Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Tears of blood on a corpse signify three things: resentment, unwillingness, and regret.

Xue Sheng exhibited no traces of resentment or bitterness; thus, his tears must be of regret.

The group had been in Feng Nian Village for six days. While they hadn't met every villager, they had encountered most, including Gao He, who was shunned as "cursed," and Yang Ruo Lan, who was strictly guarded by the Yang brothers. Through these encounters, they'd discerned some of their intentions.

But Xue Sheng remained an enigma. While they had seen him, they didn't know what the groom of this ghostly marriage felt deep inside - because he was deceased.

All they had seen was his body adorned in burial makeup, devoid of life. Dead men don't speak. Initially, the group had assumed he was just another villain from tales, one who forced innocent women into posthumous marriages.

But if Xue Sheng was truly such a man, why would Yang Ruo Lan consent to this ghostly union?

Under the curious gazes of the group, Xue Sheng didn't sneer at them with a blood-stained grin like Xu Chen did. Instead, he first wiped his lips with his sleeve, displaying the grace and poise befitting a noble. He then silently stood up, observing everyone, remaining wordless.

Min Yuan Dan, however, was indifferent about which ghost had been summoned. After collecting the bowls and chopsticks, he remarked, "All is in order now. Let's return quickly and not delay the performance."

The villagers surrounding them seemed puzzled by Xue Sheng's presence, holding back their words. They appeared to have questions for Xue Sheng but didn't find the right moment, especially after Min Yuan Dan's statement about not missing the performance.

Upon reaching the dressing room at the theater, Aunt Li was taken aback upon seeing Xue Sheng. She was the one who had done his burial makeup, and moreover, Xue Sheng's body should still be resting in the Xue residence, awaiting the ghostly marriage with Yang Ruo Lan the next day.

"...Xue Sheng?"

Aunt Li whispered hesitantly, calling out Xue Sheng's name.

Yet, Xue Sheng remained in a daze, not responding to his name or looking up. Min Yuan Dan handed him a script, and he opened it, seemingly engrossed in reading.

"He's remarkably obedient. Tonight's performance will undoubtedly go smoothly," Min Yuan Dan said cheerfully, laughing, "Had I known, I would've invited other 'persons' from the village to perform earlier."

Aunt Li did not chime in. Probably fearing they'd miss the performance, she quickly applied theatrical makeup to Xue Sheng while he was engrossed in the script.

Once Xue Sheng had changed into his theatrical costume and all preparations were made, they realized it was nearing midnight – almost time for their performance. The group quickly gathered in the waiting area near the stage.

In the absence of villagers, Aunt Li, and troupe leader Min Yuan Dan, Xue Sheng suddenly knelt, lifting the front of his costume, and pleaded, "Honorable sirs, please save Ruo Lan!"

Xue Sheng's cheeks no longer bore the bloody tears they first saw. With his theatrical makeup, he seemed less daunting, but his sudden gesture still startled the group.

Observing him closely, they wondered if his earlier demeanor in the dressing room had been an act.

Without waiting for a reply, Xue Sheng bowed deeply, humbly beseeching, "I beg you, sirs, take Ruo Lan away from Feng Nian Village."

Directly across from him, Duan Ying responded instinctively, "Take her away? Don't you wish to marry Yang Ruo Lan?"

"I did."

Xue Sheng spoke with a touch of melancholy, lifting his head to meet their eyes with a sorrowful gaze, "But that was when I was alive. Now that our paths have diverged, how can I hold her back?"

The group was taken aback by Xue Sheng's words.

As Xie Yin Xue initially mentioned, Xue Sheng indeed sought something from them. But they hadn't anticipated that his wish would be to cancel the ghostly marriage, just as they couldn't have foreseen Yang Ruo Lan's desire to accompany Xue Sheng in death. Both their choices were unexpected.

"Could there be two ways to clear this level?" Lu Ling pondered, "One by helping Yang Ruo Lan fulfill the posthumous marriage, and the other by fulfilling Xue Sheng's last wish and taking her away from Feng Nian Village?"

"But their desires conflict," Liao Xin Yang voiced his concern, "What if we fulfill Xue Sheng's wish and Yang Ruo Lan disapproves? If we aid her in the marriage, it goes against his wish. How do we determine if we've successfully 'saved their union'?"

Liao Xin Yang's questions echoed everyone's reservations. If the mission's theme was "Saving the Union," and it revolved around Xue Sheng and Yang Ruo Lan, how should they proceed when the pair's desires were at odds?

Moreover, did they genuinely have a means to honor Xue Sheng's final wish?

"To be honest, we approached Yang Ruo Lan earlier, suggesting we could take her away tomorrow, but she declined," Lu Ling informed Xue Sheng, "She only wishes to be with you."

