Chapter 158: Who Are You Carrying?

Lu Bai watched the scene unfold before him. Although he had already guessed what would happen next, he was powerless to stop it.

That Squad Leader Liu led Bai Chuchu away from Bai Family Village.

After a moment of contemplation, Lu Bai followed them.

Squad Leader Liu took Bai Chuchu back to the main road and boarded a carriage. It traveled toward Jingzhou City for a while before turning onto a side road.

And this side road was the one leading to Renyi Manor!

Carrying He Liangzhi on his back, Lu Bai trailed them the entire way.

A long time passed. They finally arrived at Renyi Manor before dusk.

It was only upon arriving that Lu Bai came to his senses.

It seemed they had walked out of Bai Family Village’s Ghost Wall.

"Have we arrived?"

Bai Chuchu stepped out of the carriage. Seeing Renyi Manor before her, a trace of doubt appeared in her eyes. "Third Uncle Liu," she asked, "this isn’t Jingzhou City, is it?"

"The city gates are closed at this hour. We’ll rest here for the night and leave tomorrow."

Squad Leader Liu’s demeanor had grown much colder. He stepped forward and knocked on the main gate.

A man dressed as the manor’s steward greeted them from inside. His eyes lit up when he saw Bai Chuchu.

Soon, a few Maids came and led Bai Chuchu away.

The steward asked in a low voice, "Squad Leader Liu, this must be the girl with the pure yin destiny, right?"

"Mm."

Squad Leader Liu nodded slightly. "In another month, on the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month at the third watch, we will bury this girl with the Young Manor Master. That will complete the nether-marriage."

"Thank you for your hard work, Squad Leader Liu. The Manor Master has already prepared a generous gift."

The steward’s face was plastered with a smile.

’Using a living person for a nether-marriage?’

Lu Bai’s expression darkened. He looked at the name "Renyi" on the manor’s plaque and felt a wave of disgust.

Lu Bai entered the manor.

Still, no one could see them.

Lu Bai went straight to the room where Bai Chuchu was staying.

"Dad, please don’t worry. Chuchu will be fine. Once I save enough money, I’ll bring you to the city to live a comfortable life."

Bai Chuchu stayed in her room, praying softly.

The next day, Bai Chuchu heard from the manor staff that Squad Leader Liu had left on urgent business. They told her to stay there for now and that he would come back for her in a few days.

Bai Chuchu didn’t suspect a thing.

But it wasn’t right to just stay idle at the manor.

She wanted to help with some chores.

But no one at the manor would let her help. Instead, they treated her with exceptional courtesy. Every day, servants brought her delicious food, and her clothes were made of fine silks and satins.

Servants even came to wait on her every day, helping her dress and do her makeup.

Bai Chuchu wasn’t used to this and was overwhelmed by the attention.

She had never left her village and was simple-minded, but she wasn’t a fool.

Before long, she gradually began to notice that something was wrong.

Although the people at the manor treated her well, there was something strange in the way everyone looked at her.

Those gazes made her uneasy.

Furthermore, her range of movement was very small. Wherever she went, she was followed by the manor’s Maids and servants.

Bai Chuchu realized something was amiss and tried to escape several times.

But each time, she was caught and brought back.

She once pleaded for help from the people in the manor.

The old servant sweeping the floor, the docile young maids, the kind-looking kitchen matron...

But in return, they either avoided her from a distance or treated her with cold indifference. Some even shouted to give her away!

"Help! That girl got out!"

"Catch her! Don’t let her get us into trouble!"

Every time she was recaptured, she was met with even tighter security.

Her hope flared up again and again, only to be ruthlessly extinguished each time.

The look in Bai Chuchu’s eyes gradually changed from initial terror and defiance to sorrow and despair.

In the end, all that remained was a lifeless emptiness, like a puppet whose soul had been torn out.

The displacement in time and space left Lu Bai as a mere spectator.

But even so, he could still feel the despair and sorrow in Bai Chuchu’s heart.

Knowing the outcome, yet powerless to change it.

"Heh!"

