Forbidden Read!
Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Ghosts Hold Weddings, Crown Princes Ride on Wedding Stretchers

***

One of the stretcher bearers was not careful enough and stepped on an arm. That made him the first person to shout leading the mob. In response, the group of people responsible for delivering the bride then exploded in shouts. A passerby out of nowhere picked up a shining white broadsword, before shouting, "What's up?! Is 'he' coming?!" What happened next made the streets around the scene become full of chaos. When Xie Lian once again refocused her gaze on something falling off the stretcher, she suddenly realized that the detached head was not the head of a human. It was the head of a wooden puppet.

Fu Yao once again commented, "It's so ugly!"

Coincidentally at that moment, the tea presenter approached them with a copper teapot in his hand. Xie Lian recalled the expression of the tea presenter yesterday and she decided to ask, "Master, yesterday I saw these people making a fuss in the streets, and today they did it again. What are they doing?"

The tea poet replied, "They're trying to kill themselves."

"Ha ha ha..."

Xie Lian was not surprised by the tea presenter's reply and she asked again. "Are they trying to trick the ghost of the groom into luring him out?"

The tea poet replied, "What else do you think they're trying to do? The father of the missing bride previously offered a huge prize money to anyone who managed to catch the ghost of the groom and help him find his daughter. That is why that swarm of people creates distractions and bad moods every day."

The father who offered the gift was probably the official they discussed earlier. Xie Lian again set her eyes on the female doll head lying on the ground and immediately understood that these people wanted to disguise the doll as a newlywed.

Then, he heard Fu Yao speak in a disgusted tone, "If I were the ghost of the groom, and someone gave me something ugly like that, I would just destroy this city."

Hearing that, Xie Lian rebuked him, "Fu Yao, those words are not worth saying by someone like you. In addition, can you improve your eyeball-twisting habits? It would be best if you could set some small goals for yourself first, like just rolling your eyeballs five times a day for example, and so on."

Nan Feng also spoke, "Even if you give him the goal to roll his eyeballs only fifty times a day, he will still be unable to achieve it!"

At that moment, a young boy suddenly appeared from the crowd of people outside. He looked trembling with enthusiasm, looking as if he was one of their leaders. The young man waved his hand before shouting out loud, "Listen to me, listen to me! Continuing something like this is completely useless! How many rounds have we done over the last few days? And did we manage to trick the groom's ghost and get him out?"

One by one, the people in the horde began to grumble and agree with him. Seeing the reaction he received, the young man continued, "In my opinion, since we have started all this, we should continue no matter what. It would be best if we directly rushed to Mount Yu Jun. Everyone could search for it on the mountain before capturing and killing the ugly creature! I will lead; anyone who dares and feels worthy can come with me. After we kill that ugly creature, we can split the reward!"

At first, only a few people shouted in agreement. Gradually, however, voices of approval continued to be heard until everyone responded in an agreeable tone. They unexpectedly sound quite powerful. On the other hand, Xie Lian asked, "A ugly creature? Sir, what's the problem behind this 'ugly creature' they're talking about?"

The tea presenter replied, "Rumors say that the ghost of the groom that is always talked about is an ugly creature that lives on Mount Yu Jun. Because he was born too ugly, no woman would like him. That is why her heart breeds hatred, and she then snatches the bride from the groom to prevent the couples from feeling happiness."

There was no record of this on the scroll given to him by Ling Wen Palace Hall. Xie Lian asked again, "Did everyone really say that? Isn't that just speculation?"

The tea poet replied, "Who knows? But, there are other rumors that say that many people have seen the apparition of the groom's ghost before. Like, how his entire face was wrapped in bandages and left only his ferocious eyes, and that he could not speak, other than just roaring like a ferocious beast. Right now, those rumors have been circulating everywhere."

Fu Yao chimed in tightly, "Covering her face with a bandage doesn't necessarily mean she's ugly. Maybe it's also because she's too pretty, so she doesn't want anyone else to see her."

The tea presenter was silent for a moment before saying, "Yes, who knows? Obviously, I've never seen it."

At that moment, the voice of a young girl appeared from the direction of the road. He said, "You guys, don't listen to him. Don't go, Mount Yu Jun is very dangerous... "

The one who spoke was the girl who was hiding in the corner of the street. She was also the girl who had prayed at Feng Xin's temple last night, Little Ying.

When Xie Lian saw him, her face hurt. Unknowingly, he raised his hand and rubbed his cheek.

