074. Who Are You Talking To?

Looking at Lu Ban's vomit, Trist couldn't connect his two sentences for a moment.

"Those two people had no heartbeat."

Lu Ban took out a tissue from his pocket, wiped his mouth, and then explained.

"They were like those fish-like monsters, without heartbeats or breathing sounds, just Walking Corpses."

"What about the servants?"

Trist, noticing that the three men were dressed almost identically, asked again.

"The servant has a heartbeat, though the frequency is strange, but he is alive."

Lu Ban replied.

If the servant had no heartbeat, he would have noticed when he saw the man last night, instead of only telling Trist now.

"The ingredients in those dishes were normal, but the taste was terrible. It was like someone who didn't know how to cook had forced themselves to make them. The chef in this house probably isn't a normal person either."

He added another sentence.

"So you asked them to provide dinner to confirm these things?"

Trist immediately realized that, apart from being somewhat neurotic and having a slightly strange way of thinking, the man in front of her was quite bold and meticulous.

"No, I'm really hungry."

Lu Ban immediately replied.

He went back into the house, took out some compressed rations from his bag, and devoured them with the bottled water he had brought.

"Man is made of iron, food is made of steel. How can we cope with tomorrow's wedding if we don't eat our fill?"

"Whatever makes you happy."

Trist sat down in the chair, carefully inspected his revolver, and put it back in its holster.

Let's summarize the current situation.

"This town was plagued by monsters many years ago. Later, the monsters were sealed away, and the town enjoyed a period of peace. However, the seal loosened, and the monsters came out to wreak havoc on the world again. Until the Hai family arrived, the monsters disappeared without a trace."

"The Black Mother may be some kind of being higher than humans. She was sealed in the Black Tower in the Hai family's courtyard, and her power can seep out and incite others to release her."

"So, the Black Mother might be the monster that ravaged the sea before, and has now been sealed away by the Hai family?"

"We don't need to pay too much attention to the Black Mother's matter. Our goal is the wedding. But now it seems that the Hai family is also in trouble. The patriarch is already dead, but the servants are still alive."

He pondered as he gently stroked his pipe.

Suddenly, Trist realized that Lu Ban was gone.

The entire room was completely silent; you could even hear your own breathing.

"Lu Ban?"

Trist became alert and called out.

No one responded.

He got up and went into the house.

The house was dark, with no lights on, and the moonlight filtering through the shadows of the trees, making it appear rather gloomy.

Trist saw a mirror, which was placed in a strange position, directly opposite the screen, as if to reflect everyone who entered the room.

He saw his own reflection in the slightly blurry bronze mirror.

It's a very strange feeling.

Trist felt that his reflection in the mirror looked a little different, so he tiptoed closer to try and get a better look.

Only then did Trist realize that his reflection in the mirror showed Pale face with only his lips standing out bright red, just like the deceased patriarch of the Hai family!

In the instant he noticed, blood flowed from Trist's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears in the mirror.

Trist hurriedly stepped back, and then saw in the mirror that there was someone standing behind him.

That woman in the red wedding dress!

This time, the woman didn't wear a red cloth over her head; instead, she lifted her veil.

One could see that on that delicate, Pale, bloodless oval face, there were a pair of deep red eyes with no visible whites, and blood tears were flowing from those eyes, obscuring her crimson lips.

Don't go.

A soft murmur sounded in his ear, and Trist turned around quickly, only to find that the revolver in his hand had missed its target.

There was no one behind him.

Cold sweat seeped from Trist's forehead. Unbeknownst to him, the surrounding space became claustrophobic and dim, as if even the moonlight had been swallowed up.

Those blurry, ambiguous tree shadows are like people in contorted postures, poised to pounce in the corner.

"Help me."

As the soft murmur lingered, Trist felt a chill on the back of his neck. A damp, icy breath with a metallic, fishy smell hit his neck, sending shivers down Trist spine.

He turned around, ready to fire, but his finger wouldn't pull the trigger.

The trigger seemed frozen in place, completely immobile.

Trist looked down and saw a hand gripping his right hand, which was holding the gun, with fingers blocking the trigger and rendering it immobile.

"Wake up."

Trist was startled when he heard Lu Ban's voice.

It was only then that he realized that his gun was pointed directly at him, and that Lu Ban had blocked the trigger, preventing Trist from taking his own life.

What did you see?

Lu Ban gently removed the pistol from Trist's hand, placed it on the table, and asked patiently.

"I saw her, that woman in red. She was just inside the house."

Trist's voice was weak.

"No, you were sitting here the whole time, without making a move, until you picked up a pistol and pointed it at your head, ready to shoot yourself."

Lu Ban was still holding a half-eaten pack of compressed rations in his hand.

"You must be starving. Have some dry food to calm your nerves."

Lu Ban handed his half-eaten rations to Trist.

Trist took the rations in a daze, seemingly still immersed in what he had just witnessed, until he took a couple of bites and realized something was wrong, then hurriedly looked at Lu Ban.

"You ate this!"

"It's okay, I don't mind."

Lu Ban patted his chest.

"This house has a lot of problems. I suspect that woman is the Black Mother. She subtly influences the consciousness of those around her, driving them insane."

"I'm still a little scared, "Trist said.

"The Hai family has been living with the Black Mother for so long, they're probably no longer normal people."

Trist suspected that when he and Lu Ban witnessed the wedding, just seeing the bride and groom would be enough to cause them to lose their minds.

"These people have either turned into the Walking Corpses and monsters in the fog last night, or they have turned into Fish-headed people monsters. I'm afraid that servant was also in disguise. He was controlling the master and mistress of the Hai family to receive us."

For the Hai family, holding a good wedding is all that matters. As for Lu Ban and Trist, they are probably just unstable factors that need to be dealt with properly, nothing more.

"If we stay here tonight, even if the Hai family doesn't intend to harm us, the Black Mother's will will still affect us."

Trist felt that his current situation was extremely dangerous.

She said it was okay.

But Lu Ban suddenly spoke up.

"What did you say?"

Trist felt something was off because Lu Ban wasn't looking at him, but at the empty chair next to him.

"She said she wouldn't harm us."

Lu Ban repeated it.

Who are you talking to?

Trist's hair stood on end. He dared not make any rash moves and only turned his body slightly to the side.

"Bride."

Lu Ban pointed to the empty chair.

At this moment, in Lu Ban's field of vision, there sat a woman dressed in a red wedding dress.

The woman's face Pale, her lips were bright red, and her eyes were bloodshot with no whites showing. Two streams of bloody tears flowed down her cheeks.

She just sat there, as if she had been there for hundreds of years.