The Ghost Bride

"I will stop this. I will kill Jingwei and rescue the dormant Hua from within Her body."

"Then, we'll go home together."

Li Mo looked down at the six human skins on the ground, making a silent promise.

"This tragedy will not happen, whether for personal reasons or for humanity."

A gust of wind scattered the six withered human skins.

Li Mo headed towards the foot of the mountain. Without the Seven Swords of Taixu's control, the ghosts of the Heavenly Path would roam freely, starting with Shenzhou and spreading outwards.

By the time the rest of the world realized what was happening, Shenzhou would already be a living hell.

His task was to find the source Bizzare Entity and eliminate it before that happened.

He had to stop the spread completely, returning the world's fate to its rightful inhabitants.

For a fleeting moment, a dark glint reflected in Li Mo's clouded eyes.

He had one more thing he had to do.

"The Seven Swords of Taixu didn't tell me what I'd find in the town below. They probably weren't even sure of their own memories, only knowing that there was something important that needed to be done there."

"Qin Suyi's urgency likely has something to do with the source Bizzare Entity on Taixu Mountain."

"Time is running out."

Li Mo raced down the Heavenly Path at an astonishing speed, never stopping.

To Changle's group at the beginning of their ascent, such actions would have seemed suicidal, attracting the attention of demons.

But Li Mo knew that daytime was when ghosts were relatively inactive compared to night.

Even if there were ghosts active during the day, their rules were mostly incomplete and easily suppressed.

The Bizzare Handgun's mystical flames could suppress most ghosts with incomplete rules.

"..."

The Bizzare Handgun looked ancient, its rusted and damaged parts seeming to whisper untold secrets.

If he had the chance, Li Mo wanted to complete the rules imbued in this gun.

A rule that could suppress other rules… if it could be used against complete ghosts, it would save him a lot of trouble.

At least against most Bizzare Entities with physical forms, Li Mo could come and go as he pleased.

As he pondered, Li Mo reached the foot of the mountain.

The Heavenly Path, which normally took days to traverse, had only taken him a few hours.

Since the Seven Swords of Taixu had just died, the ghosts on Taixu Mountain hadn't lost control yet, not immediately roaming down to the town. He hadn't encountered a single ghost on his descent. The situation was relatively stable.

This meant he still had a short window to seek the other half of the truth.

Li Mo had considered jumping directly from the summit to save time.

That would have been fine in his thrice-dead state, but in his twice-dead state, falling from such a height would simply turn him into an irrecoverable pile of mush.

"Arrived."

Soon, Li Mo reached the entrance of the town. He hadn't been here before, only identifying it from Changle's description.

After all… there were no other buildings around.

The bustling crowd wore diverse clothing.

Li Mo wasn't a history expert, but he wasn't illiterate either.

The architectural styles and the clothing of the townspeople clearly didn't belong to the same era.

As warm sunlight bathed the streets, the town seemed to erupt in celebration of a special "joyous occasion."

Buildings on both sides of the street were adorned with festive decorations. Red and green lanterns hung high, and colorful ribbons fluttered overhead.

Shops displayed exquisite goods: dazzling fabrics, beautiful ceramics, vibrant silk clothes, all in bright, auspicious colors.

It was a picture of prosperity.

People walked together, chatting and laughing enthusiastically.

In the central square, the sound of gongs and drums filled the air. Dancers with painted faces moved gracefully to the cheerful music. The audience clapped and cheered.

The whole town seemed immersed in a festive atmosphere.

"Their excitement is worryingly high," Li Mo muttered.

Often, noise and clamor concealed the filth and darkness hidden in the shadows.

From his perspective, it was indeed a lively celebration.

The thermometer showed normal readings, and his Bizzare Bud left hand remained calm, indicating no immediate threat.

Standing among the noisy crowd, he couldn't sense the slightest trace of the Bizzare's characteristic chill.

Li Mo tried to read the expressions of the people around him but found nothing unusual. They looked natural, normal.

The buildings, too, were brightly decorated, obscuring their original forms. Unless he tore down the decorations, he couldn't tell if the structures themselves were logical.

"Huh?"

Li Mo noticed the crowd parting, their eyes shining with envy as they watched a bright red sedan chair approach.

The path was strewn with colorful flowers.

"A sedan chair. So it's not a festival, but a wedding of a wealthy family. No wonder it's decorated so festively."

"I just don't know whose wedding it is."

