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Chapter 16
Editor: Sahloknir
A flurry of thoughts passed through Gong Wei’s mind, but he kept quiet and allowed the women to cover his head with a vermillion-satin veil. As the veil covered his eyes, he was helped out of the door.
A lavish bridal palanquin, designed to be carried by eight men, waited outside the door. While Gong Wei could not see the finer details through the veil, the extravagance of the palanquin was obvious. It could be seen in the gold embroidery on the red drapery and the finely embossed frame of the palanquin. A woman brought a vermillion wicker wedding basket, raised the drapery with a blood jade ruyi and cheerfully said, “Please step up into the palanquin, Miss!”
Hearing the comment, Gong Wei paused, in a hoarse whisper he asked, “Where is Xu Shuangtze?”
The tone of voice coming from the woman remained unchanged. “Who is Xu Shuangtze?”
Gong Wei contemplated for a moment and then asked again, “Where is General Bai?”
The woman replied, “The groom and the guests are at the banquet in the ancestral hall and are just waiting for the bride!”
A crowd of faceless people, men and women, old and young, were all applauding with joy, their ‘faces’ staring straight at the ‘bride’, seemingly waiting for him to get into the palanquin.
Gong Wei finally drew in a deep breath amidst the countless ‘eyes’ and stepped steadily into the palanquin. The three layers of pearl and jade curtains draped behind him moved with a tinkle.
“Let us proceed…”
“The bride is getting married today…”
The firecrackers were lit, drums and gongs sounded and all the faceless people were singing and dancing as the palanquin headed towards the ancestral hall at the end of the road.
It is unknown as to why in Xu Shuangtze’s mind that there were so many people attending the wedding. But all along the way there were huge crowds streaming from the houses on both sides of the road. More and more of them gathered, until the street was so densely packed that it was impossible to see the edges of the crowd. By the time the entourage arrived in front of the ancestral hall, there was already a huge mass of people. This scene was comparable to that of the Empress’s wedding announcement.
“Stop the palanquin…”
The faceless women once again gently lifted the beaded curtain, bent down and helped Gong Wei out of the palanquin. The attendants then stood in front of the ancestral hall and joyously announced, “The bride has arrived!”
Through the red veil Gong Wei could vaguely make out a wide, stone path before him. It passed through three gates and nine steps, leading to an elevated, ancient ancestral hall at the end. Banquet tables had been set up on both sides of the stone path. The compound was bustling with excited guests, this could be discerned from the way their heads were moving, unfortunately the happy scene simply looked too creepy as no one in the crowd had any discernible expression.
At the top of the nine steps, Xu Shuangtze stood with his arms folded, the sleeves of his clean, white robe inlaid with gold were fluttering in the wind, and his sword No Way Out rested at his waist.
Even among the sea of people, this Cang Yang Sect Master had the most powerful aura and was the most conspicuous one.
He slowly turned back and looked through the crowd before laying eyes on his bride, his thin lips curving up a little as he did so.
Gong Wei’s pupils constricted as he looked into the distance. He saw a ring of lead-grey mountains surrounding the entire land. Behind them were rolls of clouds gradually drifting and blocking out the daylight as they approached the village like a shadow.
It was just as it had been twenty years ago.
The two faceless women flanking Gong Wei suddenly grabbed his arms with pincer-like grips, in contrast, their voices were exceptionally eager, “This way please.”
Gong Wei stood still.
The firecrackers and gongs were still ringing, the guests continued with their claps and laughter, the faceless women waited for a moment then repeated cheerfully, “Bride, this way please.”
Gong Wei said in response, “I’m not going in.”
“Why won’t you go in?”
“I will die.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The woman did not respond.
“There is a mythical beast who lives in Taoyuan Mountain. It has the body of a tiger and the spines of a hedgehog, and likes to consume human flesh. People call it the Qiongqi. It was alarmed by the sound of drums and music, so it descended from the sky wrapped in grey clouds and captured the bride and took her back to its cave. The groom had to fight his way there to her rescue.”
“Although the groom was a general, he was a mere mortal and could not go up against such a ferocious beast like the Qiongqi. With one paw, it pinned down the bride, with the other, it clawed into the earth, causing destruction to the entire mountain and forest. As the ground shook, so did its cave which was about to collapse, with falling boulders almost burying both the bride and groom within.