When the youngster saw Little Ying, his face showed an ugly-looking expression. He pushed the girl out of the way before saying, "We boys are talking, why would a little girl like you interfere?"

Little Ying shrank and trembled in fear after being pushed. However, he seemed to be trying to gather all his courage before speaking softly once more, "Don't listen to him. Whether it's pretending to have a fake wedding or looking for it on the mountain, those tasks are very dangerous. Do you realize that you are only sending yourself to death?"

The young man replied, "You can only say nonsense. We all work together and risk our lives to help people get rid of evil. And yuuu? You're just a selfish girl, who refuses to disguise herself as a bride and sit on the wedding stretcher. You can't even muster up that courage, even though it can help everyone. And now, you ran here to block us again. What do you really want to do?"

The youngster pushed the girl once for every sentence he said. Seeing that, the people in the teahouse could not help but frown at them. Xie Lian lowered her head and focused on removing the bandage on her wrist. As he did so, he heard the tea presenter explain, "The young leader had previously wanted to persuade the girl to disguise herself as the bride. At that moment, he said so many sweet words as if his mouth had been rubbed with honey. But after the girl refused, she changed her attitude and became like this."

On the street, the men also shouted, "Stop standing here and block the road. Move, move!" When Little Ying heard him, her flat face became completely red as tears began to flow from her eyes. He asked, "You...why do you have to say it like that?"

The young man spoke again, "Everything I say is the truth, right? I asked if you could disguise yourself as a bride, and you replied you wouldn't do it no matter what."

Little Ying replied, "Yes, I really don't dare. But, you don't have to tear my dress..."

As he mentioned that, it felt like he had stabbed right into the spot that was so bothersome to the youngster. The young man immediately jumped up and denied, "A ugly person like you shouldn't blame and accuse anyone recklessly! I tore your dress? Do you think I'm blind? Who knows, maybe you yourself want to show yourself to others, so you ripped off your own dress! Who knows, your face is this ugly, even if your dress is torn, maybe no one will want to see it! Don't try to throw the blame at me!"

Nan Feng really could not continue listening to this. With a 'ka-cha' sound, the teacup in his hand then broke into pieces. However, just as he was about to wake up, a white shadow floated past him. And the young man who had raised himself high above the girl suddenly shouted. His face slumped to the ground before his butt following a fall as blood began to drip from his fingers.

No one had enough time to figure out what was happening, because he was already sitting on the ground. People thought that it was Little Ying who had injured him. However, who would have thought that when they turned their eyes back to Little Ying, they no longer saw the girl. In fact, they saw a cultivator wearing white clothes standing in front of the girl.

Both of Xie Lian's hands were tucked up her sleeves. He did not even turn around to look at the young man, and just looked at Little Ying with a smile. Slightly bowing so that his eyes were level with the girl, Xie Lian asked, "Young lady, I wonder if I can invite you in to have a cup of tea with me?"

The young man sitting on the ground felt his nose and mouth really hurt. In fact, his entire face also felt so painful, it felt like he was hit with a steel whip. However, the cultivator in front of him clearly did not have any weapons. Moreover, he also did not see when the cultivator was moving, nor how he was moving. Thus, the youngster managed to stand up after stumbling slightly and pointed his sword at the man, "This guy uses demonic arts!"

As the group of men behind the youngster heard the words 'demon arts', they all raised their swords towards Xie Lian. However, they never expected that Nan Feng, who was behind Xie Lian, suddenly stretched out his palm. Issuing out a 'ka-cha' sound once again, the pillar beside them was completely destroyed.

When they saw that display of Divine power, the expressions of the horde of men simultaneously changed. The young man began to feel mentally shriveled, but he was still reluctant to admit his mistake. In fact, he charged towards them while shouting loudly, "Today I will admit my defeat here. Which cultivation path are you from, a cultivator is from? Leave your name, and in the future we can meet again to solve this problem..."

Nan Feng really did not bother to answer, but Fu Yao beside him exclaimed, "No problem, no problem. This guy is from Ju..."

Nan Feng smashed his other palm towards Fu Yao, and once again the two of them started fighting. On the other hand, Xie Lian originally wanted to invite the young girl to enter the teahouse to sit down for a while, and then help her order fruit tea and other snacks. However, Little Ying wiped her own tears before leaving. Thus, Xie Lian could only sigh and see the girl's back move away before she walked into the teahouse all by herself. When he went inside, the tea presenter reminded him, "Remember to pay for the ruined pillar."

