Chapter 3: Bridal Chamber

Chapter 3: The Bridal Chamber

"What did you mean by saying it's fortunate there's no moon tonight?" Sang Xu asked.

Han Rao replied, "Kid, it's obvious you haven't stepped outside during the day. This village has an old rule: 'No lighting candles after dark, no meeting people under the moon. The temple enshrines the Heavenly Maiden; worship her with blood offerings. Don’t look back when crossing the bridge; return home within ten days.' You were outside earlier, did you notice any lights in the houses? If lights are lit, strange things will appear. I'm not sure exactly what, but I advise you not to be too curious, or you might go from a handsome lad to a goner, and we won't be able to save you."

Indeed, as they walked, the entire village was shrouded in an eerie darkness. Sang Xu turned to look; the windows of their gathering point were tightly covered with curtains, and the candlelight inside couldn't escape.

"'Return home within ten days'—could it be referring to us?" Shen Zhitang mused, stroking her chin. "We can only stay in each dream for ten days, which perfectly aligns with 'return home within ten days.' This dream is only F-level; dreams of this difficulty usually have very obvious survival hints. Do you think the way out might be hidden in these lines of the ancestral precept?"

Everyone began brainstorming. Ye Xin raised his hand to speak: "I feel the key is 'crossing the bridge.'"

An He agreed, "How about we go out tomorrow during the day to see where this bridge is?"

Han Rao made a decision: "Time waits for no one. Tomorrow we'll split up. The four of us veterans will explore four directions. Kid, you'll be responsible for wandering around the village and asking if there are any strange legends here. Often, clues are hidden in these odd tales. Also, if you see talismans, black dog blood, copper coins, or the like, collect them. These things can ward off evil; we'll definitely need them later."

After the tasks were assigned, everyone went to rest. The gathering point wasn't large, and sleeping spaces were limited. Sang Xu could only perch on a stool. Outside, there was still no moon; the night was a deep black, pressing down like cast iron on their brows. But no one wanted to go out to find a more spacious place to sleep; everyone felt safer crowded in this cramped gathering point.

The next day, at dawn, everyone went out to explore and find the bridge. Sang Xu walked out of the fence and found that the village, which had been deathly quiet last night, seemed to come alive. People occasionally walked along the road carrying hoes, and an old man pulled a manure cart, collecting manure buckets from house to house. Sang Xu looked around and noticed that the village's layout seemed different from how it appeared at night.

Just after stepping out, he saw an old man standing at the end of the dirt road, hands behind his back, quietly watching him. Frowning, Sang Xu walked over and stopped a few steps away, saying, "Grandpa."

The old man asked, "Why didn't you consummate the marriage?"

"The bride is a corpse," Sang Xu said.

The old man's face twitched. "You're clueless; you don't understand. Come, follow me home."

Sang Xu asked, "Why marry a corpse?"

Seeing him unmoving, the old man waved at him. "Come home with me, and I'll tell you."

"Say it here," Sang Xu refused to go back.

Who knew if there were traps at home?

The old man gave him a helpless look, tremblingly returned home, and after a while, slowly walked back out, holding a red paper. He handed it to Sang Xu. "You're foolish, your fate is weak, and you hit your head as a child. Grandpa won't live long; I can't watch over you anymore. You're the last child of the Sang family. If I don't settle you properly, I'll have no face to see your deceased parents. Grandpa went to the graveyard to ask our ancestors to help me watch over you."

Sang Xu opened the red paper—it was a marriage certificate.

"Today, Zhou and Sang unite in marriage, the ceremony is complete, a covenant is made, a blessed bond is forever tied, the red thread was early bound, a match is declared..."

Engaged:

Husband: Zhou Xia

Wife: Sang Xiaoguai

"Xiaoguai, your birth date and name are written on the marriage certificate; you can't go back on it now." The old man patted his head. "Don't be afraid; the ancestor isn't complete. As long as he isn't complete, nothing will happen. He's different from those nasty things; he shares our origin, just exists in a different form. The ancestor has a bad temper, but he quite likes you."

Sang Xu: "..."

What kind of feudal superstition was this? How could this old man marry his grandson to a ghost?

Wait, marry?

He then realized he was the wife. Yesterday's bride corpse was male, no wonder it was taller than him.

"I won't marry," Sang Xu firmly opposed.

"It's not up to you," the old man shook his head with a smile.

Seeing his smile, Sang Xu had a bad premonition. Before he could dodge, a villager suddenly appeared behind him and knocked him out with a rolling pin. Before he fell, he heard vague, heavily accented words in a thick local dialect—

"Why hit him so hard? Don't make Xiaoguai more foolish."

"Old man guarding the home, he's already foolish enough. Where should we take him?"

"Take him to the bridal chamber—"

Consciousness sank like a stone into the deep sea, constantly descending. In his daze, a pair of hands embraced him, carrying him along with the currents. Then, more pale arms appeared, exploring every inch of his territory.

Terrified, he struggled frantically, trying to break free from these wild, algae-like limbs. But the more he struggled, the tighter he was bound. He felt the deepest part of his body being pierced; pleasure and fear peaked simultaneously.

Forcing his eyes open, beneath the churning waters, he saw a massive shadow lurking in the depths of the sea.

Mysterious and terrifying.

Beyond words.

After just one glance, his mind felt as if struck by a hammer, immense pain. At that moment, a pale hand covered his eyes. His vision returned to darkness, the terror seemed to fade, the pain receded like a tide, and he fell asleep again...

