Chapter 18

Xia Lingze curiously examined the furnishings inside the sedan chair. His attention drifted briefly before quickly returning to the matter at hand. Just as he opened his mouth to ask where the groom intended to hold the wedding, something was shoved into his hand. He looked down subconsciously to find a plump red drawstring bag.

"Wedding candy?" Xia Lingze asked casually.

"Melon seeds," Qin Jinhua replied, as if performing a magic trick, producing a circular bamboo tray from nowhere, lined with a plastic bag to keep it clean and make cleanup easier. "Use this for the shells."

"Oh." Xia Lingze nodded, took the tray, pulled the drawstring, and obediently began cracking melon seeds.

The drawstring bag grew visibly flatter, while the pile of shells on the tray gradually grew into a small mountain.

Xia Lingze finally recalled his initial question, but just as he formed the first syllable, Qin Jinhua calmly handed him something else, cutting him off.

"Drink some water."

Xia Lingze blinked, looking at the plastic bottle. It had a slick advertisement label in the middle; if he wasn't mistaken, it read "Wa-Ha-Ha" in large characters, followed by a smaller line identifying it as purified drinking water, and at the very bottom, a net content of 596ml.

After a pause, Xia Lingze hesitated. "Sister Qin, this water—"

It didn't look like anything from their Guiyi Village! He had never seen it before; where did it come from?

Qin Jinhua, who thought she had prepared everything perfectly but had suffered a momentary lapse, thought: *...Damn it. I forgot that besides the market, Lingze has never been exposed to the outside world.*

Her brain whirred. On the surface, she only paused for two seconds before replying naturally, "Didn't Gou Tiedan study abroad for a while? He brought it back. I couldn't bear to drink it before, so I saved it until now."

Xia Lingze gave an innocent "Oh," unscrewed the cap, and gulped down half of it. The dry throat caused by his marathon of seed-cracking was immediately relieved.

"Sister Qin, what kind of person is the groom?" He screwed the cap back on, set the bottle on his lap, and asked curiously.

He had asked his parents, Uncle Tiedan, and even the village chief about this question... but everyone’s answers were vague, causing his curiosity to multiply. Since he was going to see the groom today anyway, it shouldn't be rude to ask, right? After all, they would be family soon.

Qin Jinhua's eyes went vacant, and she didn't answer immediately. Memories from before her death had long since dissipated, leaving only that damp, incessant hatred, like a gloomy day.

"Sister Qin?" Because she hadn't responded for a long time, Xia Lingze called out in confusion.

The woman snapped back to reality at the sound, smiling faintly: "Him? ...Just an ordinary person."

*An ordinary person?* Xia Lingze’s eyes turned into little dots, two question marks hovering over his head.

This answer was far too generic—broader and even more dismissive than calling someone a "good person" or a "devoted lover."

Looking at it this way, was Sister Qin's attitude toward her future husband a bit too cold? Was there some conflict between them? But if they didn't have feelings for each other, why get married? Wouldn't that just be mutual torture?

Xia Lingze had never been in a relationship and wasn't interested in romance, but he wasn't emotionally stunted. He could tell Qin Jinhua was in a bad mood, so he shut his mouth and stopped talking. However, his expression was clearly troubled.

They hadn't even officially married yet, and things were already like this—not even able to let go of the tension on their big day. Was there really a need to force this marriage? Such a union would likely not be happy...

*If only Uncle Tiedan were here,* he thought. *Uncle Tiedan understands everything; he surely has some insight into matters of the heart, and I could learn from him.*

The rest of the journey was spent in silence.

...Suddenly, Xia Lingze thought of his original question for the third time. This time, Qin Jinhua was distracted and didn't manage to stop him in time, so Xia Lingze finally asked:

"Sister Qin, where is the groom picking us up?"

Having already been anxious about the groom being an outsider, Xia Lingze’s vigilance reached its peak upon discovering the suspected disharmony between Qin Jinhua and her future husband.

Guiyi Village was too remote and the roads were terrible, surrounded by mountains with no paved paths—not even the village streets were paved. Thus, Xia Lingze could understand the groom not coming directly into the village to pick her up.

However, no matter how difficult the road was, it shouldn't be that the bride had to travel to the destination all by herself, right? At the very least, he should have met her halfway. Frankly, it was a matter of attitude.

If the groom was truly capable of such thoughtlessness, Xia Lingze had decided: no matter what, he wouldn't let Qin Jinhua marry him. But if she insisted, and he couldn't stop her, he would just have to have a one-sided talk with his future brother-in-law.

*—So, the question was asked after all.*

A wave of helplessness surged in Qin Jinhua’s heart. She didn't want to involve others in her affairs, and the "villagers" all knew this; besides, what kind of mutual help or harmony existed between spirits? But Xia Lingze was different. He knew nothing (the other spirits had created a normal environment for him and never told him about spirits, so he had no awareness of them), yet he knew everything (if Qin Jinhua wanted to leave Guiyi Village, even if the others didn't tell him, he would find out, so she hadn't hidden it from him when he asked).

"...Lingze." Abandoning useless pretense, a faint red light flickered in her pupils. She lowered her lashes and whispered, "No matter what happens in a moment, don't pay it any mind."

***

Haishi. The banquet hall of a five-star luxury hotel.

Exquisite crystal chandeliers refracted brilliant light, and the opulent, gilded decor reflected the guests' expensive gowns and jewelry. People were chatting with drinks in hand or weaving between tables. White rose petals covered the floor, forming a dreamlike path leading to the stage.

