Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
Ren Wang couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
He was a bit reckless and hot-blooded, never caring for the consequences.
He had done things like patrolling funeral parlors and exploring ghost nests at night.
He once thought there was nothing in this world that could scare him.
But now, there was.
The pervasive sound of the suona seemed to control the rhythm of his heartbeat.
"Thump! Thump!! Thump!!!"
His heart felt like it was being pressed by a heavy stone, each beat a struggle against the weight.
Although each card creation provided feedback that strengthened his physical body and fortified his organs, the heart, being one of the most vital organs, remained fragile compared to other parts of the body, no matter how much it was reinforced.
At least for card masters below the gold level, their hearts could hardly bear such pressure.
Ren Wang was no exception. Despite using his mental strength to resist the sound waves, after half a minute, his face had turned pale, and cold sweat streamed down his cheeks.
Chronicle watched this scene from afar and suddenly felt a bit of "compassion," so he instructed the suona band to slowly lower their pitch.
With that, the originally sharp suona sound became somewhat ethereal, drifting in the river breeze, its eeriness intensified.
Ren Wang's complexion improved significantly as he gradually adapted to the pressure.
He quickly adjusted his state, ready to accelerate and break through.
But just then, a shrill cat's cry exploded behind his ear.
"Meow!!!"
That sharp, terrifying sensation was much more intense than the suona music alone.
In just a second, it gave him goosebumps, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, chilling him from the crown to the soles of his feet.
He even felt the tickle of cat whiskers brushing against the back of his neck.
But when he turned his head, there was nothing on his back.
Instead, by the riverbank, there was a crooked old locust tree with a thick branch from which a hemp rope hung, and beneath it were several old, somewhat broken jars, swaying as if hiding something.
His subordinate, the [One-Eyed Rusty Butcher], was sitting there, extending a hand with thick sweat hairs into a jar.
Two seconds later, he pulled out a black, shiny, bloated rat with red eyes, about half a foot long.
The rat, as if possessed, struggled desperately, biting at the Rusty Butcher's hand.
But the butcher, being a ghostly body, was impervious to such a small creature. With a bit of force, he strangled it to death.
At that moment, a cat's cry suddenly came from the top of the tree.
Ren Wang felt a chill on his scalp and looked up to see a gaunt black cat with deep eyes perched on the trunk of the old locust tree, staring intently at him.
"That cat… looks like the one from Yu Anran's domain…"
"No, her skinny cat is just a pet, occasionally used to set the mood, nowhere near this terrifying."
Ren Wang thought to himself and gestured for the Rusty Butcher to climb the tree and catch the cat.
But the old locust tree seemed to have gained sentience, its trunk instantly sprouting hundreds of faces with varied emotions and expressions.
Unable to climb the tree, the butcher leaped on the spot, aiming his butcher's knife straight at the black cat.
But he struck nothing.
The black cat seemed to exist only in Ren Wang's imagination.
It disappeared from the tree and reappeared on a tricycle, its eerie green eyes fixed on him.
Then, as he reached out to pat the [Scar-covered Prisoner], the cat vanished again, occasionally letting out a mournful meow that blended into the spine-chilling suona music.
Suona, black cat…
Ren Wang gritted his teeth and accepted the two gifts Chronicle had sent him.
It's only proper to reciprocate a gesture.
As the wedding procession approached the river, he directed the [Straw Hat Frozen Fish Assassin] to float in the shadows, ready to strike at any moment.
"Alas, do you know I've been sick for so long, soon I will die of heartbreak for you…"
That cold, despairing song showed no sign of stopping, its eerie melody chilling to the bone.
It also had a certain impact on Ren Wang's card spirits.
Even though the wedding procession was still tens of meters away from the river, the Frozen Fish Assassin was already poised like a torpedo, ready to burst forth from the water.
Ren Wang noticed this and quickly established a sensory link, trying to stop this suicidal behavior.
But at that moment, two icy, bone-chilling hands reached out from the darkness, grabbing his ankles, no, the Frozen Fish Assassin's ankles, and dragged them down.
The overwhelming force left the assassin, despite being a three-star blue rank, with no chance to resist and was quickly pulled to the riverbed.
But that wasn't the end.
As Ren Wang desperately channeled his mental strength, he suddenly felt a tightness around his neck.
"Chains…"
He had barely spoken when his body jerked backward, nearly falling from the tricycle, his face turning purple.
He felt something behind him strangling his neck with chains, as if a gel-like substance was being ripped from his body.
His life flashed before his eyes, and Ren Wang's head began to droop, but then, halfway down, his eyes suddenly opened, breaking the connection with the Frozen Fish Assassin.
He finally recovered.
"Before the fight even officially starts, one of my generals has been wiped out. You're truly Chronicle… Cough Cough …"
Despite the consecutive heavy blows, Ren Wang appeared nonchalant on the surface, even taking the time to praise his opponent, but in reality, he was starting to get scared.
The usually impulsive Ren Wang suddenly "grew up" at this moment, forced to become "rational."
"Now I only have Uncle Tang and the Prisoner by my side, while the other side has that frightening groom and the unseen bride, two main combat units, plus a whole bunch of minions."
"It's irrational to fight outnumbered. Better to play it safe."
Thinking this, he patted the old man's shoulder, signaling him to turn around and head in the opposite direction, towards the Grand View Garden.
Seeing this, Chronicle, leading the Red Shura, didn't speed up but just followed slowly, not too far behind the tricycle.
