Chapter 353 |
The shadows of the seven tables were reflected on the six walls of the tomb, reflecting forty-two tables. The shadows of those men, women, and children sat down by the tables of the shadows on the walls. They joked with each other, and conversed familiarly, as if it were an ordinary countryside scene of feasts for guests.
These “guests” would spy on Bai Liu from time to time, but it seemed that something more terrifying was suppressing these shadow spirits, forcing them to stay obediently by their seats. They did not dare get up to chase Bai Liu’s shadow without permission, and could only look at Bai Liu in hunger.
Bai Liu looked up at the main wall directly opposite the tomb’s passage, two red candles that were about to burn out were glowing in the corners below the main wall. Underneath the red candles were leftovers of burn-out paper money and incense ashes.
The shadow of the table facing the front cast on the wall looked rather strange. The southwest, north and south seats of the table were all full, but 2 seats remained vacant on the east table with no occupants.
Mu Sicheng also noticed this vacancy, “…Who are these two positions for?”
“This is a wedding banquet.” Bai Liu’s eyes swept across the two wedding candles, “The center seats on the main table facing east are reserved for the newlyweds.”
“Newlyweds?” Mu Sicheng frowned. He looked at the shadows of the table on the wall and seemed to be lost in some memory, but he couldn’t remember it no matter what. “Why do I feel that this place is so familiar…?”
Before Mu Sicheng could finish speaking, a strident voice came from afar and interrupted him, “—Please, welcome the guest of honor!”
The conversations of all the shadows on the wall suddenly stopped.
One shadow, with upright posture and a veil covering their head, wearing what should be a Manchu-style wedding dress, bowed their head and nodded, walking slowly to the main seat.
The other shadow was wearing monkey headphones, had a tall figure and was wearing trendy sportswear. He leaned back casually in his seat, put his arm around the back of the bride’s chair, and slowly gave Mu Sicheng outside the wall an evil smile that was ear-to-ear.
The moment the two shadows sat down, all the shadows lowered their heads respectfully, no longer looking, or perhaps, not daring to look, at Bai Liu and Mu Sicheng again.
“Shit!” Mu Sicheng pointed at the wall with his eyes wide open, “Is this shadow me?!”
Bai Liu looked at Mu Sicheng’s almost invisible shadow with understanding, “It’s you.”
Mu Sicheng looked at the shadow in disbelief, “Why is my shadow sitting on the main seat?”
“You should have been married here, so you are one of the newlyweds and are qualified to sit at the main seat of the main table.” Bai Liu looked at the shadow of Mu Sicheng sitting at the main seat, “This shadow should be your spirit. You have to merge it back before your shadow becomes completely separate.”
Bai Liu looked at Mu Sicheng, “Otherwise you’re done for.”
Mu Sicheng asked in astonishment, “What!?”
The eunuch’s shrill voice sounded again, “—Please, host and honored guests enjoy the exclusive banquet!”
The two shadows that had just sat down stood up again. Mu Sicheng’s shadow turned around to look at Mu Sicheng, his red mouth and black face looked ominous as the smile on his face widened.
It made a provocative “follow me” gesture to Mu Sicheng, before standing up and walking inside.
The bride’s shadow followed with small steps. Although it seemed that she was not walking fast, she was very close to Mu Sicheng’s shadow. Her head covered with a veil was pressed against Mu Sicheng’s shoulder. Water dripped down from the veil with every step she took, and her head drooped abnormally.
“Follow them.” Bai Liu followed the two shadows without hesitation.
The two shadows moved nimbly, arriving at the back door of the tomb in the blink of an eye.
The back door opened automatically. They looked back at Bai Liu and Mu Sicheng as if to check if they were following them. After confirming, they disappeared behind the wooden door in an instant.
Bai Liu chased after them and Mu Sicheng asked as he ran, “How do I merge with that shadow?”
“Find your body and get in.” Bai Liu chased the shadow at a fast trot without looking back, and explained clearly to Mu Sicheng, “You and it are both the souls of the original body [Mu Sicheng]. Your carrier is the body, and the soul is the ☐☐ master. If you enter it, you will naturally be forcibly sucked in. then you and it will be able to merge.”
Mu Sicheng breathed a sigh of relief, “It sounds quite simple.”
“It’s not simple.” Bai Liu calmly retorted, “This is actually the most difficult thing.”
Mu Sicheng was stunned and questioned, “Why, isn’t it enough to just find my body?”
“Logically speaking, that should be the case.” Bai Liu finally glanced at Mu Sicheng and asked, “But do you know where your [spirit] has hidden your body?”
Mu Sicheng was stunned once again and suddenly realized, “You mean it will collude with other ghosts in the main tomb to hide my body?!”
“En.” Bai Liu nodded. “It knows that once you enter its body, it will be forcibly absorbed into your body and merge with you, then disappear. As an ‘evil spirit’ that wants to be independent, it will of course try every means to prevent you from finding your body.”
