Forbidden Read!
Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Ghosts Hold Weddings, Crown Prince Rides on Wedding Stretcher

Should he grab it or not?

Xie Lian remained calm. After all, he had not finished thinking about everything. Did he have to continue acting strong and unshakable despite facing difficulties? Or does she have to pretend to be a newlywed who is currently really scared, a coward who is about to step back and try to hide?

The owner of the hand was quite patient and elegant. Xie Lian did not move, so the hand did not move either, as if the owner of the hand was waiting for his answer.

After a while, as if he had been possessed by a demon, Xie Lian actually extended her hand.

He stood up and was about to get rid of the curtains blocking the door so that he could get off the stretcher. However, the person outside was already a step ahead of him and had already raised the red curtain. The person who came was holding Xie Lian's hand, even though she didn't hold it too tightly, as if afraid that she would hurt him unintentionally. This creates the illusion that the person is very careful.

Xie Lian's head slightly lowered. He allowed the person to guide him before slowly leaving the palanquin. When he looked down, he saw a pile of wolf corpses and slave bases at his feet. They looked like they had been strangled to death by Ruoye's silk cloth. Xie Lian's mind slightly changed before she stumbled slowly. With a shocked gasp, his body began to stagger forward.

The person who came to him immediately put his hand on Xie Lian's back to help her. So, he managed to capture Xie Lian's body before falling down.

Since he was helping her, Xie Lian took the opportunity to grab the person's wrist easily. However, he only felt something cold and hard. It turned out that the person who came was wearing a pair of silver vambraces.

These vambraces are very beautiful and beautiful. There are ancient patterns that decorate both. Maple leaves, butterflies, and sinister beasts were carved on it. The two vembraces actually looked mysterious, unlike something that came from the Central Plains. Instead, it actually looked like an antique from a small exotic tribe. The vambraces are coiled around this person's wrist perfectly, making him appear smooth and nimble.

Ice-cold silver, pale hands. It looked lifeless, however, it also seemed to contain evil intentions and a murderous passion.

Xie Lian was actually pretending to fall, intending to test the person out. As of now, Ruoye was still hiding in her wide sleeves while slowly twisting herself on Xie Lian's wrist, waiting for the moment to pounce. However, the person who came to her was only holding her hand once more before returning to guide her path.

On one side, Xie Lian's head was still covered in a veil, so she couldn't see clearly. On the other hand, he also wanted to buy time. That was why Xie Lian deliberately walked so slowly. However, unexpectedly, that fellow actually equated his pace with Xie Lian and walked very slowly as well. Every now and then, that person's hand would prop up and pull him up, as if he was afraid that Xie Lian would fall back down.

Even though Xie Lian was extremely vigilant and on guard, when she saw how this person treated her, she couldn't help but think, "If this person really is the ghost of the groom, then, he's really being very gentle and very considerate."

At that moment, Xie Lian suddenly heard a very clear clanking sound. Every time the two of them took a step, that very clear voice would be heard once. Just as he was thinking what sound it was, the roar of a restrained savage beast suddenly sounded from all directions.

Wild wolf!

Xie Lian's body moved slightly as Ruoye on her wrist suddenly tightened.

Who knew, before he could do anything, the person holding his hand lightly patted his hand twice as if he was comforting him and telling him not to worry. The two claps were light enough to be considered a very gentle move. Xie Lian was a little surprised before she realized that the slow roar had disappeared. As he tried to listen to her again closely, Xie Lian suddenly realized that the wolf was neither roaring nor growling. Instead, they whimper.

Those sounds were clearly the sounds issued by beasts when they felt so frightened. The whimpering that the beasts let out when they could no longer step, the crying in their final moments before they died.

Xie Lian's curiosity about this person became even stronger. Right now, he just wanted to take off his veil and look at that person before he did anything else. However, he knew that the action was not something appropriate. Therefore, Xie Lian could only peek through the small gaps in her veil before she tried to piece together the small images, even though she failed to get the big picture.

With that fleeting glance, Xie Lian looked at the tip of the red robe. And under that red robe was a pair of black leather boots. They were currently walking with relaxed steps.

This person's move was rather careless, mixed with a light and quick push at each step. It makes him look like a very excited teenager. However, he walked as if he had a strong purpose in his mind, making him seem unstoppable. Anyone who dared to block his path would only be crushed into dust. This made Xie Lian unable to determine exactly what kind of person this young man really was.

While he was still guessing in his mind, something white and terrifying suddenly appeared in his vision.

