Chapter 89: Six Girls Battle for the Groom
The Evil God’s power could be unleashed to strike a deal with the Fire Demon, giving some substance to what felt like an intangible menace. In that case, while killing the Fire Demon wouldn’t outright eliminate the Evil God, it could at least give it a nasty bruise.
“Wouldn’t the Evil God be tempted by a seriously wounded, talent-heavy human?”
Everything happening in Ping Shan Village, Bai Yu was sure the Evil God was keeping a keen eye on it; this creature wasn’t exactly slow on the uptake — it would either halt the ritual or join forces with the Fire Demon.
With a swift flick of her wrist, Bai Yu withdrew her kn*fe and took control of Zhao Mingyue’s body, racing toward East Village. The funeral was already over, but the wedding was probably still in full swing.
“Family gatherings and weddings, let’s check out the wedding first.”
Draped in the night, Bai Yu weaved through the haphazardly arranged houses, following the little path the wax corpse had taken until she reached the main road separating the two villages.
Compared to West Village, East Village was a lot quieter.
In West Village, you could still speak — as long as you ignored the whispers swirling around you. But in East Village, Bai Yu doubted she could utter even one syllable without drawing the curse’s attention; even the tiniest sound could become the source of a curse.
The Evil God’s strength primarily stemmed from its own malevolence, and curses were a large part of that evil.
Thanks to prior experience, Bai Yu easily followed the wax corpse to the wedding venue in East Village.
However, this venue wasn’t a small building; it was a rather large courtyard, resembling the home of an ancient official, where the wedding feast was taking place.
Bai Yu didn’t rush in. Instead, she cast her gaze around and spotted three “old friends” peering from the periphery of the courtyard. Among them was Shen Shuyun, casually perched on a rooftop and munching on something.
Noticing the rustling behind her, Shen Shuyun turned and saw Bai Yu gracefully land beside her.
“Who are you?” Shen Shuyun got up, one hand in her pocket clutching something.
Bai Yu pointed to her mask, and the upper half melted away to reveal Zhao Mingyue’s eyes before snapping shut again.
“Zhao… Oh, it’s you! I thought this outfit looked familiar; just missing a kn*fe at your waist — it feels a bit off,” Shen Shuyun said, seemingly unfazed by the whole curse situation.
Seeing that, Bai Yu gestured to her own mouth.
“I know.” Shen Shuyun pulled out her phone and typed rapidly. Soon, she raised it, displaying a line of text: “As long as you control the amount, curses can’t k*ll you. On the contrary, there are benefits — once you’re cursed, those wax corpses won’t actively attack you.”
She deleted what she had written and typed again, “I just found this out too. It’s honestly bizarre; slip up for a second and you could kick the bucket without even knowing how.”
Not being able to listen or talk meant you could stumble headfirst into a curse and not even realize how you met your end. Just this fact alone made this place far more dangerous than any previous tasks they had encountered, and the wax corpses were merely the icing on the cake.
Bai Yu wasn’t surprised Shen Shuyun had uncovered these secrets; these were all people who had emerged from the same harrowing place. Anyone who made it this far might be a little crazy, but they were certainly not foolish.
Caution was the name of the game. Once they arrived, they couldn’t just rush in blindly without figuring a few things out first.
“The situation’s getting complicated. You might not believe me, but Lu Liangting has been taken to be the groom in a wedding.”
“Right now, that guy is in the courtyard; exactly which room he’s in isn’t clear yet.”
“There are some tough characters hidden among those wax corpses. I suspect this Evil God has sealed a few wicked ghosts within them. Their strength is formidable. One poor sod went in and got swarmed, and with some curse on him already, he ended up meeting a nasty end — they even devoured his corpse, leaving behind just some useless guts and bones.”
Shen Shuyun typed furiously, her fingers flying over the screen before showing it to Bai Yu.
With Bai Yu wearing a mask, Shen Shuyun couldn’t see her expression changing.
The mask’s frosty demeanor matched the totally different aura Zhao Mingyue radiated at this moment compared to her usual self.
Shen Shuyun took another look at Zhao Mingyue’s outfit, her gaze lingering a moment at her chest. Honestly, she wanted to say that Bai Yu looked miles better now; this new image had her long, toned figure with enticing curves, especially those long, straight legs — simply stunning.
And with this outfit, she could only be described as impeccably striking; that sharp, icy aura was the perfect touch. If she weren’t in black leather pants but rather black stockings, that would be perfect.
Who wouldn’t love a beautiful ice queen?
Looking back at how Shen Shuyun used to be, her body might have been in shape, but the bloody aura surrounding her made her utterly unapproachable; you could smell bl**d from ten meters away.
Once, she almost blurted out, “Doctor, you’ve gone and killed a lot of people again!”
