"Creeeak—”
The intricately carved mahogany door swung open, revealing Jiang Yan standing before a black coffin, facing his two “ex-husbands” with wide eyes.
[Wow... wedding candles.]
[Is it really a wedding night for three people?]
[What’s wrong? Don’t you consider the dead to be human?]
[Fortunately, Jiang Yan’s legitimate husband is dead; otherwise, how would this wedding night work?]
[Don’t worry, this is a horror game, not a dating sim. The main system isn’t twisted enough to let real NPCs and system NPCs do it for real.]
[I feel a bit excited... The bride's outfit was beautiful]
[Damn!! Report! There’s a pervert upstairs!]
On the table, a pair of dragon and phoenix candles flickered, their light casting long shadows in the room. Jiang Yan watched as he manipulated the corpse of "himself," the husband who had been missing for six months. For a moment, he felt a bit dazed.
In his confusion, he almost believed this was just a prank by that guy. After all, this rascal had a history of playing such “corpse role-playing” tricks! He remembered their first wedding anniversary when this guy had brought a coffin home, insisting on switching beds. After Jiang Yan had lost his temper and given him a good beating, he lay in the coffin pretending to be dead.
Jiang Yan’s long eyelashes trembled, his blue eyes flickering slightly. Rationality told him this was just a string of data.
Yet, the person who had disappeared for half a year stood alive and well before him. Combined with the inexplicable appearance of his friends in the game, it left his emotions in turmoil. He hated this chaotic feeling, and yet, every time he encountered Yu Xiu, he couldn’t find peace.
Jiang Yan furrowed his brows, trying hard to calm his thoughts. He watched as the system NPC "Yu Xiu," holding the corpse of his "brother," passed by him toward the black coffin. Inside the coffin lay a white mourning cloth, scattered with spirit money. The groom, dressed in a bright red robe with golden embroidery, was placed inside. The contrast of red, white, and black under the dim candlelight looked eerily ominous. He had already been dead for a month; his body appeared a chilling blue, with parts of his facial skin decayed, revealing bits of white bone underneath.
However, the system NPC showed no sign of fear or disgust toward the rotten corpse; his green, sparkling eyes gazed at it as if it were a beloved toy. Jiang Yan couldn’t help but twitch his eyebrows. According to the game, this corpse should be the brother of this data string, right? Indeed, some people’s perverse traits were embedded in their genes!
After Yu Xiu finished adjusting the corpse in the coffin, he turned around and smiled at Jiang Yan, his smile dazzling yet harmless: “Sister-in-law.”
Hiss... A chill surged from the soles of Jiang Yan’s feet, and goosebumps immediately broke out all over.
"Does the main system have some strange quirks?! Making my ex-husband my little brother?” Jiang Yan coldly accused.
“Plot needs! Plot needs! This is just a string of data.”
Data? Jiang Yan’s gaze darkened. According to theory, NPCs should be able to delete any data in the game within their capability without breaking character. He looked at the harmlessly smiling yet deranged NPC in the candlelight; this kind of twisted data was best destroyed.
“Yu Xiu” seemed oblivious to his sister-in-law’s vigilance and hostility, smiling as he asked, “Sister-in-law, how can you stay so far away from brother on your wedding night?” He leaned closer, his bright eyes narrowing like a sly fox.
“Don’t call me that,” Jiang Yan said coldly. At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to sleep for three days and three nights on the embroidered bed! But the sense of danger from the person before him made it impossible for him to relax. He knew this person too well; even if it was just a fabricated string of data standing before him, based on this person’s perverse nature...
“Ah! So fierce, so fierce!” The man spoke soft words of submission, but his smile had a hint of excited mischief. He stepped forward slowly, inching closer to the “sister-in-law” dressed in wedding attire.
Jiang Yan frowned and instinctively took a step back. As he retreated, he irritably thought, “I’m exhausted! Should I just twist off his head?” It was their wedding night, and he was the victim of teasing! As the one being teased, if he accidentally killed his little brother while resisting, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?
However, just as Jiang Yan was lost in thought, he retreated to the end of the bed, which was draped with red curtains, and without noticing, he fell right into the red tent. When he looked up again, his dead husband’s younger brother was already standing in front of him.