It was a skull.

Xie Lian's steps paused for a moment.

With just a glance at it, Xie Lian could tell that there was something wrong with the position of the skull. Clearly the skull was in the corner of some kind of spiritual array. If someone touched it, Xie Lian was afraid that the entire array would launch an attack. However, with this step of the person beside him, it seemed like he did not realize there was something there. Xie Lian was just thinking about whether she should tell this teenager or not when she heard the 'ka-cha' sound'. Accompanied by such a tragic crumbling sound, Xie Lian watched blankly as the foot of this person next to her stepped on the skull and smashed it into dust.

Then, as if he did not see or feel anything, the person indifferently stepped on the dust of the skull and continued walking.

Xie Lian: "..."

This fellow was truly with just a single step..destroying this entire array into useless dust...

At that moment, the footsteps of this person beside him suddenly stopped. Xie Lian's heart moved quickly, thinking that the boy would do something else. However, the teenager only paused for a moment before he again guided her walk. After two steps later, the sounds of falling objects echoed softly from above their heads, like the sound of rain hitting an umbrella. It turned out that just a moment ago, the teenager opened the umbrella before holding it over the heads of the two of them.

Although now was not the time to think about this, but Xie Lian could not help but praise this teenager for being so thoughtful. But he felt a bit strange. Is it raining?

Within the silent and dark mountains, within the forest filled with weeds― deep in the depths of the mountains, a group of wild wolves faced the moon and howled. Xie Lian did not know if it was because the slaughter party had just happened, but in the cold air, the scent of blood slowly began to smell.

The situation and the scene both captivated the demons. However, this teenager grasped his hand with one hand and raised the umbrella with his other hand while slowly guiding him forward. For no reason at all, it makes their journey seem romantic and friendly, like they are falling in love sincerely and inseparable.

The strange rain came in a strange way and left in a strange way as well. It didn't take long before the sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella disappeared. The teenager also stopped. It seems like she has gotten rid of her umbrella. At the same time, he finally let go of Xie Lian's hand before walking a step closer to her.

The hand that grabbed him and brought him here lightly touched his veil before lifting him up slowly.

Xie Lian had been waiting for these moments during their trip here. She did not move at all as she looked at the red veil that was stuck in front of her eyes slowly disappearing—

Ruoye silk fabric moving!

It was not because the teenager had revealed killing intent. Instead, Xie Lian intended to take the initiative and attack first. They could have a good chat after that person could not move.

Who would have thought that after Ruoye's silk cloth flew, it carried a strong gust of wind. The scarlet veil slipped out of the teenager's hand, flying upwards before falling down once more. Xie Lian only had time to look at the shadow of a teenager dressed in red before Ruoye made a move to attack.

Unexpectedly, the teenager suddenly shattered into thousands of silver butterflies. They spread out into silvery light shards, looking like a gleaming and dazzling stellar wind.

Although this was truly not the right place and time, Xie Lian could not help but admire the scene after she took two steps back. The scene was truly too beautiful, as if it was a fantasy scene that could only be seen in one's dreams.

At that moment, a silver butterfly flew leisurely in front of him. Xie Lian did not manage to examine it closely before the butterfly flew around it twice. After that, the butterfly fused itself back into the glittering stellar wind, turning into part of the silvery light that filled the sky. With the flapping of their wings, thousands of butterflies flew upwards.

After a while, Xie Lian finally regained her senses from being stunned. In his heart, he wondered, "So in the end, is the teenager the ghost of the groom or not?"

In his opinion, he continued to feel that this teenager was not the ghost of the groom. If he was the ghost of the groom, then the wild wolf at Mount Yu Jun should have been his subordinate. But if that was the case, why did the wolves get scared when they saw him? Moreover, the spiritual array they saw on the road when they came here should have been an array created by the ghost of the groom. However, the teenager had just casually smashed the array into trash.

On the other hand, if the teenager is not the ghost of the groom, why would he come to rob his bridal palanquin?

The more Xie Lian thought, the more strange this situation became in her mind. Xie Lian threw Ruoye's silk cloth onto her shoulder as she thought, "Forget it. There was also the possibility that he was someone who happened to pass by. For the time being, put the teenager aside. The reason why I'm here is more important."

Xie Lian looked around before letting out a surprised voice. In the distance, there really is a building. Standing there, it looked unattractive and forbidden.

Ever since that teenager brought him here, and since the building had been carefully locked in this puzzling array, it was already a must for Xie Lian to step in and look at it.

