Chapter 5 : Wedding Dress

The sky remained gray, with a steady drizzle of fine rain.

This spring rain seemed endless, covering Yanyue Villa in a misty haze, draping it with a veil of mist.

The entire world felt damp, with the moist air clinging to people, causing clothes and skin to feel clammy, and inevitably stirring a sense of restlessness.The damp weather makes people irritable and depressed.

Ji Yu walked slowly through Yanyue Villa, holding an oiled paper umbrella.

The architecture of Yanyue Villa was primarily in the style of Jiangnan gardens, with pavilions, towers, and terraces all exquisitely designed. Each flower and view seemed picture-perfect, and the spring rain added a poetic charm to the scenery.

However, it was so quiet that it gave the scene a sense of decay.

What should have been a vibrant and flourishing spring instead felt like the prelude to desolation.

Hongxiao followed Ji Yu, her gaze filled with unease as she observed the strange surroundings.

She spoke up, “Young Master, I’ve heard that there are very few people still alive in Yanyue Villa. Even those who are alive, like the Lord of the Manor, have almost no vitality left. Their blood energy is depleted, their soul flames are weak, and they can only lie in bed, barely hanging on…”

Even the demon hunter didn’t know how to save them and could only use refined pills to sustain their lives temporarily.

That was why Yanyue Villa felt so eerily silent.

Ji Yu looked at the manor shrouded in rain and mist, with the rain and mist thickening in the distance, only faintly seeing the outline of the surrounding mountains.

The green mountains, washed by the spring rain, should have appeared gentle and affectionate, but now they exuded a strange and sinister aura.

After walking for over half an hour through the rain and mist, they arrived at a relatively secluded entrance to an underground passage within the manor.

According to the map, Yanyue Villa had many underground passages, with entrances scattered throughout.

Other demon hunter chose the nearest passages to enter, aiming to avoid trouble and quickly find and eliminate the evil spirit entity to claim the reward from Yanyue Villa.

The entrance to the passage was concealed within a rockery.

Without the map, it would have been impossible to locate it. Even if found, without knowledge of the mechanism, it would be impossible to enter without resorting to brute force, which would destroy the passage and render it inaccessible.

Hongxiao approached and activated the entrance mechanism.

The method to open it had been provided by the Lord of the Manor in advance, and soon the entrance to the passage was revealed.

When the entrance was opened, an extremely cold and sinister aura emanated from within, like a malignant force seeping into the bones, causing a shiver.

Hongxiao cautiously checked and found no immediate danger inside, so she and Ji Yu proceeded together.

The passage was extremely dark, twisting and turning, clearly winding downwards.

Knowing they would be entering the passage, Hongxiao had prepared in advance. She had requested a torch from the manor’s servants before coming and now lit it, holding it in front to illuminate the dark and cold passage.

The passage was even colder than above, and the eerie aura grew more intense, prompting Hongxiao to remain on high alert, ready to deal with any evil spirit entities that might emerge from the darkness.

However, their journey through the passage was uneventful, they encountered no attacks.

After an unknown amount of time, they finally reached the end of the passage, which led to a secret chamber.

The door to the chamber was tightly closed, marked with the emblem of Yanyue Villa. Next to it was a mechanism that wasn’t complicated, just a matter of turning it to open the door.

Hongxiao said, “Young Master, please stand back. I’ll open the door.”

Ji Yu agreed, stepping back a few paces, and advised, “Hongxiao, be careful.”

Hongxiao turned the mechanism beside the door. The stone door made a trembling sound as it slowly moved aside.

When the stone door was fully opened, a cold, eerie aura immediately poured out from inside, like a sinister wind that brushed against their clothes. Before either could react, the aura dissipated and vanished.

Hongxiao held the torch inside and saw that the chamber was empty and devoid of danger. It was just a plain stone room.

There was another passage at the other end of the chamber, leading to an unknown destination.

The two continued forward.

As they continued their journey, they encountered numerous secret chambers, all of which were empty and clearly abandoned for a long time.

Hongxiao was somewhat puzzled, wondering why the ancestors of the Yue family had constructed such a vast underground complex beneath Yanyue Villa.

The winding passages and continuous stone chambers revealed the immense scale of this underground space.

Moreover, despite their long journey, they had yet to encounter any other demon slayers.

Soon, the two heard some sounds ahead.

Ji Yu’s eyes flickered, and she said, “Let’s go see.”

Hongxiao responded, nervously following behind, her eyes scanning the surroundings and staying alert for any potential dangers from the darkness.

They walked through a long, dark passage and arrived at a place resembling an underground palace.

Tall and sturdy stone pillars are stretched upwards, one after another. Strange reliefs of ferocious beasts are entangled on the stone pillars, each of which is hideous and ugly, not like a creature from the human world.

The area was spacious, and at the end, there was an altar. Several demon slayers were gathered in front of the altar.

Ji Yu and Hongxiao approached and immediately saw a set of wedding attire on the altar.

The wedding attire was dark and dusty, as if it had been sealed here for many years. It appeared ordinary, as if carelessly placed there, and emitted no unusual aura.

It was neither a demonic object nor tainted by any evil spirit energy.

The demon slayers present frowned and stared at the altar.

The purpose of the altar was unknown, and it was similarly covered in dust, clearly abandoned for a long time.

After cautiously examining it, they found nothing of note. The underground chamber was also empty, and the altar and wedding attire seemed to be ordinary objects.

Not finding anything, most of the demon slayers complained and left to continue their search elsewhere.

Ji Yu stood before the altar, staring at the wedding attire.

As the others departed, Xu Xiujue also noticed Ji Yu’s presence and walked over, saying, “Junior Sister Ji, you’re here too.”

