Chapter 11: Ghost Marriage Shocks Again 2. Ghost Wedding
The boat drifted along the misty river with a humming sound. After more than an hour, the boatman stopped by the river and turned around to call out to Wu Yu and Su Wei, "We're here!"
They went out to the bow and saw that the rain was gradually easing, so they put away their umbrellas. The sky was still dark, as if a ghost wanted to devour people.
Su Wei paid the boat fare and went ashore with Wu Yu one after another.
The boatman took the money and kept saying thank you, then he smiled and rowed the boat back to the boatman he had been chatting with.
After getting off the boat, the mysterious people carried the coffin and walked towards a path on the shore.
Su Wei followed in silence, and Wu Yu also followed in confusion.
They walked along the path until a field appeared in front of them. The field was lifeless and desolate, with a strange atmosphere of silence. After the field, a deserted ancient village appeared in front of them.
Those mysterious people were just hurrying along, carrying the coffin without any effort, and their steps were very fast. Wu Yu and Su Wei were already panting behind them.
They followed those strange people into the village. Strangely, there was an unusual silence in the village. There were dilapidated old houses hidden everywhere among the overgrown village roads. The gates of some of the old houses had long been dilapidated and lay motionless on the ground. After being ravaged by wind and rain, they were no longer in shape.
They were surprised at how desolate the village was, like a lifeless world. At the same time, they began to feel something was wrong: why didn't the people in front of them turn around to look at them?
As they were surprised, they felt an extremely terrifying breath in the silence, like the cry of a crow, so sad and desperate.
Those people carried the coffin and played the suona. They turned several corners and disappeared before their eyes.
They were so surprised that they didn't know what to do. They just stood there and looked at each other. Wu Yu whispered, "Which path did they take? How come they disappeared in the blink of an eye?"
At this time, two long dark paths appeared in front of them. On both sides of the path in front, there were some wild bamboos and low bushes growing wildly.
They were silent for a while, and just when they were in a dilemma, suddenly, funeral music came to their ears intermittently from one of the paths. They recognized that it was music played for the dead.
They thought for a while, then curiously walked in the direction where the funeral music came from.
The sound of funeral music gradually became clearer. They came to the door of a huge old house and saw the men playing the funeral music standing on the inside of the door, singing along, as if blowing out all the sadness and sorrow of life.
When Wu Yu and Su Wei saw that the people playing the suona were actually in the same group as the people carrying the coffin, they immediately realized that this old house was the rich man Liao that the boatmen had mentioned.
They watched quietly, no one said anything. After an unknown amount of time, Su Wei suddenly looked at Wu Yu with a mysterious smile and said, "Do you want to go in and see what's going on?"
Wu Yu felt uneasy and his heart trembled slightly.
Without waiting for Wu Yu to answer, Su Wei took a deep breath and walked straight towards the door.
Wu Yu had no choice but to follow him in.
Su Wei and Wu Yu passed by the people playing the suona one after another. Their attitude was unusually indifferent. They did not stop them or pay attention to them, and even gave them strange smiles from time to time.
They entered the old house in confusion and found that it was very spacious, with pavilions and terraces everywhere, and the structure was not much different from the old house they lived in now. On the contrary, the courtyard was silent, without a single person.
I felt strange. This was clearly an old house where someone had died. It was bustling just now, but why was it so quiet here? Where had all the people carrying the coffin gone?
They walked inside anxiously , looking around constantly, but found nothing. Instead, they felt that the courtyard was dead and silent. Seeing this scene, they were shocked and felt that something was wrong.
They walked to the hall in the front yard and found the door was open. Wu Yu looked timidly into the inner room. It was also silent and there was no one in sight, but the lights were on.
They looked at each other in surprise and seemed a little hesitant in the face of such a scene, but it only lasted for a short while. Soon, curiosity overcame fear, and they regained their original courage and walked in.
After entering, they looked around carefully and found that the layout of the house was similar to the old house they lived in. Through the dim light, they found that the curtains on the antique bed inside were hanging low, and a young woman could be vaguely seen lying in her clothes.