Xie Lian took a few steps forward before she suddenly stopped. He thought for a moment, before turning around and picking up the wedding veil lying on the ground. While patting the dust that was there, he held the veil in his hand before walking back to the building.

The red walls of the building look quite tall, with bricks that appear mottled. In fact, the building looked similar to an old temple to a god in a city. Moreover, based on Xie Lian's experience, the structure of the building allowed that it was a temple of a martial god. Sure enough, Xie Lian raised her head and saw three large words engraved on the metal at the top of her front door. The words there are written:

"Ming Guang Temple!"

Northern region martial god, General Ming Guang. The god Ling Wen mentioned the last time they communicated through a spiritual communication array; general Pei whose incense sticks were burned prosperous in the North. No wonder they did not find the Ming Guang Temple around and instead found the Nan Yang Temple instead. It turned out that the Ming Guang Temple in this area was inside Mount Yu Jun. However, this temple had long been locked by a puzzling array. Could it be...is there a connection between the ghost of the groom and General Ming Guang?

However, this General Ming Guang, could be said to be someone who was arrogant about his success and haughty because of his power. In addition, its position in the North was also very stable. Xie Lian personally did not believe that such a martial god would be willing to engage with evil beings like the ghost of the groom. On the other hand, something like maliciously letting evil beings occupy their place when they are unaware of anything, is not something strange. While regarding the truth behind it all is, it is better to make a conclusion after investigating more things.

Xie Lian walked over. The temple door was closed but not locked. So, it opens right away after just one push. After he opened the door, a strange smell pierced his sense of smell.

Not like the smell of dust found in a place that has long been uninhabited. No, this smell is like a faint stench.

Xie Lian walked in and closed the front door, making it seem as if no one had entered the temple. In the center of the main hall, a divine statue was located on the offering altar. Naturally, this divine statue depicted the martial god of the North, General Ming Guang.

Many humanoid objects, such as, statues, dolls, and paintings, are all something that is easily infected by evil influences. Therefore, the first thing Xie Lian did was to walk forward and carefully examine the Divine statue.

After a long time of noticing, Xie Lian's conclusion was: this divine statue was modeled extremely amazingly. The statue appeared to be holding a double-edged sword as well as wearing a belt made of jade on his waist. In addition, the statue also has a handsome face and looks impressive. There was no problem at all with this divine statue. Moreover, that stench also did not come from this statue. Thus, Xie Lian stopped watching him and turned around. He decided to head to the back of the main hall to take a look.

However, the moment Xie Lian turned around, she froze in place as her pupils shrank.

A group of women wearing deep red wedding dresses and covered in veils stood rigidly before her.

Moreover, the faintly smelling stench emanated from the bodies of these women.

They were truly seventeen brides who were lost in the territory of Mount Yu Jun!

The red color on some of the wedding dresses worn by some of the brides seemed rather faded, and the clothes themselves looked worn and old. Those brides should have been the ones who went missing first. On the other hand, some wedding dresses worn by other brides seem new. The style of dress is also popular at this time. In addition, the smell of rotting corpses emanating from them was quite light. Those brides should have been the ones who disappeared recently. Xie Lian thought for a moment before opening the veil of one of the brides.

The face under the red veil looked extremely pale. The color of his skin was completely white, in fact, it looked somewhat green. Illuminated by the dim moonlight, he looked extremely frightening. However, the most frightening thing was that, even though the woman's muscles had stiffened after her death, on that stiff and twisted face, she still smiled stiffly.

Xie Lian took off the veil of the woman next to her. Again, the woman's mouth curled the same smile.

In fact, everyone who died in this room wore a wedding dress while smiling even in their deaths.

Next to his ears, Xie Lian seemed to start hearing the voice of the child who was previously singing the same strange song as before. "The newlyweds, the newlyweds, the newlyweds on the red wedding palanquin.The eyes are filled with tears, past the mountain mound, under the veil does not hold the rising smile..."

Suddenly, he heard a strange sound that seemed to be coming from outside the temple.

A really weird sound. Very strange, it was hard to describe what the voice sounded like. Actually, it sounded like two sticks were knocking on the floor when rolled up with a thick cloth. It also sounded like something heavy was attached to the moving object, making him drag something heavy on the floor with great difficulty. The voice started to sound from a distance but moved very quickly. In an instant, the voice had already sounded like it was outside the front door of the temple. With a long 'krieet' sound, the door of the temple was pushed open.

Regardless of whether it was someone who came or something, it was most likely that he was the ghost of the groom. And now, the creature is back!

