After autumn arrived, the wind became particularly biting.
A rooster crow echoed throughout Qingshi Town.
The sky had already darkened, and a paper-ball-like moon hung on the treetops, pale and ghostly.
Qingshi Town was not large; dozens of households were tightly packed along two slate stone streets. The families on either side used long bamboo poles from their loft windows to reach out to their neighbors across the street.
Originally meant for drying clothes, these poles were now adorned with bright red silk embroidered with special totems, stretching from one end of the street to the other, giving the town, with its blue bricks and white tiles, a festive atmosphere.
Under the dark sky, two stout men in qipaos walked shivering in the wind, hugging their arms. The high heels on their feet clicked against the slate stone street, their thick ankles turned blue from the cold.
Liu Er, swaying in his high heels, complained to the man beside him while smoking: “What do you think the Yu family is thinking? They chose such a day to get married?”
After saying this, he spat in annoyance.
The Yu family was the mayor's family, and the large red silk draped above was for the mayor's eldest son, Yu Xiu, who was marrying.
The heavily made-up man beside him, who had not shaved, answered with a delicate gesture: “Who knows? The eldest Yu has been out for a month already!”
“Exactly! They need to hurry up and set up the banquet while Jiang's daughter is back from summer vacation, get drunk, and hurry to have a baby; otherwise, how can it be done?”
Liu Er curled his lips, his finger holding the cigarette stiff from the cold. “Even if they hold the wedding, what does it matter? Even if they rush to have one this year, can the eldest Yu keep up next year?”
Qingshi Town was an isolated place, not intermarrying with outsiders for hundreds of years. Every household had to have one son and one daughter, and they could only have one son and one daughter.
When these children grew up, even if they went out of town for school or work, they had to return to the town for marriage and partner with someone from the town, then have one son and one daughter, repeating the cycle to continue the town's legacy. One son and one daughter, one yin and one yang, achieving gender balance. This was the town’s unchanging rule for a thousand years.
Liu Er exhaled a puff of smoke, the white mist blown away by the night wind. He asked, “Hey! Have you seen Jiang's daughter? I heard she was born with cat-like eyes?”
The stout man beside him, sporting a mustache, replied delicately, “I’ve seen her! She has a pair of blue cat-like eyes that are really enchanting! It’s just that the eldest Yu is out of luck, wasting such a beautiful bride.”
Hearing that the bride was beautiful, Liu Er suddenly perked up, “What was Jiang… what’s her name again?”
“Jiang Yan.”
“…”
The clicking sound of high heels faded away as the men in qipaos swayed their sturdy waists, disappearing into the night wind.
---
“Yan Yan… be good… don’t make a fuss anymore…”
Jiang Yan felt a wave of dizziness, the scent of fragrant candles lingering at the tip of his nose, while the woman’s sharp, piercing cries continued to fill his ears.
As he groggily opened his eyes, he discovered he was dressed in a bright red, gold-embroidered wedding gown, sitting on a massive intricately carved rosewood bed.
In front of him, a middle-aged woman wearing a red qipao, with a white paper flower tucked into her hair, was holding his hand and weeping uncontrollably.
The woman’s makeup was a messy sight, with white foundation and black eyeliner smeared together, making her face look like a poorly drawn puppet's face, appearing eerie and terrifying.
Jiang Yan frowned and softly called out in his mind, “663.”
The cheeky voice of 663 echoed in his head: “Here! Dear host, your personal system 663 is at your service.”
Jiang Yan looked at the woman before him, who was crying sorrowfully, and inhaled the somewhat pungent scent of incense and paper offerings. He asked, “What’s going on in this instance?”
663 replied, “Congratulations, you’ve drawn another S-level instance!”
Jiang Yan’s eyebrows twitched slightly. How was it another S-level?
Since “The Sheep’s Forest,” he had consecutively drawn two S-level instances, which made him suspect that the main system was deliberately targeting him.
Seeing Jiang Yan’s displeased expression, 663 cheerfully consoled him, “S-level instances have high point earnings.”
Then, his laughter diminished slightly, taking on a meaningful tone, “Jiang Yan, don’t you have a wish now?”
A pair of beautiful emerald green eyes floated into Jiang Yan’s mind.
A wish?
Did it mean pulling Yu Xiu out of the game?
The feeling of being scrutinized made Jiang Yan very uncomfortable, prompting him to retort, “It’s not a wish; it’s a grudge.”
663 chuckled, “Alright! A grudge”
“Welcome to the instance ‘Qingshi Town.’”
"Beep!"
