Chapter 31

???

How did a ghost bride suddenly appear out of nowhere?

This doesn’t fit the style at all!

…

Cheng Hui was full of question marks.

???

How did a ghost bride suddenly appear out of nowhere?

This doesn’t fit the style at all!

“What kind of demon are you!” Ye Qi slashed at the bridal gown, the sharp blade cutting it in two.

The gown let out a piercing wail, and a sticky black liquid oozed from the cut.

“Xie Lang, Xie Lang… why did you betray me!”

The mournful female ghost shrieked, causing everyone to have a splitting headache.

“Beast!” Master Xuan Tan shouted, a golden light appearing in his palm, and a golden shuttle swiftly shot towards the wardrobe.

“Ah!” The female ghost screamed, revealing a slender figure. Her makeup was bright, with blood tears streaming from her eyes, and a red-purple mark on her neck.

“Xie Lang! You lied to me! You lied to me! Ahhhhh!” The female ghost screamed and disappeared, leaving only a plain silver hairpin clattering to the ground.

Cheng Hui: … Is it really this easy to deal with ghosts?

Master Xuan Tan looked astonished, seemingly not expecting to solve the ghost bride issue so easily with a casual move.

“This ghost’s strength… is too weak.” Ah Qiu was also surprised. This ghost bride seemed to have died with a grudge, and such a resentful ghost should be very powerful, but this one was clearly a weakling.

“Ah Qiu, do you also think this ghost is weak?” Cheng Hui asked.

“Yeah… it had a strong aura, but it was just that, an aura. Its strength didn’t match the resentment it showed.”

Cheng Hui watched as Ye Qi carefully picked up the silver hairpin, examined it, and then handed it to Master Xuan Tan.

Cheng Hui also went up to take a look but didn’t see anything special.

However, Xin Erniang, being a woman familiar with clothes and accessories, glanced at it and sneered, “Young ladies these days are too easy to fool. This shabby silver hairpin is worth at most two taels of silver, no more. Only naive little girls would fall for it.” As she spoke, she glanced meaningfully at Cheng Hui.

Cheng Hui: …

Why are you looking at me? I didn’t deceive any young girls.

I’m still a pure young man!

“Pfft…”

Cheng Hui’s face turned red instantly.

Oops, in the excitement, he forgot he was still connected to Ah Qiu, accidentally revealing his true thoughts.

“So… Ah Hui, you don’t have any exes? That’s great, I know Ah Hui loves me the most.”

Cheng Hui: …

Fine, as long as you’re happy.

He realized something; he didn’t know what kind of luck he had, but why did everyone he met want to be his fiancé?

Could it be that he was particularly attractive to men?

But… besides that little kid and Ah Qiu, it seemed no other men were interested in him?

So… it must be these two who are not quite normal…

“Two taels of silver is already a lot.” Master Xuan Tan laughed, “Miss Xin, your family is wealthy, so you don’t care for such small things, but for women from ordinary families, a hairpin worth two taels of silver is already a very sincere token of love.”

Xin Erniang couldn’t help but click her tongue. She wasn’t ranked high in her family, but she never lacked money, so she was a bit naive about worldly matters.

“So the question is, who is this Xie Lang? And who is this ghost bride?” Cheng Hui continued to ask.

Before coming, Ye Qi and Xuan Tan had used their own methods to inquire about the estate, and it was mentioned that the second owner of the estate, the painter, had the surname Xie.

Ye Qi frowned, “Could it be the estate’s male owner, Painter Xie?”

“Impossible, right?” Xin Erniang was stunned, “Isn’t it said that Painter Xie and his wife were deeply in love? He was even willing to remain childless for her and not take concubines. How could he have entangled with another woman?”

Ye Qi looked at her with an indescribable expression, probably thinking that only a naive young girl would believe such things.

In his view, the story of Painter Xie being devoted to his wife and willing to remain childless was just something to listen to, not to take seriously.

Xin Erniang clearly saw Ye Qi’s meaning and felt a bit unconvinced, “But didn’t the old butler’s diary also say that Painter Xie was unwilling to take concubines for his wife’s sake? The old butler wouldn’t write things in his diary to deceive himself, right?”

Ye Qi frowned, that was true. The old butler had lived with Painter Xie’s family for a long time. If Painter Xie was just putting on a show and was actually despicable, the old butler managing the entire estate wouldn’t be able to hide it.

So now the question arises, where did this ghost bride come from? And who is the Xie Lang she mentioned?

Eh… Master Xuan Tan was too heavy-handed, killing the ghost in one blow.

Ye Qi looked at Xuan Tan, the old monk was deep in thought.

“Master, did you think of something?” Cheng Hui couldn’t help but ask.

