The female performer had just finished her announcement when the male performer pulled out a dagger and plunged it straight into his own chest. Blood sprayed out, and he collapsed to the ground. My heart jolted violently—surely this wasn't for real? But seeing that the female performer hadn't broken character, I figured it must still be part of the act, though his movements were far too realistic. A chill wind swept in from the courtyard entrance, sending a cold shiver down my back and raising goosebumps all over. I stared intently at the stage, my peripheral vision scanning the eight-immortal tables around me. Soon I noticed that a stone weighing down yellow paper money on a long bench had fallen to the ground, and the paper money itself was being lifted by some invisible force. The stack didn't scatter—it flew whole from the bench onto the table. As time passed, the yellow papers on all the surrounding benches flew onto the tables by themselves. I understood then: the female ghosts invited last night had all taken their seats. The temperature around me began to drop, and I couldn't stop shivering. A cold, suffocating pressure weighed on my heart. On stage, the female performer had now thrown herself over the male performer, wailing in an extremely shrill voice that was utterly terrifying to hear. Meanwhile, the old man and the woman—one playing the erhu, the other blowing the suona—accompanied her mournful cries. My scalp tingled numbly; I kept feeling as though someone was touching me all over, yet the space around me was completely empty. Aside from the empty tables and chairs, I couldn't see those female ghosts at all—and I didn't want to see them either. I could only lower my head, hoping time would pass quickly. "Clap, clap, clap, clap…" I don't know how long it took, but suddenly applause erupted from all around me out of nowhere. I looked up; the Guixi performance had ended. The female performer spoke again in that shrill voice: "The play 'The Widow Visits the Grave' has concluded. Next is the second performance, 'The Yin Wife and Yang Husband.' The groom is already among the assembled deities, and his birth details have been presented. If any of you find him suitable, please accept the betrothal gift and become his yin-yang spouse. If not, thank you all for coming." After speaking, she retreated backstage, and everyone else—including Grandfather and Grandfather Hu—withdrew as well. As they left, they extinguished all the lightbulbs and oil lamps. The courtyard plunged into darkness instantly, with only faint moonlight falling. My teeth chattered as I cautiously surveyed the empty surroundings. I could clearly sense over a dozen nearly translucent figures encircling me, accompanied by faint breathing sounds. The suffocating oppression was worse than death. And what was even more absurd was that I, a twelve-year-old child, was being ogled by fourteen female ghosts—if any of them took a liking to me, I'd have to marry her. At that moment, whispers arose all around me—soft and slow, yet piercingly sharp, carrying a bone-chilling cold that struck at my very mind. Many ghosts were speaking, but I couldn't make out a single word. Just hearing the sound made my whole body tremble. This wasn't a sound meant for human ears—it was even more terrifying than the ghostly wails in horror movies. The stage had gone completely silent. I was nearly on the verge of collapse from fear, cold sweat pouring down my body. I stared fixedly at the jade ring on the table, praying it would be taken quickly. Rather than being surrounded by a dozen ghosts, I'd rather face just one. "Thump, thump, thump, thump" In the dead silence, a series of knocking sounds suddenly came from the table, startling me so badly I jumped straight up from the bench. And around the jade pendant, over a dozen ghastly pale hands suddenly appeared—their fingers slender, but all their nails pitch black, glinting coldly in the moonlight. It was utterly horrifying.
