Villainous Junior Chapter 16
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 16: Ghost Marriage
He used too much force, causing the rouge to smear beyond his lips, creating a large, comical red circle. Meng Chen indeed couldn't help but laugh, simultaneously reaching out to help wipe it off.
As his fingers touched the youth's reddened lips, he realized this gesture might have been a bit too forward.
Even Meng Chen froze for a moment, his fingertips resting on the lips, unsure whether to withdraw or not.
While Meng Chen was only slightly conflicted, Xue Lang's heart was already in turmoil.
The sensation on his lips was so vivid, cool like a snowflake had landed. Yet he didn't feel cold; instead, his whole body felt as if it were on fire. His throat parched with an unbearable thirst, he yearned to dart out his tongue or purse his lips, to take that snowflake into his mouth and taste if it was as sweet as he imagined.
In the end, Meng Chen was the first to move his hand away, gesturing towards Xue Lang's mouth. "... The rouge smeared outside. You should wipe it off."
"Oh... oh." Xue Lang stammered in response, carelessly wiping with the back of his hand, which only made half his face red.
Meng Chen couldn't hold back anymore. He shook his head with a light chuckle, took out a pristine white handkerchief, and carefully cleaned up Xue Lang's messy face.
The disciples, who were initially laughing heartily on the side, gradually fell silent. They stared with eyes wide open, their foreheads creased with question marks.
"Wait... weren't Senior Brother Meng and Xue Lang on bad terms? Why do they look so harmonious now?"
"I counted. Senior Brother Meng just smiled at Xue Lang three times. My goodness, I heard from senior brothers that in the five years since they came to Taixuan Sect, they had never seen Senior Brother Meng smile once!"
"I don't know why, but I feel Senior Brother Meng is so doting on Xue Lang..."
The disciples fell silent in unison, feeling envious without prior agreement.
Over there, Xue Lang was finally cleaned up and hurriedly tried to duck into the bridal sedan. Meng Chen called out to him from behind, taking a large red bridal veil and personally covering Xue Lang's head with it.
"Once you find the person, immediately send me a message via paper crane," Meng Chen instructed in a low voice. "If there's any danger, don't try to be a hero. Protect yourself and wait for me, understand?"
Xue Lang clutched his veil. This time, he surprisingly didn't retort with his usual "mind your own business". Instead, he mumbled an "Mm" and went out to climb into the bridal sedan.
The festive music started playing. The sedan, carried by four bearers, set off on the same route as the missing bride, heading from Zhangbai Village towards Heyang City. Sitting in the sedan, Xue Lang thought about how that person had just covered him with the veil. While finding the situation truly absurd, he couldn't help but feel...his heart flutter.
He silently immersed himself in his thoughts until the wind outside the sedan suddenly changed.
Xue Lang's eyes sharpened. He held his breath, focusing, and detected the surging waves of energy in the air—
It was ghost energy.
So it really was the work of evil spirits!
Xue Lang didn't act rashly, silently waiting. He heard the gale outside growing stronger. The sedan bearers seemed to lose their footing, crying out in alarm. The sedan shook violently before crashing to the ground with a "bang". Then, the sedan curtain was lifted. A chilling wind blew in, and Xue Lang lowered his gaze. From beneath the veil, he saw a pale, greenish hand grasp his wrist.
That hand was cold, devoid of any human warmth. The fingers were thin and long, with bright red nail polish on the nails. It appeared to be a female ghost.
Xue Lang didn't resist. He tightly held the veil covering his face with his other hand. Then he felt his body lighten as the female ghost took him out of the sedan. They floated on an eerie wind for a while before his feet touched solid ground again.
The female ghost released his hand and asked, "Are you alright?"
This ghost actually cared about people?
Xue Lang felt increasingly that something was amiss. Having arrived at their destination, there was no need to keep up the pretense. He swiftly removed the red veil from his head.
He quickly surveyed his surroundings. They were in a cave hidden in a cliff face, secluded and concealed. No wonder they couldn't find any trace of the previously abducted bride. He sent out a secret message via paper crane, then turned his gaze to the female ghost before him, his expression showing a hint of surprise.
This ghost didn't have the imagined appearance of a green face with protruding fangs. In fact, she looked like a beautiful young woman in her late teens. Even more surprisingly, she was also wearing a bright red wedding dress!
But there was one difference—
Xue Lang's gaze fell to her chest. There, a long, thick iron nail had been driven in, surrounded by bloodstains that mixed with the red of the wedding dress. It was almost indistinguishable unless one looked closely.
The female ghost also seemed startled when she saw him. "You... which family's daughter are you?" She quickly sensed something was off, her face filling with suspicion as she cautiously said, "Wait, you... you're a man? Who are you!?"
"I'm not a bad person," Xue Lang said, looking at her and tentatively asking, "Are you Er Feng, Gui Hua, or Er Ya?"
Hearing these familiar names suddenly, the female ghost hesitated, but remained wary. "Who are you really? Did county magistrate Zhao send you? What, wasn't killing one enough? Does he want all innocent girls to accompany him in death!?"
Xue Lang, seeing her indignant and sorrowful expression, suddenly understood something.
Dense footsteps sounded from the cave entrance as Meng Chen and his group arrived after receiving the message. The female ghost was initially frightened seeing so many people, but gradually she sensed the spiritual energy emanating from them and asked in surprise. "You... are you immortal cultivators?"
Xue Lang nodded.
