"Wh... What?" 663 said incredulously, his tone unable to hide his panic.
In contrast, Jiang Yan's tone was unusually calm: "This bug is a bit serious. You should report it."
He stared at the figure in front of him, Yu Xiu, trying to find something in the other’s deep green eyes to confirm his suspicions.
However, all he saw in the lifeless eyes, which had lost their light due to death, was a programmed smile. Nothing else.
The tentacle in his stomach seemed to sense the shift in his emotions and quietly extended, wrapping around his membrane.
The wet, sticky sensation made him involuntarily furrow his brows. He lowered his voice and muttered, "Be honest!"
"I’ve been wanting to ask since that night, Yan Yan, what exactly is this thing in your stomach?" Yu Xiu's younger brother didn’t hesitate to rest his chin on his shoulder and stare at his membrane.
"I also want to know." Yu Xiu lowered his head as well.
"I don’t know." Jiang Yan replied quietly.
This was the truth. He only knew that this thing was part of Yu Xiu, but he didn’t know how Yu Xiu had ended up like this.
Moreover, this thing could only be considered part of Yu Xiu, not the real Yu Xiu. He would still have to piece together the person himself.
The person he pieced together was Yu Xiu. But what the thing hidden in his stomach should be called, he really didn’t know.
"Yan Yan doesn’t know?"
He could feel Yu Xiu’s warm breath on his neck.
"Mm."
Jiang Yan slightly furrowed his brows, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He immediately realized their intent and added, "I don’t want to know."
"How can Yan Yan not want to know?"
"Yan Yan doesn’t want to know, but we want to know. Everything about Yan Yan, we all want to know."
"...Go away." Jiang Yan said expressionlessly.
However, his resistance had no effect. The tentacle in his stomach seemed to sense something and became even more excited, starting to slide down his waist, then lightly wrapping around his thigh.
Yu Xiu and his brother were working together, scheming!
"Ah!"
The wet, sticky sensation on his leg made Jiang Yan furrow his brows and gasp. However, it didn’t disturb the town mayor and his wife.
"What’s wrong, Yan Yan? Are you uncomfortable?" The mayor’s wife asked, looking at her daughter-in-law with concern.
Everyone’s gaze turned back to Jiang Yan and the others.
"It’s nothing." Jiang Yan forced himself to control his breathing.
The two Yu Xius laughed in unison: "It’s nothing, mother."
For a moment, Jiang Yan didn’t know who to glare at. He could only angrily pinch the tentacle around his waist, but it only resulted in an even tighter grip.
Everyone noticed Jiang Yan’s strange behavior, and Cao Youfeng gently nudged Tao Shi’s sleeve: "Boss, do you think they might be...?"
Tao Shi gently patted his head, signaling him not to overthink.
Right now, he was more focused on the gossip about Jiang Yan. It was normal for NPCs in the dungeon to make sacrifices; compared to those real NPCs who had their hands and feet severed or the players who couldn't even hope for such things, Jiang Yan was already quite fortunate.
At this moment, Tao Shi only had one thought in his mind: how to keep Jiang Yan safe and complete the dungeon without clashing with Yu Jia.
Clearing the dungeon wasn’t difficult, and keeping Jiang Yan safe was also manageable.
The key was Yu Jia!
Indeed, if the solution was a violent one, Yu Jia wouldn’t be a match for him and Xiao Feng. But if that happened, the two guilds would become enemies.
Tao Shi lightly pinched his thumb and index finger.
Now, he was also thinking about having a cigarette.
Inside the dim underground temple, players and NPCs were scattered in various corners of the hall, each with their own thoughts.
When the wailing ghosts’ sounds faded, the night instantly became quiet. The only sounds left were the faint flicker of candle flames, Jiang Yan’s soft breathing, and the light laughter of his husbands.
The warmth was stifling.
---
The next day, at dawn, the players resting in the temple were abruptly awakened by a heart-wrenching scream.
"Ah—!!"
"What... happened?"
The town mayor said gravely, "Let’s go take a look."
Everyone left the house and followed the cry down the cobbled street. The source of the crying was an old, dilapidated paper-making shop halfway down the street.
When Jiang Yan and his group arrived, the townspeople had already gathered, three deep and three wide. It seemed that the guests from the wedding banquet the day before had gathered here, talking in a frenzy:
"How could it be her?"
"Yeah! How could it be her?"
"Blind! What else could it be? She just didn’t hide it well!"
"I thought she hid that belly pretty well, how could she not hide it?"
"Sigh! What a shame, she was about to give birth..."
The townspeople's words were confusing.
At this moment, Fang Rui, pale and exhausted, like a marionette on a string, spotted a familiar figure among the crowd.
His eyes instantly brightened, "Xiao Ling!!"
Hearing the call, Ling Kang who had just recovered from the wailing ghosts and was still pale, snapped back to his senses, "Xiao Rui!"
The two instantly embraced.
Fang Rui looked over his friend, and seeing that his friend only looked a bit pale but had no injuries, he finally felt relieved.
"Good, you’re alright! That’s what matters!”
At that moment, Liu Er pushed his way out of the crowd, looking toward Jiang Yan. “Huh? Is this the bride?”
Hearing his name, Jiang Yan came to his senses, pushing Yu Xiu aside, who had been rubbing his face against him. Jiang Yan straightened his slightly messy hair and looked at Liu Er behind him. “Yes, that’s me.”
Liu Er let out a long sigh. With his broad shoulders and stocky build squeezed into a cheongsam, a cigarette between his fingers, and messy makeup on his face, he looked utterly ridiculous. “Ah! It’s your cousin San Kun.”
