Immediately, his free palm lifted slightly, sending a palm strike through the air to meet the attack. The palm wind was scorching hot, clearly yang-fire nature internal family true power.

Namur, who had caught up from behind, curled his lips in a cold sneer—the Nine Heavenly Gates’ internal energy was the most yin under heaven, not something these ordinary yang-nature true qi could resist.

However, he didn’t see that Mister Mu’s hand gripping the stone quietly lifted, his fingernails slightly cracking. A flash of ice-snow crystal light accompanied by several round blood drops shot out.

The three registered disciples jointly wielding the ice sword had their attention focused on that palm wind. They shouted in unison and fiercely swung their swords down in a chopping motion, intending to split both the palm wind and Mister Mu himself in half.

The ice sword was bone-chilling cold, about to reach the top of his head.

Jing Hengbo below heard something wrong in the sounds and urgently called out, “What’s happening, what’s happening…” She waved her hands forcefully at the air, trying to swat away the assassins above.

Suddenly, there was a “crack” sound.

The sound was very low.

The continuously extending ice sword suddenly stopped above Mister Mu’s head.

The three disciples were startled. Before they could understand what had happened, the frontmost person suddenly cried out in alarm, “The sword!”

The three looked down and saw that the long sword in the frontmost person’s hand was suddenly covered with ice patterns. The ice patterns started from the sword tip and extended like lightning, resembling a small ice dragon rapidly swimming forward. With several crisp crackling sounds, it reached the sword hilt. The entire sword became frost-white, as if the ice and snow at the sword tip were rapidly retreating and counterattacking.

The person gripping the sword felt bone-piercing cold in his hands, countless times colder than the ice-cold qi he could emit. It froze him until his blood circulation was immediately paralyzed. He wanted to throw away the sword, but it had already stuck to his hand and couldn’t be shaken off.

That ice frost crackled several times, freezing and cracking the sword hilt, then continued spreading upward. With another crack, he watched helplessly as his wrist froze off.

Strangely, it didn’t hurt even when it froze off. He saw that the blood from his wound also instantly froze into blood-colored frost flowers. Half the broken sword stuck to his arm, crackling several times and actually froze into the shape of a sword body again.

That sword body was shockingly condensing toward his chest!

Using one’s own methods against oneself—an even more superior technique!

He was terrified out of his wits, wanting to retreat but couldn’t, wanting to scream but couldn’t make a sound. With a soft hiss, the broken sword condensed a section of transparent ice sword tip that pierced through his chest!

The ice sword that pierced his chest turned into a blood-colored ice sword. The condensing momentum didn’t stop. With two more soft hissing sounds, it entered the chests of the two people behind him!

One sword piercing three people.

All in the span of lightning.

At this moment, Mister Mu’s right palm wind also arrived—scorching hot, clearly yang-vigorous true qi palm wind.

With a thunderous sound, the palm wind knocked down the three dead men. Both the long sword and ice sword shattered, and the blood-colored condensed ice instantly vaporized.

In the billowing dust and smoke, Mister Mu grabbed Jing Hengbo and flung her upward, then leaped up himself. “Go!”

With a “whoosh” sound, the splitting palm force scattered the dust and smoke, and Namur’s figure appeared. At a glance, he saw there was no one left in the ditch, his face gloomy.

He turned and rushed back to the three corpses. The three still had expressions of horror and terror on their faces, their wide-open mouths seeming to want to shout out some secret, but it was too late forever.

Namur felt irritated and, with preconceived notions, only assumed the three had died under that yang-vigorous palm force. He casually moved the corpses around but didn’t see the wounds on their chests.

The ice sword was too thin and melted instantly, not even leaving much blood.

Namur only thought these three had died from that yang-vigorous splitting palm force, his heart full of disbelief.

In the past on the mountain, when he heard the sect elders and stewards discuss the Great Wilderness, their tone suggested that the Great Wilderness martial world were all ants, and any disciple randomly sent out from the Nine Heavenly Gates would be sufficient to crush the entire jianghu.

So when Nine Heavenly Gates disciples were ordered down the mountain, most were full of confidence, looking down on all living beings with contempt. The Nine Heavenly Gates was a sect outside the world—those ordinary mortals were not worth a glance.

