Divine Marriage

Chapter 35: The divine marriage procession moved slowly, but it gradually left the main road and turned onto a side path.

Shen Hui noticed the change and frowned.

He had thought they were headed for a nearby village, but this path led toward the foot of the mountain. Wild grass crowded both sides, and it hardly looked traveled.

After another incense stick's worth of time, the procession stopped before a temple.

Calling it a temple was generous. It was merely a low stone shrine at the mountain's foot.

Its walls were built of gray stone. Four characters, "Orthodox God of Fortune and Virtue," were carved above the door, while the couplets on either side had been worn almost beyond recognition by wind and rain.

Shen Hui saw it from afar, and his brow furrowed.

It was not unusual for a bridal sedan to stop along the way. A difficult stretch of road or porters needing a rest could call for a brief halt.

But the sedan must never touch the ground. It had to be propped on benches or supported with poles, let alone stopped in a place like this.

Temples belonged to yin, government offices to Baleful Intent, and the spaces beneath bridges to water. Graveyards went without saying. All were places to avoid on a day of great celebration.

Yet the eight porters set the bridal sedan straight down at the temple gate, then turned and left without even pulling out the carrying poles.

The suona and drums fell silent at the same moment. In the blink of an eye, the once-bustling wedding procession had vanished completely.

Lu Huan stared blankly at the lone red sedan outside the temple gate, then turned to Shen Hui.

"When do we eat?"

"We might not get to."

Shen Hui's expression darkened,