The bride wore a pure white wedding dress with a skirt as fluffy as a cloud, embedded with thousands of sparkling diamonds. She wore a crown set with blue gemstones and clutched a bouquet of white roses, appearing like a true princess. Today was the most important day of her life, and her face beamed with a happy smile as she held the groom's arm to greet important guests.

The groom wore a perfectly tailored white suit, with diamonds embroidered on the lapels, chest, waist, and cuffs—clearly part of the same set as the bride’s dress. He wore a handmade silver tie, making him look both elegant and noble. He kept a constant smile on his face as he conversed with guests.

The wedding hadn't officially started yet; there was still half an hour until 7:00 PM.

Li Manqian, the eldest daughter of the Li family, looked at the bride and groom not far away—a pairing so well-matched it was almost blinding—and a mocking sneer appeared on her pretty face.

"He Yushuo is really something, isn't he? Sister dies, so he marries the sister? Should I call him devoted or perverted?"

Si Shu'ai, standing next to her, crossed her arms with an identical sneer. "The latter, obviously. Ugh! How shameless, disgusting."

Li Manqian, Si Shu'ai, and Qin Jinhua were college roommates in a four-person dorm; the fourth was Ni Shushi. The four of them were very close friends.

Ni Shushi hadn't come today—in fact, He Yushuo had sent her an invitation, but she didn't come simply because she didn't want to. To be fair, the day she received the invitation, she had gone mad with rage, starting a video call in their group chat and cursing He Yushuo for two hours, along with Qin Jinhua’s "green tea" vicious sister.

["They deserve each other! Don't let them harm anyone else, I've melted the key! I’m so f***ing..."] The language was so foul it couldn't be typed without censorship.

One had to understand that Ni Shushi had a wonderful personality; she usually never cursed and spoke in a soft, gentle way, very much in line with the impression people had of the Wu-dialect regions. Yet, when it came to He Yushuo and Qin Yijue, her cursing was like a violent storm, leaving both Li Manqian and Si Shu'ai speechless.

They hadn't wanted to come either, feeling it would sully their eyes. But their parents had business ties with the Qin family, so they had to show up.

"By the way, have you seen the news the government released recently?" Not wanting to keep looking at that disgusting pair, Li Manqian changed the subject.

"You mean the thing about developing spirit-slaying weapons? Or that the Spirit Domains have evolved and can now autonomously drag people inside?"

"Both."

"Sigh, life is unpredictable. Maybe one day we'll be dragged in too. My family even signed me up for a combat class, saying they don't expect me to beat a spirit, just hoping I can live a little longer."

"My family is trying to buy a spirit-slaying weapon, but you know, they're priceless and mostly bought up by the government." Li Manqian shrugged. "If you ask me, we should just treat it like a natural disaster. Think of spirits as a force of nature—doesn't that make it feel a bit better?"

Si Shu'ai twitched her lip. "You gave up way too fast."

"Can't help it. In front of spirits, humans are like cookies. I know exactly how much I'm worth."

In the blink of an eye, it was 7:00 PM.

The emcee took the microphone on stage and reminded the guests to take their seats. Li Manqian pulled Si Shu'ai to the very back; their parents knew their situation, so they didn't look for them and took seats in the front row—both families had good relations with the Qin family, so their seating was quite prominent.

"Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening! On this clear and breezy night, we gather together to witness a pair of newlyweds stepping into the halls of marriage..."

The emcee delivered a few hundred words of an opening monologue to warm up the atmosphere, then shifted tone and smiled: "Now, let us welcome the stars of today with warm applause: the groom, He Yushuo, and the bride, Qin Yijue!"

As the emcee finished speaking, the couple, already in position, linked arms and stepped onto the path paved with rose petals toward the stage.

"They walk toward us hand in hand, wearing smiles. At this moment, they begin a new life, writing a chapter of love together."

Li Manqian chatted quietly with Si Shu'ai, not sparing a glance for the protagonists. Soon, it was time for the ring exchange.

"Now, groom, please place the ring on the bride's finger and recite your vows."

He Yushuo took Qin Yijue’s right hand, looked affectionately at the shy bride, and said softly: "I marry you with all my heart to be your husband, whether in prosperity or adversity, wealth or poverty, health or sickness... Will you marry me as your wife?"

Qin Yijue choked up with emotion. "I do."

He Yushuo’s smile deepened as he gently slid the ring onto Qin Yijue’s ring finger. Finally, he seductively rubbed the flesh around her ring with his thumb. Qin Yijue’s face flushed even redder, but at that moment, she suddenly felt a sharp sting in the finger covered by the ring.

It felt like a hallucination, though; it hurt for a second and then stopped, so she didn't give it another thought.

"Bride, please place the ring on the groom's finger and recite your vows," the emcee said.

When it was her turn, Qin Yijue recited the vows she had memorized, which were similar to He Yushuo’s.

The moment she finished speaking, the temperature in the banquet hall plummeted by twenty degrees. Everyone felt a bone-chilling cold seep into their marrow.

"What's going on?"

"Is the AC broken?"

While everyone was confused, a young man with a wolf-cut hairstyle in the crowd had his expression change drastically. He looked down and watched the numbers on his wristwatch soar instantly before breaking the threshold and turning into "--". He muttered, "Holy f***, a Super S-class Spirit Domain generated on-site?"