There was no exit at the end of the main hall, and there was nowhere for him to hide. Xie Lian only thought for a moment before she saw the brides standing beside her. Immediately, she covered her head with her bridal veil again before standing inside the group of brides, becoming silent and motionless.

If there were only three to six corpses here, then naturally it would be easy for others to see something wrong with just a single look. However, there were currently seventeen corpses here. Unless one counted them one by one like Xie Lian did, it would be very difficult for that person to immediately realize that someone was hiding there.

He had just placed himself in the middle of the bridal party when he heard the footsteps of something entering the room.

As Xie Lian stood there motionlessly, she began to think what sound it was. In the end, what is it? With a pause between each sound, it sounded like one's footsteps. However, what kind of creature had such a move? It was definitely not the teenager who brought me here. The teenager walked in a very unhurried and pleasant manner, and the clattering sound of bells accompanied his steps.

Suddenly, Xie Lian thought of something. His heart immediately stiffened. It's bad! Different height!

After all, all these corpses were female bodies. And he is a real man! He was naturally much taller than these corpses. Although no one knew that there were additional people in this group at first glance, but it would be easy for them to notice that there was someone who looked extremely tall.

But after thinking about some other things, Xie Lian calmed down again. He's pretty tall. But, the young girl, Little Ying, simply combed her hair into a simple hairstyle. He did not do much with his hair.

On the other hand, these brides were all dressed up. Their hair was combed so high that the strands were practically towering upwards. In addition, thanks to the phoenix crown they wore, the top of their heads became a larger, taller piece. If all that were added, these few brides would probably not be shorter than her. Even if he was tall, it wouldn't be too flashy.

As she thought that, Xie Lian once again heard the clattering of steps she heard earlier. This time, it seemed to be only two zhangs[1] away from its location.

[1] Each of them is ten feet in Chinese size, each about 3.3 m.

After a while, he again heard the clattering of steps. It sounded like the voice was even closer to him now.

Xie Lian finally realized what the ghost of the groom was doing.

He was lifting the veil of each bride to examine the face of the bride's corpse one by one!

"Bang!"

If he doesn't move now, when is the right time? Ruoye's silk cloth flew before grazing onto the ghost of the groom.

Then, Xie Lian heard a loud noise before a black fog started to fill the room. He did not know whether the fog was poisonous or not. Since he did not have any spiritual power protecting his body, he immediately stopped breathing as he covered his nose and mouth with his hands. At the same time, he urged Ruoye's silk cloth to dance and make a breeze, in an attempt to dissipate the fog there quickly.

Suddenly, he again heard the sound of footsteps. Xie Lian narrowed her eyes before she saw a short and small shadow pass through the front door of the temple. With the temple doors wide open, a lump of black fog started to move out towards the forest.

Xie Lian made a quick decision before she immediately chased after the creature. Unexpectedly, he had yet to step far outside the temple when, within the forest, flames soared into the sky. From a distance, a group of screams filled with killing intent floated in the air. "Let's go!"

The voice of a young man sounded bright. "Capture that ugly creature and help our people get rid of evil! Capture ugly creatures and help our people get rid of evil! As for the matter of gifts, we can divide them evenly among us!"

He was the young leader he met in front of the teahouse. Xie Lian started to complain in her heart. This group of people had previously said that they would conduct a search on the mountain. Unexpectedly, they actually came! Originally, their arrival would be fine as there was a bewildering array covering the entire mountain range. However, that array had already been destroyed by that juvenile! These blind cats actually found a dead mouse; thus, they actually found the ghost of the groom!

Xie Lian looked again. The direction in which those people were located.It seemed like a coincidence was the same direction as the direction that the ghost of the groom was passing through!

Xie Lian took Ruoye's silk cloth and rushed there. He started yelling, "Stand there and don't move!"

Everyone there paused for a moment in surprise. Xie Lian wanted to continue speaking as the youngster solemnly began to ask, "Young lady, you have been captured by the ghost of the groom and forced to Mount Yu Jun, right? Whatis yourname? We came here to save you, you can calm down now!"

Xie Lian was startled for a moment by those ridiculous words. Then, she finally remembered that she was wearing a wedding dress. There were no mirrors in Nan Yang temple yet, so he had no idea how he looked right now. However, based on those reactions, the young girl, Little Ying was apparently quite good at what she was working on. That was because, after those people were shocked, they started treating her as a real bride. Moreover, the youngster might have wished that he was the seventeenth bride, so it would be easier for him to pick up the gift.