“Sister-in-law.” The person looked down at him from above.
Jiang Yan: '....'
“What should we do? Brother can’t have his wedding night with sister-in-law, so why not...?” The beautiful face was filled with delight, smiling innocently.
“Get lost.”
[Hmm? What kind of development is this? Is it this stimulating?]
[What? Now the main system’s plot has started to expand toward dating sims?]
[Isn’t this too vulgar? The main system has such heavy tastes! Why am I feeling a bit excited? Damn!]
[I just praised him for being serious! This is a ghost marriage scenario! Is this appropriate? The groom’s corpse is still in the coffin!]
[It seems Jiang Yan can’t handle it anymore.]
[Hahaha... This is the first time I’ve seen Jiang Yan so angry.]
[Is he really mad? It shouldn’t be acting. But being angry at this moment is breaking character!]
[Jiang Yan was overwhelmed! Boohoo! Fortunately, this system NPC is good-looking.]
[Hiss... why do I feel like this system NPC is a bit familiar? It’s like I’ve seen him somewhere.]
“I am your brother’s wife,” Jiang Yan said with a hint of disdain in his indifferent tone. “Your brother’s corpse is still cold!”
What level of twisted situation is this?
“Brother’s wife?” The person’s expression darkened. “Sister-in-law, just now I also made a vow with sister-in-law.” Saying that, he reached out and embraced his “sister-in-law’s” waist, leaning over onto the embroidered bed...
[Eek! No way?? Are we really going to...?]
[Beast!! Jiang Yan is right! What a beast!]
[Damn! Let go of my Jiang Yan!!]
[The banquet outside hasn’t even finished! Are we starting to fight over the sister-in-law already?!]
[Jiang Yan! Quickly use your rose to kill him! First blood!!]
[You, you, you... At least cover your brother’s coffin!]
“Let me go!”
“Sister-in-law, don’t be shy!”
The candlelight swayed red, and the red curtains fluttered. The bride, pushed down by his little brother-in-law, struggled to resist while planning various methods of killing him in his mind.
---
After the bride and groom entered the bridal chamber, the wedding banquet began. The banquet tables, adorned with red cloth, nearly filled the entire backyard, and every table was occupied, as if the entire town of Qingshi had gathered.
Men made up the majority of the guests, many of whom were wearing qipaos and had their hair styled. Several were holding children in their arms and calling out "Mama." Although most of the guests were relatively young and had received modern and inclusive education, the scene before them felt somewhat bizarre and out of place. However, the attendees did not seem to notice any oddity; they wore white mourning flowers and happily enjoyed the banquet.
Yu Jia, a conservative, was taken aback, and his mouth twitched at the sight: “This town... really is ahead of its time!”
Tao Shi smiled and said, “Welcome to the new world!”
At that moment, a woman holding a child approached and introduced herself as Jiang Yan’s second cousin: “You must be Yan Yan’s classmates, right? Come with me.”
Everyone obediently followed her.
Then, the players noticed that under each table covered with red cloth, there was a red paper figure—a little girl doll, with a white paper face, round cheeks painted bright red, and big black eyes staring blankly at the crowd.
Unable to hold back his curiosity, one player asked, “Why are there paper dolls at the wedding? Is it because the groom is dead? But why only this type of doll?”
The woman holding the child turned around and kindly explained, “This is our local tradition. At weddings, we place red ghost dolls to keep the children from causing trouble.”
“Red ghost dolls? Little children?”
Jian Hou thought of the baby girl and the “red ghost doll” the driver mentioned earlier, tightening his grip on Tao Shi’s sleeve and daring not to ask further.
The lifeless eyes of the dolls seemed to stare blankly at the group of outsiders, moving slowly with the guests’ steps.
Since they were classmates of the bride Jiang Yan, the players were arranged to sit with the bride's family. Six players, two real NPCs, and two system NPCs—ten people made a complete table.
Among the system NPCs was this second cousin, and the other was a middle-aged woman.
“Are you all Yan Yan’s classmates? Please, sit down! It’s wonderful that you’ve come all this way from the city. I’m Yan Yan’s third aunt,” said the woman, dressed in a purple-red qipao, smiling warmly.
