Amid the officiant’s booming voice, Xu Muchan slowly straightened up and met Wei Xilou’s deep, dark eyes.
Those eyes were so black and profound that they seemed capable of sucking his very soul inside. Xu Muchan’s face grew hot, and his heart gradually began beating beyond his control.
“Thump.”
“Thump.”
“Thump.”
Each beat was heavier than the last, as though a rabbit desperate to escape had been trapped inside his chest, refusing to settle down no matter what.
Xu Muchan parted his lips slightly and quietly took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his unruly heartbeat.
Watching him, Wei Xilou chuckled softly. He tightened his grip on the red silk and led him outside.
“A-Chan, let’s go.”
The guests in the courtyard remained silent. There was no need for the groom to entertain them.
One by one, they sat in their original positions like marionettes, their empty eyes staring straight at the newlyweds.
Wei Xilou led Xu Muchan through the middle of them. Because he was so nervous and shy, Xu Muchan completely ignored the eerie atmosphere.
Wei Xilou led him into the bridal chamber.
At some point, the room had been redecorated. The bedding on the bed had also been replaced with a bright-red set embroidered with a dragon and phoenix symbolizing marital harmony.
The vivid red bed curtains were hooked to either side with jade clasps, and the tassels hanging from them swayed gently in the breeze.
Chunhua and Qiuyue did not come inside.
The door to the bridal chamber closed, leaving only Xu Muchan and Wei Xilou inside.
Wei Xilou led him into the inner room. On the table, someone had already prepared a golden scale rod for lifting the bridal veil, as well as a pot of wedding wine.
Xu Muchan wasn’t wearing a veil today, so the golden scale rod was useless.
That left only the wedding wine.
Wei Xilou set down the red silk, walked to the table, and picked up the wine pot to pour the wine.
Xu Muchan stood behind him, repeatedly rubbing the section of red silk between his slender fingers. He had no idea what to do with his hands or feet.
Wei Xilou turned around with a filled wine cup in each hand, only to see the poor piece of red silk in Xu Muchan’s fingertips, wrinkled from being repeatedly kneaded.
With a smile, he rescued the red silk from Xu Muchan’s hands and gently draped it over the back of a chair.
Then Wei Xilou handed one cup of wine to Xu Muchan, picked up the other himself, and looked at him intently.
“A-Chan, are you happy that you married me?”
Xu Muchan took the wine cup. His already-red face was practically steaming, but he secretly raised his eyes to glance at the person in front of him.
He bit his lip and still nodded honestly.
“I’m happy.”
Although he was extremely nervous and didn’t know what to do with himself, Xu Muchan had never once thought about running away.
A continuous stream of happiness kept bubbling up from the depths of his heart.
Wei Xilou closed the distance between them, raised his hand, and hooked his arm around Xu Muchan’s. He brought the wedding wine to Xu Muchan’s lips.
After the two of them drank every drop in their cups at the same time, he finally said in a hoarse voice,
“I’m very happy too.”
At this very moment, he finally understood what the villagers of Leigong Village had meant when they offered A-Chan to him.
It was just that, back then, he had been muddled and had not understood.
Only now, on the night of their wedding, did he realize that A-Chan had long since been destined to become his bride.
Wei Xilou laughed heartily. He casually tossed the wine cup aside and led Xu Muchan to the bedside.
Xu Muchan was pressed down into a seated position.
Because he was so nervous, his fingers tightly clutched the bedding beneath him. His eyes darted about in panic, not knowing where to look, while his thick eyelashes trembled uneasily.
Wei Xilou reached out and lightly brushed his trembling eyelashes with his fingertips, then bent down and gently touched them with his lips.
Xu Muchan instinctively closed his eyes and held his breath.
Another gentle kiss landed on the tip of his nose.
Xu Muchan could no longer hold his breath. He parted his lips slightly and began taking large, hurried breaths. His eyelashes were damp with tears brought on by his body’s natural reaction, making his entire person look soft and dewy.