Ying Yi Shui voiced her concern, "Indeed, we can't possibly knock her out and forcibly take her away, can we? Especially with the Yang brothers guarding her so closely, we don't even have an opportunity to approach her."

Xie Yin Xue raised an eyebrow subtly, adding softly, "Moreover, we can't defeat them."

During the "Offering Grains to Ghosts" ceremony at night, he had kicked many ghosts without any backlash. This was because Feng Nian Village itself was steeped in superstition, and abiding by certain local customs offered protection from evil. Thus, all the ghosts in the scenario were fair game, fitting the setting's narrative. However, the same could not be said for humans. Hence, the Yang brothers couldn't be attacked, and likewise, when they faced other villagers, the outcome was the same.

This meant that if they couldn't finish their performance on stage, they would undoubtedly be killed by the villagers, defenseless even with any weapons the old participants might bring.

Under such circumstances, how would they "rescue" Yang Ruo Lan from the Yang brothers?

Yet, when Xue Sheng heard this, he immediately retorted, "No, both Brother Yang and Younger Brother Ruo Ming must think like I do. They absolutely wouldn’t want to see this ghost marriage completed. They... once tried to help Ruo Lan and me elope from Feng Nian Village."

He then slowly recounted his history with Yang Ruo Lan: "Ruo Lan and I fell in love two years ago, just after I returned to the village from studying abroad..."

While Yang Ruo Lan had always lived in Feng Nian Village, never leaving this small fishing hamlet, Xue Sheng had not.

The Xue family was the wealthiest in Feng Nian Village. Thus, when Xue Sheng was seven, Old Master Xue sent his youngest son to study outside the village. It wasn't until he returned home at around twenty-two that he met his true love, Yang Ruo Lan.

However, Old Master Xue had always hoped that Xue Sheng would marry the daughter of a business associate from another town, so he would never approve of Xue Sheng's relationship with Yang Ruo Lan.

The Yang brothers, on the other hand, were very supportive of their relationship, hoping the two could be together forever. They did this not out of greed for the Xue family's wealth, but because Xue Sheng could take Yang Ruo Lan away from the backward and superstitious village.

Hence, the Yang family helped them plan an elopement, even giving them all their savings to fund their escape.

However, no one expected that before the elopement, Xue Sheng would fall ill with a severe cold. Within just three or four days, it claimed his life.

Ironically, after Xue Sheng's death, Old Master Xue proactively approached the Yang family, offering a hefty dowry, hoping they would allow Yang Ruo Lan to marry his deceased son.

Feng Nian Village had a long-standing tradition of ghost marriages. If a male villager, regardless of age, died unmarried, his family would try to arrange a posthumous marriage for him. Every family believed that having a solitary grave in the family plot would bring bad luck to their descendants.

If ordinary families were so cautious, what more the wealthiest family in Feng Nian Village, the Xue's?

"If Brother Yang and Younger Brother Ruo Ming are keeping a close eye on Ruo Lan, they must be worried she'll do something reckless. My father told Ruo Lan that I was calling her name before I died, even grasping his hand, begging him to fulfill our marriage... but I didn't!"

Xue Sheng said with a start, "Indeed, I always thought of her, but I never once uttered her name aloud."

At that time, Xue Sheng knew his days were numbered.

Lying on the gradually cooling bed, he pondered who would take Yang Ruo Lan away from the village after his passing. As his body grew colder, he didn't dare to whisper the name of his beloved, fearing his father would hear and arrange a ghost marriage with Ruo Lan.

But while his father might ignore his wishes in life, no one could hear his pleas in death.

In the end, Old Master Xue did propose to the Yang family. Using deceit, he coerced Yang Ruo Lan, who grew up in Feng Nian Village and was familiar with the ghost marriage custom, into accepting the proposal. After all, deeply in love with Xue Sheng, if the ghost marriage were his last wish, how could she refuse? Furthermore, her death would bring wealth to her family, ensuring a better life for her brothers.

Upon hearing this, Xu Lu exclaimed with surprise, "But when we first went to the Yangs', I clearly heard Yang Ruo Ming telling Yang Ruo Lan to think about their family."

"You didn't hear everything," Xue Sheng responded, shaking his head. "I was there too. What Ruo Ming actually said was, 'You always think of the family. Why don't you ever think of yourself?' Both he and Elder Brother Yang hoped that Yang Ruo Lan would reject the Xue family's marriage proposal."

Li Lu Ming murmured in realization, "So, Yang Ruo Lan was deceived..."

Lu Ling pondered for a moment, still finding himself somewhat puzzled, "But that still doesn't fully explain why the Yang brothers were so wary of us."

"Perhaps the Yang brothers weren't wary of us, but of the members from the Jin Yuan Bao theatre troupe," Xie Yin Xue suddenly chimed in.

