076. The Wave-Praying Dance

Logically, a wedding should be filled with joy, auspiciousness, and happiness.

However, the wedding at the Hai Family Mansion seemed rather strange.

Despite the noisy, bustling, and lively wedding scene, there was a certain cold, silent, and somber atmosphere.

Lu Ban saw that in the lobby, the Hai family patriarch and madam were sitting in chairs, waiting for the newlyweds.

Beside them stood a person dressed in black and wearing a mask.

That must be the groom from the Hai family.

Even without anyone explaining it, Lu Ban knew about it.

Because the mask was simply too conspicuous.

It was a fish mask, with a plain, common fish head shape, and a bluish-black color. Paired with the black clothes worn by the person, it looked just like a Walking Fish.

When the bridal sedan chair arrived at the front yard, the men carrying it slowly put it down and mechanically stepped back to make way for it.

Trist caught a glimpse of the black tower.

Yes, the bride's sedan chair landed right in front of the lake tower in the middle of that mansion.

A road is connecting the shore to the tower.

The music continued to play, passersby continued to swagger, and the groom of the Hai family waited in the same spot, gazing at the tower.

A thought crossed Trist's mind. He knew that the bride still retained a certain degree of rationality, and that the process of the bride and groom uniting was probably the process of erasing that last vestige of rationality.

It must be some kind of nightmarish scene that, just by looking at it, would erode reason.

He and Lu Ban stood at the entrance of the hall, watching the bride walk step by step toward the black tower bound by chains.

The bride finally stopped when she stood in front of the tower, standing in an unnatural posture, like a puppet on a string.

All the music stopped abruptly, and then a melody from ancient times began to play.

Surrounding the bride were people wearing the same masks as the groom, dressed in black robes and fish-head masks, dancing beside her.

It was a dance that Lu Ban had never seen before.

In folklore, song and dance are closely related to sacrificial rites. Many dances originated from imitation, imitating animals and natural landscapes that humans have seen.

But what kind of prototype could give birth to such a dance?

The accompanying music had no melody whatsoever; it was like the scratching noise of fingernails on a smooth blackboard, or the howl of some monster from millions of years ago.

It is unimaginable what kind of scene the being who created this dance must have witnessed to generate such inspiration and weave a dance that inspires fear, awe, and dread.

"This Wave-Praying Dance doesn't seem to be anything legitimate."

Lu Ban sighed. Even without the Black Mother's corruption, the Hai family would probably have been destined to be corrupted long ago.

No matter how much they struggled or resisted, the fate of their entire family had already been decided millions of years ago.

Perhaps it originated from a chance worship, perhaps from a dangerous exploration, or perhaps from some ancient books. The ancestors of the Hai family mastered the extraordinary power brought by this dance. They traveled the earth and came to the Drywater Town, where they lived for decades. Perhaps this was the starting point for their ancestors to obtain power.

Just as the dancers were tormenting the spectators' minds, an even more unbelievable situation arose.

That solid, dark, cold tower began to undulate.

The bricks, tiles, stone pillars, and pavilions seemed to have been given life, becoming soft and supple. The tower was like a colossal creature that had just awakened, regaining its vitality.

Lu Ban finally understood why the tower was locked with chains.

Because it is a living thing.

Like a giant worm spinning a cocoon, the tower bound by chains trembled constantly, causing the chains to clang and jingle, echoing in the air.

The bride stood motionless before the gradually reviving tower, raising her hand in a sacrificial gesture.

Trist recognized at a glance the same movement of the gray-white Fish-headed people stone statue he had seen in the fog the night before.

Is this the very tower that those Fish-headed people are worshipping?

Trist's revolver was poised to fire.

Because of the current situation, he felt that even if he and Lu Ban were to successfully witness the union of the bride and groom, they would probably not survive until the wedding was completely over.

Gaa gaa gaa—

The top of the tower slowly cracked open.

From the top of the tower, which has split into four lobes, countless black tentacles can be seen slowly spreading out.

Like a flower stamen, countless thick tentacles trembled and stretched towards the bride.

In the center of the flower's heart lies filthy mud.

In an instant, the entire Hai Family Mansion was filled with the stench of metal, but no one expressed any dissatisfaction. Everyone's eyes were filled with fervor as they raised their hands to welcome this scene.

Lu Ban recognized that the silt was the liquid from the lungs of that terrifying fishman.

This represents

He had already guessed the final secret of the Hai family and the Black Mother.

Lu Ban glanced at his side, and Trist actually narrowed his eyes, trying to delay the drop in his sanity caused by seeing this ugly and blasphemous creature devour the bride.

The mud poured onto Xin Nian's body, staining her pure red wedding dress, and the red veil had long been swept away by the mud.

The bride's face was revealed, pale and bloodless, her eyes pitch black, and countless, seemingly living mudslides instantly seeped into her mouth, nose, ears, and every inch of her body.

The entire pond had turned into a sea of black silt, the metallic stench of which bloomed like evil flowers under the Pale midday sun.

At this moment, the groom of the Hai family also removed his mask.

Lu Ban saw that it was a fish.

The groom had no human head, only the head of a fish, with eyes that emitted an eerie light, a body covered in scales, and webbing between his fingers, making him exactly like the corpse in the cave.

He didn't say anything, he just jumped.

He jumped into the mud.

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