However, many things this year had been unexpected, making people wonder if the Nine Heavenly Gates’ self-perception was mistaken.

First was Yelu Tan’s inexplicable injury, which affected the Medicine Altar Elder’s experiments; then came the ominous disappearance of registered disciples and their followers—the first time in Nine Heavenly Gates history that disciples sent down the mountain had disappeared; and now himself, the first outer sect disciple sent out in ten years, which should have been a rare show of importance from the Nine Heavenly Gates. Yet in besieging an injured person and a sick person, they had lost so many people without even touching a hair on the others.

Had this Great Wilderness changed?

Namur slowly stood up, lifted his foot, and kicked the three companions’ corpses into the ditch as well.

Trash didn’t deserve proper burial.

It didn’t matter how much trash died, but the mission must be completed. Otherwise, he himself would be nothing more than dung to fill the ditch.

In the night, his voice was vicious.

“Continue the chase!”

…

The night was deep and thick. The small mountain was very quiet, with only occasional faint rustling sounds audible.

Jing Hengbo and Mister Mu, after the people left, climbed out of the ditch.

They had just performed a feint, then flipped back down into the ditch. They hadn’t left at all.

Seeing their companions die, these people were upset and distracted, and would subconsciously continue searching without thinking they were still in the ditch under their feet.

The people from the Nine Heavenly Gates weren’t actually bad in terms of methods and strength, but the problem was their jianghu experience was too poor. Some tricks that couldn’t fool old hands were more than adequate to play them.

There was another reason for not leaving—Jing Hengbo’s body was getting worse and worse. She no longer had much strength for instant movement, and due to uncontrollable cold, her upper and lower teeth were lightly chattering against each other.

She looked around in all directions. The mountain wasn’t large, and there was a small village at the foot of the mountain where scattered lights could be faintly seen, though she didn’t know why there were still people with lights on in the countryside at this time.

In the mountain forest, white shadows could be seen searching everywhere at high speed. At first glance, it would make people think lonely ghosts and wild spirits were haunting the area.

She looked at Mister Mu. His complexion also wasn’t very good, looking more haggard than before. She guessed it might be due to his action just now. Although she hadn’t seen him act, killing three people in an instant—such methods must have drawn upon his internal energy.

Honestly, the current situation was not good. She had temporarily lost her abilities, and Mister Mu was not good at moving around. The mountain was small and low with few places to hide, and beyond the mountain lay even more open wilderness.

What to do?

“There’s a cave over there,” she said, coughing twice. “Let’s go hide there for a while.”

That cave was very small with no real concealment. It really didn’t look like a good place to hide from people. However, he said, “Alright.”

She avoided his gaze and wanted to carry him on her back, but he pressed down her hand and took her up in flight.

His palms lightly pressed against trees along the way, his floating form light as nothing, showing no sign of disability at all.

Jing Hengbo remembered once reading a martial arts novel where one of the male leads was disabled but had excellent lightness skills, using hands instead of legs to travel throughout the world.

Indeed, all imagination would have facts to prove it.

He brought her to the edge of the cave. The cave wasn’t large—it was a downward cave, dark and deep below, looking quite eerie. But not far from the cave wall entrance, there was a corner that could exactly hide one person.

That position was extremely clever. People outside with torches couldn’t see it, and even those walking in wouldn’t necessarily see it, as their attention would first be drawn to the down-cave.

Unfortunately, it could only accommodate one person.

She hugged her arms tightly, stopping a bout of trembling, and suddenly said to him joyfully, “Look! There’s an exit over there!”

He supported himself against the cave wall and leaned forward to look.

She suddenly pushed him.

Caught off guard, he stumbled and fell, sliding down the slippery cave wall into the depths.

He seemed to still want to get up, but Jing Hengbo drew her blade and started chopping.

“Cripple! Invalid! Burden!” She chopped while cursing loudly, “How much longer will you drag me down? I’m still sick! I could have escaped long ago by myself! Still have to carry you, this piece of trash!”

“You…” His words were interrupted by her frenzied blade sounds. He had no choice but to slide backward. The terrain inside the cave was narrow, and she couldn’t swing her blade freely either. Every chop hit the cave wall. Although she didn’t have much strength, she still chopped with fierce momentum, grass and leaves flying everywhere, looking like she wouldn’t stop until she chopped him to death.

