At around ten o’clock in the evening, Shi Pengpeng finished checking the ritual tools and equipment.
She took out two talismans and pasted them on her own back and Lin Lele’s back.
“These are substitute talismans. They can confuse weaker spirits, making them mistake me for you,” Shi Pengpeng explained.
From An Ting’s description earlier in the day, the “ghost groom” seemed to have quite the entourage, with many unidentified “helpers” around him.
Before meeting the main ghost, they would likely have to deceive these minor minions first.
Lin Lele nodded gratefully, “Thank you.”
Shi Pengpeng then took out the paper wedding dress and began putting it on.
The paper material didn’t look very thick, but it had a strange toughness to it.
Despite the repeated movements of putting it on and taking it off, there was no sign of damage.
However, as she moved, the dress made a rustling sound, adding an eerie touch to the quiet night.
When she was fully dressed, the sense of eeriness grew even stronger.
Shi Pengpeng was undeniably beautiful, with a face as pure as the white moon and eyes that shimmered like rippling water.
Paired with the ominous paper dress, she looked like a ghost bride stepping out of the night at first glance.
“All done,” Shi Pengpeng said, smoothing the front of her dress.
She suddenly turned her head mischievously towards Yan Jing and winked, “Brother, how do I look? Pretty, right?”
Based on her experience, people who were afraid of ghosts usually also feared paper effigies.
The red paper reflected on the girl’s face, making her cheeks appear as delicate as peach blossoms, as if painted with powder and ink.
That mischievous wink was like a sudden flash of a star.
Yan Jing felt his breath catch, and his heart skipped a beat involuntarily.
How terrifying.
Yan Jing thought indignantly, this little witch was still so frightening.
With just a small trick, she could make his heart race abnormally.
However, he maintained his composure on the surface and said calmly, “That’s enough. Stop playing tricks.”
Shi Pengpeng, not the least bit embarrassed at being caught, even turned the tables with righteous indignation, “Do you really think of me that way?”
Yan Jing replied expressionlessly, “Yes.”
“Alright,” Shi Pengpeng gave a thumbs up, “You sure know how to judge people.”
Yan Jing:”…..”
She’s actually proud of it?!
Time passed bit by bit, and soon it was eleven o’clock, the hour of Zi in the earthly branches.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
The hotel room door suddenly sounded with knocking.
Lin Lele and An Ting, already on high alert, nearly jumped at the sound.
An Ting instinctively wanted to ask who it was, but Shi Pengpeng immediately stopped him with a gesture.
A thin voice came from outside the door, “The Zhao family is here to welcome the bride. Please come out.”
At the same time, the door creaked open on its own.
The three living people in the room, apart from Shi Pengpeng, felt their throats tighten and instantly broke out in goosebumps.
Outside the door stood a man and a woman.
The man was dressed in red, while the woman wore green.
Both had flat, pale faces with round red paper pasted on their cheeks.
The positions of their eyes were two small, black holes, as if carved out with a knife.
They were clearly two paper effigies.
An Ting was especially horrified because he recognized the male paper effigy as one of the people who had attacked him the previous night.
The distinctive red clothes, the flushed cheeks, and the eerie features were all deeply imprinted in his memory.
However, he had been deceived by the illusion last night, thinking they were real “people.”
No wonder so many “people” surrounded him last night but didn’t cause serious injuries.
It seems the paper figures had limited strength.
Each of the two paper figures held a white lantern.
The female’s lantern bore the characters “Double Happiness”, while the male’s lantern displayed the character “Mourning”.
The two large, paper-pasted white faces slowly turned, their hollow eyes ignoring the other living people and directly fixing on Shi Pengpeng.
The male paper figure spoke again: “The Zhao family welcomes the bride. Please come out, bride.”
Lin Lele’s heart almost leaped out of her throat as she stared wide-eyed at Shi Pengpeng.
“Coming,” Shi Pengpeng replied calmly, casually picking up the red veil that matched the paper wedding dress and gracefully walking toward the two paper figures.
As she approached, she even reached out with her free hand, pinched the male paper figure’s chin, and twisted it left and right for a closer look, offering a professional critique,
“The Zhao family is quite generous with their spending. The quality of these paper crafts is excellent.”