Wu Yu timidly called out, "Miss..."
The woman did not answer, as if she had fallen asleep, and did not respond at all to Wu Yu's calls.
Su Wei was wondering when he suddenly remembered the young lady Liao that the boatman had mentioned. This thought came into their minds at the same time, and Wu Yu shuddered and almost shouted.
They gritted their teeth and trembled as they moved towards the bed. Su Wei mustered up his courage and trembled as he tried to lift the curtain. When the curtain was lifted, the woman suddenly sat up, looked at them with wide eyes, and said viciously, "Who of you wants to be my bridegroom?"
They were so frightened that they almost fainted, and it took them a long time to recover. At this critical moment, a hoarse voice suddenly came from behind. To Su Wei and Wu Yu, the voice sounded as if it came from underground.
"Who are you?"
They woke up with a start and looked at the bed again. They found that the woman was motionless. Her fair face was covered with thick foundation. From her eyes, it was vaguely seen that she must have been a mermaid in her life. Before they could marvel at the woman's beauty, another question immediately popped up in their minds: Why did the woman suddenly sit up? And what did she mean by what she said? Could it be that this woman was really a ghost? Before they had time to think about it, they turned around and saw an old man who looked about 70 or 80 years old smiling at them gloomily. Now, they became more timid, and they always felt that the old man's smile concealed murderous intent, as if the killer was facing the person he was going to kill.
They were surprised to see the old man dressed in black and covered with a black veil. Su Wei couldn't help but asked curiously, "You are Old Master Liao."
The old man did not answer, but kept looking at them, from top to bottom, and then from bottom to top, staring at them over and over again, occasionally sneering. Wu Yu's legs and feet began to weaken, and he felt a creepy feeling, and he couldn't help shivering in his heart.
After a long time, the old man suddenly whispered: "Follow me."
After the old man finished speaking, he turned and walked out.
Although they felt terrified, there seemed to be a mysterious power in the old man that attracted them, like a spirit summoning him, and they followed him out involuntarily.
The old man led them to the front yard and suddenly stopped in front of one of the rooms. He turned around and smiled at them strangely, then went in again.
They were terrified, but followed anyway.
After entering the room, the old man first asked them to sit down, and then said to the people inside: "Come, pour tea!"
Wu Yu and Su Wei had just sat down and had no time to look around the room carefully when they heard a burst of footsteps. Then they saw an old woman dressed as if she were from the Republic of China period coming out with a cup of tea. She gently placed the cup on the table in front of them, then glanced at them with ill intent and walked silently inside.
They looked at her from behind, so surprised that they couldn't recover for a long time. The old man seemed to sense their inner uneasiness, smiled and said, "She is a worker in our family, and she is mute ."
They said "hmm" and looked at each other for a few seconds. Wu Yu felt that there was a hint of smile in the corner of Su Wei's eyes.
They had been traveling for most of the day and were already thirsty, so they took the teacup without hesitation. As soon as the tea went down their throats, a fragrance came over them. A closer sniff revealed that it was the scent of orchids.
Su Wei put down his teacup, looked at the old man and slowly said, "Actually, we came here this time just to..." Su Wei wanted to continue, but was interrupted by the old man, who said, "I know what you mean."
"No, we just want to understand ghost marriage, we don't have any other intentions." Wu Yu said.
"Really?" The old man's face, which had been smiling, suddenly turned gloomy, as if it had been a bright sunny day just now but was suddenly covered with dark clouds.
"Mr. Liao, please don't be offended. We came here this time just to..." Su Wei suddenly said with a smile.
After hearing this, the old man chuckled a few times, and the sound was like an owl hooting in the middle of the night.
Wu Yu stared at Su Wei with his eyes wide open, hoping that Su Wei could give him an explanation. At the same time, he also hoped that he could give up being a "ghost bridegroom". However, Su Wei was only concerned with talking to the old man and ignored Wu Yu's reaction.
"Do you really want to be a ghost bridegroom?" The old man stared at them sternly and said meaningfully.
Su Wei nodded.