Lu Bai suddenly let out a laugh. "The people in this manor really didn’t die wrongfully!"

He Liangzhi’s expression was a little odd, but he said nothing.

Time flew by. The events of the month flashed before Lu Bai’s eyes like a revolving lantern.

Finally, the scene froze on the nether-marriage ceremony.

The fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, the Ghost Festival.

The third watch of the night.

There were no guests, no joyous music—only ghastly white lanterns and silent, black-clad servants.

Bai Chuchu had been dressed beautifully, wearing a phoenix crown and wedding veil. Her head was forced down to bow in ceremony with a cold, male corpse.

Her gaze was vacant, like a doll.

Afterward, she drank the ceremonial wine, quickly passed out, and was stuffed into a lavish coffin to lie side-by-side with the Young Manor Master.

The coffin lid was slammed shut with a BANG.

Nailed shut!

The coffin was carried overnight to a pre-selected auspicious burial site in the back mountain and interred.

The people of the manor gradually dispersed.

Lu Bai stood stunned for a long moment. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he heard a frantic scratching sound from inside the coffin—a sound that set his teeth on edge!

Bai Chuchu wasn’t dead!

The wine wasn’t poison, just a sedative.

Lu Bai’s heart ached with pity. He put He Liangzhi down and tried to rush forward to dig up the grave, but he couldn’t reach it no matter what he did.

The sounds from inside the coffin were intermittent, yet they reached his ears with chilling clarity.

Lu Bai could almost see Bai Chuchu, her fingernails breaking, her ten fingers dripping with blood as she frantically clawed at the coffin lid in the darkness!

But it was all in vain.

Finally... everything fell silent.

Just then, Lu Bai felt his vision blur.

The sensation of being displaced in time and space suddenly vanished.

The moon was bright and the stars were few. The wind whimpered.

Lu Bai looked around. He was still on that back mountain.

Not far away was the grave.

Lu Bai’s gaze hardened. He said in a low voice, "Brother He, I think we’re out of the Ghost Wall."

"How can you tell?"

He Liangzhi asked.

"If we were still in the Ghost Wall, that grave would be covered in fresh earth."

Lu Bai pointed to the grave not far away. "But now, there are weeds growing around it, and the soil has clearly been there for some time."

"You’re as observant as ever, Brother Lu."

He Liangzhi said with admiration, then asked, "What about the Ghost Bride?"

Lu Bai activated his Eye of Illusion and scanned the area. Seeing not a trace of Ghost Qi, he shook his head. "I don’t know. Maybe she let us go?"

He Liangzhi said quickly, "Let’s get out of here, then, before that Ghost Bride gets ahold of us again."

"Wait a moment."

Lu Bai muttered, drew his Cyan Cloud Sword, and, using the sword as a shovel, began to frantically dig up the grave.

He Liangzhi asked, confused, "Brother Lu, what are you doing?"

"This bullshit manor has done enough harm. They used a living person in a nether-marriage for their Young Manor Master. How could I let them have their wish?"

Lu Bai said, "Since the Ghost Bride let us go, I’ll move her remains, cremate them, and give her a proper send-off. It’ll also save her from being buried with such a disgusting thing, even in death."

Dirt flew everywhere.

Soon, the tip of his sword struck hard wood.

He cleared away the remaining earth, and a large coffin appeared before him.

Lu Bai took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and forcefully pried open the heavy coffin lid!

A wave of putrid stench and resentment, built up over who knows how long, rushed out to meet him!

Inside the coffin, two bodies lay side-by-side.

One was the skeleton of a male, dressed in a brocade robe—the Young Manor Master.

The other, however, was not Bai Chuchu in her phoenix crown and wedding veil.

It was a young man in black Light Armor. The Heart Mirror was embedded in his slightly rising and falling chest, and an Evil Extermination Order hung at his waist.

That familiar face...

He Liangzhi!

Lu Bai’s pupils contracted violently. A chill shot up his spine. He felt his blood run cold, and his scalp prickled as if it were about to explode!

If He Liangzhi was lying in the coffin, who was the person he had been carrying on his back this whole time?