Yet Shijie was right before him, allowing him to brush aside her cascading black hair, revealing her slender, pale neck—so defenseless that he could lean in and lick it, even sink his sharp fangs into the faint blue pulse beneath her translucent skin.
Drink Shijie's…
Shijie's blood.
His desire for her surged like an overwhelming tide, catching him off guard. Unable to restrain himself, he parted his cold, thin lips, his expression dazed as he extended a crimson forked tongue to lick her fair nape.
Ming Yueyi felt something licking the back of her neck and was about to reach back when a young man's voice, laced with restrained panting, sounded from behind.
"Shijie, don't move. It was just my fingertip, smeared with scented ointment, brushing past."
Ming Yueyi lowered her raised hand, thinking he couldn't reach properly because she hadn't lowered her head. She let her jade-like neck droop slightly. "Is this better?"
She asked with her head bowed, unaware that the young man behind her was gazing obsessively, his crimson forked tongue extended.
His eyes flushed with excitement, he responded vaguely, "Mm… much better."
Just as he was getting carried away with licking, Ming Yueyi suddenly stood up abruptly.
"Mm." His chin was bumped, and he swiftly retracted his forked tongue into his mouth, collapsing onto the bed with a soft groan.
"Shijie…"
Turning around, Ming Yueyi saw the young man lying on the couch, his jade-like face tinged with a flush of warmth. The corners of his eyes shimmered with a watery gleam as he looked at her, his fingers clutching weakly at the bedding beneath him—a pitiful sight, as if he had been pressed down and violated.
"Are you alright?" She leaned over, her almond-shaped eyes filled with concern.
Pu Yuemin shook his head when she asked, but a trickle of fresh blood seeped from his pale lips, and more slid down from his nose.
So severe?
Seeing blood spill from his mouth, Ming Yueyi stared in shock. She hadn't expected a mere accidental bump to cause him to bleed.
Had he bitten his tongue?
Ming Yueyi pinched his chin and pressed it down slightly, frowning. "Open up. Let me see."
The young man blinked, tilting his head to gaze at her. Under her watchful eyes, he slowly parted his lips and extended a crimson tip of his tongue.
Ming Yueyi narrowed her eyes, examining it carefully but found no bite marks on his tongue.
Then why was he bleeding for no reason?
Ming Yueyi recalled the first day after returning from Baihua Gu, when he had also bled inexplicably.
"Shijie, it's nothing. It's just that the Spiritual Power in my Lingfu is unstable, clashing with my qi and blood," he explained with a smile. Yet beneath his hazy gaze, a greedy look settled on the veins in her neck. His innate bloodlust made his sharp teeth itch.
Since he was fine, Ming Yueyi released his chin and handed him a plain silk handkerchief before turning to walk toward the window.
Pu Yuemin slowly sat up on the bed, lowered his head to grasp the handkerchief, and sniffed it lightly. His blood-stained tongue transformed into a crimson forked tongue as he obsessively licked the cloth.
Ming Yueyi didn't notice the Demonic Aura fully manifesting in the young man behind her.
She pushed open the window and looked down at the street below.
A wedding procession was passing by on the street.
It seemed ordinary, nothing out of the ordinary.
Ming Yueyi glanced at it a few times, then turned her head to look at the young man sitting primly and unnaturally upright by the couch. "Come here."
Pu Yuemin stood up, the snow-white robe with its excellent drape and the darkly gleaming red satin overlay falling to cover his ankles as he walked slowly to her side.
He gazed down at the street, faint slanted shadows reflected under his eyelids.
Ming Yueyi asked, "Do you hear any sounds?"
Pu Yuemin shifted his gaze from the passing bridal sedan and turned to look at her face, replying calmly, "I hear it. The bride's weeping."
A loud cry, far exceeding the usual sorrowful wails of a reluctant bride, pierced through the clamor of gongs and drums, yet the onlookers lining the streets seemed not to hear it, instead chattering excitedly about which family’s bride this was, marveling at the grand procession.
It was highly unusual.
Ming Yueyi said, “Let’s go down and take a look.”
Pu Yuemin nodded. “Alright.”
Before leaving, Ming Yueyi deliberately left a Liuyindie for He Wujiu, then exited the inn with Pu Yuemin to follow the wedding procession.