Lu Ling asked, puzzled, "What would they have to be wary of regarding us?"

"That's a question for Young Master Xue—" Xie Yin Xue took a couple of steps toward the stage, then turned to face the audience, "Why are we performing for them?"

By "them", she was referring to the ghost brides seated below the stage.

The only certainty among them now was that the Jin Yuan Bao troupe's true purpose for coming to Feng Nian Village was to perform for these ghost brides; the villagers had one condition: the performance had to move them to tears. Furthermore, Yang Ruo Lan told Xie Yin Xue that only if they performed well would her marriage to Xue Sheng proceed.

This performance titled "Saving the Love Bond" seemingly revolved around Yang Ruo Lan and Xue Sheng, but was intrinsically tied to everyone present. What made it so unique?

All eyes converged on Xue Sheng, awaiting his answer.

After a brief pause, Xue Sheng admitted, "...I don't know."

Lu Ling exclaimed in surprise, "You don't?"

"Yes," Xue Sheng affirmed, "All I know is that every year around this season, the village experiences ghostly disturbances. So, every year the village chief invites a theatre troupe to perform. After their performance, the disturbances cease."

Xue Sheng's frail health was the result of a traumatic ghostly encounter during his childhood. After turning seven, he left for studies and rarely concerned himself with Feng Nian Village's affairs.

Had he not met Yang Ruo Lan after his return, he would have accompanied Old Master Xue to celebrate the new year and then continued his pursuits elsewhere, not intending to stay long in Feng Nian Village.

After pausing and scanning the faces of those present, Xue Sheng added, "Last year, the village also invited members from the Jin Yuan Bao troupe. However, the performers were different."

"These performances always took place at midnight. I've never attended one due to my fear of ghosts. Whenever the villagers return from a show, they only discuss the play's emotional depth and the beautiful melodies, never anything else," Xue Sheng said with a wry smile, "I had no idea these plays were actually for the ghosts."

Given Xue Sheng's words, everyone was inclined to believe him, especially since they also noticed that the villagers of Feng Nian Village rarely, if ever, mentioned words related to "ghost", "death", or "corpse". When they discovered Xue Sheng's body, they merely said they "saw Xue Sheng" rather than "found Xue Sheng's body." Similarly, when they invoked Xue Sheng's spirit, the villagers merely inquired about his purpose, avoiding any mention of his death.

Hence, the villagers would never say that the annual plays were for the ghosts.

Since Xue Sheng wasn't particularly informed about the ghost brides, pressing him further wouldn't yield much. Xie Yin Xue then suggested, "The performance for tonight is about to begin. Let's deal with tonight's play first. As for Yang Ruo Lan—"

He paused briefly, then continued, "I think you should meet her in person. Speak your heart to her and try to change her mind."

"I will," Xue Sheng declared with conviction. He then bowed in gratitude to everyone, "Thank you all for allowing me to appear. I promise to help you all complete tonight's performance successfully."

Everyone was pleased to hear that.

If Xue Sheng were to go mad like Xu Chen did the previous night, they might be killed by the villagers tonight, not even surviving until tomorrow.

However, even after Xue Sheng replaced Xu Chen in tonight's role as the monk from Jin Shan Temple and they successfully completed "Saving the Love Bond", the ghost brides in the audience remained as still as tombstones, showing no reaction or making any sound.

"They still didn't cry..."

The villagers surrounding the seating area exchanged anxious glances, wondering aloud, "Why aren't they crying? What do we do now?"

"It's your fault—" The village chief of Qing Feng, now with a menacing look, swept his gaze over the stage, pinning the blame on them, "You didn't perform the play well!"

Min Yuan Dan clasped his hands in front of him, feigning distress but actually taking some schadenfreude pleasure, remarked, "But we didn't make any mistakes in our performance."

"Not moving the audience to tears is the biggest mistake. They must cry!" The village chief of Qing Feng, not taking any heed of Min Yuan Dan's words, glared at them with a look filled with loathing, restraining himself from acting only because he needed them for one more day's performance, "Tomorrow is your last chance..."

Seizing the moment, Xie Yin Xue interrupted, "If they don't cry, will you die?"

The village chief's gaze snapped to Xie Yin Xue.

Meeting his stare unflinchingly, Xie Yin Xue continued in a declarative tone even though she was asking, "Isn't that right?"

Only such an explanation would make sense of the villagers' deep attachment to the play.

However, the village chief chose to ignore Xie Yin Xue, turning his attention to Xue Sheng with a softer tone, "Ah Sheng, you're one of us. You should help figure out a solution too."

Xue Sheng initially intended to feign ignorance as he did with other villagers and Aunt Li earlier. He remained unresponsive until the village chief's latter words struck a chord, causing his expression to shift, "Look at how much your father loves you, going to great lengths just to ensure you and Ruo Lan can be together. The villagers have also been supportive of your wedding. Can you bear to see them die?"

