Day of Great Joy

Inside the wooden house, everyone paced back and forth, anxiously awaiting the return of the three from the back mountain.

The loud noise from the back mountain was heard by everyone.

Those few villagers from Zhu Village returned home unharmed, merely stating that the people on the mountain had finished their mountain worship and then left the wooden house.

Just as the old man was about to drive them away, three familiar figures finally appeared at the entrance of the wooden house.

Hu Yu had regained some strength by then and had mostly heard Madam Zhao's story on the way back.

After reuniting with everyone in the wooden house, Zheng Wuyou heavily took out the hairpin.

She then told everyone all that had happened.

This included the fact that the sacrificial offering was Sun Wu's remains, as well as Madam Zhao's story.

At the same time, she took out a watch, half of its strap broken, tattered, and with flesh and blood still clinging to it. She had retrieved it from the pulp.

Seeing that they had successfully completed the task, Miao Laisheng no longer explained their experience.

He only said that Madam Zhao could never escape the restraints of the Zhu family.

But from the current perspective, she might have already gained her freedom.

As soon as the time came, the old man appeared in the main hall and drove everyone to their respective lodgings.

Zheng Wuyou took Wansi back to the second floor. Her hands were covered in blood.

So, she asked Wansi to keep a certain distance from her to avoid contamination.

Only after washing by the river tomorrow morning could this filth be removed.

Perhaps due to being exhausted for two days and one night, Zheng Wuyou slept very soundly that night.

Even the children's rhyme outside the house did not wake her.

She had a beautiful dream.

In her dream, she was walking by the river, brushing past a man in sportswear who ran by, and coincidentally met a literary girl sitting under a streetlight reading a book.

When Wansi shook her awake in the morning, Zheng Wuyou couldn't believe she had slept so soundly in such a strange place.

The rising morning light shone into the room, carrying the coolness of the morning breeze.

Last night, she had learned her lesson and left the window half-open, but a humanoid shape of black ash still appeared beside her.

At least for now, the lodging seemed to be a safe house; the black ash had not made any moves.

Today was the day of great joy, the day the matchmaker would lead the two-day worship.

She had to go prepare the wedding banquet with a pair of blood-stained hands.

She might be accused of disrupting some custom.

Zheng Wuyou frowned as she looked at her hands, but finally gritted her teeth and decided to go to the river to wash up before breakfast.

As she reached the entrance of the wooden house, she encountered an unfamiliar old woman coming out of Old Zhu's family to invite the old man.

She wore a big red flower on her head, a red and black mixed-color single-layer garment, and her eyes were narrowed into slits.

She seemed to be sizing up passersby at any moment.

She was undoubtedly one of the main characters today—the matchmaker.

The matchmaker, who had been arrogantly lifting her chin, directly ignored Zheng Wuyou, who was leaving in a hurry.

However, her peripheral vision caught sight of Zheng Wuyou's blood-stained hands, and her expression immediately changed.

Just as she was about to reprimand her, Zheng Wuyou quickly explained first, saying that she had performed worship in the back mountain yesterday and did not intend to offend any customs.

The matchmaker was skeptical, but given that it was the day of great joy, she couldn't pursue the matter too much.

She then turned and entered the backyard, her sharp voice laced with flattery as she invited the old man to set off for Old Zhu's family.

After tidying up, Zheng Wuyou followed everyone to the wedding banquet venue to continue helping.

After all, the sentence about being a helper had not yet disappeared, so she could not easily break the rules.

The middle-aged man, who had found the hairpin through an outsider, had a look of happy threat on his face; he was spared a beating because of it.

The middle-aged man busied himself in the small courtyard. Amidst the joyous atmosphere, there was a hint of strangeness.

On the wedding day, the atmosphere should have been lively, but besides them, why were there no helpers?

Cooking smoke rose from the backyard.

Old Zhu's family seemed full of guests, yet was empty.

At the same time, everyone entered the small courtyard and found that the food on each table was arranged strangely, vastly different from customs in reality.

There were only pastries of peculiar shapes and whole pieces of meat that had not been sliced.

Why did it look like an ancestor worship ceremony?

Just as Zheng Wuyou was wondering, Hu Yu was startled by a chicken that suddenly darted out from under her feet. She jumped away from the chicken, which was pecking at a long worm.

"Do they not even keep the chickens locked up for a wedding at their house?" Hu Yu's sharp tongue was full of resentment.

Noticing the middle-aged man looking at her because of this, and recalling what the short-haired girl had said.

She shrunk back into the crowd.

"Did that girl from last night do anything?" Uncle Cai, whom she had accidentally bumped into, was still a little worried.

Hu Yu thought for a moment and shook her head. That crazy woman had just slept like a log last night.

She had kept her head down ever since Hu Yu went back.

No matter how she called out, there was no response.

She was already used to this person being mute; it would be a shock if she suddenly spoke.

"These tables are set up like they're for ancestor worship," Guo Mu's gaze swept over every table, and he shrugged in disdain at the thought.

Everyone present agreed with this point.

Wen Dian nudged Guo Mu with his elbow. They agreed, but why did this person have no filter and say everything that came to mind?

It was someone's wedding day, and he said it looked like ancestor worship.

Was that appropriate?

The middle-aged man, holding a broom, walked past them with a puzzled look.

He stopped in front of them after thinking for a moment. "What are you all doing here today? Disperse, we don't need any work for now."

No work today?

Now it was the crowd's turn to look at the middle-aged man in confusion.

Wen Dian was a bit flustered. "Isn't today a day of great joy?"

The middle-aged man paused, his expression serious and not like he was lying. "Who said today? It's always been tomorrow. The matchmaker and the others have already made arrangements."

[She's marrying in tomorrow, and tonight they're going to have meat! If she doesn't give birth to a son this time, don't even think about touching those filthy things again!]

These were clearly the old woman's exact words.

"It was your mother..." Hu Yu's voice rang out in the crowd, but Zheng Wuyou stopped her with a flick of her wrist.

"..." If every step had gone without a hitch, there was only one possibility.

"We remembered incorrectly. Then we'll head back to the village chief's house. Call us if you need anything," Zheng Wuyou said to the middle-aged man with a smile after thinking for a moment. Then, she took Wansi's hand and walked towards the main gate of Old Zhu's family.

With her other hand, she tugged at Hu Yu's clothes.

The corner of Hu Yu's clothes was pulled down by Zheng Wuyou, revealing her left shoulder slightly.

Hu Yu was annoyed as she was dragged back to the wooden house. She roughly pulled her clothes back and vented her dissatisfaction at Zheng Wuyou. "Are you crazy, being so polite! If you want to come work, then work, I'm not staying. The sooner he gets married, the sooner I can go back!"

After saying that, she intended to return to Old Zhu's house to question them.

Everyone remained still in the wooden house, their eyes fixed on the indignant Hu Yu.

Seeing that no one was following behind her, Hu Yu turned around in disbelief.

Were these people idiots?

"I apologize for using force just now. But I dragged you out because he will never be able to get married. If you rush in, you'll only harm yourself and us."

Seeing that she had paused, Zheng Wuyou knew she wasn't completely foolish. She apologized for her actions and continued.

Miao Laisheng leaned against the side and nodded silently.