Xuan Tan snapped out of it and waved his hand, “I was just thinking about how I killed that ghost so easily just now. Given the aura she displayed, there was no reason for her to be killed so easily.”

“She gave me the feeling of being… how to say, all show and no substance.”

“Ah Qiu, Ah Qiu, listen, Master Xuan Tan feels the same way as you.”

“Yeah… there’s something off about this ghost bride, feels like… wait, something’s not right outside.”

Cheng Hui reacted quickly, rushing to the door in a flash. Looking outside, he was stunned.

The others weren’t slow either. Xin Erniang, who had initially lost her composure, had calmed down considerably over time. After all, she was from the Xin family of Hedong, and her ability to handle pressure was quite good.

“How can this be?” Xin Erniang murmured.

Outside the courtyard, the originally dilapidated yard had disappeared. Now, the small courtyard was cleaned up, and many servants were busy decorating it, seemingly preparing for some festival.

“Hurry up, hang that curtain a bit higher.”

“Xiao Jiu, Xiao Jiu, where did that little rascal go? Someone quickly inform Aunt Liu in the kitchen that she can start preparing.”

“Xiyue, Xiyue, where did you sneak off to again? Hurry up and get over here!”

“Eh, coming.”

Cheng Hui and the others stood at the bedroom door, but no one noticed their presence.

“What is this?” Xin Erniang looked at the semi-transparent figures of the servants, feeling a bit creeped out.

She had seen many ghosts, but she had never seen such human-like phantoms.

“Amitabha, this is a memory.”

“A memory? Whose?” Cheng Hui was curious.

Master Xuan Tan shook his head. Some inanimate objects, under certain circumstances, can activate a memory. He had once encountered a big tree that would reflect the images of young couples who had dated under it.

Because that tree was in the backyard of a wealthy merchant, he was invited to solve the problem. It wasn’t a big deal at first, but who knew the tree would reflect the scene of the merchant’s wife having an affair with his cousin, leading to a series of troubles. It gave Master Xuan Tan a headache, and he had to leave the merchant in a hurry. He didn’t know if the tree was dealt with afterward.

He thought it should have been dealt with, otherwise, who could endure constantly seeing their wife having an affair with someone else?

This proves that memories are not only possessed by the living but also by inanimate objects. Therefore, it’s hard to determine whose memory this is.

“Ah Hui, pay attention to that girl named Xiyue.” Ah Qiu suddenly reminded.

Cheng Hui quickly looked at Xiyue, who was wearing a light green dress, her long black hair tied in a simple bun, and her face without makeup had a gentle smile. She was indeed a graceful beauty.

Most importantly, he had seen this beauty just a few minutes ago, with a face of bruises and blood tears.

That’s right! This Xiyue was the ghost bride they had seen earlier!

“Follow that Xiyue.”

Seeing Xiyue about to leave the courtyard, Cheng Hui quickly followed.

The others followed suit, and they soon realized that this Xiyue was indeed the fierce ghost they had encountered.

They followed Xiyue to the west courtyard. Someone had asked Xiyue to invite guests to the backyard for a banquet. Xiyue walked along, greeting others.

From the way people greeted her, it was clear that Xiyue held some status in the Xie family. Xin Erniang thought Xiyue was likely the lady’s personal maid.

Xiyue went straight to a room in the west courtyard, tidying her hair unconsciously before knocking on the door.

“Xiyue likes the person in this room.” Xin Erniang declared.

The other three were stunned. How did you know?

Xin Erniang saw the doubt in their eyes and said smugly, “You don’t understand women. In front of someone they like, women unconsciously present their best side, so she tidied her hair before knocking because she wanted the person she liked to see her at her best.”

Ye Qi/Xuan Tan/Cheng Hui: … =_=

Straight men have learned… don’t quite understand you women.

Xin Erniang gave them a disdainful look, “It’s obvious you’re all single. Do you also look sloppy in front of the girls you like?”

The three men: … We’ve been… looked down upon, yet can’t refute.

The monk was out of the question, and Ye Qi and Cheng Hui were indeed single, without even a crush.

“This girl is interesting.” Ah Qiu chuckled softly. Even though she existed only in Cheng Hui’s sea of consciousness, she couldn’t help but conjure a mirror to check her appearance. Yes, today is another beautiful day, ensuring that whenever Cheng Hui sees her, she looks flawless!

Soon, the door opened, and a young scholar with delicate features stepped out.

“Miss Xiyue, is there something you need?” The young scholar was very polite.

Xiyue maintained a graceful smile. If you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t notice her ears turning red.

“The banquet is about to start, and the lady invites the young master to join.”

“Thank you, Miss Xiyue.” The young scholar smiled sweetly. Despite his delicate appearance, his eyes were inexplicably alluring, as if they held a hook that made Xiyue’s heart itch.