"But I never wanted this ghost marriage," Xue Sheng replied, his gaze fixed on the village chief, his voice filled with anguish, "Mr. Chief, ghost marriages are outdated customs. It's one thing not to dissuade my father, but why actively encourage it?"

"Encourage it?"

The village chief and the villagers, upon hearing Xue Sheng's words, bristled with anger, accusing him of slandering them. Old Master Xue emerged from the crowd, looking at Xue Sheng with disappointment, "Didn't you always want to be with Yang Ruo Lan? I've granted your wish, what more do you want?"

Xue Sheng retorted sharply, "That was when I was alive! If I died, you should've let me go alone!"

"You're always thinking about yourself. Have you ever considered the rest of the family?" Old Master Xue pounded the floor tiles with his cane and clutched his chest in distress. "How can the Xue family's burial ground have a lone grave? It would ruin our family's centuries-old feng shui!"

Lady Xue, Xue Sheng's mother, quickly stepped forward to support and comfort the elderly man, "Calm yourself, my lord. Think of your health..."

Witnessing this, Xue Sheng, regardless of the myriad of thoughts he wanted to convey, held back his words, fearing that further agitation might worsen his father's condition.

Once stable, Old Master Xue, leaning on his cane, lamented with sorrow, "I shouldn't have sent you to study abroad... It's muddled your thinking."

Xue Sheng's gaze swept past his father and the village chief to the blood-red ghost brides behind them. Previously indifferent to the village's affairs, he suddenly grasped the origins of the ghost brides. With trembling lips, he whispered, "But you all... you've all gone mad..."

The distraught Xue Sheng was subsequently escorted backstage by the group.

The participants stared at the despondent Xue Sheng, looking at each other in disbelief, never expecting to be in a position to console a ghost.

Ying Yishui stepped forward to comfort him, but Xue Sheng suddenly snapped back into focus, declaring determinedly, "I can't let Ruo Lan become one of them!"

Before he could continue, the backstage curtain was lifted. All eyes turned to see Yang Ruo Lan's elder brother, Yang Ruowen, entering the tent.

Xue Sheng, looking at him in surprise, uttered, "... Elder Brother Yang?"

"I came to watch the performance tonight because Aunt Chen told me that the new performer joining the Jin Yuanbao troupe was you," Yang Ruowen's eyes fixed on Xue Sheng as he continued, "I wanted to understand why you'd join them, but I didn't expect to witness a dispute between you and Old Master Xue."

"Joining in wickedness?" Xue Sheng echoed in confusion, failing to understand why his earlier description of the villagers was now applied to him by Yang Ruowen.

Yang Ruowen further inquired, "Don't you know why the village performs 'Saving the Love Bond' every year?"

Xue Sheng shook his head, "I'm not aware."

Yang Ruowen glanced at the other participants and noticing their shared look of bewilderment, asked, "None of you know?"

Xie Yin Xue smirked in response, retorting, "Xue Sheng is a local, and he doesn't know. We've only been here for six days. What makes you think we would?"

Standing beside her, Bu Jiuzhao also cracked a smile, whispering in Xie Yin Xue's ear, "Are you truly unaware?"

However, Xie Yin Xue simply ignored him.

Seemingly displeased by her indifference, Bu Jiuzhao raised an eyebrow, prodding further, "I noticed that when Old Master Xue said, 'You're always thinking about yourself', you seemed momentarily flustered. Has someone said something similar to you?"

Yet, the young woman remained silent, her gaze still lowered.

After a few moments of silence, Yang Ruowen finally spoke up, "It's to ward off evil spirits."

Yang Ruowen was already thirty-two this year, older than Xue Sheng by half a generation. But the custom of putting on plays for the brides of ghost marriages in Fengnian Village started the year he was born. It's unclear when this tradition began, but it was known to be a method prescribed by a master to counteract malevolent forces.

That master had remarked that due to the excessive ghost marriages in Fengnian Village, the Yin virtue was being depleted. Only by staging plays for the ghost brides could the village alleviate their resentment and restore peace.

Yet, until Yang Ruowen turned six, the village staged these plays for ghost brides every two years, not annually as is the custom now.

"When I was six, the theater troupe the village hired performed for three full days. But for three consecutive days, they messed up their lines and didn't perform well. After the third day, people in the village started dying," Yang Ruowen said, looking down with a distant gaze, "My father passed away that year, and at that time, my mother was pregnant with Ruoming."

From that point on, the custom in Fengnian Village of staging plays for ghost brides every two years was changed to an annual event. The number of ghost brides was ever-increasing, and biennial performances could no longer suppress their mounting resentment.