So, when Nan Feng sat back down, Xie Lian faced towards him and said, "Remember to pay for the destroyed pillar."

Nan Feng: "..."

Xie Lian continued, "However, before that, we have to take care of our actual work. Can someone lend me spiritual power? I need to enter the spiritual communication array to prove the truth of some information."

Nan Feng raised his hand. The two of them clapped their hands, establishing what was considered a very simple agreement. With this, Xie Lian could finally enter the spiritual communication array again.

As he entered the array, he heard Ling Wen say, "Your Majesty has finally managed to borrow spiritual power? Is everything in the North going well? What about the two little martial gods who volunteered to offer help?"

Xie Lian raised her head. He looked at the pillar that had been destroyed by Nan Feng, before looking again at the indifferent Fu Yao who was closing her eyes and meditating. Then, Xie Lian replied, "Each of these two little martial gods has their own advantages, and they are both reliable individuals."

A smile could be heard as Ling Wen spoke again, "Then we really should congratulate General Nan Yang and General Xuan Zhen. According to His Majesty's words, these two little martial gods had boundless prospects. Ascension, it might even be an imminent event!"

However, a moment after Ling Wen finished speaking, Mu Qing's cold voice floated up. "She didn't tell me about this adventure of hers and just left. I really don't know about this."

Hearing that, Xie Lian thought to herself, 'You are actually keeping watch on the spiritual communication array the entire time...'

Ignoring Mu Qing, Ling Wen continued to speak, "Your Majesty, where are you now? General Pei was the god who watched over the North, and the incense for him was burnt quite prospered there. If Your Majesty is in dire need, for a while you can stay in one of his Ming Guang temples."

Ling Wen replied, "Yes, we have. Just a moment ago, my Palace Hall measured the rank of this groom's ghost. He should have been ranked 'Fathering'."

'Compassion'!

For demons and ghosts that wreaked havoc in the mortal world, Ling Wen Palace Hall classified them into four ranks according to their abilities. These four levels were 'Sengit', 'Vigorish', 'Worshipping', and 'Destruction/Highest Rank'.

Ghosts of the 'Sengit' rank had the ability to kill a single target. Monsters of the 'Angery' rank could wipe out the entire house of a single family, while ghosts of the 'Burking' rank could slaughter an entire city. And the most frightening of them all was the rank of 'Destruction/Highest Rank'. Every time one of them was born, he could destroy a country and cause suffering for everyone, making the whole world fall apart.

The ghost of the groom hiding in Mount Yu Jun was truly at the 'Blood' rank, ranking second before the terrifying 'Destruction' rank. If that was the case, whoever managed to see it should not be able to escape unharmed.

So, when Xie Lian withdrew from the spiritual communication array and told the other two martial gods about what she had learned, Nan Feng said, "If that's true, it's true, then the information about the ugly creature or the man wrapped in bandages was just a rumor. Whether that's the truth, or the people who claim to have seen it, actually saw something else, not the ghost of the groom."

Xie Lian mentioned her own theory, "There's another possibility. Perhaps the ghost of the groom does not want, or cannot, injure others under certain circumstances."

On the other hand, Fu Yao did not add to her idea and instead criticized, "Ling Wen Palace Hall really has low efficiency! It took us all this time to give us information about the ghost rank of the groom, what's the point of telling us now?"

Xie Lian replied, "At the very least, we now know the strength of our enemy. But, since we are dealing with the rank of 'Emercy', then the spiritual power of this ghost of the groom should be quite high. It was impossible to trick her with a fake bride. If we want to lure her out, then we can't use diversion tricks, with the people who deliver the bride to a fake wedding when the bride is a disguised doll. Moreover, they should not carry any weapons. However, the most important aspect is that the bride must be human."

Fu Yao spoke up, "We can go out into the streets to look for a woman and make her into bait."

However, Nan Feng immediately rejected his idea. "We can't do that."

Fu Yao asked, "Why not? If he doesn't want to, we can give him the money and he'll definitely be willing."

Hearing that, Xie Lian cut through their argument. "Fu Yao, even if there is a woman willing to do just that, it is best if we do not use that plan. The ghost of this groom is the rank of 'Murkaan'. If we mess up, we'll be fine. However, if the bride was taken away, a weak ordinary girl would not be able to escape nor fight back. If that really happened, then only death would be waiting for him."

