"We need to hurry. I need to get back before my boyfriend wakes up, otherwise he'll be unhappy if he finds I'm not there," Li Mo instructed earnestly.
"I know, I also want to get back before the doctor turns back into a human and touch him one last time," Zhong Mu muttered.
The two figures hurried towards the cemetery outside the village.
Just a few days ago, Boss Ye came to him, asking him to use the excuse of going to a high-level dungeon to have Yin Xiu take him into any high-level dungeon. After that, they would have to time it perfectly and speedrun the dungeon behind Yin Xiu's back.
Zhong Mu didn't know what Boss Ye was planning, but he had read the guide, and this dungeon wouldn't be difficult for him. He could follow Boss Ye's lead and speedrun the dungeon.
However, Boss Ye required him to do it alone next time. As a make-up lesson, Zhong Mu didn't mind coming in to see the doctor one more time. As
soon as the two approached the cemetery, they faintly heard a low, slow sobbing sound coming from the night.
It was a woman's voice, slow and deep, like a low sob squeezed from between her lips. The sound was indistinct and unclear, but in the desolate cemetery at night, it sent chills down one's spine as the night wind blew.
Zhong Mu, who had been walking ahead, paused, slowed down, and followed beside Li Mo, cautiously looking around, feeling a chill run down his spine.
As they approached, the woman's sobs grew softer and softer, each cry sending shivers down one's spine.
Zhong Mu swallowed hard, but didn't take out his axe; he simply walked towards the sound.
In the cemetery at night, a woman in a bright red wedding dress knelt on the ground, weeping. She held something in her hands, but it was unclear what it was.
There was no one beside her; neither was Zuo Meng, who had carried her there, nor was Ye Laoda.
Zhong Mu took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and walked over.
"What are you crying about so late?" he asked, his whole body tense.
The bride hung her head, the red veil covering her head had long since fallen to the ground, her hair was disheveled, and she tightly clutched something in her hand, responding in a low, tearful voice.
"I am crying for my dead beloved, I am crying... for the enemy who killed me."
She slowly raised her head, her face gaunt, her lips sewn shut, her eyes gouged out, the empty sockets pitch black, staring at Zhong Mu like an abyss.
"This red thread… binding is binding fate, two people entangled until death. Is this a destined marriage, or a karmic entanglement that leads to suicide?"
Zhong Mu replied earnestly, "It depends on the person. If their hearts are in sync, the thread is fate; without love, the thread is torture."
The bride slowly shook her head, "No… there is no fate in the marriage village. The red thread only binds karmic entanglements. No matter how much they loved each other at the beginning, in the end, there will only be disgust. Any love, any fate, will eventually dissipate when the time comes."
Her fingertips slowly pointed to herself, "I am the best proof… I am…"
"There is no love in this world… no fate. Entrusting yourself to another person will only kill you…"
she murmured to herself, her voice growing softer and softer, filled with deep resentment. Black mist gradually emanated from her body, spreading from the ground and engulfing the entire cemetery, taking Zhong Mu and Li Mo into it as well.
Zhong Mu took a step back, wanting to remind Li Mo not to act rashly and kill an important NPC, but turning his head, he saw Li Mo engrossed in studying the bride's wedding dress, completely oblivious to the impending danger emanating from all sides.
"Humans should all wear this for weddings, right?" Li Mo asked.
"...It depends on custom. Some people wear white now," Zhong Mu replied, speechless.
"Oh...so there are other styles." Li Mo nodded, having learned something new, and then, in the next second, his figure was swallowed by darkness, leaving Zhong Mu standing alone.
Zhong Mu wiped his sweat, hoping the bride wouldn't provoke Li Mo and kill him, otherwise the whole thing would fall apart.
After all, it involved marriage and love, which would inevitably touch a nerve with Li Mo—his boyfriend.
Swept into darkness, the scene before Li Mo's eyes shifted rapidly. He noticed Zhong Mu was gone and looked around thoughtfully, hoping the dungeon would finish quickly so he could return before dawn.
The images flickered incessantly, the darkness surging, finally settling on the scene of Yin Village.
However, compared to the eeriness they had encountered when they arrived, Yin Village now seemed much more normal. There weren't so many "double happiness" characters on the doors, and more than just red lanterns. The funerals that had occurred in the other part of the village hadn't yet occurred.
From the darkness, the bride's voice drifted out softly, asking him, "Do you believe that promises made by people can be kept?"
"Of course," Li Mo replied without hesitation. It was precisely because he believed in human promises that he strived to reach his boyfriend's side.
"People do keep their promises... but only at the very beginning, when things are calm and people are still within their capabilities," the bride murmured.
Li Mo saw the bride in the scene of Yin Village.
She was still wearing that beautiful wedding dress, but this time, her lips weren't sewn shut, her eyes weren't gouged out. Amidst the gongs and drums, and surrounded by family and friends, she walked towards her beloved.
She was deeply in love then, dressed in her festive gown, every smile and gesture radiant and captivating—she was incomparably beautiful.
In the scene, the blurry-faced man promised her, "I know our village doesn't treat women well. It's a hardship for you to come from the next village to marry me, but I'm different from them. I cherish you as my heart and soul; you are the most important person in my life. Even if I give up everything, I will never abandon you."
Hearing the man's promise, the bride's eyes were filled with affection, her voice gentle, and she said she believed him.
But the bride outside the scene only sneered, "He said he would never abandon me even if he gave up everything… but when the choice truly came, the first person he abandoned was me."
More and more people died in the village, the vibrant young women buried deep in the yellow earth by the increasingly crazed villagers.
The village had long lost its original appearance. People were frantically pasting up "double happiness" characters, banging drums and gongs, and holding weddings non-stop, but nothing could be salvaged. Instead, funerals outnumbered the joyous occasions.
Then, another voice rang out.
"There are no more women in the village to marry into. People from other villages are afraid of us and don't want to marry their women here anymore."
"I say, how about... I'll spend some money, and you marry your woman to me?"