“There is one more thing. Although your soul probably did not go through the three wedding rites with those brides, your spirit was able to take the main seat, so it is obviously a guest of honor here.”
Bai Liu looked at Mu Sicheng, “This can only mean one thing, that is after you were stripped of your body, it stayed and manipulated your body to complete the three wedding rites, marrying one or some ghost brides here, and it has become a half owner of this tomb.”
“All the ghosts and evil spirits here must obey its command, making it more difficult for you to find your own body.”
“Once midnight passes and the road to the underworld is closed, if you can’t return to the world of the living as a perfect person.” Bai Liu glanced at the time on his phone, then turned to look at Mu Sicheng, “Then you will really become a ghost. Your body and the soul left inside will actually become a zombie.”
“It’s almost ten o’clock now.”
Mu Sicheng’s face darkened, “There’s only two hours left.”
Bai Liu looked at the shadow of the bride passing by the corner in front of him and said, “But I don’t think there is no hope.”
Mu Sicheng tried his best to stay calm, “What do you mean?”
“If my [spirit] wanted to take over my body right now, I would probably confirm with you the amount of money you would burn for me during the Qingming Festival.” Bai Liu could still joke seriously at this time.
“There’s no need to struggle. My [spirit] will definitely stay hidden for the next two hours, and wait for me to transform into a ghost before taking away my body.”
Mu Sicheng still didn’t understand. He clenched his fists and said, “But my [spirit] didn’t lie dormant. It showed up openly. Is it because it felt very confident?”
“No, I think it’s because it’s not very smart.” Bai Liu shook his head to deny it. He touched his chin, “After all, it’s your [spirit] and it lacks the ability to think like a human. I think it’s very stupid, but this may be our breakthrough.”
Mu Sicheng: “…”
Mu Sicheng was angry, “I am talking to you about serious matters! Can you please stop insulting me?!”
“I am indeed talking to you about serious matters.” Bai Liu patted Mu Sicheng’s shoulder and explained steadily, “Think about it, if you were your [spirit], and you could get a complete and powerful body after two hours, would you come to out to beat gongs and drums, hosting a wedding banquet to welcome your opponent as a guest of honor? Would you even take the initiative to invite him alone?”
Mu Sicheng frowned, “…No, why would he do that?”
“Then let me ask you this. That is your spirit” Bai Liu looked at Mu Sicheng quietly, “Under what circumstances would you do this?”
Mu Sicheng fell into deep thought. His brows became more and more knitted, and finally he began to anxiously pull his hair, “…I can’t remember a lot of things…”
Bai Liu patted Mu Sicheng’s tense back and at the same time slowed down his voice to guide Mu Sicheng, “Then let me ask it another way. If you do this, what do you think you are doing it for?”
“If I did this, it should be for the purpose of…” Mu Sicheng closed his eyes and took two deep breaths, “Showing off, or for fun? I seem to have often done things like stealing other people’s things and showing off in front of others…”
Mu Sicheng opened his eyes, his tone low and confused, “…I seem to like seeing other people getting frustrated when they can’t find their stuff that was right under their noses.”
“Why do I like doing such bad things…”
“It’s pretty bad.” Bai Liu commented honestly and smiled with interest, “But I think it’s good that your immature misconduct is placed in this place.”
Mu Sicheng turned and looked at Bai Liu.
Bai Liu smiled, “I roughly know what [you] are going to do.”
After passing several corners, the shadows of the bride and Mu Sicheng entered a side tomb chamber, and Bai Liu and Mu Sicheng followed them in.
This side tomb chamber was shorter and narrower than the previous hall. It was obviously configured as a bedroom. In the center of the room stood a huge mahogany-carved high bed with a bright red gauze curtain hanging on it and a satin quilt embroidered with mandarin ducks and double happiness patterns. White lanterns were hung on the four bedside tables with a red character “囍” cut out on the lantern, emitting a pale light.
However, these things were covered with thick dust.
There were no shoes in front of the bed, but more than thirty wet footprints of varying sizes densely and messily scattered around the bed. Most of these footprints were from small cloth shoes and only one pair was from sneakers.
Bai Liu looked at Mu Sicheng inquiringly. Mu Sicheng nodded and mouthed: Yes, these footprints are from my shoes.
A chilly wind came from nowhere and lifted the thick red gauze hanging on the big bed, revealing a pair of pale blue embroidered shoes standing on the edge of the mahogany bed.
The pair of embroidered shoes were looming beside the bed, and water was still dripping down.
Mu Sicheng was frightened by the pair of embroidered shoes standing beside the bed and took a step back, but was held down by Bai Liu.
Bai Liu walked to the bed calmly. He lowered his eyes to glance at the pair of embroidered shoes standing beside the bed, and used both hands to pull open the red gauze hanging on the wooden bed.
Mu Sicheng gasped in shock at what he saw.