Gong Wei slowly continued, “However, the groom held on to his bride and refused to escape alone.”
“Lord…Lord Xu…” Yuchi Xiao cried. He was seated in the first row with the guests at the foot of the stairs. He continued to stammer, “Please wake up, all these are just projections of the disaster from your memory, do you really not remember? Lady Xu, she will soon-soon…”
The sky was turning darker and the winds were getting stronger as the clouds gathered over the mountains and above the village. Xu Shuangtze acted as if he hadn’t heard anything at all and only gazed at the figure donned in the gold and red bridal gown outside the ancestral hall gates.
A chill rose in Yuchi Xiao’s heart, “What now?”
Xu Shuangtze’s most fearful memory was the moment of his bride’s death. When that moment arrived, the mirror art would magnify his fear, his resentment and his madness a thousand times over. When the illusionary realm finally collapsed under the weight of the chaos, it would engulf the realm master while burying the souls of all intruders within, and no one would be able to escape.
The two swordsmen were surrounded by uncountable faceless people. Meng Yunfei suddenly withdrew his gaze and whispered, “There’s one thing I can’t understand.”
“What?”
“Why did Lotus Immortal kill Xu Shuangtze’s bride?”
Lady Xu’s death had always been a matter of debate, some said she died of illness, others said she was poisoned and then there were all sorts of conspiracy theories. At the heart of them all was the Lotus Immortal who was the most probable culprit—otherwise, there was no way to explain why Lord Xu had gone to war with Chief Gong for so many years.
In his lifetime, Chief Gong was such a cheerful and warm-hearted man, with a good reputation amongst the people. Given his character, it was suspicious that he would kill an innocent woman over a feud with Lord Xu.
Among the immortal sects, privacy is greatly respected and it is not appropriate for a junior to comment on the actions of an elder, let alone question them. So after decades had passed, the new generation of cultivators still didn’t quite dare to pry into the grudges and feuds between the several great masters. Let alone Yuchi Xiao, who had been raised and taught the rules of his lineage. “This…”
Meng Yunfei gestured for him to look at the bride in the distance and whispered, “Look, Lady Xu has a face now.”
Yuchi Xiao jerked back and redirected his gaze. The vermillion bridal veil was so thin that he could make out the faint details on ‘Lady Xu’s’ face, especially the bridge of her nose, which was distinctly raised. She even seemed to be conversing with the two maids beside her.
Her face was no longer a blank, smooth canvas!
But how could she suddenly have a face?
Yuchi Xiao then noticed her hands, which in contrast to the gorgeous red silk of the bridal gown, appeared almost a translucent white. Her fingers were long, slender and beautiful—as if they were glowing with light.
Yuchi Xiao felt his heart thumping and an almost impossible suspicion arose. Just then, he heard the Master of Ceremonies repeat for the third time, “May the bride step out of the palanquin…”
Xu Shuangtze’s face did not show the slightest displeasure as he slowly said, “Why is there a delay?”
Gong Wei stopped speaking, stood in silence for a moment before he exhaled. With the help of the two faceless women on each side, he stepped across the high threshold, up the stone steps, and finally stopped in front of Xu Shuangtze.
Then, his hands felt icy all of a sudden. They were now held in Xu Shuangtze’s own.
Xu Shuangtze’s fingers were terribly cold, he opened his mouth slightly before shutting it again as if he wanted to say something. He continued to gaze lovingly at the veil embroidered with golden clouds and cranes in front of him. Suddenly he sighed softly and smiled.
Seeing the loving smile, Gong Wei knew that no matter what he did, he would die, and finally gathered his courage and said, “Wake up Xu Bai, Lady Xu is already dead.”
“…”
Hearing the statement, Xu Shuangtze’s face became cold, as he hoarsely replied, “You’re not dead.”
Xu Shuangtze’s expression was unwavering. If anyone dared to get close enough to look, they would find him staring intently and affectionately at the bride before him, not even moving his pupils.