Yet Wei Xilou wasn’t in any hurry at all. He remained unhurried and composed.
Another gentle kiss landed at the corner of his lips.
Xu Muchan felt as though he were about to catch fire. His pounding heart seemed ready to leap straight out of his throat. In a daze, he opened his eyes and blindly grabbed Wei Xilou’s lapel, instinctively calling out, “Big Brother…”
Wei Xilou froze.
Xu Muchan froze as well.
His memories surged over him like a tide. Xu Muchan’s dazed mind seemed to regain much of its clarity. He tightened his grip on Wei Xilou’s sleeve, as though struggling to wake himself from a whirlpool.
A flicker passed through Wei Xilou’s eyes. He pulled Xu Muchan into his arms and covered his eyes, whispering seductively beside his ear, “A-Chan, don’t be afraid.”
Sure enough, Xu Muchan’s struggling grew much weaker. Wei Xilou kissed the side of his forehead, then thought for a moment before reaching into the inner side of the bed and pulling out an oil lamp wrapped in red cloth.
The oil lamp was old-fashioned, with a little lamp oil still remaining inside. The corners of Wei Xilou’s lips curved upward. He lit the lamp and placed it on the small table beside the bed.
The dim flame flickered, and Xu Muchan’s rationality seemed to sway along with it.
His eyes were still covered by Wei Xilou’s hand, leaving the exposed skin a deep, intensely embarrassed pink.
“If A-Chan is scared, just close your eyes,” Wei Xilou whispered beside his ear.
Xu Muchan’s rationality sank beneath the water once again. He obediently closed his eyes, lifting his pointed chin and exposing his slender, snow-white neck, like a lamb willingly offering itself as a sacrifice.
Wei Xilou was utterly captivated.
He continued covering Xu Muchan’s eyes, so Xu Muchan couldn’t see that apart from the flickering lamplight beside the small table, the bridal chamber was completely swallowed by darkness.
Dense shadows filled the room, surging toward the bed one after another.
Countless pale arms stretched out from the darkness, touching Xu Muchan’s eyelashes, his lips…
The young man’s delicate yet resilient skin felt exceptionally good to the touch. Because of his shyness, his temperature was higher than usual, burning against the cold fingertips like fire.
They eagerly wove together a sinister cage, imprisoning the beautiful bride inside.
The icy touch made Xu Muchan shudder. Tiny goosebumps sprang up all over his skin.
He vaguely sensed that something was wrong and struggled to pry away the hand covering his eyes.
Although he was trembling with fear, he still obediently called him “Husband” as he pleaded, “There’s… there’s something grabbing my feet…”
The hands touching him were ice-cold.
And there were far more than two of them.
That sinister, chilling sensation clearly did not belong to anything human. Having his eyes covered only intensified the fear of the unknown.
Xu Muchan instantly snapped out of the intimate atmosphere and began struggling instinctively.
Wei Xilou did not answer immediately, nor did he remove the hand covering Xu Muchan’s eyes.
The young man dressed in bright-red wedding clothes was like a beautiful white fish. Countless filthy arms desperately reached out, trying to seize him.
He seemed to realize that he was in danger, yet because of his trust in his new husband, he did not struggle with all his strength. He could only helplessly plead for help…
Wei Xilou lowered his eyes and admired the scene as though it were a work of art. His Adam’s apple moved rapidly.
Only when Xu Muchan called out “Husband” for the third time did he finally show mercy and remove his hand.
He helped Xu Muchan sit up and pulled him closer into his arms.
“What’s wrong, A-Chan?”
The darkness receded like a tide.
The oil lamp beside the bed cast a warm yellow glow.
Xu Muchan gathered his loosened robes together and turned his head to look around, but he couldn’t see anything.
He stared blankly, even beginning to wonder whether everything that had just happened had been an illusion.
