer.
For now, his vision extended only about two meters away.
His leg muscles were unusually sore. Knowing his own body, he wouldn’t be this fatigued without two or three hours of brisk walking.
“Damn it…”
He had to get back before midnight, otherwise, the quest would fail.
The howls of jackals and wolves echoed across the mountains. Wen Shi instinctively took a step back. In the depths of the forest, even without encountering ghosts or monsters, the lack of a compass was enough to trap him.
Ahead, there were flickering specks of blue light, like guiding stars in the darkness. As Wen Shi approached, he let out a hiss.
It was will-o’-the-wisp!
He didn’t know where he had lost the black umbrella. His clothes were completely soaked.
Ever since Wen Shi had drunk that cup of tea and then got drenched in the rain, he had become unusually sensitive to any source of fire. Even harmless will-o’-the-wisps that wouldn’t ignite anything seemed capable of setting ablaze his internal organs.
“This is too much…” Wen Shi sighed softly, his voice like a ghostly whisper. “How can they abandon the groom?”
He had initially considered saving some expenses by trying to find his way back along the mountain path. However, the villagers of Sealed Coffin Village didn’t give him a chance. He had no idea where they had brought him, deep into some secluded valley.
The sound echoed through the ink-black night. Before it completely dissipated, cat ears and a tail emerged from Wen Shi’s body.
Spending four hundred points, Wen Shi activated the Intermediate Drunken Reverie skill “Homeward Bound.” With this skill, he would always find his way home, no matter how treacherous the terrain.
The round moon in the sky had a hint of blood, and silver mist shrouded the surroundings. Amidst the mountain woods, a new sound emerged… the sound of the wind. Like a nimble and agile cat, his body moved freely through the woods, heading toward the distant old mansion.
…
The mansion.
The chief attendant had returned alone. Amidst the wreckage of the wedding scene, Red Jacket Lady’s father clung to a lifeline, “That beast…”
He adjusted his breath and changed his wording in time, “Where’s my good son-in-law?”
With the red lanterns destroyed, the room was dimly lit. The chief attendant was partially shrouded in shadow. “It seems like the new groom has some other ideas about this wedding. Perhaps he regrets it and chose to escape the village.”
Red Jacket Lady’s father suppressed his joy upon hearing this and pretended to be angry as he slapped the table, “This is outrageous! I was thinking of handing over the family fortune to him. If that kid doesn’t return before the end of today, then this engagement is off.”
“I’ll also inform all the villagers.” The chief attendant picked up the fallen red veil. “Sealed Coffin Village doesn’t need people who are unfaithful in love.”
It was almost eleven o’clock now, and the host regained his energy. He exaggeratedly faced the camera and said, “I wonder if Mr. Aaron will have a change of heart and come back to complete this wedding.”
Every ten minutes, he would repeat the announcement, “Dear viewers, you can participate in the guessing game with prizes through the official program website. Place your bets on whether the groom will have a change of heart. A mysterious grand prize is waiting for you~”
In the blink of an eye, it was already eleven forty. Liu Yun began to feel anxious.
On the contrary, Yan Yan wished each minute would turn into ten minutes, just to reach midnight faster.
The other players had their own thoughts, some hoping for Wen Shi’s safe return, others not so much. Ji Yuanzhi was still tenderly making promises to the candidate, as if he weren’t the one who caused her leg injury.
Outside the old house, A’Sang sat on the steps, holding a bowl, quietly waiting in the chilly wind.
With the blood moon hanging high and the storm raging, a familiar figure suddenly appeared at the end of a small path in the distance. Under the moonlight, his pale skin seemed to have a faint glow. His light-colored pupils were especially clear.
“Pa… Daddy,” A’Sang struggled to find the right pronunciation, stood up, and said, “G-good smell…”
“Good smell” was his highest praise for everything in the world!
The eye in the vial also went blank directly.
The wet wedding robe clung to his body, and his tail, which was originally hanging down, lifted when he saw the grand mansion with three entrances and three exits. The cat groom stepped onto the stone steps, slightly lowering his head, with rainwater streaming down along his cat ears.
Pale fingers lightly knocked on the door as Wen Shi’s voice sounded bewildering, “Open the door, quickly open the door—”
The one who came to open the door was the chief attendant. His face, devoid of human emotions, froze when he saw the person standing outside.
The glaring red wedding robe turned dark red after being drenched by the rain. The cat groom slowly revealed a smile, “There’s a kind of cat that can find its way home.”
The chief attendant held his breath, his peripheral vision catching the glimpse of that slender tail, and his heart raced for a moment.
“Lead the way.” The corners of his mouth lifted, his tone cold. “Don’t keep my bride waiting impatiently.”
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