Unfulfilled Wish (15)-Red Silk

The news that Liu Bingxian sold his daughter for money quickly spread throughout the funeral parlor.

As longtime neighbors, the shop owners on Funeral Street knew Liu Bingxian and Liu Xue very well. They liked the well-behaved girl very much and had always taken good care of her because they felt sorry for her unfortunate life.

They never imagined that Liu Bingxian could be so despicable, truly starting to do inhuman things.

The shop owners initially considered reporting it, but were quickly reminded by others that the Fang Mansion was too wealthy and might even be able to cover up a murder. If they stood up for themselves, the Fang Mansion would remember them, and their future would be difficult.

Then...

This matter became something that everyone despised, yet no one stood up to oppose.

Liu Xue's despair seemed to exist only in casual conversations on the streets, eventually becoming just another topic of conversation.

Before you know it, it seems like many sunrises and sunsets have passed, and no one can feel the passage of time. It's as if, in the blink of an eye, things have already happened.

Liu Xue learned of Mama Liang's "disappearance" and, during her time confined to the Fang Mansion, also came to understand the meaning of her existence.

Liu Xue thought that Xiao Jin had been deceived. The Master hadn't taken a liking to her at all, but rather to her birth date and that mysterious connection with ghosts and monsters.

The paper figures she made were the best in the whole city; they were simply born that way.

She never found Xiao Jin, and it's likely that he, like her mother, was killed by the Master.

What's the point of her living then?

Liu Xue ran out of the Fang Mansion, and to the astonishment of her neighbors, she bought a paper cutter on credit. Then, she was caught and taken back by the steward and his men.

The lady was very silent and rarely left her room. Several people had gone missing from the Fang family, but the Fang Mansion had managed to cover it up. Most people were still doing their jobs as before, and they hadn't even realized that there was a girl being held captive in the mansion for so many days.

During her resistance, Liu Xue hid in the housekeeper's wardrobe and committed suicide.

She thought that with her death, the Master would be unable to do evil anymore, Master plans would be disrupted, and she could consider it revenge for her mother and Xiao Jin...

But the nightmare wasn't over yet.

When she opened her eyes again, there were faint red shadows.

The suona horns were deafening. She saw herself sitting upright in a chair, dressed in red, with a veil covering her head, her hands resting on her abdomen, as if she were still alive.

The wedding dress was exquisitely embroidered; she had never worn such beautiful clothes in her entire life. Even the servants in the Fang Mansion were dressed better than her. She could have used the money that Mama Liang gave her to buy many beautiful clothes, but Liu Bingxian, turning it into ashes on the gambling table.

She quietly lifted the veil and saw her face: her lips were as red as blood, and her complexion was as pale as paper.

It looks really good, but it's a bit too intense, making it seem a little lifeless.

Thinking this, Liu Xue's hand, which was lifting the veil, suddenly stopped; she remembered.

She is indeed not a living person.

The woman before me was a corpse.

The sound of the suona finally reached her ears. Liu Xue's eyes widened, she withdrew her hands, looked down at her translucent grayish-white skin, and realized that even though she was dead, the Master had not let her go. Instead, he had made her corpse complete the wedding and summoned her soul.

The outer hall was filled with people, and the red candles flickered. Due to the nature of this wedding, the Fang Mansion did not invite anyone else, only their own family members and Liu Bingxian, their "in-law," to the banquet.

Time, here, begins to turn again.

In the courtyard.

"Congratulations, young master!" A Hu and the other servants sat at a table covered with a red cloth. Some of them had smiles on their faces, while others looked bewildered and fearful as they learned some of the facts.

"This... isn't the young master already dead? And who... who was the woman the young master married?"

Someone looked at the table full of delicacies and asked a question in bewilderment, only to be scolded by the butler sitting at the next table.

"Is it any of your business? From now on, you'll be called Young Mistress!" The butler glared at him. "Even a banquet can't shut you up!"

The man was even more terrified. How could a young mistress have appeared out of nowhere?

From now on, when he's sweeping the floor... there might be an unseen young mistress floating beside him at any moment?

It's no wonder he's overthinking things; in fact, many people share the same doubts as him.

Even someone without common sense would know that such a marriage violates the laws of physics. Moreover, the servants of the Fang Mansion have all received some basic education. Even if the master of the house was the one who arranged this, they had already discussed it several times behind his back. They couldn't understand how the shrewd and capable Master Fang in the business world could listen to the Master's advice and do something that would damage one's morals.