But, in any case, he could not let these villagers roam all over the place in this condition. But he also couldn't guarantee that the ghost of the groom's ghost bride still hadn't escaped. Fortunately, at this moment, two black-clothed teenagers finally caught up. Seeing them, Xie Lian immediately shouted. "Nan Feng, Fu Yao, come quickly and help me!"

Unexpectedly, after the two little martial gods turned their heads following Xie Lian's voice, the two of them began to stare blankly at him. Then, simultaneously they took two steps back. Xie Lian had to call them a few times before they finally reacted.

Seeing that, Xie Lian asked, "You guys came from there, right? Did you guys find anything on your way here?"

Nan Feng replied, "We don't!"

Hearing that, Xie Lian said, "That's good. Fu Yao, quickly follow this path and conduct a search. Look around and make sure the ghost of the groom hasn't escaped."

After Fu Yao heard this, she immediately turned around and left. Xie Lian continued, "Nan Feng, take care of this place and make sure no one is allowed to leave. If Fu Yao did not manage to find the ghost of the groom in the mountains, then the ghost of the groom must be hiding among this group of people!"

When they heard Xie Lian's sentence, all the burly men were stunned. The young man had already realized that he was not a woman, so he was the first to speak. "Nobody can go? Why should we listen to you?! There is no law in this country! Everyone, don't listen to them..."

The youngster had not even stood up properly when Nan Feng stretched out his palm. Suddenly, a tall tree with a thick trunk broke into two pieces and fell to the ground. Everyone there immediately remembered that the teenager would attack before his sentence was finished. If they were cut in half like the pillars he had smashed before, then paying them with money was not even worth it. So everyone is silent.

The young man spoke again. "You're saying the ghost of the groom is in this group, so he should be in this group? Everyone here has a first name and a last name! If you don't believe me, come here and use the fire to light our faces! Check us one by one!"

Xie Lian said, "Nan Feng."

Nan Feng took out the torches held by the young man and started examining them one by one. Everyone's eyebrows were covered in sweat. Some people looked tense, some people felt confused. Some look excited, some look very lively. Xie Lian could not see the cause. So, he walked to the front of the group and said, "Everything. Forgive my previous disrespect. However, I had injured the ghost of the groom, and he got away. But he must not have gone far. These two little friends of mine didn't find her on the street when they came here, so I'm afraid she might be hiding among your group. I have to make it difficult for everyone to pay attention to each other. Examine everyone's face, and make sure there's no one you don't know here."

When they heard that the ghost of the groom might be in their group, everyone immediately felt their blood cool down. They did not dare to be careless as they began to look at each other anxiously. Next, they start playing the game 'you see me, I'll see you'. After they stared at each other for a while, suddenly, someone shouted in a strange tone. "Why are you here?"

Xie Lian's heart skipped a beat as she rushed over and asked, "Who is that?"

The youngster snatched the torch the other person was holding before illuminating the corner. He shouted, "This ugly girl!"

The person he was pointing at was really... Little Ying's. Under the light, Little Ying's face with a crooked nose and her narrowed eyes looked somewhat twisted and stiff. As if he could not bear being caught so conspicuously, he raised a hand to cover his face from everyone's gazes. Then, he began to speak, "I. I just can't feel at ease, so I decided to come and take a look..."

Seeing how he was shaking in fear, Xie Lian took the torch in the young man's hand before asking everyone. "How's it?"

Everyone started shaking their heads. "There's no one we don't know."

"We've seen everyone here before."

Nan Feng asked, "Could it be that the creature is attached to someone's body?"

Xie Lian thought for a moment before replying. "That's impossible. That thing's solid."

Nan Feng reminded him. "But, the creature was already at the 'Entertainment' level'. It's hard to tell whether the creature can change its shape or not."

As the two of them were feeling doubtful here, the youngster was the first to start shouting. "The groom's ghost isn't one of us! You also saw it clearly, didn't you?! If you see it clearly, then let us go!"

The scattered voices began to echo his words. Xie Lian turned her gaze towards those people before saying, "Everyone, please stay in front of the Ming Guang temple, don't go."

Everyone wanted to complain, however, when they saw Nan Feng's hard and serious expression, no one dared to. At that moment, Fu Yao returned and reported, "The creature is not around the temple."

Hearing that, Xie Lian stared at the crowd in front of the Ming Guang temple. Then, he declared, "Then the ghost of the groom must be among this crowd."

Seriate...