The male paper figure, clearly encountering such rudeness for the first time, was so angry that the red paper on his cheeks seemed to fade to white.
His lips moved as he said, “Bride, please behave yourself.”
“Tch, stingy,” Shi Pengpeng threatened, “Don’t make me burn you again later.”
The male paper figure:”…..”
The three living people in the room:”…..”
Lin Lele and her boyfriend exchanged a glance, suddenly feeling that their earlier worries had been unnecessary.
The two paper figures led the way with their lanterns, quietly guiding Shi Pengpeng away.
“Let’s go,” Yan Jing suddenly stood up, “We need to keep up.”
Whether by coincidence or not, the hotel was eerily quiet both inside and out.
The front desk staff was sound asleep, and the streets outside were empty, except for a luxurious paper car parked at the entrance.
Shi Pengpeng, taking on Lin Lele’s identity as the “ghost bride,” floated into the car as if weightless.
The paper wedding car started and headed toward the outskirts of the city.
Yan Jing also stepped on the gas, bringing An Ting and Lin Lele, along with two prepared paint buckets, following the paper car at a steady pace, disappearing into the night.
The paper wedding car drove further and further away from the city, passing through desolate outskirts and entering a remote hillside.
The hills rolled like waves, with a winding path leading to the top, where a bright moon hung high, illuminating the vast fields of silver grass swaying gently in the night breeze.
All was silent, except for the faint sound of the car engine.
Suddenly, Lin Lele gasped, pointing ahead in surprise, “Look over there!”
An Ting followed her finger and widened his eyes in astonishment.
At the end of the path, on the hillside, a massive house had appeared out of nowhere.
The house was vast and grand, standing three stories high, with luxurious decorations, carved railings, and jade inlays, truly magnificent.
Lanterns hung everywhere, front and back, their bright lights revealing a bustling crowd.
It was both imposing and lively.
It stood abruptly in the wilderness.
An Ting swallowed hard, his voice tense, “That seems to be, is…”
Yan Jing snorted coldly, his tone full of disdain, “It’s all just shoddy paper crafts.”
All three had applied cinnabar to their foreheads to enhance their spiritual vision.
Upon closer inspection, they could see that whether it was the house, the car, the lanterns, or the people walking around, everything was made of paper.
The “people” were all unnaturally vivid in color, with a strange and stiff texture, clearly made entirely of colored paper.
An Ting couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration, thinking to himself that this guy truly deserved to be the man by the master’s side— bold and with an impressive demeanor.
Little did he know, Yan Jing was gripping the steering wheel with all his might, his knuckles turning slightly white.
Yan Jing had a unique constitution and had actually noticed the house that appeared out of nowhere earlier than Lin Lele.
Under normal circumstances, he would have turned the car around and left immediately.
This was only the second time in his life that he knowingly headed toward a place filled with danger.
The paper wedding car slowly came to a stop in front of the extravagant paper house, where the stiff paper figures respectfully lined up in two rows by the car door.
A young man with slicked-back hair and dressed in a suit walked up to the car, smiling as he said,
“My dear, please step out of the car.”
The car door automatically opened, and Shi Pengpeng, covered with a red veil, gracefully stepped out.
“Come, let me lead you inside. It’s time for our wedding ceremony,” Zhao Jiayao extended his hand to take the bride’s hand.
But as soon as he touched her sleeve, she abruptly shook him off. “Wait.”
“Huh?” Zhao Jiayao was puzzled. “What’s wrong, my dear?”
“Don’t call me ‘my dear’ so quickly,” Shi Pengpeng said in a shrewd, worldly tone.
“Whether you’re even qualified to marry me is still up for debate. Answer my questions first.”
Zhao Jiayao: “???”
Zhao Jiayao narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled by saying,
“And what might those questions be?”
“As the saying goes, a marriage without material foundation is like a pile of sand-it falls apart with just a few steps, no wind needed,” Shi Pengpeng crossed her arms.
“So, do you have a house? A car? The ‘three golds’ as dowry?”
Zhao Jiayao:”…..”
Zhao Jiayao had only seen his “fiancée” once before, when she was unconscious.
He had been pleased with the marriage, thinking her beautiful and gentle.