Meng Chen also saw the iron nail deeply embedded in the female ghost's chest. His eyes seemed to hold regret as he gently asked, "You're the girl who married into county magistrate Zhao's family, aren't you?"
The female ghost stared at him blankly, tears suddenly falling from her eyes.
She wasn't originally a ghost. Born in Zhangbai Village in Heyang City, she was seventeen this year and named Ah Chu.
Half a month ago, her parents told her that a matchmaker had come with a marriage proposal. The groom was the only son of the Heyang City county magistrate, just eighteen and unmarried. If she married him, she would become the new daughter-in-law of the county magistrate's family in Heyang City.
She was shocked, not understanding how the city county magistrate could fancy a farm girl like her. But seeing her parents' joyful expressions, and thinking that the betrothal gifts could improve her family's poor situation, she obediently agreed to the marriage.
She was carried into the city in an elaborate bridal sedan, into the county magistrate's grand mansion. Yet for some reason, her heart kept pounding, feeling that something wasn't right.
When her bridal veil was lifted, she finally realized where the unease came from - although the mansion was decorated with red silk and a feast was prepared, there were no guests, no music, and not even a groom. Magistrate Zhao glanced at her indifferently and made a gesture. Soon, two servants carried out a person wearing a red wedding outfit with a large red flower on his chest. His arms and head hung limply as the servants dragged him before her.
Under her bewildered gaze, a servant lifted the groom's head, and she finally saw his face - swollen and gray, with sunken closed eyes and frighteningly pale lips - clearly a dead man!
She screamed and tried to flee, but was restrained by two servants. A red cloth was stuffed into her mouth as she was forcibly made to kneel.
The marriage was between a dead person and a living one, yet the officiant seemed oblivious to this absurd and eerie scene. With a solemn expression, he announced loudly. "First bow to Heaven and Earth—"
Held by two servants, she was forced to kowtow along with the dead groom supported by servants.
"Second bow to the parents—"
She struggled with all her might, tears of fear streaming down her face. She looked pleadingly at Magistrate Zhao seated in the place of honor, but was met only with his indifferent gaze.
"Husband and wife bow to each other—"
She was turned to face the groom, kneeling opposite him. As she looked up, she met that ashen, ghastly face and let out a despairing wail from her throat.
The people around silently watched the couple bow to each other, even showing pleased smiles. But somehow those smiles looked increasingly distorted, almost inhuman, like man-eating demons crawling up from hell.
After the ceremony, her hands and feet were bound with hemp rope and she was put into a sack. When she emerged, she saw a prepared grave with a black wooden coffin inside.
The groom was already lying inside, with space left for her.
She kowtowed desperately, her forehead bloodied, begging for her life. But in the end, she was dragged by her hair and thrown mercilessly into the coffin.
"My girl, I have no choice. Your birth date and time align perfectly with my son's. You're meant to accompany him," Magistrate Zhao stood outside the pit, looking down at her with seeming compassion. "Don't blame me. If you must blame someone, blame yourself for being born with such a worthless life."
He waved his hand, and the servants standing by moved to cover the coffin. But the officiant who had presided over the wedding spoke up. "Master, wait. Although we've matched the bride to the young master by their birth dates, this bride is clearly unwilling. If she goes to King Yama's court after death to file a complaint, it would be troublesome."
County Magistrate Zhao was startled and hurriedly asked, "What should we do then?"
Master of Ceremonies: "Drive an iron nail into the bride's heart. It will keep her soul here, preventing her from filing a complaint."
So, she was brutally impaled through the heart with a thick, long iron nail. Then the coffin lid was closed, and she died in despair, tormented by darkness, suffocation, and pain.
Perhaps due to her deep resentment, she truly fulfilled theMaster of Ceremonies's words. Instead of reincarnating, she became a wandering ghost.
She desperately wanted to kill the county magistrate for revenge, but as a ghost, she understood some rules. If ghosts killed indiscriminately, they would become vengeful spirits, losing their reason and either being exorcised by cultivators or destroyed by heavenly law.
Before that, she had one last wish - to see her parents and brother one final time.
She floated back to Zhangbai Village. Fearing her appearance might frighten her family, she quietly hid outside their house, peering in through the window.
She saw her mother sitting on the kang bed with a chest of gold, silver, and jewels before her. As she fingered the shiny beads, she sighed worriedly. "I still feel we've wronged Ah Chu..."
"She's already dead. What's the use of saying this now?" Her father frowned. "Stop dwelling on it. They told me she'd be given a drink and buried directly, feeling nothing. She wouldn't suffer."
"We had no choice," her mother muttered to herself. "Ah Mao and Ah Liang are almost of age. We're so poor - how could we build houses and find wives for them?"
Her father grunted in agreement, then said quietly, "By the way, those people told me earlier they still need girls for ghost marriages."
"Oh?"
"I heard the county magistrate's son and several of his close friends went hunting and were killed by venomous snakes. Now that the county magistrate's family has arranged a ghost marriage, the other families want to do the same." Her father rubbed his hands, a murky light in his eyes. "Those people said if we could find some other girls, we'd get...another 30% of this silver."
Her mother's expression changed. After pondering for a while, she beckoned and whispered. "Doesn't the blacksmith at the east end of the village always complain about having Gui Hua, a girl? And Er Feng's father is always idle. You could ask him secretly without Er Feng's mother knowing. It might work..."
Outside the window, Ah Chu watched helplessly as her father nodded, put on his coat, and headed directly towards Gui Hua and Er Feng's homes.