He stared at her steadily. In the dark cave, neither could see the other’s expression clearly. She chopped so fiercely, but he suddenly reached out to pull her. Her blade almost chopped his wrist, so she had to quickly stumble backward herself. The blade clanged against the cave wall, and she broke out in a cold sweat, thinking this person seemed gentle but had a very stubborn nature. She had no choice but to steel her heart and kick his knee hard, cursing, “Don’t touch me! Who knows what you had in mind when you got me drunk! If you come forward one more step, I’ll kill you first!”

He was kicked backward and crashed into the deepest part of the cave. For the moment, he couldn’t come out, and her blade couldn’t reach him either.

Only then did she shakily perform a blade flourish and chop her blade into the stone wall in front of him.

“I’ve been good enough to you, saving you until now! From here on, we each go our own way. Don’t drag me down anymore! How shameless! Cripple who eats human flesh!” She sheathed her blade, turned and left. “If you have the guts, crawl after me!”

There was no movement behind her. She bit her teeth and walked forward. After taking only two steps, she couldn’t help but look back.

He sat leaning against the cave wall, his fingers gripping the ice-cold stone wall. In the darkness, only his eyes were glowing, deep and bright, like stars half-hidden in clouds and mist at the edge of heaven.

That gaze held too many indescribable meanings.

In that instant when their gazes met, both seemed to tremble. He straightened his waist, but she turned her head abruptly and walked out without hesitation.

As soon as she left the cave entrance, she stumbled and quickly supported herself against the mountain wall, afraid that if she collapsed now, all her previous efforts would be wasted.

There was no movement behind her—he hadn’t chased out. Her heart felt sour and swollen with an indescribable taste.

That push, scolding, and chopping just now must have been quite hurtful, right?

Heh, being hurtful was exactly right.

She didn’t expect to fool him, just hoped to hurt him for a moment. As long as there was that one moment when he was hurt and didn’t immediately chase out, she could get away.

Burden…

She smiled bitterly in her heart—soon she would become the burden…

She muttered, “I do have quite a talent for cursing…” took a breath, and forced herself to do one last instant movement.

Her vision went black. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a winding small path before her.

Looking forward, she could see some houses—it was that small village. She could also see white figures moving about in the village. Those Nine Heavenly Gates disciples naturally wouldn’t miss searching the only village where people could hide.

She smiled bitterly. As the saying goes, when it rains it pours—even her instant movement had problems, teleporting right in front of the enemy.

She couldn’t walk anymore and wearily sat down in the nearby grass. She wanted to rest and recover her strength while the enemy hadn’t appeared yet.

She wanted to accumulate some strength so that when the enemy appeared, she could lead them to Wang Jin.

Mister Mu hiding in the cave should be quite safe, certainly better than him with his injuries and inconvenient mobility having to bring along a sick her.

Mister Mu’s body was indeed not well—she could tell. Although he tried hard to hide it, his breathing was unstable and he really wasn’t suitable for fighting.

Maybe this person was very powerful, but this wasn’t his optimal condition either.

So why drag each other down to death?

She looked up at the sky. Damn it, there wasn’t even a bright moon today. Her Bright Moon Heart Method worked best when the moon was bright.

There was some commotion in the village, seeming quite lively. Those white-clothed people were searching in the dark without alarming the villagers. From Jing Hengbo’s angle, she could still see several houses with deep red lanterns hanging under the eaves.

It wasn’t New Year or any festival at this time—why were red lanterns hanging?

Suddenly, footsteps came from the small path, panicked and chaotic. The person approaching had no martial arts.

She poked her head out and saw a red-clothed young girl running on the road, lifting her skirt while running and looking back as she went.

She ran past Jing Hengbo, her red dress embroidered with mandarin ducks.

Jing Hengbo’s heart stirred, and she called softly, “Hey!”

The young girl hadn’t expected someone behind her. Already nervous, hearing this call, she immediately tripped over a stone and stumbled to the ground.

She didn’t get up either, just covered her face with her sleeve where she fell, crying, “I won’t go back! I won’t go back! You can beat me to death! I’d rather die than marry that stupid fool…”

Jing Hengbo got up and slowly approached. She could clearly see the girl’s red embroidered shoes with mandarin ducks, her red silk dress with paired phoenixes bringing good fortune—she was indeed wearing wedding clothes.