The strategists, amidst the discussions everywhere, finally came to their senses.

Yu Xing looked down and found himself on the roof of a room. Because of the overcast sky and poor lighting, none of the people eating below could see him, so he was safe for the time being.

For him, he had just witnessed Liu Xue being taken back to the Fang Mansion, and before he had done anything, his mind seemed to have undergone a leap, with some vague memories flooding his mind, giving him a general idea of the passage of time. After that, there was the image of him lying on the roof.

"Tsk, the food smells pretty good." Yu Xing sniffed it, put her arm around her arm, and laughed. "Who would have thought that such fragrant food was celebrating something so disgusting?"

I'm hungry.

Suddenly, a familiar, chilling voice sounded behind Yu Xing. Yu Xing's body tensed at first, then she chuckled, "What are you doing here? As a legitimate subordinate of Master, shouldn't you be among the people eating at the banquet? Why are you with me, a fugitive?"

Zhao Yijiu paused for a moment, then silently crawled forward to Yu Xing's side, peeking out to observe the courtyard below with Yu Xing.

"But it's reasonable that we were standing together before the time jump, and then we were assigned to the same place after the jump." Yu Xing answered himself, glancing back and seeing Fang Pian lying there, planning to sneak down.

Zhao Yijiu ignored Yu Xing, resting his chin on his arm and staring at the food below. "I'm hungry."

"Then go down and eat. You're a legitimate person, it'd be a shame not to get a free meal~ Look, see that empty seat over there? It's next to that fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl under that Master's tutelage, maybe that's your seat? They probably think you disappeared because you went to the bathroom or something."

Yu Xing responded casually, but remained motionless, scanning the scene in the courtyard. She murmured softly, "The Master's wife isn't here. Instead, the master and the butler are hosting the banquet in the courtyard. The old man looks worried, clearly concerned about something. I guess today is the day the Master promised to resurrect his son."

"This is a special wedding, a joyous occasion in public, a somber affair in private. The fewer people involved, the better," Zhao Yijiu said coldly. "The Master forbids the master from getting involved in the behind-the-scenes matters. The master can only do the outward work, letting the people in the manor add some festive cheer to his son's resurrection."

"Wow!" Yu Xing exclaimed in surprise, "You said such a long sentence!"

Zhao Yijiu: "..."

He backed away from Yu Xing, "I'm going downstairs. You can look at it by yourself."

Yu Xing: "... I'd also like to go downstairs and get something to eat."

Unfortunately, Zhao Yijiu had already fallen to the ground and soon reappeared in the courtyard, walking towards her seat. Yu Xing's mournful voice could no longer be heard.

Fangpian also found his place. Besides the two of them, two other people walked in from elsewhere at about the same time. One was A Gui, and the other was one of the servants who accompanied the master on his business trip.

The group exchanged glances, each having a general idea of the other's identity.

Yu Xing, on the rooftop, could see everything clearly. He thought for a moment and realized that if the number was still 77, then besides Zhao Ruru, who was locked in the side room, there was one other person missing.

Where could that person be?

Either they are like him, fugitives and missing persons, forced to hide in the shadows, or... they are currently at the actual wedding ceremony, where the Master and his wife are, watching the funeral-themed wedding unfold.

"Such a person could only appear by the Madam's side... because all of the Master's subordinates are in the courtyard, whether they know the truth or not, they are all eating at the banquet, while not all of the people serving the Madam are here." Yu Xing squinted, making sure she hadn't missed anyone, then flipped over and jumped down from the back of the house.

"So it was Xiao Meng..." He recalled his previous interactions with Xiao Meng and gained a clearer understanding of the strategist from the Xu family. "Her acting skills are really good."

He had also carefully reviewed the information and knew that there was a priest in the square team with very special abilities.

However, the information was all collected by Zhao Ruru. He only saw things on paper. Even if he heard about the characteristics of the sacrifice, it was not as touching as seeing it with his own eyes.

In a pure role-playing deduction game, the situation with the sacrifice would be practically a cheat code...

Yu Xing thought about it for a moment and felt that Si's ability was very useful, only slightly inferior to his own.

Sigh, looks like I'll have to have a private chat with Si when I get the chance... But why do I remember, back in Feng Gulan Ting, Si seemed to be... a man?