He never expected her true nature to be that of a gold-digger.
Though displeased, Zhao Jiayao patiently replied,
“The house and car are right in front of you, aren’t they? As for the dowry, my family already burned it for you during the burial ceremony…”
“Cut the nonsense. You’re trying to fool a ghost,” Shi Pengpeng interrupted.
“These houses and cars are just cheap paper replicas. Even if you gilded them, they’d only be worth a few thousand in the mortal world. If it weren’t for you forcing this marriage, I could’ve burned them myself.”
“And as for the dowry, you didn’t burn some hyperinflated ‘Heaven and Earth Bank’ notes, did you?”
Zhao Jiayao:”…..”
Well, this woman wasn’t just a gold-digger-she was also sharp.
“If you’re still not satisfied,” Zhao Jiayao’s eyes turned cold, his tone hardening, “what exactly do you want?”
Shi Pengpeng turned in a slow circle under her veil, then said leisurely,
“I think this burial plot of yours is quite nice. Why don’t you give it to me?”
“!” Zhao Jiayao nearly cursed out loud, but seeing that the time was almost up, he suppressed his anger and forced a smile.
“We’re already buried together. Doesn’t that mean this plot is yours?”
“Don’t give me that. The burial plot is registered under your family name. Even with this ghost marriage, it’s still your pre-marital property,” Shi Pengpeng drawled, then added sharply,
“Besides, I’m not even dead yet. How could my bones be buried with yours?”
With that, she made as if to leave. “If you’re not up to it, let’s just call it quits.”
“Ha, I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable,” Zhao Jiayao sneered, seeing that she remained unmoved and still wanted to leave.
He completely lost his patience, stepping forward to block her path. “Then I’ll tell you the truth. What my family obtained is the remains of your past life. In your past life, you were called Yuan Shuang. You died young, and your parents couldn’t bear to cremate you, so they buried you in a grave.”
“My family hired a skilled master who found your grave, dug it up, and buried you with me.”
“Impossible,” the “bride” replied with a hint of surprise.
“Ghost marriages are always limited to the souls of the current life. Since I’ve lived two lives, I’m a completely new person. How could I still be bound by a marriage contract from my past life?”
Zhao Jiayao burst into laughter and said “You know so much, yet you haven’t heard the saying, ‘Money can make the devil turn the millstone’? My Zhao family is wealthy and influential. Since we could afford to hire a master, naturally, we can also communicate with the spirits…”
It turned out that Zhao Jiayao had died young, and his superstitious family wanted to arrange a ghost marriage for him with a woman whose fate matched his, to ensure the Zhao family’s continued prosperity and even wealth in the next life.
However, finding a suitable deceased woman of marriageable age was no easy task.
Even if there were such women, no respectable family would willingly offer their daughter for a ghost marriage.
After much searching, the Zhao family finally found a woman who had passed away over forty years ago-Yuan Shuang.
Yuan Shuang’s birth chart and the age at which she died perfectly matched Zhao Jiayao’s.
The only issue was that she had been dead for so long that she had likely already reincarnated.
But the Zhao family, obsessed with their ancestral grave’s feng shui, cared little about others’ lives.
They somehow managed to bribe the underworld officials.
As long as they stole Yuan Shuang’s remains and buried them with Zhao Jiayao, setting up a binding array, they could summon her soul, whether she had reincarnated or not, to complete this ghost marriage.
“Now do you understand?” Zhao Jiayao said smugly. “You’ve already entered my grave. Tonight is our wedding night. Whether you want to marry or not, you have no choice…”
As he reached out to grab the “bride,” she was quicker.
She lifted her hand and pulled off her veil.
In the next moment, a yellow talisman flew toward him, igniting without fire.
Zhao Jiayao was startled and quickly stepped back, but a strand of hair on his forehead was singed by the talisman’s flame.
Reacting swiftly, he blew out a gust of cold wind, intercepting the talisman.
The talisman fell to the ground, and a few sparks landed on a clump of half-dry grass, sending up a wisp of black smoke.
“Well done,” the “bride” clapped her hands and said,
“Tonight, I’ll make your ancestral grave smoke!”
Zhao Jiayao: “What?!!”