It must have been a wealthy family in town marrying off their daughter. As they trailed behind the bridal sedan, Ming Yueyi overheard people around her remarking that this grand wedding had been prepared for several months, and now the bride was finally being married off. The several carts behind were all dowry, though it was said the marriage was ill-fated, going against the natural order.
Another bystander chimed in, “What natural order? This isn’t the first time something like this has happened in our Yunzhen. The authorities have already recorded this custom in writing, and there will be more of it in the future.”
“What exactly is happening?” Ming Yueyi seized the moment to interject.
The speaker turned to look and, upon seeing the youth behind her, fell into a stunned silence, utterly captivated.
Seeing their infatuated expressions, Ming Yueyi knew they were once again mesmerized by Pu Yuemin’s appearance. She patiently repeated her question to the two.
One of them snapped back to attention, stealing glances at the figure behind her, and explained, “You two must be from out of town. This is a custom in our Yunzhen in recent years—every few years, a brother-sister wedding ceremony is held. Today, it’s the young master of the Ming family marrying his elder sister.”
So it was a sibling marriage—no wonder they said it went against the natural order.
After briefly understanding the situation, Ming Yueyi was about to ask more when she felt a gentle tug from behind.
Pu Yuemin softly reminded her, “Shijie, the bridal sedan has moved far ahead.”
Ming Yueyi turned to look. In just the few moments they had been talking, the sedan was already nearing the town gate.
She hastily thanked the two, grabbed Pu Yuemin, and hurried to catch up with the wedding procession.
The youth behind her followed unhurriedly, occasionally glancing down at the paper figures scattered on the ground.
Having fallen behind a few steps, when they caught up again, Ming Yueyi noticed that the lively crowd carrying the sedan seemed to be dwindling one by one. What hung from the sedan were not red flowers but paper figures stacked together to resemble blossoms.
Each paper figure had pitch-black eyes painted on, dressed in red with crimson nails, creating a bizarrely festive appearance.
The once lively scene gradually transformed until only the sedan bearers and musicians remained, followed by rows of paper effigies. The celebratory characters scattered along the road had turned into red paper cuttings.
Ming Yueyi followed behind the sedan, faintly sensing that the sedan ahead was unusually light.
It seemed there was no bride inside—just an empty sedan.
The lead sedan bearer, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, suddenly raised a hand to halt the procession. Turning toward Ming Yueyi in the distance, he drew a whip from his waist and cracked it against the ground.
“The fox is taking a bride. Unrelated parties, leave at once. Do not offend the spirits.”
Ming Yueyi and Pu Yuemin exchanged a glance, then slowly took a step back.
Seeing her yield the way, the sedan bearer looked satisfied, sheathed his whip at his waist, and continued carrying the sedan forward.
Once the sedan had passed by and moved far into the distance,
Ming Yueyi stared at the spot where the sedan had disappeared. As the Spiritual Power at her fingertips dissipated, a faint glimmer flashed in her eyes.
Indeed, she had long known that trouble would find them quickly in Yunzhen.
Huli Quqin.
Ming Yueyi vaguely remembered something about it.
During this trial, He Wujiu had his heart stolen by a fox. By the time he recovered it, his cultivation base had greatly diminished, nearly causing him to fall from his lofty position as the leader of the immortal sect to an ordinary person whom anyone could bully.
However, as the male lead, despite his cultivation base being severely weakened, he was blessed with extraordinary opportunities. Relying on collecting divine artifacts and stumbling upon fortuitous encounters, he managed to regain his status and rise to prominence once more.
Ming Yueyi whispered to Pu Yuemin beside her, "Let's go, we'll follow."
The bridal sedan was carried out of the town, heading instead into the mountains.
The people carrying it didn't notice they were being followed until they stopped before a long-abandoned shrine.
Once the sedan was set down, a man with white hair and a youthful face emerged from the shrine.
There was a faint Demonic Aura.
Ming Yueyi observed the man, detecting a Demonic Aura so faint it was almost imperceptible, and found it peculiar.
He seemed both demonic and not, lacking sufficient Demonic Aura and devoid of any yang energy.
The languid youth leaning against a tree branch nearby seemed to sense her confusion and whispered, "He is human, but a Demonic Evil has parasitized his body."
Ming Yueyi instantly realized that this person wasn't a demon from Futuhai, which explained the absence of the swamp's foul stench—it was merely an ordinary case of demonic possession.