Li Mo looked around. The decorations were indeed for a wedding ceremony. [Hun Li (昏礼) is the traditional term for a wedding ceremony, often performed at dusk, hence the character for 'dusk' (昏).]

Several strong men carried the sedan chair, moving slowly but steadily.

People made way as the sedan chair passed.

Li Mo didn't know much about ancient wedding ceremonies, but he knew there were several elaborate steps, culminating in the groom fetching the bride from her home.

Then came the three customary bows.

Usually, the couple would then enter the bridal chamber for… certain activities.

From then on, they would be inseparable…

Of course, hearts could change. The ancient Book of Songs warned of this.

At the coming-of-age feast, laughter echoed, vows were sworn, never thinking of betrayal.

Even the most sincere vows couldn't withstand the erosion of time.

Perhaps they had truly intended to be together forever.

But past, present, and future represented different states of a person, perhaps even different people.

But Bizzare Entities were different.

After contamination, their rules only intensified, deepened, worsened.

If a wife became a Bizzare Entity while loving her husband, her twisted affection, though extreme and grotesque, would undoubtedly grow stronger.

Contamination was like a spark landing on an endless prairie.

Once ignited, it would spread, consuming everything, leaving the original landscape scarred.

But could anyone say the prairie was no longer a prairie?

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The sound of gongs and drums was deafening.

"Something's wrong."

Li Mo quickly noticed something amiss. After he had stood there for two minutes, the sedan chair changed its course, heading directly towards him.

A coincidence? Or…

"..."

Instinctively, Li Mo scanned his surroundings, looking for anything unusual, any Bizzare presence.

But he found nothing. Only noisy people and ordinary buildings behind him.

So the sedan chair was heading for him.

Li Mo suddenly remembered something and looked up again. Inside the bright red sedan chair, a woman sat rigidly.

The wedding procession was missing its most crucial person.

Where was the groom?

There was no one on the leading horse, only a few servants guiding it.

"I need to leave."

Li Mo decided, trying to melt into the crowd and slip away unnoticed.

But no matter how hard he commanded, his legs seemed frozen to the ground, refusing to move.

Not just his legs, his entire body resisted his commands, even feeling an urge to step forward.

Had he triggered something?

When?

An instant-death rule? Or something else?

Before Li Mo could figure out when he had triggered the rule, the sedan chair accelerated.

When he regained focus, his head uncontrollably turned, forcing him to look directly at the bride.

Pale, slender jade-like hands, like winter frost, unnaturally white.

She sat like a doll, motionless, her chest showing no sign of breathing.

Even in his twice-dead state, Li Mo couldn't hear a single breath.

Clearly, the bride hidden within the sedan chair was not alive, possibly even a ghost bride.

But why was she coming for him?

What rule had he triggered? When? Why was she seeking him instead of the groom?

Li Mo was certain he hadn't made eye contact with anyone, and his actions had been cautious, unremarkable.

He had observed the locals' behavior before making any move. If such actions triggered a rule, everyone in town should have been captured long ago.

Yet, it was he, the most cautious one, who had fallen victim.

There was no time to think. Li Mo's body moved involuntarily out of the crowd. The welcoming party members enthusiastically dressed him in a festive red wedding robe.

The ornate robe fit… surprisingly well.

Li Mo wanted to resist, but his body wasn't under his control. He could only watch himself being dressed.

He couldn't use his Bizzare Coins or Handgun. He couldn't even run. His body seemed controlled by a Bizzare force, pulling him into the wedding ceremony.

Li Mo glanced inside the sedan chair.

The woman wore a red veil, her figure graceful, sitting upright, completely still.

If this was a death trap, then Qin Suyi, with her human consciousness and memories, wouldn't have urged him so strongly to come here.

As for why she hadn't warned him, it was likely because the upcoming ceremony itself was a taboo subject.

Speaking of it would lead to their immediate deaths.

So, Li Mo had to discover the truth himself.

Li Mo considered. He wasn't sure if this was part of the Seven Swords of Taixu's plan, or if he had simply triggered some rule accidentally.

As he contemplated, his body walked to the horse. With an effortless leap, he mounted it. The wedding procession resumed its normal route.

Willingly or not, Li Mo had become the main character of this wedding ceremony.

--- Half a Day Earlier ---

"Ah… so boring. Saori, do we have to keep waiting? It's been over three months, and there's still no sign of him."

"All we do every day is scout around and cut my hair…"

Inside the inn, Shigure Kira lay lazily on the bed, staring at the ancient ceiling, asking Saori Tsuruyo.

