Chapter 6: The Ghost Holds a Wedding, The Crown Prince Climbs Onto the Marriage Sedan

One of the people carrying the sedan hadn't been careful enough and stepped right onto an arm. Thus, they took the lead and started screaming first. In response, the crowd responsible for delivering the wife immediately exploded. A passer-by from who knows where fished out a shining white broadsword before yelling, "What's wrong?! Did it come?!" What happened next was basically the streets becoming a complete mess. When Xie Lian once again refocused his gaze onto what had fallen out of the sedan, he suddenly realized that the separated head wasn't from an actual living person. In fact, it was the head of a wooden doll.

Fu Yao once again remarked, "Too ugly!"

Coincidentally at this moment, the tea sommelier approached them with a copper teapot. Xie Lian remembered the tea sommelier's expression from yesterday and asked, "Mister, yesterday I saw these people making a fuss on the streets, and today they're here again. What are they doing?"

The tea sommelier replied, "They're trying to die."

"Ha ha ha..."

Xie Lian wasn't surprised at his answer and thus asked another question. "Are they trying to trick the ghost bridegroom to come out?"

The tea sommelier responded, "What else do you think they're trying to do? A missing bride's father offered an extremely large monetary reward for anyone who manages to catch that ghost bridegroom and help find his daughter. This is why this crowd of people would create this disturbance and foul atmosphere all day long."

The father who had offered that reward was probably that official they had previously discussed. Xie Lian took another look at that roughly made woman's head lying on the ground and immediately understood that these people had wanted to disguise the doll as a new bride.

Then, he heard Fu Yao speak in a repulsed manner, "If I was the ghost bridegroom and someone gifted me an ugly thing like this, I would just wipe out this town."

Hearing that, Xie Lian reprimanded him, "Fu Yao, those words aren't something an immortal like you should say. Furthermore, can you correct that rolling eyes habit of yours? It would be best if you could set some small goals for yourself first, like only rolling your eyes five times a day and so on."

Nan Feng spoke up as well, "Even if you give him a goal of rolling his eyes only fifty times a day, he still wouldn't be able to accomplish it!"

At that moment, a youngster suddenly emerged from the crowd outside. Trembling with enthusiasm, it looked as if he was one of their leaders. That youngster waved his arms before yelling in a loud voice, "Listen to me, listen to me! Continuing like this is completely useless! How many rounds did we make these past few days? And did we manage to trick the ghost bridegroom out?"

One after another, the buff men began to grumble and agree with him. Seeing that, the youngster continued talking, "In my opinion, since we started this, we must carry through no matter what happens. It would be better to just directly rush into Mount Yu Jun. Everyone can search the mountain before catching and killing that ugly creature! I'll take the lead; any brave and proper man can follow me. After we kill that ugly creature, we can share the reward!"

In the beginning, only a few sparse men yelled in agreement. Gradually, however, the voices of agreement grew until everyone was responding in an affirmative tone. They unexpectedly sounded quite powerful. On the other hand, Xie Lian asked, "Ugly creature? Mister, what is the matter behind this 'ugly creature' they're talking about?"

The tea sommelier replied, "Rumours say that the ghost bridegroom is an ugly creature that lives on Mount Yu Jun. Because he was born too ugly, no women would like him. This is why his heart gave birth to resentment, and why he would snatch other men's brides to prevent the couples from experiencing a happy occasion."

There were no records of this on the scroll given to him by Ling Wen's Palace Hall. Xie Lian asked again, "Do people actually say this? Isn't this just speculation?"

The tea sommelier responded, "Who knows? But it is said that many people have seen the ghost bridegroom before. Something about how his whole face is wrapped in bandages leaving only his fierce eyes uncovered, and that he cannot speak, but rather roars like a beast. Currently, these rumours are circulating everywhere."

Fu Yao retorted, "Covering his face with bandages doesn't necessarily mean he's ugly. It can also be because he's too beautiful, so he doesn't want other people to see him."

The tea sommelier was speechless for a moment before saying, "Then who knows? In any case, I haven't seen him."

At that moment, a young girl's voice emerged outside on the streets. She said, "You guys...you guys, don't listen to him. Don't go, Mount Yu Jun is very dangerous..."