Feeling the distance between himself and that cold presence growing, Ren Wang couldn't help but look back and saw himself and that extremely eerie procession gradually pulling apart, letting out a sigh of relief.
But before he could enjoy the moment for half a minute, a thick fog rose up in front of him.
It was the familiar sound of the suona, but this time it was somewhat heavy, evoking sadness in the listener.
"Behind the red gauze window, we were never fated; in the yellow earth ridges, how could you be so ill-starred…"
The song lamented the cruelty of fate and the end of all ties…
Ren Wang heard the deep sorrow of parents who love their child dearly, yet have to endure the grief of white-haired people sending off those with black hair.
The young man's ambitions were unfulfilled, his filial duties unmet, love's fruit untasted, and life's pleasures scarcely enjoyed, spending most of his time under stress and fatigue.
Now, a simple wooden coffin, how heavy it is, a small mound of earth, ending a life.
"Huh…"
Ren Wang exhaled deeply, tears slowly streaming down his face.
Perhaps due to his heightened spirit, he didn't catch the "Daiyu Returns Tears" part of Chronicle's message but went straight to the core, touching the essence of the White Shura: unfulfilled ambitions, and deeply empathizing with it.
But he quickly snapped out of it, pinching himself hard to refocus his mind.
He saw a procession slowly emerging from the dimly grey fog under the dark sky, moving and dancing with each step.
At the front, a man with a sorrowful face, eyes downcast and drooping brows, led the way, waving a flag and scattering paper money.
Eight pallbearers, heads tied with white silk, shoulders carrying red coffins, feet firmly on the ground, each step a struggle.
The suona band, in straw hats and white clothes, danced and moved, playing the sounds of great sorrow from their diaphragms.
Atop the coffin, a woman in plain white, holding a Mourning Staff, sang softly:
"Up the slope, there's mud, don't get your feet dirty…"
"When you encounter a mountain, chop and carve a path through here…"
"Crossing the river, cut down trees to build a bridge over here…"
"Carry money and a travel permit, don't get bullied along the way!"
"Drink water when thirsty, eat rice when hungry, add clothes when it's cold!"
The simple lyrics, sung with a crying tone, were a bit hoarse.
Ren Wang was momentarily stunned, his mind suddenly filled with vague images of "chanting funeral verses," "reading Romance of the West Chamber together," "growing affections," "Baoyu and Daiyu meditating," and "falling sick for her."
Until the scene of "Cold Moon Burying Flower Soul" appeared before him, and all the myriad scenes collapsed in the slightly mournful sound of joy.
Ren Wang looked at the oncoming procession and then back at the approaching wedding procession.
He found it absurd.
The groom came to fetch the bride, laughing madly, unaware that the person in the sedan was not his beloved; encountering a funeral, his heart darkened, not knowing that his beloved was actually the one in the coffin.
The sounds of the suona crossed paths.
One side chanted "joined wings and intertwined branches, happily united," while the other side lamented "beauty's fate cut short, white hair unseen."
Lamenting Childhood Sweethearts, waiting for a jade ruyi.
Only to hear "bowing to heaven and earth, bowing to the high hall, husband and wife bow to each other…"
Entering the Spirit Hall.
Images flashed through his mind, and Ren Wang felt heavy-hearted.
Unaware, he had already fallen into the river, with the two processions, one ahead and one behind, no more than a dozen meters away from him.
The lyrics intertwined, the suona responded, as if tides were coming from all directions.
The shadow hidden in the river glanced at Ren Wang, slowly dissipated, and went to wait in another place.
Ren Wang also came to his senses at this moment, looking around in slight panic.
Unbeknownst to him, the [Scar-covered Prisoner] had crawled out of the cart and became a sedan bearer;
The [One-Eyed Rusty Butcher] carried the red coffin with a solemn face, moving steadily forward;
The [Red-robed Grinning Demon Monk] had a compassionate face, holding beads in one hand, chanting sutras for salvation;
[Mad Old Tang], along with the tricycle, had disappeared.
And the [Straw Hat Frozen Fish Assassin], who had been dragged to the riverbed and "strangled" earlier.
He had become a lone figure.
A sense of despair spread through the air.
Ren Wang took several deep breaths, holding the wooden stick that Old Tang had dropped, looking around.
His socks and trouser legs were soaked.
But he couldn't care less, his heart pounding as if on the verge of bursting.
As the two processions of joy and sorrow began to circle him, they threw paper flowers and paper money over his head.
The wind lifted the white silk and also the sedan curtain, revealing the bride's hand with blood-red fingertips and a perfect jawline.
The groom laughed madly, his cheeks squeezed together, and as he bowed to Ren Wang, his face showed pride.
—He thought he had married the woman of his dreams, as happy as a soldier who had won a battle.
It was both horrifying and sad.
"Crossing the river…"
Just as Ren Wang fell into despair, the singing of the woman in the coffin lightened his body, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself in another world.
This was a long river of blood and yellow, crawling with insects and snakes, with a pungent wind blowing, and the banks were lined with enchanting blood-red flowers.
Ren Wang wiped his eyes and in a daze saw two figures, one black and one white, one tall and one thin, standing not far away.
"Fortune at First Sight, Peace Under Heaven…"
He muttered with his head bowed, and suddenly a pair of black and white boots appeared before him.
Looking up, he saw two faces.
One with a hanging tongue and a bitter smile; the other holding chains, with a fierce and cold expression.
"Ren Wang, from Qingshan Province, aged eighteen, your time is up, come with us."
The cold, deep voice was like a bolt from the blue, echoing in Ren Wang's heart.