She wore her Valkyrie battlesuit, but it was unkempt. Her ice-blue hair, usually neat, now cascaded down to her heels, tangled and messy.

Ever since leaving St. Freya Academy, her rapid hair growth had been a constant annoyance. It grew incredibly fast… if she didn't pay attention for a day or two, it would reach the floor.

It got dirty easily and, more importantly, interfered with fighting.

So every morning, Shigure Kira had to use her greatsword to cut off the excess hair.

"But this is the only place we know of that seems strange."

"Captain, you must have noticed too. Many groups have passed through this town in the past three months. Not long ago, there was a large group of thirty or forty people wanting to climb the Taixu Mountain Heavenly Path, seeking the Immortal's blessing."

"But we've been here for three months, and in all that time, we haven't seen anyone come down from the mountain," Saori Tsuruyo stated calmly, a pen and paper ready on the table beside her to record information.

The first line noted the date. They suspected they had traveled back in time, roughly five hundred years, based on historical comparisons.

Europe seemed normal, but Shenzhou had legends that didn't match historical records.

The strangeness intensified when they reached the foot of Taixu Mountain.

The town held the same wedding ceremony every single day. A group of people carried a sedan chair from one end of the town to the other, a destination that seemed non-existent.

Day after day, the cycle repeated.

Saori Tsuruyo meticulously recorded the town's oddities, trying to uncover the hidden truth.

The repeating wedding was part of her investigation.

Several times, Saori had followed the procession, only to lose track of it. It would always stop at a dilapidated old house, then vanish, the house disappearing along with it.

This solidified Saori's suspicion: there were ghosts in the town.

"That's true… Saori, do you think if we tried to climb the mountain, we could reach the summit and see the Immortal?" Shigure Kira asked curiously.

Saori shook her head. "That would be foolish. I don't believe we have the means to effectively deal with unknown ghosts. Captain, you should realize this too."

"Those climbing groups, although individually weaker than you, Captain, their combined strength far exceeds ours."

"If even they died on the path, I believe our chances of survival are… very low. It would be suicide."

Saori Tsuruyo calmly assessed their chances.

Shigure Kira nodded. She hadn't seriously considered it. After all… even the strongest could die mysteriously against that thing, with no room for error.

"So, do we just keep waiting?"

Saori gave a firm reply, "Yes, we keep waiting. Remember how we first met Big Brother?"

Shigure Kira sat up reflexively. "Of course! That day, my squad and I were hiding in the main hall, and he appeared with you. I thought it was strange back then, how such a young boy suddenly appeared in St. Freya Academy."

Saori lowered her head, her long eyelashes trembling, her gaze distant as she recalled the memory.

She placed her pen on the table, a faint smile playing on her lips, as if grateful for something.

Yes, she was grateful for meeting Li Mo.

"Yes, Captain. Big Brother appeared without warning, pulled those of us cowering in the corner, wanting to escape reality, out of that haunted broadcasting room filled with despair, led us to the main hall, and calmly dealt with one supernatural event after another."

"He said he would handle these Bizzare Entities."

"Although the reason is unclear, Big Brother possesses some means of traveling through time and space. I believe he won't ignore the Bizzare presence on Taixu Mountain. After dealing with the supernatural events up there, there's only one way down: through this town."

"If we want to meet him, all we need to do is simple."

"Wait."

Saori opened her journal, filled with details and strange occurrences, took out her phone, and began transferring the notes, ensuring a backup in case the journal was lost or compromised.

Shigure Kira watched her diligent subordinate, thoughtfully stroking her long, ice-blue hair.

She had promised to consider Saori for her squad once she reached A-rank.

But this mission was special. Saori had started calling her Captain, and Shigure Kira hadn't objected.

Saori wasn't a fighter, but she was an excellent strategist.

Shigure Kira felt like a bit of a slacker captain, always goofing off, not being thorough enough when gathering intel, relying heavily on Saori.

Shigure Kira had also observed the other survivors from St. Freya. Five were missing.

Besides those five, most of the other survivors couldn't handle Schicksal's intense training and chose to leave, returning to normal lives.

A few persevered, remaining in Schicksal, but due to their limited talent, they would likely only reach the lower tiers of A-rank Valkyries.

There was a difference even among A-ranks!

But after the funeral, she herself had become an S-rank Valkyrie.

Shigure Kira smiled faintly. From her perspective, only a day had passed since the funeral.

But her physical abilities had undeniably increased, especially her healing…