Wedding Night
Ghosts…
Tang Fei’s heart tightened. He started to lose his nerve, but kept reassuring himself. It was only a headless ghost. This prince wasn’t afraid. Not afraid at all.
Just then, the maid from before came over. “What are you all crowding around for? Don’t disturb our master’s rest.”
At the sound of a woman’s voice, a glimmer of hope returned to Tang Fei’s eyes. He hurriedly turned to look at her.
The gorgeous, alluring woman was dragging a long, black snake’s tail behind her.
It coiled on the floor, its scales slick and gleaming.
Tang Fei stared at the tail, then patted his chest. It was only a snake. This prince had eaten plenty of those. It was fine. He was fine.
“Master?!”
With that cry, Snake Beauty stretched out a long, red forked tongue toward him.
Tang Fei sneaked a glance and caught sight of an enormous snake’s head. He shuddered, then couldn’t stop his eyes from rolling back as he fainted.
Snake Beauty flicked her tongue and licked his face. “Stop pretending. I know you’re awake.”
Tang Fei cracked one eye open and secretly studied the three monsters. He still didn’t move.
That’s right. He was pretending. Was the mighty crown prince really supposed to be afraid of a few demons?
The headless ghost set his head down in front of Tang Fei and tested him. “Get up.”
Tang Fei slowly opened his eyes, only to see two green eyeballs, dangling from blood vessels, blinking at him. The words burst out of him before he could stop them. “M-Monsters!”
The three “people” saw his reaction and made no further move. They huddled together and whispered.
“He really isn’t our master.”
“Then where did our master go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Should we ask him?”
“All right. Be polite, and don’t scare him to death.”
“Got it.”
Listening to them, Tang Fei realized they meant him no harm. He sat up straight, hiding how badly he’d panicked, and took the initiative to ask, “May I ask which great immortals you three are?”
The three exchanged glances, then all looked up at him in unison. “We’re no immortals.”
“Then what are you?” Tang Fei asked quickly.
“We’re people,” they answered together.
Tang Fei felt a little better.
Then they added, “Dead people.”
The tuft of hair on Tang Fei’s head nearly stood on end. He fought to keep his trembling hands still.
Stay calm. Stay calm. What hadn’t this prince seen? Afraid of a few dead people? What a joke!
The alluring woman suddenly wrapped her tail around him, her earlier gentleness gone. “Tell us! Who are you, and why are you in our master’s body?”
Tang Fei lowered his eyes to the glimmering scales around him and gave in. “I’m… the crown prince…”
“The crown prince?” All three “people” were stunned.
The woman hurriedly released him and turned to the cat-eared strongman. “Could our master have accidentally switched souls with the crown prince while casting a spell to save him?”
“Quite possible,” the cat-eared strongman replied, twitching his whiskers.
Tang Fei scooted back, putting on a pitiful look as he secretly strained to hear their conversation.
The headless man hugged his own head and nodded. “That’s right.”
“Then what should we do?”
All three “people” turned to look at Tang Fei in unison.
A moment later, they exchanged glances and smiled eerily.
“In a few days, our master and the crown prince are supposed to be married, aren’t they?”
“That’s right.”
“Why don’t we just…”
“Good, good, good.”
Tang Fei watched them from a distance. He had no idea what they’d decided, but a vague sense of impending doom crept over him.
Three days later.
Firecrackers sounded as the Bai family’s daughter entered the palace as scheduled to marry the crown prince and bring him good luck.
Tang Fei never imagined that one day he’d be tied up like a parcel, sitting in a red bridal sedan, on his way to marry himself…
“I’m the crown prince! Mmph, mmph, mmph!” He struggled to speak, but someone had stuffed a sock into his mouth. Yes, a sock.
Outside the sedan, Snake Beauty had taken on the form of an ordinary woman. She kicked the sedan and whispered, “Your Highness, if you want to switch back, you’d better do as you’re told.”
“Mmph, mmph, mmph! I’m the crown prince!” Tang Fei’s voice grew louder and louder.
Snake Beauty was getting impatient. “Make another sound and I’ll eat you.”
Tang Fei’s brows knitted together. He managed to force out a single word.
He just wanted to pee!
After repeated attempts to get the message across went nowhere, he had no choice but to enter the palace with his legs clamped together.
This was supposed to be the grand wedding day of the mighty crown prince.
He never expected to go from groom to blushing bride. It was humiliating. He silently swore, “When this prince gets back, I’ll dry you evil ghosts out and turn you into jerky!”
Tang Fei kicked the door in a fury and was carried into the bridal chamber.
At dusk, just after Tang Fei entered the bridal chamber, he’d barely sat down on the bed when a pair of large hands wrapped around his waist and shoved him onto the mattress.
A faint, sweet scent drifted over.
Tang Fei shivered. Was this guy planning to consummate the marriage? No, no. Was this prince the one who got pinned underneath? Was he?! Even if they were going to do it, he ought to be on top!
Just then, the ropes around Tang Fei came loose. He lifted his veil, spat out the sock, and turned the tables, flipping the newcomer beneath him. “You little punk, trying to take advantage of this prince? You must have a death wish!”
The man beneath him gazed up at him, eyes misty and dazed.
Tang Fei jolted. Somehow, that gaze felt like a pair of knives slipping past his heart, leaving his chest aching faintly.
While Tang Fei was distracted, the man grabbed him by both shoulders, flipped him over, and pushed him back down. Leaning over him, he gently pressed an index finger to Tang Fei’s lips and murmured, “Don’t make a sound.”
Tang Fei came to his senses. Seeing his own achingly familiar face, he couldn’t help smiling.
Handsome. So handsome. No wonder this prince had such a good-looking face.
Tang Fei admired himself in silence, utterly unaware of the danger closing in beside him.
As a wave of chill rolled in beside him, he hurriedly turned to look.
At some point, the dark room had filled with blood-red light. Under its crimson glow, a mass of rotting women’s heads had emerged from the walls.
The heads were packed together like pomegranate seeds. Blood and pus ran from them, their wide-open eyes full of white maggots and their crimson lips stretched into eerie smiles.
“Hahaha… Hahaha… Hahahahaha.”
The shrill laughter echoed around the room.
It scraped at the scalp like a curved blade, over and over, making his whole body crawl.
Tang Fei was horrified. His brows drew together, and though terror chilled him to the bone, he barked, “Which of you idiots dares to cause trouble in this prince’s room?”
“Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha!”
The heads laughed louder and louder.
Tang Fei edged back a little.
The man beside him, however, remained remarkably calm. He leaned close to Tang Fei’s ear, breathed against it, and asked slowly, “What do you see?”
“Heads. Women’s heads.” Tang Fei felt a shiver run through him as he stared at them and answered.
The man’s voice was low and smooth as he asked, “How many?”
Tang Fei had no time to count. He answered at random, “Tens of thousands!”
A faint smile touched the man’s impassive face. “Good. Very good.”
Tang Fei stared at him. Good, my foot! He was about to die!