But that cold sensation had felt so real, as though countless hands had been moving over him…
Xu Muchan curled his body inward and quietly told Wei Xilou, “I think there are ghosts in this room…”
Wei Xilou chuckled. His fingers ran through Xu Muchan’s smooth black hair, gently rubbing it in reassurance.
“On such a wonderful day, how could there be ghosts?”
“Is A-Chan just too nervous?”
Xu Muchan pressed his lips together and shook his head. He insisted, “There really are ghosts. Don’t you believe me?”
His eyes were round and black. They had been washed with tears from his struggle just moments ago, making them look especially bright.
His thick black eyelashes were still dotted with droplets of water, clinging together in little clusters and making him look both pitiful and adorable.
Wei Xilou held him a little tighter.
“How could I not believe you? Tomorrow, we’ll find a Daoist priest to come to the house and take a look. Will that put A-Chan at ease?”
Xu Muchan sat in his arms with his lips pressed together, yet he continued turning his head around like a wary little animal, observing his surroundings.
Wei Xilou secretly clicked his tongue.
Perhaps he had gone a little too far.
If he had really frightened A-Chan badly…
He softened his voice and coaxed him, “It’s getting late. Why don’t A-Chan go to sleep first? I’ll stay right here and watch over you.”
Perhaps his embrace made Xu Muchan feel safe, or perhaps his voice was simply too hypnotic.
Xu Muchan hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.
Wei Xilou patted the pillow beside him, his eyes fixed deeply on Xu Muchan.
Xu Muchan took off his cumbersome outer robe and lay down. He then pulled the quilt over himself, wrapping his body up inside it and leaving only a pair of bright black eyes exposed as he looked at Wei Xilou.
Embarrassed, he said, “Today is our wedding night, but I…”
Wei Xilou patted the quilt-wrapped bundle that looked like a silkworm cocoon and said gently, “We have plenty of time. There’s no need to rush this.”
Xu Muchan gave a muffled “Mm.”
Under Wei Xilou’s rhythmic patting and soothing, he was soon overcome by drowsiness. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Seeing that he had finally fallen asleep, Wei Xilou pulled him out of the quilt bundle and fitted him snugly into his arms.
He chuckled.
“Such an easy person to fool.”
An A-Chan this easy to fool needed to stay obediently beneath his protection.
Although he had been frightened, Xu Muchan slept very soundly that night.
When he woke up, Wei Xilou was already out of bed and sitting by the table reading.
Hearing the movement as Xu Muchan woke, he turned his head and looked over, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips.
“A-Chan is awake?”
Xu Muchan met his gaze and shrank farther into the quilt.
On the second day of their marriage, Wei Xilou was still wearing festive red clothing, though this time it was a deeper, brownish red.
Such a dark red inevitably carried a somewhat aged quality. It should have been a color that made a person look older, yet on him, it somehow possessed an elegant nobility refined by the passage of time.
Xu Muchan glanced at him once.
Then he couldn’t help looking again.
When he looked over for the third time, Wei Xilou caught his gaze precisely, his eyes filled with amusement.
Xu Muchan’s cheeks grew hot. He quickly came up with an excuse.
“What book are you reading?”
Wei Xilou didn’t answer. Instead, he set the book aside, walked over to the bed, bent down, and looked at him.
“Still don’t want to get up?”
Xu Muchan hurriedly sat up, lowering his eyes.
“I’ll get up right away.”
Seeing him hurriedly fumbling with his clothes, Wei Xilou stopped teasing him.
After Xu Muchan washed up and the two of them had breakfast, Wei Xilou suggested taking Xu Muchan outside for a look around.
Xu Muchan’s eyes widened in surprise.
Wei Xilou asked, “A-Chan doesn’t want to go?”
Xu Muchan immediately nodded.
“I do! I do!”
He even forgot to be shy. He eagerly grabbed Wei Xilou and pulled him toward the outside.
“I haven’t gone outside since I came here.”
Wei Xilou simply let himself be pulled along.
