"…Are you sure that dressed like that, you can really fool them?"
Shen Fu looked at Ji Yanzhi, who was wearing a bright red wedding robe, and found it awkward no matter how he looked at it. Although his muscle definition wasn't very pronounced, his height of over 180 centimeters stuffed into the wedding attire made him look especially… full, as if he might burst the seams at any moment.
On top of that, he had cast an illusion over his face, transforming into the appearance of that young woman—an oval face with willow-leaf eyebrows, cherry-red lips, long black hair reaching her waist, and round apricot eyes that blinked with a mischievous, spirited charm.
But beneath such a face was stubbornly attached a man's body, looking incredibly incongruous—like a meticulously crafted face in a game paired with a free, ugly bottom piece.
Ji Yanzhi looked down at his own attire and said with some helplessness, "This is the largest wedding robe I can conjure, but it's still too tight when worn."
Shen Fu suppressed the urge to laugh and suggested, "Forget it, let me try it on. If you go in looking like that, the ghosts might all get scared to death."
Taking the robe from Ji Yanzhi's hands, Shen Fu didn't bother being shy about it—he took off his outer garment and draped it over himself.
He had expected to look even more ridiculous than Ji Yanzhi, but surprisingly, the wedding robe fit him perfectly, as if it had been tailor-made for him.
Especially around the waist—it cinched just right. One inch more would be bulky, one inch less would be too tight.
Add to that Shen Fu's naturally fair skin—after changing his face, there was no color difference between his neck and face—and he actually looked the part.
"Master…" Ji Yanzhi watched Shen Fu make the wedding robe jingle as he moved, undisguised appreciation in his eyes. "You look really good in red."
"Really?" Shen Fu thought to himself that in his previous life, he had only ever worn green and black, never such a bright color as red. But… a grown man dressing so flashy was indeed a bit strange.
Still, in order to enter the village smoothly, he didn't think too much about it.
Now that the identity problem was solved, a new problem arose.
"So how do we get into the barrier? It's completely sealed—there's no way to force our way through." Shen Fu knocked on the barrier that resembled a glass dome, unable to find any gap at all.
Ji Yanzhi had also changed clothes—an ordinary family's wedding robe, not heavily decorated, looking rather rough compared to the one Shen Fu was wearing.
However, because of his striking face, it made people unconsciously add a filter to the garment. But before Shen Fu could finish admiring it, Ji Yanzhi cast a spell and transformed into the appearance of the groom.
The clothes seemed to lose their color the moment he put on someone else's face. Ji Yanzhi glanced at him a few times, thinking to himself that he was better suited to playing the groom.
"No need to force our way in. According to the village customs, we just need to wait at the village entrance for the matchmaker to come and bring us back."
With that, Ji Yanzhi raised his hand and pointed at himself. "Li Yi, male, twenty years old. His father died early, and he was raised single-handedly by his mother. As one of only two people in the village with a spiritual root, he was taken in by the village's wealthy family—Chen Qingwu's father—from a young age to cultivate alongside Chen Qingwu. Later, the two found they were compatible in temperament and became betrothed."
After introducing himself, he pointed at Shen Fu. "Chen Qingwu, the eldest daughter of the village's wealthy Chen family. Well-educated, intelligent, and exceptionally clever. She once wanted to join the Yaohua Sect under the Immortal Alliance, but because she had a marriage contract, the Yaohua people rejected her, telling her to go home and think it over. Not long after Chen Qingwu returned, she decided to marry Li Yi and never went back to the Immortal Alliance."
Shen Fu listened quietly, noting down the key information.
"But Master, once we're inside, you're welcome to call me 'husband'—that way you won't have to worry about forgetting names and getting caught." Ji Yanzhi suggested this.
The corner of Shen Fu's mouth twitched. He declined.
Just as Ji Yanzhi had said, after the two of them finished dressing, they stood in place for only a short while before a hunched-over old woman could be seen shuffling toward them from the village entrance in the distance.
When the old woman reached the village gate, she too was blocked by the barrier. She didn't seem in a hurry to come out, just stood in place, staring blankly in the direction of Shen Fu and Ji Yanzhi.
It wasn't until she was right in front of them that Shen Fu saw her chest was hollow—a hole the size of a bowl had pierced straight through the left side of her body, yet she seemed completely unaware of it, standing there quietly.
"Let's go, Master. She's the one who's come to pick us up." Ji Yanzhi lowered his hand and took Shen Fu's, leading him toward the barrier.
The moment the two took a step forward, the Ghost-Eyes behind them began to stir restlessly. "Don't! Don't… you can't go in!! Come out, come out quickly!"
Shen Fu glanced sideways at them but didn't stop walking.
Ji Yanzhi led him to stand before the old woman, formed a single hand seal, and as white light flared up, he spoke in a deep voice: "The auspicious hour has arrived. Why hasn't the elder led the newlyweds home?"
The white light flashed, and the old woman seemed to startle awake from a dream, her hollow gaze suddenly locking onto the two of them.
Then, she suddenly grinned, a stiff smile that was utterly eerie. Shen Fu's heart quickened at the sight, and before he could react, a skeletal hand reached out from within the barrier and grabbed his.
"Qingwu's here? Come, let's go home, go home." The old woman gripped his hand. The half of her inside the barrier still had flesh and skin, but the half outside was nothing but bone.
"Let's go, Master." Ji Yanzhi wrapped an arm around Shen Fu's waist and guided him forward.