As I jumped up, two hands landed on my shoulders, pressing me back down onto the bench. "G-G-Grandmothers… what… what is the meaning of this…" I stammered, on the verge of collapsing from fear. These hands, all severed cleanly at the elbow, had slowly lifted off the table and were now reaching toward me from every direction. "An extreme yin Eight Characters Mingge, I want it…" "I want it, no one has made offerings to me in decades…" "No, this little boy is mine…" "All of you get away, I died young, he's mine…" "In that case, let's tear him apart and share…" "…" Terrifying voices sounded all around me. Listening to them, I nearly fainted from fright. Especially that last sentence—I think anyone in this situation would be scared out of their wits, yet I managed to hold onto a shred of sanity, stammering: "W-What… what exactly do you… do you mean?" This sanity was thanks to being thoroughly terrified on Grave Mound Mountain last night, and also to Zhao Yixian's words earlier, which had steadied my nerves considerably. If not for that, I would have already fainted by now. "Little boy, it means they've all taken a fancy to you." Zhao Yixian's playful voice suddenly rang out from the stage. Seeing Zhao Yixian, I gasped for air, feeling somewhat calmer. Before I could speak, Zhao Yixian suddenly said in a cold voice: "There's only one groom, you can't all have him. The prettiest one stays, the rest of you get lost." I looked at Zhao Yixian in disbelief, wondering how she could be so bold. What was even stranger was that the moment Zhao Yixian said this, of the dozen or so hands, only one remained, while the others all withdrew and vanished into thin air. "Hehehe… you're mine now." Another terrifying voice reached my ears. Was this the voice of the prettiest female ghost Zhao Yixian had mentioned? "Do you have the strength to deal with the snake demon with five hundred years of cultivation?" Zhao Yixian's voice rang out again, clearly directed at the female ghost. The female ghost was taken aback, and before she could speak, Zhao Yixian said directly: "If not, then get lost. Don't block the way here." "I'm sorry!" The female ghost actually said sorry, which was unheard of, and then left directly. As she left, I finally got a clear look at her. Her eyes were large, but she had no eyebrows. Her mouth was stretched wide open, with a bright red tongue hanging out. What made me even more disgusted was that this female ghost was indeed bleeding from all seven orifices. And what disgusted me even more was that when I saw her, I also smelled an extremely foul stench of rotting corpses. "Ugh~" I vomited on the spot. This was supposed to be the prettiest one? If the prettiest one looked this terrifying, what did the not-so-pretty ones look like? Hearing my retching, the light bulbs on the stage finally flickered on. Grandfather rushed over from the backstage at once, looked at the table, and let out a sigh of relief before saying: "Yuhuan is gone, looks like you've found yourself a ghost bride."
"Mm, once Zi hour passes and Chou hour approaches, we'll send the child to the bedroom," Grandpa Hu said, picking up the conversation. I also looked at the table—the jade ring that had been there was gone, but hadn't those female ghosts just been scolded away by Zhao Yixian? I wiped the remnants of vomit from the corner of my mouth, having no idea what had happened, and began searching for Zhao Yixian with my eyes. But the strange thing happened again—where in this courtyard was there any trace of Zhao Yixian? The other four members of the opera troupe walked over and looked at the table. The troupe leader said, "Mm, it succeeded. A female ghost accepted your betrothal gift." "Troupe leader, where's your granddaughter?" I asked hurriedly. "Granddaughter? What granddaughter?" the troupe leader asked, puzzled. "Zhao Yixian!" I said, somewhat anxious. If not for her, I'd probably have been torn to shreds by those female ghosts just now, yet she had vanished. The troupe leader furrowed his brow and said, "Who is Zhao Yixian?" "She's the fairy sister who came with you all," I said frantically. Seeing the troupe leader's reaction, I felt even more devastated inside. "Came with us? There were only four of us when we arrived," the troupe leader said directly. I looked at Grandfather in disbelief, and he nodded, saying, "This opera troupe really does have only four people." "But before the performance started, Zhao Yixian was chatting with me, and I clearly saw you wave at her to come over," I said to the troupe leader. The troupe leader frowned, thinking for a moment, then said, "I was waving just now because it was too hot—fanning my face and checking on your condition at the same time. No… no, wait. If you're saying that, could it be that our troupe has gotten tangled up with something unclean? Boss, settle our payment—we need to leave." Grandfather was taken aback and was about to speak when Grandpa Hu grabbed him and said, "Brother Zhao, let them go first. With something like this happening, they need to get back and deal with it as soon as possible." Grandfather nodded and went into the house to get the money. The troupe of four quickly left our home, cursing their bad luck as they went. As soon as the troupe was gone, Grandpa Hu quickly asked, "Tell me everything that happened—what's the deal with this Zhao Yixian?" I hurriedly recounted the events, though I didn't mention the intimacy Zhao Yixian and I had shared last night. After listening, Grandpa Hu fell into deep thought, then suddenly stood up sharply and said, "Damn it, that troupe is doomed. Brother Zhao, call them back right away!" Grandfather seemed to understand as well and frantically grabbed his phone to make the call. I asked Grandpa Hu what was going on, and he said, "That Zhao Yixian you mentioned—she might be a snake spirit in disguise. She came ahead of time, and her cultivation is even deeper than those female ghosts. She scared them all off. Those female ghosts naturally won't accept that, thinking Zhao Yixian was brought by the troupe. If they discover that the snake spirit isn't among the troupe members heading back, they'll take their lives." My heart jolted, and I blurted out instinctively, "Impossible—how could Zhao Yixian be a snake spirit? She saved me just now, and she even took my jade ring. Grandpa Hu, didn't you say that taking my jade ring means she's agreed to marry me?"