But as soon as Xu Muchan left the courtyard, he felt that the atmosphere in the house was vaguely strange.
The servants, who should have been busy with their own tasks, were either standing in corners by the walls or beneath the trees…
In short, every single one of them stood within the shadows, watching the two of them with dark, strange expressions.
Xu Muchan slowed his steps, and the smile on his face faded considerably.
He moved closer to Wei Xilou and asked quietly, “The servants in the house… aren’t they acting strange? Why are they looking at us like that?”
Just yesterday, the people in the house had seemed terrified of Wei Xilou. When facing him, they had not even dared to raise their heads.
Wei Xilou casually swept his gaze over them and patted Xu Muchan on the shoulder.
“Don’t pay attention to them.”
The furrow between Xu Muchan’s brows relaxed slightly.
He was just about to continue toward the main gate when a large group of people suddenly came toward them from the opposite direction.
He stopped again and looked over in confusion.
The person leading the group was a burly man more than two meters tall who looked to weigh at least three hundred pounds.
He wore a ferocious dog-face mask over his face, and a necklace made of bones hung around his thick neck.
Xu Muchan couldn’t tell what animal the bones had come from. They had been polished until they were smooth and white as snow. They should have been beautiful ornaments, yet looking at them made Xu Muchan inexplicably uncomfortable.
He shifted his gaze to the people accompanying the burly man.
The old madam, Miss Ling, and the steward were all there.
Aside from them, everyone else was a servant from the household.
Confusion appeared in Xu Muchan’s eyes. He looked back at Wei Xilou, only to find that there wasn’t the slightest change in his expression.
Clearly, he didn’t care about this group of people at all.
“Mother, Little Sister… what happened?”
Seeing that his husband wasn’t saying anything, Xu Muchan had no choice but to ask.
The old madam gave him a cold look but did not answer.
Instead, she turned toward the burly man beside her and said, “My son, this is the evil spirit who dared to impersonate you!”
Miss Ling glared viciously at Xu Muchan and complained to the burly man, “That wretched man beside him is your bride-to-be. He’s a shameless, flirtatious fox spirit! Big Brother, hurry up and eat him!”
Xu Muchan became even more confused.
Why did Mother and Little Sister seem so close to that burly man?
Did his husband have another brother?
He looked at Wei Xilou, then at the burly man.
The burly man was simply too tall and massive. He also wore a ferocious dog-face mask.
Xu Muchan couldn’t tell what material the mask was made from. It looked almost like leather, creating a nauseating impression that the mask had practically fused with the man’s face.
In Xu Muchan’s private opinion, this burly man had already crossed the boundary of what could be considered human.
He didn’t look like a person.
He looked more like some indescribable monster.
Just as Xu Muchan was examining the burly man, the burly man was examining him as well.
An evil, sinister gaze emerged from behind the mask.
When he looked at Xu Muchan, it was as though he were examining a piece of meat to see whether it was fresh and tender.
He even very clearly swallowed a mouthful of saliva before speaking in a deep, buzzing voice.
“So you’re my bride-to-be? You certainly look fresh and tender. It’s just a shame you’ve already been used by someone else—a broken shoe.”
“If you honestly admit your mistake and behave yourself, I can still take you as a concubine.”
Xu Muchan’s brows furrowed deeply. He instinctively moved closer to Wei Xilou and tightly gripped his sleeve.
“What are you talking about? I don’t know you at all.”
Miss Ling hated his attitude and let out a strange giggle.
“You idiot. The person beside you isn’t our Huang family’s eldest young master at all. He’s an impostor. This is my big brother!”
Young Master Huang glanced at the two of them contemptuously and pointed at Xu Muchan.
“You’re my bride. Come here.”
Xu Muchan looked at him, and the thought that this person might be his fiancé filled him with an intense feeling of disgust.
How could his husband possibly be a monster?
And such an ugly one at that?