“What?” Jiang Yan was confused.
“Yan Yan!”
Jiang Yan’s mother suddenly burst through the crowd.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Jiang Yan replied.
“That’s good, that’s good!” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. The weary woman with slightly red-rimmed eyes continued, “Come over here… it’s your cousin San Kun.”
The tightly packed townsfolk made way, and everyone could finally see what was in the center of the crowd—
On the dark, smooth stone road lay a woman in a loose floral nightgown, lying on her back with her eyes and mouth wide open, her face twisted in horror. Her previously swollen belly now had a large, gaping hole, her insides spilling across the ground, like a dissected frog.
Beside her knelt a middle-aged man in a long, slit cheongsam, his two thick, hairy legs visible, wailing as he cried out, “Mama,” his voice hoarse and strained.
“Isn’t that the lady who sat with us at dinner the other night?” Cao Youfeng asked.
Jiang Yan didn’t know this “San Kun,” but the players around him recognized her. She was Jiang Yan’s relative who had joined their wedding banquet, and Cao Youfeng had even pointed out her pregnancy, which she had denied.
Cao Youfeng stepped forward to examine San Kun’s body, scanning her spilled organs.
Sure enough….
“The womb and the child are gone,” Cao Youfeng said.
“It was the Red Ghost Lady who took them,” Jiang Yan’s mother sobbed.
“The Red Ghost Lady steals unborn children who shouldn’t be born. She already has a son and a daughter; it’s part of the curse.”
“The one beside her… would that be her daughter?” Jiang Yan asked.
“Yes,” Jiang Yan’s mother sighed.
Jiang Yan: "...."
He looked at the “daughter” kneeling by the woman’s body, and a bad feeling arose within him.
Then he heard his mother continue, “Your cousin got married, but she couldn’t have children. But the ancestral curse in this town is still here—how could your cousin San Kun just stand by and watch her daughter turn into a wandering ghost?”
“Sigh! She already had a grandson two years ago. If this child had been born, it would’ve been settled, but who would’ve thought she’d be so unlucky to get caught by the Red Ghost Lady”
“So… she was having a child for her son?” Cao Youfeng asked.
“For her daughter,” Jiang Yan’s mother corrected. “She once had a daughter, and we advised her to keep the child, but she didn’t. If she had, it wouldn’t have come to this!”
San Kun was the only one who had had a true daughter.
The players fell silent.
The townsfolk around them began sighing and muttering:
“Sigh! Why is there all this trouble again? I remember when the Wu family got married, there wasn’t this kind of fuss!”
“Yeah! Why does it get worse every time?”
“Lately, more and more people seem to be suffering from the curse.”
“If you ask me, could it be something to do with this bride?”
As they spoke, the crowd, which had been gathered to watch, suddenly focused on Jiang Yan. Their curious and disdainful stares carried a mix of scorn and intrigue, and their gazes occasionally drifted down to Jiang Yan’s stomach.
Once the wedding rites were complete, the Red Ghost Lady would stop causing trouble. But the condition to complete the wedding was—the bride’s pregnancy.
Jiang Yan’s mother stepped protectively in front of him, but he took a step back, only for Yu Xiu to wrap an arm around his waist.
San Kun’s “daughter’s” shrill cries continued to echo across the stone road.
“Aaahhh!!”
Suddenly, someone in the crowd let out a sharp scream!
“The curse! It’s the curse!” Liu Er shouted in shock.
The crowd scattered like flowing water. A thin, middle-aged man held his hand, overwhelmed and panicked. A small red spot on the back of his hand was expanding, soon covering his entire palm in blood red—the Red Ghost Lady’s curse!
"Why?! Wasn't it supposed to be over?!" a townsman cried in despair.
"You... you too!"
"Second Uncle! Your face!"
"Fourth Aunt! What's happening to you?!"
"My face! My face too!"
People looked at each other in horror as the red spots, symbols of the curse, crept across everyone’s skin.
Everything was happening so fast, too fast for the players to process.
"We’re all cursed! Every single one of us!"
In the crowd, Granny Zhang, her hair streaked with white, suddenly rushed out, half-crazed. She charged straight toward Jiang Yan, clutching his hand and wailing in a mix of grief and deranged laughter, "The bride! The bride!"
"What’s going on?" 663 was baffled, unable to grasp the situation.
"How would I know?" Jiang Yan replied, trying to pull his hand free. But Granny Zhang’s withered, bony hands possessed a strange strength, making it impossible for him to break away.
"Granny Zhang, what are you doing?" Jiang Yan’s mother rushed over, trying to pry the old woman away from her son.
The players looked on, unsure of what was happening.
Just then, Jian Hou, standing beside Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng, suddenly spoke. "Everyone’s been cursed... Jiang Yan, why haven’t you?"
"What?!" Cao Youfeng’s eyes widened.
"Teacher, you?!" Tao Shi looked at Jian Hou in disbelief.
Jian Hou’s face showed little emotion, but Yu Jia, standing nearby, gave a quiet smirk. "Exactly! Why? Could it be that the source of the curse isn’t the Red Ghost Lady, but the bride?"
The wedding rituals hadn’t yet concluded, and red cloths still draped each household, casting a scarlet glow over the entire stone-paved street. The glow reflected off everyone’s cursed, red-spotted faces, intensifying the ominous atmosphere.
The townsfolk’s gaze turned dark as they looked at Jiang Yan, their expressions filled with a mix of fear and suspicion.
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