Her belly was round like a watermelon, clearly indicating she was pregnant.
Cao Youfeng sweetly asked, “Third Aunt, are you having a baby boy or a baby girl? Congratulations!”
Unexpectedly, the previously smiling woman’s expression changed instantly, and her smile vanished: “What do you mean, ‘having a baby’? I’m just fat!”
Cao Youfeng thought he had misspoken and hurriedly apologized.
At that moment, he noticed the woman’s belly move slightly, clearly indicating fetal movement.
He frowned, wondering why she wouldn’t admit it. Was she afraid of a fine for having too many children?
Cao Youfeng was puzzled: Does this quest also enforce family planning?
Everyone saw this scene, and there was a tense silence, broken by a few distant, mournful cat meows.
The woman, whose face had just looked monstrous, again beamed with a smile, as if nothing had happened. She gently cradled her belly and introduced the two real NPCs at the table: “This is Xiao Rou, Yan Yan’s cousin! This is Ding Wanyu, Yan Yan’s brother.”
Ding Wanyu nodded slightly in greeting.
Cang Rou leaned on the table, resting her face in her hands, and yawned: “What a coincidence! Welcome to my cousin’s wedding.”
[Why are they here again?]
[Great! Jiang Yan, Cang Rou, Ding Wanyu—does the main system not have any other real NPCs?]
[I heard recently that the real NPCs in the main system had been severely depleted, but I didn’t believe it. Now I do.]
[Wow… Ding Wanyu has followed Jiang Yan through three quests, hasn’t he? Is he a fixed NPC for Jiang Yan?]
Jian Hou looked confusedly at Tao Shi: “Do you know them?”
Tao Shi pulled him down to sit: “Old acquaintances.”
Cao Youfeng added, “Not just old acquaintances; he’s also an old colleague of Jiang Yan’s.”
“Colleague?” Jian Hou was puzzled. “This guy has been a full-time husband since he graduated. After his divorce, he has been a full-time son. I didn’t know he had colleagues.”
At that moment, his personal system 254 began to rant furiously: “Jiang Yan is a real NPC! A real NPC!
“He is the most unique real NPC in this quest! I told you to pay attention to this real NPC as soon as we entered the quest!
“Don’t underestimate his ranking; his status in this quest is no less than that of these three big shots!”
“Can you stop blocking me from talking!!”
Jian Hou frowned at 254, annoyed. “Is Jiang Yan really that impressive?”
254 exclaimed in frustration, “Impressive? Ha! Impressive?! The new legendary figure in the forum! Known as the illegitimate son of the main god, do you not think he’s impressive?”
“It’s not just about being impressive; he’s something very special…”
Jian Hou was stunned at the implications of 254’s words about Jiang Yan.
The first real NPC in the game, “The Sword Bearer,” who hadn’t faced punishment after the game failed?
The first real NPC to obtain the quest BOSS, who made a group of big shots spin in circles?
An ordinary NPC with an S-grade item, being pursued by four major guilds, the main god’s “illegitimate son”?
This... how could this be Jiang Yan?
He knew that Yan Yan was a very intelligent person, and because of this intelligence, he often preferred to take shortcuts.
For more than twenty years, this guy had adhered to the principle of doing nothing unless absolutely necessary. He only completed necessary tasks to 60% and then stopped.
Even among friends, he only had a few scattered classmates that he met through himself, and he usually didn’t attend any unnecessary gatherings. He had always liked to “hide” himself. If there was one thing this guy didn’t mind doing despite it being “unnecessary,” it would be getting married.
Jiang Yan was handsome, and he had never lacked suitors since he was young—so many that it made people envious. However, this guy once swore to him, “Dating and marriage are not necessary choices in life, so I will never fall in love in my lifetime.”
Yet, as soon as he graduated, he got married! While he himself was still single.
Just now, he had once again attended Jiang Yan’s wedding.
Thinking of this, Jian Hou couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
No matter what, this guy could not possibly be so high-profile in the game!
Seeing the host lost in thought, 254 recalled the conversation he just had with the other players and asked after a moment of silence, “Do you know Jiang Yan?”
Jian Hou replied, “We were practically born from the same obstetrician, what do you think?”