Naturally, he refused to go over. He looked at Wei Xilou for help.
Wei Xilou had not spoken a single word from beginning to end. Now, seeing the pleading look in Xu Muchan’s eyes, he finally sighed quietly.
“Does A-Chan believe him, or does he believe me?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Muchan said, “Of course I believe you!”
“There were ghosts in the house before. This so-called Young Master must be a ghost pretending to be human! Mother and Little Sister must have been bewitched by the ghosts, which is why they don’t recognize you anymore.”
The more Xu Muchan spoke, the more convinced he became that this was exactly what had happened.
He grabbed Wei Xilou and said, “Why don’t we run first? That monster looks like it’ll be difficult to deal with.”
Wei Xilou smiled as he looked at him and gently stroked his face.
“A-Chan really is clever. But we’re not the ones who need to run.”
Under Xu Muchan’s puzzled gaze, he calmly broke off a willow branch and swept a disgusted glance at Young Master Huang.
“With a face like yours, even a slaughterhouse might not want you. And you actually dare to covet A-Chan.”
Young Master Huang had thrown his weight around in the Huang family for so many years, and no one had ever dared provoke him like this.
Hearing those words, he immediately let out an enraged roar and charged toward Wei Xilou with heavy, thudding footsteps.
“How dare you act so arrogantly! I’ll turn you into a pig and butcher you!”
Wei Xilou pushed Xu Muchan aside and nimbly dodged Young Master Huang’s charge.
The willow branch in his hand suddenly stretched out and transformed into a whip, viciously lashing across Young Master Huang’s body.
The slender whip looked completely harmless, yet after striking Young Master Huang, it left a deep bloody mark across his mountain-like body.
Young Master Huang cried out in pain, immediately letting out a howl like a slaughtered pig.
While he was howling, Wei Xilou lashed him several more times in succession.
With every strike, Young Master Huang’s enormous body shrank another size, while another bloody whip mark appeared across him.
Young Master Huang, who had been so imposing and boastful just moments ago, lost all ability to fight back in the blink of an eye. He rolled around on the ground in agony.
The old madam and Miss Ling beside him clearly hadn’t expected Young Master Huang to be so utterly useless.
They immediately began wailing and screaming.
“What are you idiots standing there for? Hurry up and help Young Master!”
Forced by their authority, the servants reluctantly rushed forward to help.
But the willow branch in Wei Xilou’s hand was practically a divine weapon.
It didn’t just strike Young Master Huang—it struck the servants as well.
One lash sent a whole group of servants sprawling.
Even Miss Ling beside them was struck several times.
Xu Muchan even saw several of the servants’ bodies split open from the lashes, yet no blood flowed out.
Instead, bamboo skeletons were revealed inside—
These servants weren’t human at all.
They were paper effigies!
No wonder he had always felt that the house was filled with such a sinister, gloomy atmosphere.
There really were ghosts in the house!
Xu Muchan looked at his husband, who had driven Young Master Huang and the ghosts into howling misery with nothing but a willow branch.
His eyes were filled with admiration.
Only after Young Master Huang had been beaten down to the size of a yellow dog did Wei Xilou finally stop.
He casually tossed aside the willow branch, cast an intimidating glance over the remaining paper effigies, then turned toward Xu Muchan.
Xu Muchan’s eyes shone as he walked over to him.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “The Daoist priest you mentioned last night… that was you, wasn’t it?”
Xu Muchan had vaguely heard stories about willow branches being used to beat ghosts.
Now that he had seen his husband display such an incredible ability, he was convinced that Wei Xilou must be a highly accomplished master of cultivation.
No wonder he wasn’t afraid of ghosts at all.
Wei Xilou paused.
He did not deny it. Instead, he smiled at him.
“A-Chan really trusts me that much?”
Xu Muchan nodded without hesitation.
Then he looked at him with shining eyes.
“Can you teach me what you just did?”
Wei Xilou pretended to think about it.