663’s personal panel popped up, displaying the instance script and character profile:
〖Real NPC: Jiang Yan, instance identity: the bride of the town chief’s daughter〗
〖Key clue: The flowers on the corpse of the grass demoness can be boiled with water from the Fushou Well to break the curse〗
〖Main task: Play the role of the bride, complete the wedding, and survive〗
[Front row watching!!]
[Let’s make some noise! Witness the rise of a new “Best Actor.”]
[Seems like luck is also a factor; who would have thought the final BOSS card would end up in his hands?]
[Luck is also a part of strength, okay? Every time Jiang Yan gets something, it’s called luck; why is he the only one with good luck in the whole server?]
[Front row… Huh? Why is Jiang Yan once again in this kind of role?]
[Incredible! Incredible! Why is he still cross-dressing this time?]
Jiang Yan lightly shook his head, the adornments on his head jingling with a crisp sound.
He looked at the densely packed instance story and character backgrounds, feeling a bit dizzy. “Why don’t you read it to me?”
663 muttered a curse under his breath: “Lazy as always.”
Then, he patiently narrated the basic situation of the instance and the character he was playing.
As Jiang Yan listened, he frowned deeply. “How could they guarantee that they would definitely have a son and a daughter? Checking the fetus's gender in advance? How did they manage before the invention of ultrasound?”
663 laughed softly, a hint of sarcasm in his tone: “You’re right! No one can fully guarantee that they’ll have a son or a daughter; there will always be accidents—you’re that accident.”
“According to the instance script, you already have an older brother, so logically, you should be a girl. Who would have thought that you were born with a boy’s genitals.”
“However, the town’s rules cannot be violated, as your parents falsely claimed you were a girl and raised you as one.”
“Men marry and women are married off; today is the day you’re marrying as a girl.”
Saying this, 663 sneered, “Congratulations! You’ve drawn another wife character.”
Jiang Yan’s brows twitched again. This was definitely the main system targeting him!
He thought of his enormous, pitch-black husband from the previous instance; at least this time, his husband should be more normal.
Jiang Yan glanced at the magnificent wedding gown he wore and the woman before him who was crying her heart out, falling silent for a moment. “So, my mother is crying so tragically because the fact that I’m a boy is about to be revealed?”
“Not at all! Your mother is crying because…”
663 explained, “In this town, every household must have a son and a daughter to ensure a matching number of marriages and avoid anyone being left single.”
“But having and raising children is a different matter; some children inevitably pass away due to illness or accidents.”
“If someone passes away, then one person will end up single in the town. This cannot happen, so the single person will still marry their deceased ‘betrothed.’”
663 continued, “The reason your mother is crying so sadly is because—”
“You are about to marry a dead man.”
Jiang Yan choked, retracting his earlier statement about this instance’s husband being relatively normal. Thinking about it, it made sense; how could there be a normal marriage in this game?
Just as Jiang Yan was lost in thought, the woman before him gently called out through her tears, “Yan Yan… did you hear your mother talking…”
Jiang Yan snapped back to reality. “Huh? Please go on.”
The woman wiped her face, smudging her makeup, and earnestly said, “Mom asks you not to make a fuss anymore; it won’t change anything…”
“After all, he’s a dead man; there’s nothing we can do! Let’s just go through with this marriage to save face. Later, your dad and I will figure out the rest.”
“Alright.” Jiang Yan nodded obediently.
[Dead man?! A ghost marriage?]
[Poor beautiful bride, losing the husband even before getting married.]
[This isn’t a bride; this is clearly a widow!]
[Why is Jiang Yan always in this kind of role?]
[Yeah, why does he always have this kind of role? Feels like he’s about to become a professional widow.]
The woman affectionately touched Jiang Yan’s forehead, sighing deeply. “Speaking of which, Yu Xiu is a pitiful child too; how could he have drowned in that well?”
Jiang Yan was about to nod along but froze the moment he heard the groom’s name.
He looked at his mother in front of him, and his obedient expression cracked slightly, his brows twitching gently: “Yu… Xiu?”
Heh… what a coincidence.
—
On the pitch-black winding mountain road, a van sped past.
Inside the van, besides the driver, were six young people with varying expressions—
【Welcome players to the instance—"Qingshi Town"]
The main system's voice echoed in the air:
【Instance Level: S, Instance Progress: 0%】
【Players: 6, Real NPCs: 3】
【System NPCs: Several】
【Game Rules: Participate in the wedding and leave the village alive】
The mountain road was bumpy, and the van was damp and stuffy, with a strange smell lingering in the air. Jian Hou was already feeling dizzy and nauseous from the motion sickness. Upon hearing the main system's announcement, his face turned even paler.