Fu Yao stated, "If we can't use a woman, then we just need to find a man."

Nan Feng asked, "Where are we going to find a man willing to disguise himself as..."

He had not even finished speaking when his line of sight and Fu Yao started to move.

Xie Lian still smiled gently, "???"

***

At night, at Nan Yang temple.

Xie Lian walked out of the temple with her hair breaking apart.

The moment the two little martial gods guarding the temple door saw him, Nan Feng immediately shouted a curse. Said "Damn it!", while rushing out.

Xie Lian was silent for a moment before asking, "What kind of reaction is that?"

If you ask someone to come and see, they will definitely know right away with a single look that this is a young man with a handsome and friendly face.

However, that was the reason for Nan Feng's reaction. For a handsome and friendly young man wearing a wedding dress, that image was one of those things that many people could not see directly. An example would be Nan Feng. He might just not be able to accept it, so his reaction became so powerful.

Xie Lian saw that Fu Yao was looking at her with a complicated gaze. When Fu Yao looked at him once more, Xie Lian asked, "Do you want to say something?"

Fu Yao nodded before saying, "If I was the ghost of the groom and someone wanted to give a woman like this to me..."

Xie Lian finished her sentence, "You're going to destroy this city?"

Fu Yao coldly corrected him, "No, I will just kill this woman."

Xie Lian smiled. "Then I can only say, luckily I'm not a real woman."

Fu Yao suggested, "I think you should try to break into the spiritual communication array and see if any Heavenly Official would be willing to teach you a spell to help you change your body. It would be more practical that way."

There was, indeed, a Heavenly Official in Heaven who due to special needs, they were proficient in spells that could change their bodies. However, Xie Lian was afraid of the time left at this moment, it was too late for her to learn a new spell. On the other hand, Nan Feng returned to the temple with a green face. After he finished cursing, he had slightly cooled his head, a habit that was almost exactly the same as his General.

Xie Lian looked at the late sky before saying, "Forget it. Once we cover my head with a veil, everything will look the same." When he finished talking, he actually started covering his head with a veil.

However, Fu Yao raised her hand to stop him and said, "Wait a moment. You don't know how the ghost of the groom would harm people. If he takes off your veil and realizes that he has been cheated, something unexpected might happen when he gets angry. Wouldn't that just create more problems?"

When Xie Lian heard his words, she thought it was quite reasonable. However, as he stepped forward, he heard a tearing sound.

The red wedding dress that Fu Yao had found for her really did not fit for Xie Lian.

The woman who originally made this dress is quite petite. When Xie Lian wore it, even though the area at the waist unexpectedly was quite fitting, raising her sleeves or lifting her legs was an act that felt very limited. Moreover, the moment she made a larger move, the dress would be torn. Just when Xie Lian started to try to find out which part was torn, a voice floated from the direction of the temple door. "Excuse me, may I ask..."

The three of them turned to the source of the voice. However, what they saw was Little Ying who was holding onto the folded white clothes as she looked at them with a frightened look.

She explained, "I remember that I met you here yesterday, so I decided to come and see if I could see you again. I've washed these clothes. I'll put it here. For yesterday and today, thank you very much."

Xie Lian was just about to give her a smile when she suddenly realized what she looked like at the moment. Therefore, he decided not to say much so that he would not scare people.

Who would have thought that not only was Little Ying not afraid of him, he even stepped forward and asked, "This....if you like it, I can help you?"

"..." - ".Xie Lian replied, "No, young lady, please don't misunderstand me. I don't have this kind of hobby."

Little Ying hurriedly explained once more, "I know, I know. What I mean is, if you don't mind, I can help you. You...you want to catch the ghost of the groom, right?"

"..."

Her tone and head slightly rose as Little Ying continued, "I know how to change clothes. I also always carry needles and threads with me. If it doesn't fit, I can fix it. I also know how to do make-up. Let me help you!"

"..."

After the time it took to burn two incense sticks, Xie Lian once again walked out of the temple while bowing her head.

This time, the bride's veil had already covered her head. Nan Feng and FuYao seemed to want to peek, but in the end, they decided that it was better to appreciate their eyes. The wedding palanquin they found was in front of the temple, and the people carefully selected to carry the palanquin had long been waiting there. The moon is high above the night sky. Therefore, His Highness the Crown Prince was sitting on a large red wedding stretcher, wearing a dress like a bride.

Seriate...