His mother and Jiang Yan’s mother were childhood best friends, and they had a very good relationship! They went to school together, dated together, got married and had children together, even counting their pregnancy times together! Because of this, he and Jiang Yan’s birthdays were only three days apart.
Then, he and Jiang Yan replicated their mothers’ relationship—going to school together and falling in love. The only difference was that Jiang Yan got married and divorced, while he was still single.
254 gasped in excitement, “Alright! Then you should be able to survive this quest!”
Hearing 254’s words, Jian Hou still felt it was unbelievable. His low-profile friend suddenly started a career in this broken game?
And what was going on with that Yu Xiu? They had been searching everywhere for him and were almost going crazy! Yet this guy suddenly appeared in the game?
“Teacher, do you know Jiang Yan?” Tao Shi’s voice pulled Jian Hou back from his thoughts.
“Hmm?” Jian Hou was still pondering their affairs, replying casually, “We are childhood friends.”
[Hmm?!! Friend?!]
[No wonder Yan Yan looked shocked when he saw him just now!]
[Wow!! This newcomer is lucky! A friend of Jiang Yan, wow!]
[This newcomer got a BUG as soon as he entered the game!]
[He can take it easy now!]
[Hehe! But don’t hype Jiang Yan too much! From the few quests I’ve seen, the only one he can save is himself.]
[Didn’t Cang Rou come back to life because the Jiang Yan saved her?]
[In the last quest, Jiang Yan clearly got the BOSS card! Let’s see if he can be that arrogant in this quest!]
[Actually, I’ve been wanting to say, it feels like Jiang Yan is too overrated.]
Yu Jia took a puff of his cigarette, exhaling a white smoke ring.
He looked at Jian Hou, his gaze darkening as he suddenly remembered who this person was—someone on Jiang Yan’s friend list.
From the information they had gathered, Jiang Yan could indeed be described as extremely indifferent. He seemed to have nothing he cared about and no particularly close relationships.
If people could be described in colors, the only color he could find to describe Jiang Yan would be white.
Endless white—not pure white, but white that felt... hopeless?
He seemed like a person without desires.
Unlike Tao Shi, who could easily pull in friends from a distance of ten meters, being on Jiang Yan’s friend list must mean that Jian Hou was quite special to him.
Thinking of this, he asked Jian Hou, “Are you very close?”
Jian Hou, listening to the personal system’s endless chatter, had a basic understanding of the game.
He was unsure about the purpose of the question and, feeling a bit defensive, replied, “It’s okay, I guess.”
Cao Youfeng sighed and said, “Then Teacher Jian is really lucky; with Jiang Yan’s personality, it’s really not easy to have a good relationship with him.”
Tao Shi teased Yu Jia with a smile, “Are you jealous? He’s childhood friends with Jiang Yan.”
Yu Jia ignored Tao Shi’s provocation and turned to ask Jian Hou, “Teacher, are you interested in joining the Puppet Workshop Guild?”
“Hmm?” Jian Hou was a bit bewildered.
[Wow! Just entered the game and received an invitation from one of the four major guilds?!]
[Wow... Who is this making me envious? I also want to be Jiang Yan’s childhood friend!!]
[Do you think if I have a kid now, I can become childhood friends with Jiang Yan’s kid?]
[Wake up upstairs! Jiang Yan is GAY!]
Before Jian Hou could answer, another player at the table, Ling Kang, weakly said, “To be honest, I don’t see anything special about this Jiang Yan...”
“Oh? Is that so?” Jian Hou covertly examined the person in front of him.
This person looked honest and even a bit timid.
What? Did he have a grudge against Yan Yan?
From what he heard from his personal system, players in the quest had more authority than real NPCs, and many players improved their performance scores by destroying real NPCs.
Thinking of this, he suddenly became alert, feigning curiosity as he said, “I don’t really understand his situation; it seems he’s developing quite well in the game?”
Ling Kang was about to say something when Fang Rui pulled him back.
“Hey!” he exclaimed, a bit aggrieved. “Why can’t I speak? It’s just the truth!”
It made him feel like he was more special than the “Best Actor”! The four major guilds were being so reckless in recruiting now!