However, Gong Wei knew this loving Xu Shuangtze could transit from his current state of normalcy to unhesitatingly slashing ten thousand ghosts with a single move of his sword in the blink of an eye. Hence he did not dare to be negligent, as any slip up could send his head flying, instead he asked calmly, “Remember what happened the last time you dragged Lady Xu like this?”
Xu Shuangtze furrowed his long, slender brows.
Gong Wei said, “That Qiongqi stomped and crushed the earth, causing boulders to rain down like a storm, and you refused to let go of her to escape alone, so you couldn’t break your love barrier—”
Right at that moment, they were suddenly warped into the beast’s cave of the illusionary realm of twenty years ago and immediately surrounded by deafening roars. ‘General Bai’ was holding his bride’s hand as she was pinned under the claws of the frenzied Qiongqi. He could not pull her out of its grip.
The ground quaked violently and the sky was dark, Gong Wei struggled in the darkness, but was unable to free himself from the beast that held on to him…nor General Bai, who would not let go of his hand and escape alone.
At that moment, a thunderous tremor came from above his head as the huge mountain rock broke apart and came crashing down with the force of a thousand tons!
“Ah Tao,” General Bai said hoarsely, as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, “let’s die here together today.”
Gong Wei’s mind blew up.
In the next instant, the illusionary realm around them came to a sudden standstill, countless rocks of all sizes hovered in mid-air, and the bloodied Qiongqi’s jaws opened to growl, but his movements froze.
In that complete and utter silence, Gong Wei’s soul broke away from the ‘bride’s’ body. General Bai heard a young man’s soft voice above his head, with seemingly ineffable confusion in it, say, “Why should we die?”
“…”
General Bai’s soul had been severely damaged at this point, and he stood there in a daze, trapped in an unending, absurd nightmare.
Gong Wei reached out from behind and pressed General Bai’s hand, which was tightly clutching his bride, and there was a tinge of naive encouragement in his tone, “As long as you escape, you’ll be able to break the love barrier. Don’t you want to ascend?”
Time and space were frozen for a long time before General Bai’s voice came in response, “I don’t want to break the love barrier.”
“Why?”
“I love her.”
Gong Wei blinked, not understanding, “What do you like about her?”
“…I don’t know.” General Bai muttered, “I loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her, and I…don’t know why.”
But what exactly is this feeling of loving someone?
Is it really possible for a person to fall in love with another—who they have yet to see or hear?
Gong Wei was even more baffled, and after a moment of pondering, he said with horrified certainty, “You-you have fallen into the love barrier.”
“Is that so?” General Bai replied wearily, “It doesn’t matter, let us die together here in the cave, I really feel…that it is alright.”
Gong Wei, however, shook his head disapprovingly. He then slowly and with more force pulled at General Bai’s bruised and battered hand, which was clinging onto his bride, saying, “Although you are going to die one day, it’s useless to die in the illusionary realm.”
General Bai didn’t react to what he said, but suddenly everything around him began to move like it should—the Qiongqi’s roar was now accompanied by blazing flames, which came rushing out of its throat. And a mountain of boulders came raining down on their heads. Gong Wei grabbed General Bai’s hand with a firm, overwhelming force and thrust it forward in a clean and sharp movement!
Fingertips sank into flesh and blood splattered up, the scene reflecting clearly in General Bai’s momentarily constricted pupils.
“…No,” he roared in a fiery voice, “No!!!”
Gong Wei continued to grip and control General Bai’s hand reaching in and tearing out the ‘bride’s’ heart. He then darted back just before being crushed by the rain of boulders, dragging General Bai out of the cave. A gust of wind rushed towards the duo and cleanly lifted the blood from their hands!
“What are you doing!” General Bai struggled madly and roared, “Who are you! What the hell are you doing!?”
Half the mountain collapsed, the earth cracked and trembled, and countless blazing stones hailed down from the sky and crashed into the ground, burying the bodies of both the fierce Qiongqi and his bride forever. From behind, Gong Wei clutched General Bai’s arm and leaned in to whisper earnestly in his ear, “Love may be worth it, but the one you fell for was just an illusion. You have now broken your killing barrier, wake up Xu Bai.”
General Bai turned his head back stiffly and slowly, and a storm coalesced in his eyes as if the part of his soul that belonged to Xu Shuangtze was reviving from its deep slumber with a shrill whistle.