After pondering for a moment, Shen Shuyun couldn’t help but type another message, “How did you end up here, and how can I relay messages?”
“The people here came looking for me,” Bai Yu’s voice came coolly from beneath the mask, sounding nothing like Zhao Mingyue.
She kept her wits about her, avoiding using Zhao Mingyue’s voice to speak.
Shen Shuyun continued typing, “Everyone is just waiting for someone to take the lead. In this situation, we either charge in together or find someone strong enough to carve a path.”
Going in solo wasn’t impossible but posed a problem with many lurking creatures just waiting for the chance to pounce.
Everyone present, including Shen Shuyun, shared this sentiment.
They also understood this was a golden opportunity.
With Lu Liangting as the groom, tied up at a wedding surrounded by corpses, and then having to wed a wax corpse, he would undoubtedly be terrified and despairing.
If someone swooped in to save him at his lowest point, wouldn’t that build an irreplaceable bond, making things smoother thereafter?
Love is tough to establish at first, but once it builds up, everything else becomes easier.
Plus, after the heroic rescue, who knows, there might just be some romantic entanglements!
Time ticked away with each passing second.
If things continued this way, Lu Liangting had only one fate.
Once the Evil God chose him, it’d be game over for everyone.
Someone stood up, not far away.
“Quit playing dead. We’re going down together. With so many rooms, who knows which one Lu Liangting is in? Everyone use your skills and luck — one room per person; whoever gets to him first claims him.”
The speaker, masked and cloaked, had much of her face obscured. From her physique and voice, she seemed to be around twenty-five.
This age gap wasn’t friendly for Lu Liangting, who was only seventeen or eighteen and still in school. The difficulty of courting just skyrocketed!
Of course, if Lu Liangting had a thing for older women, that might work to their advantage.
According to current intel, Lu Liangting’s preference seemed to be black stockings, and no evidence of affinity for older women had been discovered.
Apart from Shen Shuyun and Zhao Mingyue, three others were present, each still unknown to one another.
“You should know the one talking is a black-market fighter — better than I do. The short-haired girl on the left is Shadow, and the one on the right I’m uncertain about; could be Qi Cang or Tatel.”
Most participants in the game were referred to by codenames — some self-chosen, others assigned by others, with the latter generally carrying more weight. There were also those bold enough to use their real names, not caring about their identities being exposed.
“Don’t be surprised. You and we are different; our group has its own circle. We play our game, and we won’t bring in a monster like you.”
It was as though Shen Shuyun expected Bai Yu’s skepticism, providing a quick explanation.
Just as she mentioned, they were linked in some way, not as partners but on occasions, they would trade equal value items for information, freeing themselves from the bindings of the upper echelon.
Bai Yu averted her gaze, not pressing for more details — she had only heard whispers and never bothered to dig deeper.
Her eyes lingered on the black-market fighter for a moment, then flicked to Shadow and Tatel.
These three were no pushovers — the black-market fighter was renowned in the arena, mainly for dueling between game participants. This fighter also accepted bounty hunting jobs, assisting clients in dispatching enemies or handling some other underhanded deeds. Fewer jobs meant less noise as the guy kept a low profile.
With guts for this kind of dirty work, there was no questioning her strength, and she sat ninth in rank.
Then there was Shadow, an assassin, aptly nicknamed based on her skills. Anyone known for their prowess doesn’t get such names lightly.
As for Tatel, Bai Yu could only remember him as a heavily armored knight focused on defense.
“Have you seen the Dragon Lady?” Bai Yu suddenly asked.
At this, Shen Shuyun shook her head and kept silent, knowing better than to tread dangerous waters given her relationship with the Dragon Lady.
“If you spot her, contact me directly. I can share my location with her.”
With that, Bai Yu jumped off the building.
Now that she had shown up, she couldn’t just sit back and let others do the heavy lifting. If she dared do that, she’d be mobbed, wasting valuable time.
First, she needed to confirm whether the wedding site had any statues or other aspects related to the Evil God. If not, she would head straight for the family feast.
The locations of the statues weren’t hard to predict; if they didn’t show up at either the funeral or wedding, they had to be at the village shrine or Zhao Mingyue’s uncle’s house.
Once Bai Yu leapt down, the others followed suit without hesitation.
Shen Shuyun was the last to come down, casting a lingering glance at Bai Yu, who stormed into the wedding venue like a goddess of war, licking her lips with anticipation.
Bai Yu had instructed her to find the Dragon Lady and expose her own position as a form of “payment” to deal with her.
“Let’s go, rescue the groom!”
“Who knows who the lucky one will be to find Lu Liangting first; as long as it’s not the doctor!”
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Stay tuned for the next chapter, aww!