It was obvious that Yu Jia was throwing out the olive branch just because Jian Hou was Jiang Yan’s childhood friend. He was just an ordinary player with average skills, not Jiang Yan himself; was it really necessary to act this way?
If it were up to him, he’d say these four major guilds weren’t as good as they used to be. But he had always listened to Fang Rui, so since Fang Rui didn’t want him to speak, he could only respond nonchalantly, “It’s nothing; I don’t really know him.”
[What’s wrong with Ling Kang? Is he feeling jealous?]
[Great, being so resistant to Jiang Yan, he was destined to have bad luck in this quest]
[Disdain the key NPC of the quest? Is Ling Kang out of his mind?]
[A key NPC? Jiang Yan had just entered the quest and was already a key NPC? Who said that? Moreover, Ling Kang hadn’t said anything outrageous; why did everyone have to bow down to Jiang Yan like that?]
[Same! Another big mouth.]
[No worries; Jiang Yan specializes in dealing with big mouths.]
A gust of wind blew through, sending chills down people's spines, and the paper figures under the table rustled.
At the table, Er Zhang, holding a child, and San Yi, with a noticeable belly, were smiling amicably, while the others fell into an eerie silence.
It was as if the name “Jiang Yan” was a Pandora's box—everyone was curious, but no one dared to open the topic easily.
Noticing that his friend was making the atmosphere a bit awkward, Fang Rui cleared his throat and said, “By the way, shouldn’t the bride and groom come to toast?”
Tao Shi replied, “The groom has been confirmed dead for a month; he can’t come.”
“And the bride…”
“In the bridal chamber, probably lying in the coffin with the groom.”
In the courtyard, the guests were talking and laughing, the atmosphere lively and boisterous.
Red double happiness banners and white mourning cloth were intertwined, hanging from the old locust tree in the courtyard, while ghost money and wedding candies were scattered about.
Men in qipaos used orchid fingers to call each other sisters and brothers, while the lifeless women in the pile of ghost papers let out cries once more.
The cries were drowned out by the guests’ laughter, making everything seem so peaceful and harmonious.
At that moment, the bride, the center of attention, was being pressed down on the embroidered bed by his brother-in-law.
—
He no longer struggled. After standing and bowing at the wedding ceremony, now lying on the bed, he didn’t even want to lift a finger.
The bridal chamber was still filled with incense, its faint sweetness floating in the night breeze and seeping into the canopy. His entire body sank into the soft silk bedding, and his "little brother-in-law," who had stood in as the groom and completed the ceremony with him, was pressed close, fiddling with the buttons on his ceremonial wedding robe.
This man's body was always like a hot coal, burning even more intensely in the early winter night.
“If you don’t want to lose your hand, then keep unbuttoning my clothes,” Jiang Yan warned coldly.
“Oh my, how fierce!”
Yu Xiu wrapped his arms around Jiang Yan's waist, giving his rouged lips a light peck.
It was like a cat playing with a newly caught bird, teasing and toying with it, in no hurry to swallow it whole—knowing the prey was already trapped.
The cloying sweetness and the stifling heat within the canopy made Jiang Yan feel slightly suffocated. He pushed Yu Xiu back, relaxing his resistance a bit.
Yu Xiu's eyes brightened. “Has my dear sister-in-law relented?”
Jiang Yan raised his hand, intending to slap him directly, but as soon as he lifted his hand, it was grasped and held in place!
Jiang Yan froze.
At that moment, Yu Xiu was still holding him by the waist with one hand, while his other hand was busy undoing the buttons on his chest. The hand clutching Jiang Yan’s wrist clearly wasn’t Yu Xiu’s.
Then… what was it?
Jiang Yan looked down at the hand gripping his wrist—it was deathly pale, tinged with a grayish hue, with long, slender fingers exposing the white of the bones beneath.
In that instant, he felt a strange sensation behind him as a cold body pressed against his back.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and a deep sense of foreboding arose within him.
Could it be?!
With a stoic expression, Jiang Yan slowly turned his head—meeting a face that was half-decayed yet handsome, with eerie, glowing green eyes that should not have been open.
At that moment, the person holding his waist laughed provocatively. “Ah, my dear sister-in-law, it seems my brother is jealous.”
Damn it.
Jiang Yan cursed silently, his face devoid of any expression.
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