She had a realization, remembering this continent had the custom of fetching brides at dawn.

She suddenly remembered when she had just transmigrated, she had also encountered a dawn wedding sedan and had borrowed someone’s wedding sedan to escape from Yelu Qi.

How things come full circle—thinking of it now felt like a lifetime ago.

Looking at this girl’s outfit, she clearly wasn’t the joyful bride from back then. She was obviously trying to escape marriage.

She gently approached, crouched down, and started removing the girl’s wedding clothes.

The young girl was startled and looked up abruptly. Seeing her face, she couldn’t help but be stunned. When she tried to struggle, Jing Hengbo had already gently pressed her shoulder.

“Come, I’ll take your place on the wedding sedan.”

…

Moments later, alarmed cries came from the small village.

“She ran away! Chase her quickly!”

“It’s dark, and there’s only one road out of the village. Er Ya can’t run far—chase her!”

Footsteps pounded chaotically as a group of villagers chased out of the village, following the direction of the small path.

On the treetops beside the village, white figures floated. Namur watched below with a cold smile, his face full of lofty boredom.

He had already looked through the entire village, including that crying and sobbing bride. He knew this girl was to marry a fool in exchange for her brother being able to marry the fool’s sister. The girl was unwilling and ran away.

“Birth, aging, sickness, death, marriage and funerals. All kinds of helplessness, all kinds of being controlled by others…” He seemed to sigh with compassion, “This is the sorrow of mortals…”

His gaze lingered on that girl for a moment, then he said thoughtfully, “The women of this mortal world are still quite decent.”

He drifted past the treetops, preparing to lead people to search the vicinity once more.

…

The villagers chased out along the small path and indeed didn’t take long to see “Er Ya” staggering forward on the road!

The group quickened their pace and pounced to catch Er Ya. Er Ya hung limply in their hands, seeming to have accepted her fate, still sobbing softly.

Running at the front was Er Ya’s elder brother, a strong young man who grabbed Er Ya’s shoulder with one hand and was about to slap his sister who had nearly ruined his affairs.

Er Ya suddenly looked up and stared at him. In her disheveled hair, a pair of eyes were brilliant as if holding precious light.

Er Ya’s elder brother’s heart trembled. His hand raised in midair actually didn’t dare come down. Someone nearby quickly pulled him back, advising, “Er Ya was just confused for a moment… Don’t hit her. If you damage the bride, she won’t look good. She should get on the wedding sedan happily.”

The young man let go and snorted coldly, “Come back with me! If you run again, I’ll break your legs!”

Er Ya no longer struggled and was dragged back by the group. Her body hung limply on her brother’s arm, seeming too lazy to waste any more energy.

Er Ya’s elder brother felt his sister’s body was burning hot but her palms ice-cold, feeling somewhat strange in his heart. But at this moment, he only wanted the wedding to be completed quickly. Afraid that his sister’s illness might cause more complications, he steeled his heart and said nothing.

This exactly suited Jing Hengbo’s wishes.

The current Er Ya was naturally her. The real Er Ya was hiding behind that rock, trembling, not understanding how someone would be willing to take someone else’s place on a wedding sedan.

The villagers dragged Jing Hengbo back, and with so many people and hands, no one paid attention to her face. They locked her in the bridal room, surrounded it tightly outside, and waited for her to board the wedding sedan.

After Jing Hengbo entered the room full of girls and wives, she hung her head, rolled onto the bed, wrapped herself in the quilt with her face to the wall, and cried “woo woo woo” several times.

When she cried like this, others thought she was truly heartbroken and felt quite sympathetic. They didn’t have the heart to forcibly pull her up. Several girls and wives who were close to Er Ya came to sit by her bed, patting her shoulder and consoling her with gentle words. Jing Hengbo was feeling alternately hot and cold and uncomfortable at this time. How could she have the mind to listen to people talking? She hummed once in a while and simply fell asleep with snoring sounds.

…

Moonlight illuminated the winding mountain road. On the mountain path, a procession with music and fanfare stretched out in a long line.

The procession had come to fetch the bride. It was decorated in red and festive colors with an air of celebration, except the mountain men’s suona playing wasn’t very good. In the frosty cold night of early winter, it didn’t sound joyful but rather lonely and desolate.