When he saw Xu Muchan beginning to look anxious, he finally relented.
“I’ll teach you another day.”
Xu Muchan gave him a bright smile.
Nearby, Miss Ling saw the two of them chatting privately as though no one else existed, while her own body still ached faintly from being whipped.
She looked over at her useless big brother, who had already curled up into a ball on the ground, apparently preparing to sneak away.
She finally couldn’t take it anymore and shrieked, “Are you blind? The one standing in front of you is the ghost!”
Wei Xilou’s smile disappeared.
He turned around and looked at her expressionlessly, then calmly broke off another willow branch.
“Think carefully again. Which one is the real one?”
Miss Ling stared fearfully at the willow branch in his hand and looked toward her mother for help.
The old madam looked at her useless son, then wrinkled her old face and said to Wei Xilou, “We were bewitched by a ghost just now. How could that dog-faced monster possibly be my son?”
Miss Ling froze.
Reluctantly, she called out to Wei Xilou, “Big Brother.”
Seeing this, the steward hurriedly led the remaining servants in respectfully calling him “Young Master.”
“Young Master, please forgive us. We were blinded by the ghost before.”
Wei Xilou was reluctantly satisfied.
He pointed with the willow branch toward Young Master Huang, who had failed to escape.
“Bring him over.”
Young Master Huang had lost his enormous body and could no longer use his supernatural abilities.
He truly looked like a stray dog in distress as the steward and several servants tied him up and brought him before Wei Xilou.
Wei Xilou frowned and used the willow branch to pry at the dog-face mask he was wearing.
Xu Muchan came over to watch as well.
Only then did he discover that the dog-face mask had actually grown together with Young Master Huang’s face.
“What exactly is this thing?” Xu Muchan asked.
Wei Xilou said, “This mask should be something I lost many years ago. I didn’t expect to see it here.”
As he spoke, he shaped his five fingers into a claw and grabbed the dog-face mask from a distance, pulling it outward with force.
Young Master Huang immediately let out a horrifying scream.
Yet his body seemed to be nailed to the ground. Only his head could move from side to side as he struggled desperately to escape.
The dog-face mask was fused to him so tightly that it fit perfectly against his face.
Wei Xilou exerted more force and finally tore the mask off Young Master Huang’s face.
Once separated from Young Master Huang, the mask became lifeless.
It even seemed to want to escape.
But Wei Xilou gave a cold chuckle and squeezed his fingers.
The mask immediately crumpled into a ball.
It struggled desperately, its facial features squeezing outward.
In the end, it transformed into a dog’s head about the size of a fist.
It actually looked slightly better than it had when it was attached to Young Master Huang’s face.
Its expression even seemed to carry a strong hint of ingratiating flattery.
Xu Muchan’s eyes widened curiously.
He reached out and poked it.
“It looks like a little ornament.”
Seeing that he liked it, Wei Xilou handed the dog head to him.
“If A-Chan likes it, you can find a string and thread it through to play with.”
Xu Muchan really was somewhat interested.
But when Wei Xilou gave it to him, he felt a little embarrassed.
“Didn’t you say this was something you lost a long time ago? It must be important, right?”
Wei Xilou said, “It’s not more important than A-Chan.”
His sweet words came as naturally as breathing.
Xu Muchan had thin skin, and his face reddened as he fell silent.
But he didn’t give the dog head back.
Wei Xilou looked disgustedly at Young Master Huang, who was lying bloodied on the ground, and instructed the steward, “Lock him up. I’m taking my wife out for a walk.”
Young Master Huang raised his blood-covered face and struggled to look at the old madam and Miss Ling.
“Mother! Mother, save me!”
He shouted so loudly that Xu Muchan turned around and looked back.
Once he got a clear look at Young Master Huang’s blood-smeared face, he froze.
The screaming Young Master Huang had a square face, a sunken nose bridge, and thick lips.
Why did he look…
Why did he look a little like the old man in the memorial portrait?