"I think you already know the custom of 'ghost wedding'. As for the price, I will not give less, but I want to know, are you really not afraid?"
Wu Yu didn't say anything and Su Wei kept shaking his head.
The old man seemed to want to say something else, but suddenly he heard a burst of faint voices outside the door. Because they were too far away, he couldn't make out what the voices were saying.
After a while, Wu Yu began to feel weak all over, and he felt more and more exhausted. At the moment he fell, he seemed to see the old man looking at him mysteriously, and Su Wei also changed his usual behavior and grinned at him. After that, he completely lost consciousness...
After an unknown amount of time, Wu Yu slowly woke up. When he slowly opened his eyes, he was shocked to see that everything was pitch black and he couldn't see anything clearly. Wu Yu thought he was dazzled and rubbed his eyes hard, but he still couldn't see anything. Wu Yu struggled to stand up and accidentally touched a cold and stiff arm. A lifeless coldness went straight to Wu Yu's heart, and he immediately thought of a dead person.
At this time, Wu Yu had gradually adapted to the darkness, and he realized that there was actually a woman lying next to him. No, to be exact, it was a dead person - the dead lady of the Liao family. Wu Yu almost screamed, and then he found that his shirt had turned into ancient clothes, and it was new. At that moment, he suddenly realized that all this was a trap. He was drugged without knowing it and became a ghost groom.
In silence, Wu Yu got up and was about to go out when two men suddenly came in from outside. They said to Wu Yu with a smile, "You are so lucky. Not only did you receive a generous gift, but you also got to marry such a beautiful woman."
Wu Yu was shocked and wanted to say something, but after trying for a long time, he couldn't say anything. His eyes were wide open and filled with fear.
The two men helped Wu Yu aside, and then saw four strong men carrying the bronze coffin in with expressionless faces, and placed it next to the ghost bride. Then they worked together to open the coffin lid, carefully carried the ghost bride in, and then closed it.
This action lasted only a few minutes, but it was enough to scare Wu Yu to death. At this moment, a burst of mourning music suddenly sounded outside the door, and then some people in black veils rushed in. They walked to the side of the coffin in silence and pretended to mourn for a few minutes. Then they heard everyone outside the door shouting: "Lift the sedan chair--"
The four strong men gritted their teeth, lifted the coffin up with all their strength, and then went out. Wu Yu was dazed and supported by the two men who had been there before, and followed the coffin out.
After going out, Wu Yu saw that the "wedding procession" was very spectacular, and everyone looked at him with surprise. Wu Yu opened his eyes wide and looked around, trying to find Su Wei in the bustling crowd, wondering where he had gone?
The "wedding procession" walked in an orderly manner. No one made a sound except for the funeral music. There was a strange silence. They left the ancient house and walked towards the desolate village.
Wu Yu felt his mind go blank, his ears buzzing, and his whole body weak. He had no idea how to escape.
At this moment, the weather suddenly became gloomy, and a cold wind blew towards them from the opposite side. Wu Yu felt a creepy chill going straight to his heart.
At this time, someone in the team suddenly became scared and burst into tears. In addition, Wu Yu also heard a whisper, and from the soft voice, he could tell that it was a woman who was speaking. The strange thing was that the voices seemed to be speaking to the coffin, probably meaning to warn the deceased's soul to rest in peace.
They passed through a village covered with weeds and walked for a while until they came to the river. Rows of boats were moored by the river, which seemed to have been prepared in advance. There were middle-aged boatmen standing on each boat, staring at the people who came to see them off.
After the four strong men lifted the coffin onto one of the boats, Wu Yu was helped up next and leaned against the coffin. The rest of the people also boarded the boats one after another. The number of people attending the wedding obviously exceeded the boat's carrying capacity, so there was still a large crowd of people left on the shore. Half an hour later, the boat slowly rowed towards the center of the river.
At this time, the river was filled with mist, and suddenly, a light rain began to fall from the gloomy sky. The people on the boat hurriedly opened their umbrellas and lit lanterns, and the whole boat began to become hazy.
No one on the boat spoke anymore. In the silence, only the whimpering of the river could be heard.
