Chapter 1: Ghost Marriage

Yun Chuan, true to his name, was a man who went with the flow.

Unfortunately, fate seemed unwilling to let him live out the rest of his days in peace. A drunk truck driver slightly turned the steering wheel and sent him to another world.

This was a world similar to the ancient times of his homeland in his previous life. Just after landing, before he had even found his footing, he was captured by a gang of fierce bandits along with another group of pitiful villagers and taken up the mountain.

On the way, it wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about escaping, but after seeing a bandit shatter a rock the size of a stone roller with a single punch, he immediately understood that these were no ordinary bandits.

This was a gang of bandits with cultivation.

And this was probably a world filled with all kinds of chaotic forces and monstrous gods.

Left with no choice, he could only temporarily abandon any thought of escape and obediently follow these fellows, being escorted together into a cave on the mountain.

Three days had passed since then.

The bandits hadn’t even bound them, as if confident that none of them could possibly escape their grasp.

For these three days, their daily meal consisted only of a bowl of coarse rice, which was both cold and hard, making it difficult to swallow. But Yun Chuan had no other choice; starving would only make his chances of survival even slimmer.

He didn’t want to die; he wanted to live.

Yet the countdown to death was closing in on him day by day.

Every day, the bandits would come in and randomly select one or two people to take out. Afterward, the wretched screams of the victim would drift in from outside the cave, followed by the bandits’ frenzied and satisfied sighs.

Without a doubt, these bandits were essentially evil demonic cultivators who fed on human blood. Falling into their hands, death would actually be a liberation.

And in a few more days, this fate seemed like it would also fall to him.

One day, as the sun set, Yun Chuan lay on the cold stone ground and was just about to fall asleep when the sound of urgent hoofbeats came from outside again.

Then, messy footsteps approached. Half-asleep, Yun Chuan opened his eyes to see the group of bandits wearing linen clothes with sabers hanging from their waists filing in one by one.

The bandit at the head was exceptionally tall, his face marked by a scar running through his left eye, which was clearly blind. Sweeping his gaze across the crowd with his remaining right eye, he suddenly locked eyes with Yun Chuan.

Yun Chuan cursed inwardly. He closed his eyes, trying to continue feigning sleep, but the bandit leader had already walked over. “Wake up. Stop pretending. Get up!”

With no choice, Yun Chuan opened his eyes and rose from the ground. He was not short after all, coming from modern society where protein was naturally not lacking. Now standing straight, he was actually half a head taller than the bandit leader.

The ferocious bandit leader sized him up twice and said, “You’ll do… I’m asking you, what’s your name?”

“Yun Chuan.” Yun Chuan knew there was no need to hide it and answered honestly.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Are you married yet?” the bandit asked another question.

Yun Chuan secretly complained about what kind of question this was, but still answered honestly, “No.”

“Have you ever visited a brothel?”

“No.”

Hearing this, the bandit immediately laughed: “Is that for real? You don’t look like some pauper who can’t afford a wife, so how come you’re over twenty and have never even visited a brothel?”

Yun Chuan said inwardly that it was simply impossible to communicate with this group of people and lowered his head: “It happened by chance.”

The bandit leader did not ask any further questions and continued: “You now have two choices. First, just like them, you can contribute your flesh, blood, and soul to become the blood-food that nourishes our brothers. What do you think?”

Yun Chuan then asked: “And what about the second choice?”

The bandit leader immediately laughed: “The second option is an even better deal for you.”

“A benefactor of us men, Granny Huaishan, has a daughter. After all these years, she has never been able to get married, so she had no choice but to resort to this lower-tier plan, asking us men to help her find a suitable husband. From what I see, you are very suitable.”

As he spoke, he smiled, his smile filled with a chilling murderous intent: “What do you think?”

Do I have a choice?

Yun Chuan muttered inwardly, calculating that this might be a turning point and perhaps there would be a way to escape later. So he feigned joy and relief, saying: “The Sages say, misfortune is that on which blessing leans, and blessing is that in which misfortune lies hidden. I never expected that being a bachelor all this time would lead to such a good fortune. Good sirs, thank you, good sirs!”

The bandits burst into laughter. The bandit leader reached out and patted his shoulder: “Good lad, you’ve got the right spirit! You can enter the bridal chamber tonight!”

“Keep your wits about you, don’t embarrass us later!”

