The Bride

The Bride

My eyes flew wide. After a stunned moment, I braced both hands on the rock and slowly stood up, shaking my head. "I'm not Ma Bianlang!"

The girl before me had very regular features, a standard oval face, her beautiful hair tied behind her, and a long, slender neck. Judging by her looks, she was a little beauty, not very old—probably about the same age as Xiao Yudao.

She was dressed all in red bridal clothes, and with that question of hers...

I quickly understood. This girl was Ma Bianlang's not-yet-wed wife—in other words, the fiancée he was about to exchange the Seven-Colored Gu for.

Ma Bianlang looked old for his age, like someone almost in his forties. He could practically be an elder to this bride. A faint pity stirred in my heart.

"Then why do you have the Seven-Colored Gu in your hand?" the girl asked, her pretty brows furrowing, her breath fragrant as orchids.

The black jar beside me held the Seven-Colored Gu that Green Nest-Head had spat out last night. After being fed a few golden scorpions, it had already come back to life. What surprised me was that she actually knew the black jar contained the Seven-Colored Gu.

Then I thought about it. If the girl could sense the Seven-Colored Gu, and Corpse-Raising Cave was right by the road, then when she went up the mountain, she must have detected its scent, looked toward Corpse-Raising Cave, and discovered me and the Seven-Colored Gu beside me.

I said, "I can't explain it clearly to you in just a sentence or two. This Seven-Colored Gu belongs to Qingya Village. It only ended up in my hands by a twist of fate. But I still have to return it to Qingya Village."

The girl gave an "oh," stepped back two paces, and adjusted her red bridal clothes. The shoes on her feet were covered in mud. Then she asked, "Then do you know Ma Bianlang? What kind of person is he, exactly?"

That question really put me in a difficult spot.

As the saying went, don't speak ill of people behind their backs.

Although Ma Bianlang was ugly and strange, and had also clashed with me, the girl was going to marry him. It wasn't my place to stand here and judge Ma Bianlang's character and appearance.

I chuckled a few times and said, "As far as I know, Qingya Village will use the Seven-Colored Gu as the betrothal gift. Since you're wearing red bridal clothes, you should be Qingya Village's bride. What kind of person Ma Bianlang is—you'll know in the future. It's just a bit of a pity."

The girl tucked a few strands of her beautiful hair behind her ear and said, "You're such a strange person. You only say half of what you mean, dangling it in front of someone. That's no fun." Faintly, she was already somewhat displeased.

"You're the strange one. We've never even met before, so why should I say everything to you?" I lifted the black jar and did not give her a pleasant look either.

"Guo Ni, why are you running so fast? Walk a little slower. What girl getting married is this impatient?" A man came up from below on the mountain path. His shoes were caked in mud and weeds. He wore gray-black clothes, was of medium build, had a mustache, and carried a black bag on his back.

The girl and the middle-aged man had come up to Qingya Village together. The girl was nimble and ran a bit faster, so she had gotten ahead. When the middle-aged man came up, I glanced at him and despised him from the bottom of my heart. It was him—for the sake of a single Seven-Colored Gu, he was marrying his daughter off to that pervert Ma Bianlang.

"This brother is from Qingya Village, right..." The middle-aged man had not finished speaking when he suddenly froze. His eyes looked strangely at me, and in the end he muttered to himself, "I feel like I've seen him somewhere. He really looks like that person I saw!"

I did not want to talk much with this father and daughter, so I said politely, "I'm from Camellia Village. My friends fell into Qingya Village's hands, and I'm going up to save them." After speaking, I turned and headed up toward Qingya Village.

The girl's voice came from behind me. "Uncle, this place is all barren mountains and wild ridges. The people haven't been civilized at all. They don't understand manners or proper etiquette. I don't want to marry that Ma Bianlang. Maybe he's an ugly monster."

"Guo Ni, after all these years, you still won't change how you address me. I'm telling you, in front of people from Qingya Village, you must call me Dad. Don't forget what your mother told you before we left," the middle-aged man said, his voice turning harsh.

They walked behind me, so the contents of their conversation naturally reached my ears. It turned out this father and daughter were not related by blood. The middle-aged man was the girl Guo Ni's stepfather.

Damn it, I cursed inwardly. Since she wasn't his own daughter, he didn't feel heartache. At such a young age, he was sending her off to be someone else's wife. What era was this supposed to be? I stopped, stood to the side, and glanced at the middle-aged man, my eyes filled with disdain.

The middle-aged man and the girl Guo Ni continued upward, and when they passed me, the middle-aged man did not get angry. Instead, he even smiled at me.

"I'll answer the question you asked just now. The ugliest person you can imagine in your heart—that's what Ma Bianlang looks like. Although I have a grudge with Ma Bianlang, you can rest assured, I'm absolutely not exaggerating." Though I was unhappy with Guo Ni's attitude when she spoke, I disliked the middle-aged man's conduct even more.

Guo Ni's expression froze. After thinking for a moment, she immediately shouted anxiously with a sob in her voice, "Stepdad, I don't want to marry an ugly monster. I won't marry an ugly monster." The middle-aged man glared at Guo Ni and barked, "The command of parents, the word of the matchmaker—this is not up to your willfulness."

The middle-aged man's gaze fell on me again. With a dark face, he said, "Better to tear down three temples than break one marriage. This time, I'll just take it as you being willful. If you keep wagging that loose tongue of yours, don't blame me for being impolite."