This time, the two passed straight through the barrier, led by the old woman into the village.
Outside the barrier, the Ghost-Eyes watched Shen Fu's retreating figure with frantic, frenzied intensity. One by one, they scurried to the spot where he had just stood, madly sniffing at the traces he'd left behind. There were so many of them that a single glance would make your scalp crawl.
Even after the two had walked far away, the Ghost-Eyes refused to leave, clustering together in a writhing mass.
A dark shadow appeared from nowhere, seemingly not noticing the pile on the ground, and stepped directly onto it.
Hundreds of Ghost-Eyes burst instantly, dissolving into a pool of pus.
The shadow stared in the direction Shen Fu had gone, a strange light flickering in its eyes. In the span of a few breaths, it passed through the barrier and followed behind Shen Fu.
A gust of cold wind swept past. Sensing something, Shen Fu abruptly turned around.
But behind him, there was nothing but an empty street—no sign of anything unusual.
The old woman led Shen Fu to the living room, which was simply decorated with red cloth. An ancestral tablet sat at the center, flanked by a few plates of dried fruits—dates and longan.
Though the house was humble, the old woman had kept it spotlessly clean.
"Sit, Qingwu. The dowry your father sent—I've locked it all away by your bedside. Here's the key." As she spoke, she fumbled tremblingly at her chest.
But there was clearly nothing there anymore, so she pulled out nothing at all.
"Hm? How strange, it was right here…"
Seeing her growing anxious in her search, Ji Yanzhi immediately stepped forward to steady her. "Mother, don't you remember? You gave the key to me yesterday."
As he spoke, he actually produced a key from his robes. "Here it is."
The old woman let out an "oh" and beamed with delight as she took the key from his hand and pressed it into Shen Fu's. "You hold onto it," she said, then leaned close to Shen Fu and whispered, "Yours is in there too. Look at it tonight. It's not much, but it's this old woman's heartfelt gift—don't you go turning your nose up at it."
"Thank you." Shen Fu tucked the key away casually, but the old woman still gazed at him with eager expectation, as if waiting for something more.
"?"
Shen Fu shot Ji Yanzhi a puzzled glance. The latter mouthed something, and Shen Fu immediately caught on.
"So… Mother, I'm a bit tired. I'd like to rest first. You—"
"Ah!" The old woman cut him off before he could finish, immediately responding, "Rest, yes, you should rest. The bed's all made up. Go on, hurry along now."
It wasn't until the old woman, still smiling, pushed them into the room that Shen Fu realized something was off.
The bed was neatly made—but there was only one, and it was narrow. Two grown men lying on it would have no choice but to hold each other.
And on the bed lay a large double-happiness character, glaringly bright to the eyes.
"Why does my lady stand idle? After days of travel, you must be weary. Allow your husband to help you change." Ji Yanzhi slipped into character quickly, playing his part the moment he stepped through the door.
Shen Fu was about to say, "There's no need to go this far," but before the refusal could leave his lips, Ji Yanzhi signaled with his eyes toward the window.
A narrow gap in the small window revealed a single hollow, lifeless eye, staring fixedly at the two of them.
Perhaps because she was already a ghost, the old woman's face held no color. Her smile earlier had been barely tolerable, but now, with her face grim as she stood outside the door, she genuinely startled Shen Fu.
Ji Yanzhi, however, showed no reaction. He simply walked over and reached out to undo Shen Fu's buttons.
"Will my lady be having her petal bath tonight?" Ji Yanzhi asked, his knuckles accidentally brushing against Shen Fu's neck.
Shen Fu instinctively flinched, but with an eye still watching from outside the door, he couldn't move too much. He could only endure it.
"N-no need. I'm very tired. Let's just sleep tonight."
Shen Fu watched as Ji Yanzhi deftly undressed him, his movements so practiced they seemed born of countless repetitions.
"Just sleep? Has my lady forgotten something?" Ji Yanzhi draped the removed wedding robe over his arm and raised an eyebrow at Shen Fu.
Shen Fu didn't understand what he meant, so he frowned at him, sending a look that asked, "What do you mean?"
Ji Yanzhi pursed his lips, then wrapped an arm around Shen Fu's waist and pulled him firmly against his chest.
The heat of their skin passed through the thin layers of fabric. Shen Fu felt his scalp tingle—two grown men embracing like this was truly awkward.
And moreover, something seemed to be poking him.
Shen Fu's face instantly turned green. He instinctively tried to push Ji Yanzhi away, but was only held tighter.
"On this night of the bridal chamber, with such fine moments at hand—if my lady simply goes to sleep, are you really going to leave your husband to spend the night alone?"
Ji Yanzhi's hand lingered at the hollow of Shen Fu's waist, sending a tingling numbness through him like an electric current.
Shen Fu's scalp was about to explode, but out of the corner of his eye, those eyes were still fixed on the two of them. He couldn't afford to act too out of line.
So he could only steel himself and reply, "Then—then you need to be gentle, I—I've never done this before…"
After saying this, Shen Fu's face burned red.
Ji Yanzhi let out a soft laugh and pressed Shen Fu with him as they tumbled into the bed curtains.
The heavy gauze drapes fell, and only then did Shen Fu catch a glimpse of those eyes outside the window narrowing slightly before disappearing with satisfaction.
"Open your mouth, my dear. This needs to be held in the mouth for a while before it can be used."
Before Shen Fu could even react, his chin was pried open by Ji Yanzhi, who stuffed something inside.