With that, he turned and gestured for Yun Chuan to follow. The latter breathed a sigh of relief and, under the envious gazes of the men behind him, followed the man as they walked outside.

At this moment, the starlight outside was brilliant, and a round moon hung high in the sky. The bandit leader led him to the side of a stream and gave him a simple wash. The icy stream water flowed over Yun Chuan’s body, making him shiver uncontrollably, but the bandits didn’t care about his feelings. After washing him clean, they immediately brought out a set of bright red groom’s robes and told him to put them on quickly.

Such a rushed manner of doing things only deepened the suspicion in Yun Chuan’s heart. His face remained impassive as he changed clothes. The bandit leader then turned and headed up the mountain, walking in front and letting him follow.

The birds chirping in the mountains made the dark night seem even more serene. After walking for some distance, they reached the mountaintop.

This was a village, but it appeared to be quite prosperous. With white walls and black tiles, courtyard walls two persons high enclosed the houses. Under the eaves of every household, white lanterns were hung.

Upon arriving here, the bandits’ expressions turned serious, and they ceased talking, as if afraid to disturb something.

Unknowingly, the group came to a stop before a large courtyard. Unlike the other residences, the lanterns hanging here were red, and the candlelight, like blood, bathed the area before the main gate in a crimson glow.

The gate was adorned with “Double Happiness” characters and red couplets, suggesting the owner was holding a wedding.

The bandit leader halted at the entrance, and Yun Chuan, dressed in the bright red groom’s robes, had no choice but to stop here as well. Then, the main gate swung open with a “creak,” and a cold, desolate wind gushed from within, making him shiver.

He looked up inside. In the pitch-black courtyard, a single red lantern hung overhead, its scarlet light illuminating the surroundings.

The three mountain bandits said nothing, but their six eyes were all fixed upon him, their hands resting on their sabers—their meaning was unmistakable.

Yun Chuan felt something was amiss, but he also knew he had no choice. Steeling himself, he lifted his foot and stepped over the threshold.

Then, the main gate behind him suddenly slammed shut, cutting him off from the world outside. All external sounds, even the birds chirping in the mountains, could no longer be heard.

Under the eaves of the veranda ahead, one red lantern after another lit up eerily, like crimson eyeballs quietly staring at him.

In an instant, Yun Chuan’s hair stood on end, and he felt that everything before his eyes was extremely eerie.

He clenched his fists, constantly warning himself in his heart that there was no way back, and all he could do now was move forward.

After warning himself three times like this, he finally summoned his courage again and stepped forward.

At the end of the corridor was a large hall with upturned eaves. The lattice door was tightly closed, and dim yellow light seeped out from within. He reached the door and reached out to push open the tightly closed lattice door.

Creeak—

The tooth-aching sound echoed in the night.

Inside the hall, candles were held high, and a red carpet covered the floor. At the end of the carpet were two Grand Master chairs, an offering table arranged with candles and fruits, and a bright red “Double Happiness” character on the wall.

On both sides of the red carpet stood seven or eight pale-white paper effigies, dressed in servants’ clothing, with eyes and brows that were lifelike, and crimson lips slightly curved.

What was most horrifying was that the heads of these paper effigies were twisted at eerie angles, their hollow eyes staring at the doorway, staring at him as he pushed the door open and entered.

Before Yun Chuan had time to feel afraid, he heard these paper effigies suddenly open their mouths and take turns letting out sharp sounds:

“The groom is here!”

“Where is the bride? Has the bride finished getting dressed?”

“Groom, why are you just standing there? Hurry and fetch the bride from the side room, so you can come to the ancestral hall for the wedding ceremony!”

*****

Such a shrill voice made his skin crawl even more. Following the direction the paper effigies were pointing, he saw another door on the side of the room; the bride getting dressed should be inside that room.

Clenching his teeth, he summoned his courage and strode toward it.

As soon as he entered, he saw a pitch-black coffin lying horizontally in the center of the room, with a large red “Double Happiness” character also pasted on the head of the coffin. Other than that, there was nothing else in the room, let alone any sign of the bride.

Instantly, he understood everything.

This was not a case of some highly respected old woman wanting to marry off her daughter—this was simply about making him have a ghost marriage with a dead person!

Once he figured this out, he suddenly felt a wave of nausea. Before he could think of a strategy, the coffin in front of him suddenly began to shake violently.

Something was about to jump out from inside!