She said to Pu Yuemin, "Be careful not to get your soul captured. Some powerful demons can pull people into a Jiejie."
With that, she turned her attention back to the front, unaware that the youth had suddenly looked up and seen a bride-shaped papercut, drifting from nowhere, land lightly on her before dissolving into a wisp of green smoke and vanishing.
Pu Yuemin stared at the spot where the green smoke had dissipated and smiled.
Outside the shrine, the white-haired, youthful-faced man stood before the bridal sedan, bowing respectfully as he said, "Madam, you may step down from the sedan to meet your groom." Since there was no one inside the sedan, naturally, there was no response.
The man waited a few moments, as if hearing a reply, then straightened up and began chanting, "The bride rejoices, the groom rejoices," before lifting the red curtain.
As a wedding chant spilled from his lips, though he was far away, Ming Yueyi watched the shape of his mouth move and faintly heard what he was saying.
"Pu Yuemin."
Her head suddenly felt dizzy, as if she hadn't slept for several nights. She couldn't help but press her hand to her forehead and glance sideways, only to find that the youth beside her had disappeared.
Something was wrong—they seemed to have been discovered.
By the time Ming Yueyi realized something was amiss, it was already too late. Her eyelids suddenly grew heavy, and her body felt as though it were floating in midair.
The man's wedding chant grew closer and closer, until it was whispered right into her ear, the voice shifting into that of a woman.
"Two families unite in harmony, forever bound as one… Madam, please step down from the bridal sedan. Your groom has been waiting outside for a long time."
As the sedan curtain was lifted, a blinding light flashed before Ming Yueyi's eyes. She clearly heard the cheerful chirping of magpies on branches, soon drowned out by the clamor of gongs and drums.
She abruptly opened her eyes.
What lay before her was no longer the shrine but a freshly dug grave, adorned with wedding decorations bearing the character for "double happiness," announcing that she was in the midst of a Minghun.
"Madam?" The wedding attendant, seeing her sitting motionless in the bridal sedan, spoke up to remind her, "Madam, your groom has been waiting for you for a long time. If you don't come out soon, he'll grow angry and disturb the peace of your household once more. It's best if you step out willingly and show him your sincere desire to marry him."
The wedding attendant earnestly pleaded with the reluctant bride inside the sedan.
Sitting steadily inside the bridal sedan, Ming Yueyi was not unwilling to step out, but rather she felt utterly weak, unable to muster even a shred of strength.
Forget about leaving the sedan—even breathing felt labored, her body as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Seeing that persuasion was useless and noticing the late hour, the wedding matron feared that the auspicious time would soon pass.
"Madam, this humble woman must offend your noble person."
With that, the wedding matron climbed into the sedan and pulled her out.
Upon being touched by a stranger, Ming Yueyi suddenly regained control of her body. Breaking free from the matron, she tore off the red gauze veil covering her face and raised her hands to form a seal, preparing to summon her sword.
Yet after holding the seal for a long while, not only did no sword appear, she couldn’t even sense a wisp of spiritual energy.
Something was wrong.
Ming Yueyi’s heart sank. She had likely become an ordinary person.
The wedding matron had always assumed the bride was a lady of noble upbringing, gentle and serene. Never did she expect such a sudden outburst, with the bride’s fingers intertwining and folding in some unknown gesture.
Stunned for a moment, the matron found her voice and said in a strange tone, "Madam, please stop playing with imaginary string games. If you don’t enter to meet your groom soon, things may take a turn for the worse."
Since she couldn’t use her spiritual power, Ming Yueyi wisely lowered her hands, bowed her head, and replied softly, "Alright."
The wedding matron picked up the bridal veil that had been tossed to the ground and placed it back over her head, chanting loudly, "The bride is joyous, the groom is joyous, double happiness arrives, bringing harmony to the home…"
Ming Yueyi was supported by the wedding matron as they walked forward.
A narrow path wide enough for a person had been opened beside the new grave. The ground was soft, and stepping on it felt like treading on clouds.
After a moment of darkness followed by light, the surroundings suddenly opened up before them.
Through the red gauze veil, Ming Yueyi could clearly see the scenery around her, and her figure stiffened slightly.
Apart from slight differences in furnishings, this place was almost identical in layout to the hidden chamber beneath her Dongfu. For a moment, she felt as if she had returned to her Dongfu.