Ji Yu nodded at him and greeted, “Senior Brother Xu.”

The two talked to each other and found that they had not encountered any problems along the way, so it was obvious that this underground dark room was not dangerous.

Again, nothing was found.

Xu Xiujue frowned and said, “I always feel something is not right.” Noticing that Ji Yu was also looking around, he added, “Everything in Yanyue Villa seems wrong, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what.”

Since entering Yanyue Villa, he had felt something was amiss and it wasn’t just him ,everyone felt it.

This is also a tricky part. The harder it is to find the source, the harder it is to prove that the evil is causing the chaos.

Xu Xiujue needed to check other areas, so after exchanging a few words with Ji Yu, he left with the Xu family disciples.

Before long, most of the people around had departed.

Ji Yu took one last look at the dusty wedding attire on the altar, then left with Hongxiao.

After a whole day, the group found nothing in the underground dark room of Yanyue Villa.

They did make some progress, though the demon slayers had explored all the secret passages and interconnected chambers and then compiled a map.

When the map was laid out, a pattern finally emerged.

Chen Qingfeng exclaimed, “This is clearly modeled after the Longquan Underground Palace.”

Longquan Underground Palace?

Instantly, all the demon slayers present recalled what the Longquan Underground Palace was.

It was an underground palace that appeared at the foot of Longquan Mountain twenty years ago, where a thousand-year-old corpse demon had awakened, bringing immense disaster to the world.

After a fierce battle, the demon slayers paid a heavy price but eventually managed to seal the demon corpse.

Many excellent demon slayers from the four great families, including the Ji family, had perished in that battle, leading to the current decline in the Ji family’s talent. Even Ji Yu, the Ji family’s current heir, was weak and sickly from a young age because her mother, Ji Lan, had contracted corpse poison during that battle, causing Ji Yu to be born prematurely.

With this in mind, many people turned their gaze toward Ji Yu, including Chen Qingzhe, who looked at her with an inexplicable expression.

Despite the attention, Ji Yu remained calm and composed. She sat with her posture still dignified and elegant, like a well-cultivated noble lady from Yunjing, moving with a refined grace.

Beautiful as she was, she didn’t quite fit the image of a demon slayer.

After sitting for a while, Ji Yu left, claiming that she was feeling unwell.

The people present were understanding, knowing that her health had always been poor. It was normal for her to be tired after a full day of investigating the underground chambers of Yanyue Villa.

— 

Back at the guesthouse, as soon as Ji Yu entered, she staggered slightly.

Hongxiao, who was always attentive to her, immediately supported her and helped her to sit on the Luohan bed draped with a deep blue cloud dragon and longevity mattress. Concerned, she asked, “Young Master, are you alright?”

Ji Yu’s complexion was pale to the point of tarnsparent, her brows furrowed slightly. She opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.

Seeing this, Hongxiao’s heart tightened. She quickly took out a white jade vial, retrieved a blood-red pill from it, and helped Ji Yu take it.

After a while, Ji Yu’s forehead was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat, dampening her temples.

She spoke softly, “Hongxiao, I feel much better now.”

Seeing Ji Yu’s fragile and nearly broken state, Hongxiao felt both heartbroken and distressed. She wiped the cold sweat from her face with a handkerchief and wanted to suggest leaving, but she knew the Young Master would certainly not agree.

They had come for the reward from Yanyue Villa, which included items needed by the Ji family.

In the end, she just instructed Ji Yu to take good care of herself.

Ji Yu smiled softly and said warmly, “Hongxiao, don’t worry. I want to live a long life and stay with Grandmother and all of you. I will definitely take care of myself.”

This statement made Hongxiao force a smile.

As night fell, Hongxiao helped Ji Yu wash up and then prepared for bed.

Hongxiao reminded her, “Young Master, rest well. I’ll stay here with you tonight.”

Holding her dagger, Hongxiao sat at the foot of the bed with a commanding presence, as if to ward off any demonic intrusion and ensure that nothing disturbed Ji Yu’s rest.

No matter what demonic or ghostly entity it might be, it was not allowed to harm her Young Master

Ji Yu couldn’t help but chuckle and said playfully, “Hongxiao, you should rest too. Your Young Master isn’t useless to the point where you need to stay by my side all the time. It might make me look useless.”

“Nonsense, Young Master, you’re not useless.”

Hongxiao was flustered, but she was at a loss for words.

In the end, Ji Yu convinced her to rest on the couch outside and not to stay up all night.

—

That night, Ji Yu was once again pulled into a dream.

She stood there in a daze, her eyes blurry and dull. Her vision was filled with a bloody red color that dyed the entire world and made it impossible for her to see her surroundings clearly.

It wasn’t until the blurry blood-red gradually dispersed and her vision cleared that she realized she was in a woman’s bedroom.

At that moment, a rigid, dark greenish-black face covered in black wrinkles and resembling an old zombie loomed right in front of her.

This was an old zombie woman dressed festively, and she was arranging her clothes. Ji Yu saw that her fingertips were long and sharp black fingers, comparable to those of a thousand-year-old zombie. If she was accidentally scratched, even a demon hunter would not be able to escape death.

Ji Yu’s heart skipped a beat. However, on the surface, she still maintained her dazed and confused expression, seemingly unaware that she was facing a terrifying corpse demon.

The old zombie woman adjusted Ji Yu’s clothes, helped her sit to the side, and then brought over a phoenix crown to place on her head.

It was only then that Ji Yu realized she was wearing bridal attire.

Moreover, this bridal outfit was identical to the one she had seen in the underground palace of Yanyue Villa today.