“Who are you?” He asked hoarsely.
In the distance the vault of heaven was collapsing, and flames were erupting from the depths of the earth. Xu Shuangtze’s awakening soul set off a huge wave of terrifying spiritual energy, shaking the Thousand Dimension Mirror Realm to its core, and the illusionary realm looked like it was about to crumble.
Gong Wei said, “Calm down Xu Bai, you don’t really like her, you just…”
Boom!
The sky finally shattered, the earth plunged into thick smoke, and a ferocious hurricane tore into the flames, turning into a blazing torrent. General Bai clamped his hands around Gong Wei’s neck as the entire world around them collapsed in his fury,”Who the hell are you—!”
—
“Does it ring a bell now?” The wedding hall was decorated in bright red, Gong Wei looked up at Xu Shuangtze under his bridal veil and said earnestly, “Lady Xu is dead, she never existed, wake up Xu Bai.”
The sky had gone completely dark now, and the faceless guests, both ignorant and unaware, were still bobbing their heads gleefully. The contrast of these faceless figures with the boisterous sound of gongs and drums was just hair-raising.
Suddenly a gust of wind, mixed with a demonic scent, came from the sky, and in the distance mountains fell, the sea of trees uprooted, and flocks of birds that covered the sky flew away in terror…
“Roar!”
A ferocious beast, shaped like a giant tiger, with hooked claws and sawed teeth swooped up from the mountain stream. With each flap of the wings on its back it raised a hurricane. It was none other than the Qiongqi, plunging towards the ancestral hall!
“Is that so?” Xu Shuanthze said indifferently, “If Lady Xu never existed, then who are you?”
Gong Wei did not answer.
Appearing oblivious to the chaos around him, Xu Shuangtze locked his gaze on the veiled face in front of him and asked again in an aggravated tone, “Who are you, hmm?”
“…he is the Lotus Immortal…” Finally Yuchi Xiao’s voice resounded from not far away, and he stood up clutching Gou Chen tightly, continuing with much difficulty, “You’d better quickly wake up from the illusion, Lord Xu. This bride before you…is the Lotus Immortal!”
With a loud boom, the Qiongqi’s front paw shattered the mountainside and it climbed up the rocks like lightning, with countless boulders shattering into pieces and falling into the abyss behind it. The faceless guests finally reacted sluggishly and fled in panic, only to burst into a gruesome scene of splattered flesh and blood under the force of its sharp claws.
It was as if the scene from twenty years ago was replaying once again. The ferocious beast covered in spikes crashed through the eaves of the ancestral hall, aimed directly at the bride, and with a roar, it swooped down with open jaws!
“—It’s all a lie, Xu Bai.” Gong Wei stared intently at Xu Shuangtze. “If you wake up now, everything will eventually disappear and come to pass, it’s not too late.”
Xu Shuangtze shut his eyes.
The shadow cast on them was getting bigger and bigger and specks of the Qiongqi’s saliva had already hit the back of Gong Wei’s neck. In a flash, Xu Shuangtze’s eyes fluttered open, his pupils coalesced with a divine light, and he unsheathed his sword, No Way Out—
A cold light exploded and swept across the sky.
In that moment, Gong Wei closed his eyes and prepared himself to resist a blow to his soul, but the next moment, the Qiongqi above his head was sliced into half in midair.
Blood poured down like a rainstorm and sprayed all over Xu Shuangtze’s body!
“I know who it is,” Xu Shuangtze said condescendingly as he turned to Yuchi Xiao.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Several chunks of the Qiongqi’s carcass slammed onto the steps, but no one could react, and there was a suffocating silence around them.
Xu Shuangtze’s white and gold robe was now so soaked in the beast’s blood that he looked as if he was wearing a vermillion groom’s gown.
With one hand he sheathed his sword and with the other he held onto Gong Wei’s wrist, his eyes unfazed, not even remotely surprised as he spoke, “The auspicious hour is here, why are we not proceeding with the ceremony?”
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Sahl: Gong Wei is still getting married to Xu Shuangtze…? I mean, it’s not unexpected, but also totally unexpected. I—