Double happiness (VII)

"Brother Leg!!!"

"I'm so sorry! You were so young, and now..."

Zhang Wei looked at Yang Jian's fallen corpse and cried, tears and snot flying.

"A Wei... what are you making such a racket for..."

Along with Yang Jian's icy voice, an enormous headless black shadow slowly rose from the ground.

Above its neck were grotesque, sinister tattoos that outlined Yang Jian's lifeless face. On its forehead, the scarlet Ghost Eye snapped open, and an intensely scarlet gleam instantly spread outward.

Splash...

A vast expanse of icy lake water kept seeping out of the ground, swiftly engulfing the female corpse. The Ghost Hand shot out, grabbing straight at the red-clad female ghost on Zhang Wei's back.

Yang Jian had never considered restarting himself. He wanted to suppress this corpse, restart Zhang Wei, and remove the female corpse from Zhang Wei's back.

Yet something unexpected happened. Even with nearly all of Yang Jian's supernatural powers unleashed, the female corpse remained draped motionlessly over Zhang Wei, as though Yang Jian's attacks had no effect whatsoever.

"It can't be suppressed... no..."

Yang Jian noticed that although the female corpse was still draped over Zhang Wei's back, Zhang Wei's movements seemed to have slowed.

"It's working, but the effect is negligible..."

Just then, Yang Jian discovered to his surprise that he could not release the Ghost Hand's grip on the female corpse. Its fingers were stuck fast to her arm, and no matter how much force he exerted, he could not open the hand.

This hair-raising female corpse had actually invaded him in turn, taking Yang Jian along with Zhang Wei toward that eerie bridal sedan chair.

"Brother Wei! Don't move! Hold on!"

Ye Zhen's voice came from nearby. He was holding a longsword aloft, poised to throw it.

"Easy for you to say! Come try it yourself!"

Zhang Wei's expression was uglier than if he had been crying. Dark red livor mortis had already covered most of his body.

"Don't move. I can't shoot if you move!" Holding the longsword, Ye Zhen seemed to be waiting for something.

Zhang Wei shouted, "If you're going to shoot, hurry up! If you don't, I'll have to start a new run!"

Suddenly, an enormous scarlet eyeball abruptly appeared hanging over the graveyard. Vast quantities of icy lake water slowly flowed from within it, falling onto the female corpse's head.

Immediately, the suona music throughout the graveyard abruptly paused, and Zhang Wei stopped moving as well. But this lasted less than a second before his feet once again showed faint signs of taking a step.

But that was enough for Ye Zhen. A buzzing suddenly rang out, and an eerie white dot abruptly appeared on the female corpse's red bridal veil.

The next second, holding the longsword, Ye Zhen thrust toward Zhang Wei's back in a strange posture. No, it would be more accurate to say that the longsword was dragging Ye Zhen toward the female corpse.

Ye Zhen's face had turned ashen, and his entire body resembled a corpse.

The instant he raised his hand, his figure abruptly vanished from the spot, then immediately reappeared, but one step closer to the female corpse.

Immediately afterward, his sword hand once again drew back to gather strength. The next moment, Ye Zhen vanished again. When they looked again, he had appeared less than ten steps from the female corpse.

Within the graveyard, Ye Zhen's corpse resembled a stuttering stop-motion animation, abruptly disappearing, appearing, disappearing, over and over.

But every time Ye Zhen appeared, he was another step closer to that hair-raising female corpse.

Yang Jian watched the eerie, sinister white dot on the red bridal veil. By some unknown method, Ye Zhen had locked his Ghost Domain into a single point over the female corpse's veil. But because the female corpse's level of terror was too high, the longsword that should have appeared instantly above her head was instead dragging Ye Zhen's corpse toward her in a bizarre fashion.

Thwack!

The longsword plunged into the female corpse's head with the sound of a sharp weapon piercing dead flesh.

Zhang Wei's footsteps stopped completely.

Supernatural forces clashed. Under Ye Zhen and Yang Jian's attacks, a brief supernatural stalemate formed between the horrifying corpse and the two men.

Seemingly because of her killing rules, under the influence of the identities of "groom" and "bride," the female corpse was acting rigidly according to her established killing rules.

All the killing rules were contained within this bridal procession. Yang Jian and Ye Zhen had merely been passively subjected to the female corpse's attacks through direct contact.

But even so, the two had paid an extremely high price just to make Zhang Wei stop.

Yang Jian knew very well that this strange balance would not last long, perhaps only a few minutes.

The Ghost Hand gripping the female corpse tightened forcefully. This time, Yang Jian successfully tore her off Zhang Wei's back and threw her to the ground. The headless Ghost Shadow swiftly spread over her, and the hatchet was already in the Ghost Hand.

As the headless Ghost Shadow covered her, the medium was triggered.

He raised his hand and brought it down.

The seemingly casual slash struck at the female corpse through the medium triggered by the Ghost Shadow.

Riiip...

The lifeless female corpse was cleaved in two from head to toe by the hatchet. Almost simultaneously, the enormous black shadow abruptly split as well, dividing into two.

Amid flickering red light, the Ghost Shadow slowly pieced itself back together. Yang Jian was repairing the damage exacted as the price of using the hatchet.

But very soon, Yang Jian discovered a despair-inducing fact. His vision blurred, and the female corpse abruptly vanished from the spot, leaving no trace.

Yang Jian instinctively turned to look at Zhang Wei's back. There, a dark red figure was unmistakably draped over him!

Yang Jian immediately realized that the dismemberment had failed. The female corpse possessed the ability to restart, and had completed her restart almost the instant she was dismembered.

Stiffly lifting his legs, Zhang Wei began taking heavy steps once more.

By now, Zhang Wei had gone completely silent. His ashen face bore no sign of life, and he slowly walked toward the bridal sedan chair, lifelessly carrying the horrifying female corpse on his back.

His scarlet Ghost Eye fixed on the female corpse, Yang Jian thought rapidly.

As long as I activate an area-wide restart like that time inside the Ghost Painting, I can save A Wei. But unless I remove that female corpse, the outcome won't change, no matter how many times I restart.

At this thought, Yang Jian suddenly understood the true meaning of the Human Skin Paper's final message.

"The Marriage Certificate, replacing the groom's identity..."

Perhaps the Human Skin Paper had calculated that Yang Jian would have no time to investigate that Marriage Certificate. The information it had revealed was a trap full of word games, luring Yang Jian to this point and leaving him no choice but to use that Marriage Certificate.

But Yang Jian was someone who would not regret a decision once he had made it. He wanted to save A Wei. Whoever stood in his way, he would kill. Yang Jian's character had always been that simple.

Just as Yang Jian was about to act, Ye Zhen's voice rang out. He seemed to have recovered already, and lay on the ground pointing at Yang Jian as he said:

"I told you, Brother Wei is under my protection. Not even Jesus can kill him."

Immediately afterward, a buzzing rang out around Ye Zhen. His figure instantly vanished from the spot, and his Ghost Domain headed straight for the large compound in the village.