"Huh?"
"Where... am I?"
Ye Wuyou forced his eyes open, immediately hit with a wave of vertigo and nausea. His limbs felt like they'd been plunged into an ice pit, heavy, numb, completely deadened.
He looked down. Heavy shackles had ground his wrists and ankles down to bare white bone.
Beneath the crimson groom's robes, whip marks crisscrossed his body, oozing red blood.
The dim hall stretched before him. Scarlet silk ribbons dangled from the rafters like burial shrouds dredged up from pools of fresh blood, grotesque, terrifying.
Paper cutouts depicting dragons and phoenixes swayed between the ribbons, and something seemed to be gnawing at them, producing sickening tearing sounds that made his skin crawl.
Around the hall's perimeter, thirty-six funeral lamps flickered with pale ghostly light.
That eerie glow fell upon the crowd of figures dressed in mourning clothes standing in silence, casting twisted, distorted shadows on the walls.
At the center of the hall stood two pitch-black coffins.
Before them, on the offering table, two spirit tablets bore names written in cinnabar ink that seemed to weep dark red droplets.
Groom: Ye Wuyou of the Ye Clan, Taixuan City.
Bride: Su Qinghe of the Su Clan, Taixuan City.
"This is... a wedding hall Or funeral hall?"
Wuyou's mind reeled in confusion.
He had been the greatest of the Ten Divine Lords of the Canglang Realm. When demons from beyond the domain invaded and began their massacre, the Ten Divine Lords joined forces to resist. But outnumbered and overwhelmed, they couldn't hold back the demonic tide.
In the end, he chose to sacrifice his own life to seal the passage and save the billions of lives within the Canglang Realm.
Yet when he opened his eyes... he was here!
As Ye Wuyou struggled to understand, a torrential flood of memories surged into his mind.
At the same moment, an elderly man dressed in mourning robes and hat emerged from the crowd, stepping before the two coffins.
"Alas!"
The old man's voice boomed with sorrow.
"Today, there is Miss Su Qinghe of the Su Clan! At the tender age of fourteen, she awakened the YinYang Divine Eyes and was taken as a disciple by a great master! She studied at the Tianqing Academy of the Tianxuan Empire for three years, then suddenly perished, her soul returning to the netherworld! How tragic! How lamentable!"
"Today, there is Young Master Ye Wuyou of the Ye Clan! At twelve, he reached the ninth level of Body Tempering! At thirteen, he entered Spirit Guiding! At fourteen, he became a master of Qi Nurturing, truly a peerless genius! Then, in a single accident, his meridians were completely destroyed, his cultivation utterly lost, never again able to walk the martial path! How tragic! How regrettable!"
"However! Ye Wuyou and Su Qinghe were deeply in love three years ago and formed a marriage contract! Today, following the rites of yin and yang, uniting two clans in harmony, we bind them in marriage beyond the mortal realm, making them a blessed couple in the underworld! May our ancestors bless us, and may both families prosper!"
The old man's voice dripped with sincerity. Several people in the hall began sobbing quietly.
"Now, the auspicious hour has arrived! Bring forth the bride!!!"
As his words fell, the main doors creaked open slowly.
Four servants carried in a palanquin, entering the hall with a procession of guests attending this ghost marriage following behind.
Atop the palanquin, Su Qinghe's figure sat reclined.
She wore an exquisite scarlet wedding gown, her head covered with a red veil, dressed as a proper bride.
The palanquin settled on the ground.
Ye Wuyou knelt there, hands and feet locked in shackles.
Su Qinghe's corpse lay sprawled lifelessly on the palanquin.
Their figures side by side, one living, one dead. The scene felt even more unnaturally wrong.
In a ghost marriage, there's no bowing ceremony followed by entering the bridal chamber.
Instead, they enter the coffins!
As everyone gathered, the old man continued his incomprehensible chanting, conducting the bizarre ritual.
Meanwhile, whispers began circulating among the guests.
"Even though Ye Wuyou is crippled, he's still the legitimate heir of the Ye Clan. The Ye family actually agreed to this ghost marriage?"
"Su Tianxiong personally came to demand the Ye family honor the engagement contract, claiming that without this marriage, it would ruin both families and affect future generations. Plus, Su Tianxiong's famous for being obsessed with his daughter, there's no way he'd let her go into the grave alone!"
"I heard Ye Wuyou fought back hard, but his own father Ye Shanhai beat him unconscious and tied him up to hand over to the Su family!"
"These past two years since Ye Wuyou became a cripple, the whole Ye Clan treats him like a disgrace. They'd be thrilled if he just died..."
"That concubine mother of his... she's no easy target..."
By now, having absorbed all the memories, Ye Wuyou listened to the surrounding gossip and finally pulled himself together.
I didn't die... I've been reborn... as Ye Wuyou of the Ye Clan in Taixuan City...
Lost my mother young. Incredible talent. Got crippled by someone. Abandoned by my family? The greatest of the Ten Divine Lords of Canglang Realm... and it's come to this...
Ye Wuyou laughed bitterly at himself, then turned his gaze toward Su Qinghe in her bridal dress.
Su Qinghe... wait, what?
With just one look, a flicker of something unusual crossed Ye Wuyou's eyes.
At that very moment, the old man presiding over the ghost marriage finished his lengthy, convoluted chanting ritual.
Su Tianxiong, the Su Clan patriarch, stepped forward, his gaze falling on Ye Wuyou.
"Dear nephew, two years ago when you became a cripple, my Su family didn't kick you while you were down or dissolve your engagement with Qinghe. Now that Qinghe is dead, you should honor that contract and complete the marriage!"
Ye Wuyou heard this and rose to his feet, sneering openly. "Patriarch Su, you actually have the balls to say that?"
"These past two years, you've come knocking countless times trying to dissolve the engagement. It was Ye Shanhai who refused! He wanted to swap the groom, have Ye Qingming take my place and reform the contract with Su Qinghe. You just wouldn't agree to it! Isn't that right?"
Looking at the Ye Wuyou before him, Su Tianxiong felt a jolt of surprise.
Why does this kid seem... different?
Still, glancing at his daughter's corpse, Su Tianxiong suppressed the grief in his expression and pressed on. "Whatever you say, the contract was never dissolved. Today, this marriage is happening!"
"…."
Ye Wuyou glanced once more at Su Qinghe's corpse and replied coldly, "I don't think so!"
"What do you mean?" Su Tianxiong's brow furrowed.
"A ghost marriage is held for the deceased. Su Qinghe isn't dead, so naturally this ghost marriage can't proceed!"
Ye Wuyou's tone turned sharp as he stared at Su Tianxiong. "Su Tianxiong, don't tell me... you're planning to bury your daughter alive?"
"He's lost it! This guy's completely lost his mind!"
A shrill, grating voice rang out.
A voluptuous woman in her thirties stepped forward, immediately berating him.
"Ye Wuyou! The Spirit Pill Masters from Tianqing Academy have already confirmed Su Qinghe is dead! What nonsense are you spouting?!"