"Can I jump out of the car now?" he thought despairingly. What was happening? To escape his parents' nagging, he had taken a job as a piano teacher. His student was a young master who had just returned from abroad. Although he had a bit of a bad temper and liked to make some inappropriate jokes, he was generally easy to get along with, and there weren't too many problems.
Initially, he was very satisfied with this job. Who would have thought that today, during a lesson with the young master, he suddenly felt dizzy and was inexplicably pulled into this game! A voice kept speaking in his ear, introducing various aspects of the game. The young master said this was his personal system and added that if he didn't complete the game tasks, he would die.
Jian Hou grasped his hair in despair. Was this a punishment from heaven for years of living off his parents and being lax at work?
Seeing the person beside him on the verge of tears, Tao Shi reached out and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, comforting him warmly, "Don't be afraid, teacher. I'm here! I'll make sure to bring you out safely."
However...
Tao Shi's gaze was somewhat dim. Why had Teacher Jian entered the game with him? The way the teacher looked didn’t seem like someone who had made a wish and signed a contract with the main god, so why had he been pulled into the game?
Tao Shi recalled what the guild leader had said during their meeting:
"There are more than a couple of bugs appearing in 'Jian,' but the ones concentrated around the NPC Jiang Yan are particularly numerous. The main system has received many reports about this issue. The feedback from the main system is—
'The gods are about to fall.'"
Dressed in a plush toy costume with a doll headpiece, "Black Spade K" casually remarked while sipping milk tea.
Gods?
Not only were there bugs occurring in the game world, but natural disasters in the real world were also sharply increasing. Did all of this relate to the fall of the gods?
"You little brat, just take care of yourself."
Jian Hou’s voice, full of despair, snapped Tao Shi out of his thoughts. Teacher Jian's slightly curled brown hair bobbed with the bumps of the vehicle, making him look oddly endearing.
Tao Shi smiled as he tousled his hair, reassuring him, "I can take care of myself and also take care of you, teacher."
An S-level instance might be terrifying for ordinary people, but for them, it was just routine. If he couldn’t take care of a newcomer, it would be better for the main system to reclaim him on the spot.
Seeing this, Cao Youfeng complained, "Little brat? Why don’t you ask your personal system who our boss is?"
Tao Shi tapped him lightly on the head, saying helplessly, "Be more respectful when speaking to my teacher."
Cao Youfeng pouted in discontent, his boss was biased!
[Huh? Little brat?]
[You’re calling Tao Shi a little brat? This must be a newcomer!]
[Looks like it! How enviable, having Tao Shi protect you right after entering the instance!]
At this moment, a silver-haired man in gold-rimmed glasses, leaning against the back window while smoking, spoke up, "Tao Shi, a familiar face from the real world?"
Tao Shi, still rubbing Jian Hou's drooping head, replied, "My piano teacher."
Piano teacher?
The silver-haired man took a drag from his cigarette, the orange-red ember flickering.
Why did he feel like he had seen this person somewhere before?
The man thought for just a moment, then quickly tossed that idea aside.
There were plenty of nondescript newcomers like him every day, and he didn’t need to waste time on them.
His purpose for entering this instance was simple—Jiang Yan.
Thinking of that name, the man took a deep breath of smoke, exhaling a cloud of white.
This NPC was incredibly special, special enough to attract the attention of the entire game! His freedom within the game was too high, making him seem less like a real NPC and more like a player unbound by game tasks.
Such a unique real NPC, of course, could not be missed by the most powerful NPC in the game, "Shadow Emperor," who had established the guild [Puppet Workshop].
As he contemplated this, the man glanced at the two boys beside him, one with blue hair and the other wrapped in bandages.
Earlier, their guild hadn’t focused on the newcomers, instead letting them be preempted by the [Dawn Guild] and the [Valen Church].
But that was okay; being cautious was wise.
After all, the [Dawn Guild] and the [Valen Church] had lost so many members, and Jiang Yan hadn’t even replied to their emails.
[Puppet Workshop's Vice President Yu Jia!!!]
[He must be here for Jiang Yan, right?]
[Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng from the [Dawn Guild], and Yu Jia from [Puppet Workshop]! With Jiang Yan, it’s going to be a clash of titans.]
[Next to Yu Jia are Fang Rui and Ling Kang? While Fang Rui isn't a major player, he’s been consistently stable, and Ling Kang has only gotten this far because of him.]
[They must be childhood friends.]
[What’s this newcomer called? Jian Hou? He’s so lucky, encountering a clash of titans right after entering the game.]
[Hmph! When gods fight, it’s the mortals who suffer. Didn’t all the newcomers die in the last instance?]
[That last round was purely the newcomers' fault! If they hadn’t acted recklessly, would they have died?]