Although I've never met him, he seems to vaguely remember him. Is he really a man?

It must be incredibly hard work for a man to portray Xiao Meng so well.

As Yu Xing sighed, a very subtle expression appeared on his face.

He left the bustling banquet venue with a smile on his lips.

The wedding banquet was held in the second courtyard, which had the largest space and could accommodate all the tables. He could guess that the most important part was taking place in the fifth courtyard, which he knew best.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone in the mansion was gathered together, Yu Xing easily passed through the garden outside the courtyard to the fourth courtyard, where she saw a large quantity of red silk.

In the fifth courtyard, many ropes were strung up and hung more than two meters high. Strips of red silk, more than one meter wide, were laid on the ropes and fluttered down to the ground, swaying in the wind.

If a person stands in the red silk array, they will be in a state where their figure is vaguely visible, but their location is difficult to pinpoint.

It's practically the perfect place for ghosts to roam; a ghost could appear at any moment from any corner, and it's hard to defend against.

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow and extended a finger, brushing it across the red silk.

Soft and smooth, it was clearly the finest silk, yet it was being used to decorate a funeral wedding, demonstrating just how wealthy the Fang Mansion was.

"It's still a bit worse than the old Yu family..." Yu Xing spoke calmly about this, no longer experiencing any emotional fluctuations. He objectively compared the two in his mind and came to a conclusion.

The Master here are far weaker than the Lingren in real life.

The Yu family surpasses the Fang Mansion in every aspect, whether it's financial resources, power, openness and inclusiveness, or the business acumen of the head of the family. The Yu family is definitely far superior to the Fang Mansion.

The only incomparable aspect is that Yu Xing's era was later than the historical period depicted in this simulation. Although the Yu family was an old and established family, by the time he had memories, the Yu family had already begun to adapt to the times and innovate.

The Lingren destroyed the entire Yu family in far less time than the Master.

The Master had been secretly plotting for years, all for the sake of a single ceremony, and most likely, he failed.

One word: awful!

Yu Xing approached the array of red silk. The silk was blown by the wind, and the soft touch enveloped his exposed skin, bringing with it a vague sense of suffocation.

All the silks were moving, which masked Yu Xing's movements. He listened intently and could barely make out another sound amidst the intermittent suona music.

That's human voices; someone is talking.

The rooms in the fifth courtyard have changed significantly compared to before. The separate rooms have been opened up one by one, eventually connecting the rooms on one side into a huge... wedding hall.

The door was closed, and Red Lantern hung from the eaves. The sky grew increasingly overcast, and the lanterns grew brighter.

Yu Xing did not rush forward. He walked slowly toward the building, and while doing so, gazed at the sky for a while through the gaps in the silk.

The red light of the lanterns reflected off the red silk, dyeing the entire fifth courtyard a very dark red, and even the gradually darkening sky took on a dark red hue.

As the wind picked up, the atmosphere in the fifth courtyard began to become extremely eerie. The temperature gradually dropped, and the silk that brushed against the skin was icy cold, sending shivers down one's spine.

Yu Xing pursed his lips, put his hands in his sleeves, and walked into the center of the red silk array with the gait of an old man strolling with his hands in his pockets.

He could feel that the swaying of the red silk was no longer moving with the wind, but rather converging towards him at an uncoordinated angle.

At first it was like a tentative touch, lightly touching his face and ankles, then it gradually became bolder, with some silk fabric wrapped around his hands, as if expressing something unseen.

There was a hint of attachment, yet it was also tinged with murderous intent.

Yu Xing put a finger to her lips and whispered, "Shh... Is that Xue'er?"

The red silk fluttered more violently, and the murderous intent shifted from subtle to overt.

A look of understanding flashed across Yu Xing's eyes, and she chuckled softly, "Xue'er, you're not mistaken, I'm not dead. These past few days I've been evading the Master's pursuit and have gone to great lengths to uncover the truth. I'm sorry, I was too foolish, which allowed the Master to go this far."

"It's my fault for being so useless; I couldn't save you and Mama Liang."

"I've come... to avenge you, Xue'er."

With each word he spoke, the murderous intent seemed to fade, until finally, only a sense of sadness and sorrow lingered on the red silk.

At this moment, the most frequently appearing comment on the screen was:

"That guy's a real jerk!"