Xie Lian thought, “It wasn’t casual at all. He just casually stepped on it, without a second thought.” He said, “Right. Could the ‘near-jue’ Qinggui you mentioned be him?”

Nanfeng pondered, “I haven’t seen Qinggui, I can’t say. What features did the boy have?”

Xie Lian said, “Silver butterflies.”

When Nanfeng and Fuyun saw the hanging corpses, they were calm. But at this, Xie Lian clearly saw their expressions change.

Fuyou was incredulous, “What? Silver butterflies? What kind of silver butterflies?”

Xie Lian sensed he had said something significant, “Like silver, like crystal, not like living things. But, they looked pretty.”

He saw Nanfeng and Fuyun exchange a look, their faces extremely pale, almost green.

After a long silence, Fuyun said gravely, “Go. Leave now.”

Xie Lian said, “The ghost groom hasn’t been dealt with, how can we leave?”

Fuyou said, “Dealt with?”

He turned around, sneering, “It seems you’ve spent too long in the mortal realm. This ghost groom is just a ‘fierce’ one; even Qinggui, who created the hanging corpses, is just a ‘near-ultimate’.”

He paused, then sharply said, “But do you know who owns the silver butterflies?”

Xie Lian honestly said, “I don’t.”

“…” Fuyou said stiffly, “You don’t know, and there’s no time to explain now. Anyway, it’s not someone you can handle. You should go back to the Celestial Realm and call for reinforcements.”

Xie Lian said, “Then you go back first.”

“You…”

Xie Lian said, “The owner of the silver butterflies didn’t show any malice. If he had malice and was as terrifying as you said, the area around Junshan Mountain would have been devastated. Someone needs to stay here. So you should go back and see if you can get reinforcements.”

He saw Fuyun didn’t want to stay and deal with these troubles. Fuyou was decisive and left. Xie Lian turned to Nanfeng, about to ask about the boy, when the crowd stirred again, someone shouting, “Caught him! We caught him!”

Xie Lian had no time to ask, “Caught who?”

Two bloody figures emerged from the forest, one a man who had rushed in first, and the other dragging a bandaged boy.

Xie Lian remembered the tea master’s words, “They say the ghost groom is an ugly monster with bandages on his face; because he’s too ugly, no woman likes him, so he prevents others from having good things.” They had thought it was a rumor, but it seemed true.

But whether this was the ghost groom was another matter. Before he could examine the boy, Xiaoying rushed over, “You’re wrong! This isn’t the ghost groom, he’s not!”

Little Pengtou said, “He’s been caught, and you say he’s not? I…” He seemed to suddenly realize something, “Oh, I knew you were strange, always saying ‘no, no,’ you’re in cahoots with the ghost groom?!”

Xiaoying was startled, waving her hands, “No, no, I didn’t, he didn’t. He really didn’t do anything, he’s just an ordinary… ordinary…”

Little Pengtou pressed, “Ordinary what? Ordinary ugly monster?” He roughly pulled at the boy’s bandages, “Let’s see what this ordinary ghost groom looks like, why he likes stealing other people’s wives!”

He pulled a few bandages, and the boy cried out in fear. Xie Lian grabbed Little Pengtou’s arm, “Enough.”

Hearing the boy’s cries, Xiaoying wept. Seeing Xie Lian intervene, she grabbed his sleeve, “Sir… please help him.”

Xie Lian glanced at her. Xiaoying quickly let go, afraid he’d dislike her touching him. Xie Lian said, “It’s okay.” Looking at the bloody boy, he saw bloodshot eyes peeking from under the bandages. He glanced, then quickly lowered his head, rewrapping the bandages. Even a small patch of skin was terrifying, as if burned by fire. It was easy to imagine the horror beneath, causing others to gasp, and the boy to shrink further.

Xie Lian noticed their similar timid behavior, as if they were used to avoiding light and people. He sighed. Little Pengtou was wary, “What are you doing? We caught the ghost groom.”

Xie Lian released him, “It’s not that easy to catch him. My friend searched nearby and didn’t find him. This boy likely arrived later. The real ghost groom should still be here.”

Xiaoying mustered her courage, “You want the reward… but you can’t just grab anyone.”

Little Pengtou was about to act again. Xie Lian, having had enough of his interference, waved his hand. The Ruoxie cloth shot out, knocking Little Pengtou down, and Nanfeng added a kick, finally subduing him. With him down, the crowd became quiet. Xie Lian thought, “Finally, I can get down to business.” He looked at the boy, “Did you throw the rock from the window?”

His voice was gentle. The bandaged boy trembled, secretly glancing at him, and nodded. Xiaoying said, “He didn’t want to hurt anyone, he just saw Little Pengtou was going to hit me, he wanted to help…”

Xie Lian asked the boy, “Do you know about the hanging corpses in the forest?”

Xiaoying said, “I don’t know, but it definitely wasn’t him…”

The bandaged boy shook his head repeatedly. Nanfeng stared at him, “Is Qinggui Qirong related to you?”

Hearing the name, Xie Lian paused. The bandaged boy was clearly bewildered, unresponsive, and didn’t dare to answer Nanfeng. Xiaoying said, “He… he’s just scared, he can’t speak…”

She fiercely protected the strange boy. Xie Lian said softly, “Xiaoying, tell me what you know about this child.”

Seeing Xie Lian, Xiaoying seemed to find courage. The firelight illuminated her face, and she didn’t hide, wringing her hands, “He really didn’t do anything wrong. This child just lives in Junshan Mountain. Sometimes, when he’s hungry, he comes down the mountain to steal food. Once, he stole from my house… I saw he couldn’t speak well and had injuries on his face, so I found some cloth to wrap his face, and sometimes I gave him food…”

Xie Lian had thought they might be a couple, but now it seemed Xiaoying’s protection was more like a sister or elder’s care. She continued, “Later, many people thought he was the ghost groom. I couldn’t say anything, I just hoped to catch the real culprit… I thought you were skilled enough to catch the ghost groom by pretending to be a bride, you wouldn’t make a mistake, because he would never abduct a bride. But I heard Little Pengtou was searching the mountain, so I secretly followed to check.”