[Even Cang Rou was saved! If you ask me, this newcomer is already halfway safe with Tao Shi’s protection! If he can grab onto Jiang Yan’s coattails, he can coast through this instance.]
[“Grab onto Jiang Yan’s coattails”… why does that sound so awkward?]
[Hahaha… Who would’ve thought that he’d look so laid-back and still become a god?]
No one spoke further, and the car fell silent, only the sound of it bumping along the mountain road remained.
"Hey! You kids are really funny! Why do you look so down for a wedding feast?" The driver was a man in his forties with a booming voice.
"Not at all! Just feeling a bit carsick," Tao Shi explained.
The driver chuckled, "You kids from the city! You’ve probably never traveled these kinds of mountain roads."
The driver looked very amiable and chatty.
Taking this opportunity, Tao Shi asked, "Uncle! The invitation we received said the wedding is today, but it's already so dark. Are we going to miss it?"
The driver responded meaningfully, "Miss it? Just the right time!"
"Isn’t it inauspicious to pick up the bride in the middle of the night?" Tao Shi found this custom a bit strange and asked.
The driver didn’t answer his question but rather said mysteriously, "Heh! That just means the girl is unlucky."
His voice became low and eerie, "You all might end up eating a funeral meal after this wedding feast."
For a moment, the van fell into silence again, and the branches whizzing by the windows looked like clawing ghosts.
Soon, the vehicle entered a small town, where two towering locust trees stood at the entrance. The driver introduced, "These trees are great! We’ve planted two at each corner of the town."
Upon hearing this, the six players’ faces changed instantly.
Not to mention, the idea that locust trees attract ghosts was something horror novels and movies had exhausted!
While the truth of it was unclear, the saying alone was enough to make anyone feel a chill when seeing locust trees at night.
Yu Jia brushed his silver hair and lit another cigarette, whispering, "Planting trees at the corners, people living in the middle; isn’t that just a big character for 'prison'?"
As he spoke, he chuckled lightly, "Locusts are ghost trees, but I wonder what they are imprisoning."
Jian Hou felt a shiver down his spine.
"We... we’re here to drink at the wedding, right?" he asked tremulously.
The driver, with a dark and sturdy face, smiled kindly, "Of course! Tonight will be enough for you to drink! Everyone is at the town chief’s house! Follow me!"
With that, he led the six people into the town.
The street was adorned with bamboo poles hanging with bright red silk cloth, resembling a huge red canopy that stretched from the beginning to the end of the street. Walking down the street felt like entering a massive red curtain.
However, although it was meant to be a joyous occasion, the street was scattered with yellow and white paper money.
The dense, square red and white silk cloth, along with the flurries of yellow and white paper money, covered the entire town.
The whole town was silent, resembling a dead city, which looked quite eerie.
As Jian Hou walked, he clutched Tao Shi's sleeve tightly. "The task says... as long as we complete the wedding and leave alive, we succeed, right? Weddings are usually held for just one day, right? Does that mean we can go back tomorrow?"
Scared by the situation, Tao Shi helplessly reassured him, "Yes, yes! You just need to stick by my side, teacher."
"Okay..." Jian Hou replied obediently, reaching out to hold onto Tao Shi's sleeve. "I’ll just follow you; I won’t go anywhere."
No sooner had he finished speaking than he heard a soft squelch underfoot.
"I think I stepped on something..."
He stopped and looked down. That thing was buried among the yellow and white paper money, and he couldn't tell what it was.
"What is this?" Jian Hou gently kicked at it, dislodging it from the pile of paper money.
It was a red-skinned baby girl.
Her eyes were rolled back, revealing only the whites. Her small face was a deep purple, and the umbilical cord was still wrapped around her neck, looking like she had just been born but died shortly thereafter.
By the light of the lantern, Jian Hou finally got a clear look at what was at his feet.
At that moment, the seemingly lifeless red-skinned baby girl suddenly contorted her face into a grotesque smile—her toothless mouth was filled with wriggling maggots crawling over her gums.
Jian Hou's breath caught for a moment, then a scream pierced the silence of the entire town:
"Ahhhh!"
—
Inside the wedding chamber, the "bride" sat in front of the vanity mirror, looking at his face covered in white powder, resembling a mask, while listening to the scream that came from outside.
With a blank expression, he sighed, "It's begun."
At that moment, someone gently knocked on the door, and an old woman's voice came from outside.
The old woman's voice was very hoarse, resembling some kind of animal: "Bride, it's time to go out."
Suddenly, a black tentacle shot out from Jiang Yan's exquisite clothing, slyly licking the lipstick off his lips.
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