The one who had spoken was the girl hiding at the corner of the street. She was also the girl who had been praying in Feng Xin's temple yesterday night, Little Ying.

The moment Xie Lian saw her, his face started hurting. Unconsciously, he raised his hand and rubbed his cheek.

When the youngster saw her, his face turned a bit ugly. He pushed her out of the way before saying, "Us menfolk are speaking, so what is a little girl like you butting in for?"

Little Ying cowered and shrank back a bit after being pushed. However, she seemed to summon up all her courage before softly speaking again, "Don't listen to him. Whether it's pretending to hold a fake wedding or searching the mountain, these tasks are all so dangerous. Aren't you just sending yourselves off to death?"

The youngster replied, "You can only say these pleasant words. All of us are working together and staking our lives to help the people rid an evil. And you? You're just a selfish girl, one who refused to disguise yourself as a bride and sit on the sedan chair. You can't even muster up that courage even if it could help everybody. And now, you're running over here to hinder us again. What do you want to do?"

That youngster pushed the girl once for every sentence he said. Seeing this, the people in the teahouse couldn't help but frown. Xie Lian lowered his head and focused on removing the bandages on his wrist. As he did this, he heard the tea sommelier explain, "That young leader previously wanted to coax that girl into disguising herself as a bride. At that time, he said so much sweet words it was like his mouth had been rubbed with honey. But after the girl refused, he flipped his face and became like this."

On the street, the group of buff men also shouted, "Stop standing here and blocking the road. Go to the side, go to the side!" When Little Ying saw this, her flat face became completely red as tears started swirling in her eyes. She asked, "You...why do you have to say it like that?"

That youngster spoke up again, "Everything I said was the truth, wasn't it? I asked if you could disguise yourself as a fake bride, and you wouldn't do it no matter what."

Little Ying replied, "Yes, I don't dare to. However, you didn't have to...have to tear open my dress..."

The moment she mentioned this, it was like she had jabbed the youngster's sore spot. He immediately jumped up and refuted, "An ugly person like you shouldn't randomly spray blood at people and accuse them! I teared open your dress? Do you think I'm blind? Who knows, maybe you just wanted to show yourself to other people, so you ripped it yourself! Who knows, your face is this ugly, even if your dress is torn maybe nobody would even want to take a look! Don't try to pin the blame onto my head!"

Nan Feng really couldn't continue listening to this. With a 'ka-cha', the teacup in his hands cracked and broke into pieces. However, just when he was about to get up, a white shadow floated past him. And that youngster who had been holding himself up high above the girl suddenly shouted. He face-planted before falling onto his butt as blood started dripping from his fingers.

No one had enough time to figure out what had happened, for he was already sitting on the ground. Thus, people thought that Little Ying had been the one who had injured him. However, who knew that when they turned their gazes back to Little Ying, they could no longer see her. Instead, a Taoist wearing white stood in front of her.

Both of Xie Lian's hands were tucked in his sleeves. He didn't even turn around to look at the boy, and just watched Little Ying with a smile. Slightly bending down so he was at the same eye-level as her, Xie Lian asked, "Young lady, I wonder if I could invite you inside to drink a cup of tea with me?"

The youngster sitting on the ground just felt as though his nose and mouth were hurting terribly. Actually, his whole face was hurting so much, it felt as if it had been smacked with a steel whip. However, the Taoist in front of him very clearly didn't have any weapons. In addition, he didn't see when the Taoist had made his move, or how he had made his move. Thus, the youngster stumbled and managed to climb up to his feet before pointing his sword at the man, "This person used a demonic art!"

The moment the group of men behind the youngster heard the words 'demonic art', they all raised their swords against Xie Lian. However, they would never have expected Nan Feng, who was behind Xie Lian, to suddenly thrust out his palm. Following another 'ka-cha' sound, the pillar beside them completely collapsed.

When they saw that display of divine power, the complexion of all the buff men simultaneously changed. That youngster also began mentally cowering in his heart, but he was still reluctant to admit his fault. Instead, he charged toward them as he loudly yelled, "Today I'll admit defeat here. Which Taoist path are you from? Leave your name, and in the future we can meet again to settle this account..."

Nan Feng completely didn't bother to reply, but the Fu Yao beside him piped up, "Not a problem, not a problem. This person is from the Ju..."