The wedding matron helped her kneel on the wedding cushion and whispered instructions, "Madam, the groom will arrive shortly. Kneel here and wait to perform the wedding rites. Remember, no matter what you see, do not make a sound. Otherwise, the groom may recall how you abandoned him, and if he goes mad, it won’t end well."
"Yes, I understand." Ming Yueyi knelt gracefully on the large red cushion, her jade-like neck bowed, her voice soft as she responded to the matron.
Finally hearing the bride speak, the wedding matron’s brows lifted with joy. "It’s good that Madam has come to her senses."
The matron placed one end of the ceremonial red ribbon into her hand. "Madam, hold this. The groom will soon come out to perform the wedding ceremony with you."
Ming Yueyi hooked her finger around the ribbon, nodded gently, and appeared utterly docile and compliant.
The wedding matron glanced back at the nine-branched bronze lamp, where the red candle wick flickered faintly. A chill ran down her spine, and she dared not linger any longer. After arranging the remaining items, she hurried away.
Before leaving, the wedding matron closed the only stone door that led outside.
Once the entrance was empty, the previously obedient Ming Yueyi released the red ribbon, lifted her gauze veil, and stood up to survey her surroundings.
It truly was identical to the hidden chamber beneath her Dongfu, except that in the center, instead of a Cauldron, there stood a purple wooden coffin. The tomb’s occupant was named Ming Yi.
The coffin was about nine and a half feet long, just enough to accommodate a tall, slender adult man. Its surface was carved with Golden Lotus patterns, surrounded by red and gold characters.
Ming Yueyi stepped forward to examine the inscribed words.
‘In the twenty-third year of Mingde, in the second month of spring, died of consumption…’
Before she could finish reading, Ming Yueyi suddenly felt a chilling gust of wind rise from behind her. A pair of icy fingers brushed against the nape of her neck, and a young man’s magnetic voice murmured lowly.
"Sister, what are you looking at? Don’t you want to marry me anymore?"
Ming Yueyi turned her head at the sound.
Behind her stood a youth as pale as a drowned corpse, his eyelids drooping and lips colorless, yet his features were strikingly handsome, as if he had just died not long ago, still bearing the expression of a living person.
Ming Yueyi cautiously took a step back.
Upon seeing her face, the youth’s gaze froze, then he stared at her blankly before instantly moving right in front of her.
He gripped her neck with a dark intensity, shrieking in accusation, "Who are you? Where is my sister… You’re not my sister. Where has my sister gone?"
"Sister, sister…"
Ming Yueyi’s ears rang from his clamor. Sensing the hand around her neck tightening, she hurriedly replied, "I’m sorry, I don’t know where your sister is either. The moment I opened my eyes, I was brought here."
"Silence! You must have hidden my sister away. I’ll kill all of you!"
The youth seemed unconvinced by her words. A dark mist gradually shrouded his entire eyes, black and ghostly, while his colorless lips twisted into a grimace, widening as if to swallow her whole.
Ming Yueyi couldn’t summon her Spiritual Power, nor did she even have any strength left. Seeing this scene, her heart sank halfway.
Had she known she would encounter such a thing, she wouldn’t have come to seize He Wujiu’s opportunity.
She wasn’t the male lead, after all, and had no way to survive such peril.
Fortunately, she had come prepared—every ornament on her person was a Dharma Tool.
With great effort, Ming Yueyi raised her hand. Just as the corpse possessed by the demon leaned in, she yanked the jade hairpin from her head and stabbed it fiercely into his eye.
The youth’s eyeball burst, splattering blood across her cheek along with a piercing scream.
Released from his grip, she slumped weakly against the coffin, gasping for breath on the floor.
The youth was still screaming. Ming Yueyi intended to strike him again when a creeping chill suddenly crawled up from her ankle.
Too weak to move, she glanced down.
A white serpent’s tail extended from the coffin she leaned against, while another pair of deathly pale hands reached out from within, seizing her shoulders. Like a pervert stealing a bride, it began dragging her into the coffin right in front of the real groom, murmuring with a faint, eerie laugh.
"Bride… mine."
Who could have guessed that in this haunted place, demons appeared one after another.
Ming Yueyi had exhausted all her strength pulling out the hairpin. Now, she couldn’t muster the energy to retrieve another Dharma Tool, helplessly allowing the unseen demon behind her to drag her into the coffin.