Yun Chuan felt the hair on his arms stand on end. He stared wide-eyed and saw the lid of the pitch-black coffin suddenly stand straight up, a gloomy wind howling, then a swift figure leaped out from within.

The figure was about one meter seventy tall, landing in front of him with a heavy thud.

She wore a large red bridal veil, her face invisible, and she was dressed in a traditional red wedding gown, red as blood, making one’s heart tremble.

On her feet she wore a pair of embroidered shoes; in dress and attire, she was no different from an ordinary bride. Only her two arms were stretched straight out in front of her, as if she could not lower them.

Seeing her in this state, Yun Chuan instantly understood what this thing was.

A zombie!

His bride was a zombie!

In an instant, he was struck with utter terror and only wanted to turn and flee.

Yet, the moment this thought arose, the shrill voices of those paper effigies outside rang out again: “Groom, come out! Bring the bride out to kowtow and wed together!”

The sound made his scalp tingle, but Yun Chuan suddenly calmed down.

No, this isn’t right!

Those bandits had no such supernatural powers. The fact that this place had been arranged this way meant there was someone with even greater magical power behind this, controlling it all.

It was that Granny Huaishan!

He would definitely never be able to escape from the palms of such a person. Resistance meant only death; feigning obedience might actually save his life!

Thinking this, he suppressed the fear in his heart, reached out to take the zombie’s icy hand, and, just like a groom and bride about to be married, walked outside.

As soon as he took a step, he saw this zombie propel herself with both feet and hop outward.

With each landing, the spot she stepped on would emit a dull thud, as if stepping right onto Yun Chuan’s heart, making his spirit tremble with fear.

The man and the zombie arrived in the main hall, where a paper effigy master of ceremonies was already waiting. Seeing them approach, the paper effigy raised its voice and began to shout: “First bow to Heaven and Earth—”

No divine statues were placed on the offering table in front, yet Yun Chuan still bowed forward.

Beside him, the zombie bride also bowed and knelt, appearing to have a body that was not completely rigid, at least with enough flexibility to crouch down.

“Second bow to the Elders—”

The paper effigy shouted again, yet there was still no figure sitting in the grandmaster chairs in front. Yun Chuan and the zombie bride knelt and bowed together, only to hear the paper effigy’s third call: “Husband and wife, bow to each other—”

Yun Chuan turned to face his zombie bride dressed in bright red and slowly bent his waist. She also bent her waist, and in the room shrouded in fear and eeriness, a human and a ghost completed a mutual bow.

“Send them to the bridal chamber—”

The paper effigy master of ceremonies issued its final call. Yun Chuan and the zombie bride turned together, but he could sense that the paper effigy’s eyes were staring at his back the whole time. If there were the slightest hint of disobedience in his movements, it would probably take action itself.

It was not yet time.

He steeled himself and, with his zombie bride, returned to the room containing the coffin.

There was no bridal bed in the room, only that coffin on display, from which his bride had just emerged.

The coffin lid still stood upright nearby, the coffin’s mouth wide open, like a bottomless abyss waiting for him to throw himself into its net.

Yun Chuan wracked his brains, still desperately thinking about what to do next to escape with his life, yet the hidden hand behind the scenes could no longer wait.

A yin wind blew past, and an invisible giant hand suddenly lifted his body. Caught off guard, he suddenly rolled over and fell into the coffin before him, automatically lying flat.

From outside, the zombie bride also leaped into the coffin, lying on the hard wooden planks side by side with him.

Outside, the coffin lid was swept up by the yin wind and slammed shut over the coffin, cutting off the last trace of light.

Inside the coffin, it was pitch black. The cold yin wind drained the last bit of warmth and yang energy from his body, making him feel as if his hands and feet had gone stiff and cold, as if he himself had also become a zombie.

More terrifyingly, he felt a pair of ice-cold hands suddenly climb onto his shoulders.

The zombie had crawled onto him!

The oppressive yin wind almost choked him to death. He tried to struggle, but since the mountain bandits outside each possessed strength a hundred times greater than his, how could he possibly contend against an even more powerful zombie?

Despair, like a pair of giant hands, gripped his heart, making it even more impossible for him to resist.

But just at that moment, a synthesized female voice, composed of electronic tones, suddenly sounded in his ear.

“Ding, the host has completed the entire wedding process, successfully married the Zombie Bride Qi Qiao, and married into the Huaiyin Mountain Demon Cultivator Family. Cultivation Family Construction System starting…”