I shook the black jar a few times and said, "I advise you not to be too arrogant. The Seven-Colored Gu you want is in my hands. If I'm unhappy, I'll throw the Seven-Colored Gu straight off the cliff. On this trip, you won't get even a fart."

The middle-aged man glanced at Guo Ni.

Guo Ni nodded and said, "Stepdad, be careful. The gu worm in the black jar in his hand is precisely the Seven-Colored Gu. And inside the black cloth bag on him, there are also three powerful gu worms."

I couldn't help looking at her from the side. It was already beyond my expectations that Guo Ni could sense the Seven-Colored Gu. But she could even detect the gu worms I was carrying on me—she was simply miraculous.

The muscles on the middle-aged man's face twitched. He was unwilling to submit to a child like me and continued saying with a shadowed face, "Aren't you afraid of Ma Shi of Qingya Village? Aren't you afraid they'll release gu worms and poison you to death?"

I burst into laughter, shook my head, and said, "Qingya Village's most powerful Seven-Colored Gu is already in my hands. Do you think I'd be afraid of them releasing gu to poison me to death? You really are hilarious. You've offended me now, and I'm in a bad mood. I won't return the Seven-Colored Gu to Qingya Village. Your trip is going to come up empty."

Venomous light shot from the middle-aged man's eyes. His right hand pressed down on the black bag, the veins on the back of his hand bulging as he shouted, "Then I'll act on behalf of Qingya Village and seize back the Seven-Colored Gu."

With a shake of his right hand, a large, brilliantly colored moth fluttered out. Its wings fanned, and white powder could be seen flying from them. It was a full palm-sized.

The powder it gave off was extremely choking.

The big moth flapped with a whoosh and arrived in front of me in the blink of an eye. I retreated several steps in succession and stood by the edge of the mountain path, my right hand hanging out over open air as I shouted, "If that demon moth takes one more step forward, I'll throw the Seven-Colored Gu down the cliff."

The middle-aged man closed in by two steps, while the Five-Colored Demon Moth stopped two meters away. He smiled and said, "Kid, you want to use the Seven-Colored Gu to save your friends, don't you? Do you dare throw the Seven-Colored Gu off the cliff? I, Chen Junfeng, hate it most when others threaten you."

I cursed inwardly. He had really hit the mark. I absolutely did not dare throw the Seven-Colored Gu off the cliff, otherwise Ma Erlei and Xiao Yudao's lives would be in danger.

The Five-Colored Demon Moth flapped its wings, and that powder flew out. Just inhaling a bit of it made my head dizzy and swollen. If it really landed on me and rolled around a few times, I might faint on the spot. But now that things had developed to this point, I absolutely could not show weakness.

Judging by its shape, it was not a gu worm. It had a physical body. However, it had been raised by someone, causing its body to change. Its powder was toxic too, and it was even more aggressive.

I chuckled. "I thought it was a moth gu, but it's just a big moth. Come on then, let it come at me. If I don't kill it, then I don't count as a man."

Since I could not use the black jar to threaten the middle-aged man Chen Junfeng, I simply put it away. My right hand pressed down on the black cloth bag, and I looked at Chen Junfeng without the slightest fear, silently pondering how to intimidate that deadly Five-Colored Demon Moth.

"Stepdad, be careful. In his black bag, there's a Three-Corpse Snake Gu raised by the Dong People. That can rival the Miao people's Golden Silkworm Gu," Guo Ni shouted anxiously.

Chen Junfeng's brows lifted, and his gaze showed a trace of hesitation. The Five-Colored Demon Moth fluttered its wings but did not advance. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"Come on, then. I'd like to see whether the Five-Colored Demon Moth can knock me to the ground." I saw the fear inside Chen Junfeng and raised my voice a few notches.

Chen Junfeng paused for a full half minute. Finally, with a wave of his right hand, the Five-Colored Demon Moth fluttered its wings and flew back. He said, "I, Chen Junfeng, don't like using my age to bully the young. Once we enter Qingya Village, we'll just wait and see."

I shrugged, putting on an expression that said I didn't care at all.

A great wind rose in the mountains, the leaves rustling and roaring as clouds piled up, darkening the sky even further. From the mountain road came the sound of hurried running, along with shouts.

Chen Junfeng and Guo Ni stood together. I stood on a rock on the other side.

"Xiao Kunlun, you've got some nerve, daring to run away. Aren't you afraid I'll kill Ma Erlei and make that tomboy my wife? Yo-ho, you even found yourself some helpers!" Ma Bianlang came flying over. As he spoke, his features shifted violently, and the Vine Snake on his right hand flicked its tongue with a sharp hiss.

Ma Bianlang had not noticed any trace of Xiao Tianxing. He thought I had escaped to go bring back rescuers, taking Chen Junfeng and Guo Ni for the reinforcements I had called in. With a sweep of his right hand, a group of knife-wielding men stepped forward and surrounded Chen Junfeng and Guo Ni.

"Ma Bianlang, you're terrible at tying people up. With just a little effort, I broke free. Don't worry, I didn't come out this time to help you find the Seven-Colored Gu that ran away. Speaking of which, I should count as your great benefactor." I called back loudly to Ma Bianlang, patting the black jar.

When Guo Ni heard this, her gaze landed on Ma Bianlang. Her eyeballs nearly fell to the ground, and her expression looked as miserable as if she had swallowed a fly. She kept shaking her head and said, "Stepdad, just kill me with one slash. I won't marry him. It'd be one thing if he were only ugly, but he's also a fierce, evil ghost."