Lingwen said, “Now that you mention it, I do remember one.”

Xie Lian threw two more veils, eliciting cheers. He turned and bowed, “Tell me!”

Lingwen said, “Before General Pei ascended, he was a general. He met a beautiful and fierce female general from the enemy country on the battlefield, named Xuanji.”

Xie Lian said, “Xuanji.”

Lingwen continued, “General Pei, upon seeing a beautiful woman, would pursue her even if a sword was at his throat. This woman led her troops against him and was defeated.”

Xuanji, captured and brought to the enemy camp, attempted suicide when the guards were off guard. She failed, but a general, with a single sword strike, saved her. That graceful general was the future ascended Mingguang General.

General Pei, being a compassionate man and the war already decided, released Xuanji. What happened after that is easy to imagine. At that moment, a bride grabbed Xie Lian’s leg, almost digging her nails into his flesh. He was about to kick her, but realized he could only kick her face. He changed his stance, kicking her shoulder, throwing another veil, “Sounds like a beautiful story.”

Lingwen said, “It was. But Xuanji insisted on being with General Pei for life.”

Xie Lian leaped onto the roof, overlooking the approaching brides, wiping sweat, “A woman wanting a lifelong partner isn’t wrong.”

Lingwen said, “It’s not wrong, but war is cruel. They had agreed to a fleeting romance, mutual consent, a moment together, no tomorrow, only romance, no war. And General Pei, to be honest, was lucky she didn’t ask for more.”

“…”

“But Xuanji was a noblewoman from a military family, with a fiery temperament. Whatever she wanted, she wouldn’t let go…”

“Wait, wait!” Xie Lian said, “Tell me first, was Xuanji disabled? Where?”

“She…” Lingwen’s voice stopped.

Frustratingly, the spiritual power always ran out at crucial moments. Next time, he should ask the important questions first. Xie Lian quickly reorganized his thoughts: If the bandaged boy wasn’t the ghost groom, and the villagers confirmed there was no ghost groom among them, then the only place he could be hiding was among the seventeen brides!

When he hid among them, the ghost groom couldn’t immediately notice the discrepancy. Conversely, when the ghost groom hid, he wouldn’t immediately notice an extra corpse. After the Ruoxie cloth injured the ghost groom, he only saw black mist heading towards the forest, not guaranteeing a person was inside. He had chased after the mist, while the ghost groom likely remained in the temple, hiding among the bride corpses.

Therefore, the “ghost groom” wasn’t a “groom,” but a “bride”—a woman in a bride’s attire!

If it was a woman, many things could be deduced. For example, why were there no Mingguang Temples near Junshan Mountain? It wasn’t that the locals didn’t want to build one, but that they couldn’t. Xiaoying said, “Every time they tried to build Mingguang Palace, it would mysteriously catch fire during construction.” This wasn’t a coincidence, it was arson. Why set the temple on fire? Usually, it’s due to hatred. But there was a Mingguang Temple sealed in Junshan Mountain, untouched, with a well-preserved statue. Why? The ghost bride, dressed in wedding clothes, didn’t want brides passing by Junshan Mountain to smile. Why?

Everything pointed to jealousy and possessiveness. The strange sound of cloth-wrapped sticks dragging something—if it was footsteps, Xie Lian could only think of one possibility!

Xie Lian had covered all the chasing brides with veils. He finally landed, catching his breath, and began to count.

One, two, three, four… ten.

Seven brides had jumped into the forest, pursued by Nanfeng. Ten brides were covered here. One was still missing.

At that moment, he heard the familiar “thump, thump” sound behind him.

Xie Lian slowly turned, a tiny figure appeared.

He took a deep breath, “As expected.”

The small woman, in a red wedding dress, looked terrifying.

She was small because she was kneeling.

Her legs were broken, but not amputated. She was crawling on her knees.

The strange “thump, thump” sound was her broken legs dragging on the ground.

The female ghost had a long face and raised eyebrows, indeed very beautiful. Originally, her beauty held a hint of heroism, but now, resentment filled her features, as if she had been confined for years, never seeing the sun. Her wedding dress was torn below the knees.

Xie Lian stared at her, “Xuanji?”

It seemed like it had been years since anyone called her that. After a long time, the resentment on her face eased slightly, and a flash of light appeared in her eyes.

She said, “…Did he send you to find me?”

The “he,” Xie Lian guessed, was General Pei.

Xuanji asked, “And him? Why didn’t he come to see me?”

Her eagerness and anticipation made Xie Lian hesitate to say “no.” Seeing his silence, Xuanji slumped to the ground.

She leaned against the handsome statue, her red wedding dress forming a large blood flower on the ground. Her hair was disheveled, her face filled with unbearable pain, as if suffering greatly, “…Why didn’t he come to see me?”

Xie Lian couldn’t answer and remained silent. Xuanji looked at the statue, sadly saying, “Pei Lang, I betrayed my country for you, abandoned everything, and became like this, why didn’t you come to see me?”

She pulled her hair, asking, “Is your heart made of stone?”

Xie Lian remained calm, thinking. Xuanji said she betrayed her country for General Pei. Did General Pei trick her into revealing information during their romance, leading to her country’s defeat? She said she became like this because of him. “This” referred to her broken legs. As a general, she wouldn’t have been disabled on the battlefield. Her legs must have been broken later. Was it General Pei’s abandonment that caused her deep resentment?

He felt his thoughts were cliché, but Xuanji’s resentment was so deep that she was harming innocent people. At that moment, a woman’s scream came from outside, “Help! Help!”

Xie Lian and Xuanji looked towards the window. Someone was dragging the bandaged boy out of the Ruoxie circle, while Xiaoying held onto the person’s leg. The person, Little Pengtou, cursed, “Get away! You idiot, you’ve called the female ghosts over!”