Sang Xu woke up abruptly. He lay naked in a coffin, his body covered in red handprints and rope marks, still wet, especially around his buttocks, which were covered in strange mucus. Suppressing his fear, he climbed out; the mucus dripped down his thighs to his ankles. Looking around, he found himself in a graveyard. The graveyard was overgrown with weeds, and a tombstone stood at the head of the grave, inscribed:

Tomb of the Lord of the Clan's Ancestor, the Late Zhou Junxia

This was Zhou Xia's grave!?

Looking down, his clothes were folded inside the coffin. He picked them up, dressed quickly, and noticed a sandalwood ashes urn in the coffin. Taking a deep breath, enduring the faint pain in his buttocks, he climbed out of the grave and walked along the mountain path. After walking for who knows how long, he ended up back at the graveyard. Gritting his teeth, he chose another direction. Fifteen minutes later, he returned to Zhou Xia's grave again.

Inexplicably violated by a ghost, and now he couldn't leave this graveyard—this dream was indeed a nightmare.

"What do you want?" Sang Xu hoarsely asked the tombstone.

The mountain forest was silent, not even a bird call; no one responded.

Zhou Xia couldn't possibly want to keep him here forever, could he?

Sang Xu's gaze fell on the ashes urn in the coffin.

He suddenly had an idea. Climbing back into the coffin, he took out the ashes urn. The lid wasn't sealed tightly; it slipped off when he picked it up, and he saw a Nuo mask placed on the pale ashes—the same one the bride wore yesterday.

In the daylight, the mask was ancient and exquisite, brightly colored, yet indescribably eerie.

Sang Xu closed the lid, held the ashes urn to his chest, and walked out. This time, he successfully returned to the village without turning back. Looking down at the ashes urn, he understood Zhou Xia's meaning: he wanted him to carry his ashes.

Probably only waking up for real will free him from this male ghost. Sang Xu sighed.

Before dark, Sang Xu sneaked back to the old man's house. Observing from outside, the old man seemed to be out, not at home. He entered, found a cloth bag, and put the ashes urn inside. Peeking into the old man's bedroom, he noticed the room smelled of decayed wood, and there were incense and candle fragments on the floor. Sang Xu frowned, observing. Last night, he heard chewing sounds from the bedroom; could the old man have been eating incense and candles?

Did the old man have pica?

Sang Xu frowned, not wanting to investigate further, just wanted to stay far away from the old man, to avoid being tied up and violated by strange things again. As the sun set, Sang Xu hurried back to the gathering point before dark. Everyone had returned one after another and was surprised to see him in such a disheveled state.

Han Rao said, "Were you chased by ghosts again? That shouldn't be; those things usually only appear at night, especially in the first few days of the dream."

Sang Xu waved his hand, "I took a spill."

"What's in your bag?" Shen Zhitang asked curiously.

"It's the ashes of my ancestors," Sang Xu replied flatly. "The grandfather of this life's identity said tossing them at crucial moments can ward off evil spirits."

Shen Zhitang's eyes lit up. "Now that's a handy thing to have."

Suddenly, a chilling chuckle echoed right beside Sang Xu's ear.

Sang Xu flinched and snapped his head up. "Did any of you hear something strange?"

"No," everyone replied, looking puzzled.

Han Rao patted Sang Xu's shoulder reassuringly. "In an environment like this, it's normal to be paranoid. But I still have to give you some advice: control your emotions and stay calm. In this dream, the more you lose it, the quicker you die." He paused, then asked, "Did you find out anything during the day?"

Sang Xu shook his head.

Ye Xin muttered, "You didn’t just slack off, did you? How could you not have found out anything?"

Not wanting to tell them he’d been violated by a ghost, Sang Xu simply said, "Sorry."

Han Rao looked somewhat displeased but didn’t say anything else.

Everyone compared notes. The village was called Guimen Village, and there were three wooden bridges nearby, all built for crossing. They had each tried walking across them, but after a few miles, they’d hit a ghost wall and circled right back. The village was like a prison—completely inescapable. Those bridges didn’t do squat; even when they stepped onto them, they couldn’t break through the ghost wall.

If the Ancestral Precept was the clue, then these three bridges likely weren’t the ones they were looking for.

With no progress, everyone felt disheartened.

Sang Xu said, "Maybe we’re searching at the wrong time."

"What do you mean?" An He looked over.

"I get the feeling," Sang Xu frowned, "that the village’s setup is different during the day and at night. I walked around outside last night, and I remember the dirt road outside our meeting point ran north-south. But during the day, it’s east-west."

At that, Han Rao remembered too and cursed, "Damn it, no wonder something felt off outside. The road’s direction changed."

"Also," Sang Xu asked, "did any of you find the Heavenly Maiden temple mentioned in the Ancestral Precept?"

Ye Xin shook his head. "No, there’s no Heavenly Maiden temple in this village."

"Not that there isn’t one," Han Rao realized, "but maybe some things only appear at night."

At this, everyone shared a nervous look.

If Sang Xu and Han Rao’s analysis was correct, they’d have to make their move at night.

But… Sang Xu opened the door and looked outside.

The moon hung high in the sky, pale and icy, like the bloated face of a corpse.

There was a moon tonight—not the best time to go out.

Author's Note:

Only 3 chapters in and we’re already getting steamy—moving faster than any of my other stories!