At the very front, on a poor horse, sat the groom coming to fetch his bride. The horse was thin, the man even thinner, with a horse-like face protruding two muddy, confused eyeballs.

The fellow villagers accompanying the wedding party would occasionally remind him, “Da Fu, sit properly, don’t fall off.”

“Da Fu, don’t use the whip. The horse knows how to walk by itself. The horse is borrowed—if you damage it, we’ll have to pay compensation.”

…

An old man walked along giving care and attention, treating him like a child. The man on the horse who looked over thirty also laughed like a child.

The crowd’s expressions showed part pity, part envy—he was stupid and ugly but had romantic fortune. Er Ya from the neighboring village was said to be a beauty.

Of course, this was all because Da Fu also had a decent sister who was both pretty and capable, and would soon marry Er Ya’s brother.

In poor villages, sister exchange was quite normal. The crowd envied the romantic fortune of these two men, but no one thought about the two girls’ fates—from now on, they would fall into tragic circumstances.

The wedding procession entered the village. Namur watched from afar in the treetops, his eyes full of disgust.

“Such a person also deserves to marry,” he said to his followers, “I don’t even want to look at him more than once. What a pity for that woman just now.”

“That woman wasn’t bad,” someone nearby said flatteringly, “She’d be about right for you.”

“Nonsense!” Namur was angry instead of pleased, scolding, “How could such a vulgar mortal woman, who merely has decent looks, be worthy of me?”

“Yes, yes, I spoke wrongly. Please don’t take offense,” that person hastily apologized. “Such a woman would only be fit to serve you tea and water, warm your bed and wait on you. How could she be worthy of a noble outer sect disciple of the Nine Heavenly Gates?”

Only then did Namur grunt in acknowledgment, saying, “Speaking of which, many things outside are different from what we imagined. When we first entered the sect and were initiated, the elders said that the women provided to us were the most beautiful under heaven, and that mortal women absolutely couldn’t have such immortal beauty and jade-like appearance. At the time, we indeed thought they were quite beautiful, but now that I’ve just descended to the red dust, I’ve already seen quite a few outstanding women. Like that one tonight, and this ordinary woman from a rural village actually has such looks—it’s truly puzzling.”

“It’s just coincidence,” his follower laughed. “The women bestowed by the sect elders are, without exception, pure as ice and jade, and have been carefully trained by the sect. They can’t be compared to these rural women. Besides, this is also the elders’ grace. Being able to receive it is good fortune—we don’t even have such fortune yet.”

Namur raised an eyebrow. He heard the reminder in these words. Normally, he should have reflected on himself—the elders’ grace shouldn’t be criticized behind their backs. If word got around, it would become a weakness.

The Nine Heavenly Gates had a consolatory “coming-of-age ceremony” for all disciples after they entered the outer sect, arranging “sacred women” to initiate the disciples. It was said this was also needed for laying the foundation of certain techniques. Some disciples destined never to enter the inner sect would directly choose dual cultivation methods afterward. However, once selected for the inner sect, when practicing more profound techniques, they had to be emotionless and restrain their nature.

But Namur’s mood was troubled tonight, and he wasn’t grateful. He snorted coldly, “We naturally can only deeply thank the elders for their good intentions. Speaking of which, you haven’t seen someone who truly doesn’t know what’s good for them. Once, someone directly killed the sacred woman bestowed by an elder. His sacred woman was much more beautiful than ours, yet he could actually bring himself to do it!”

“Killed an elder’s bestowed sacred woman?” His followers seemed to have heard the most incredible thing in the world and exclaimed in shock.

Namur snorted again, feeling even more irritated. This Great Wilderness was more annoying than imagined. Discovering his own inadequacy made it even more hateful.

The followers hadn’t yet recovered from their shock and were all discussing.

“Killed a sacred woman? How is that possible? How dare he! What punishment did he receive afterward?”

“He died, of course. What else could happen? Not to mention defying the elders’ grace—even minor violations of sect rules result in death, let alone this kind of thing!”

“Of course he died! He must have died miserably!”

…

“You’re all wrong,” a voice said eerily. “He didn’t die. He’s still living quite well.”

Everyone turned back in horror to look at Namur, who had spoken.

In the deathly silence, Namur said softly, with a mixture of envy and hatred, “He went down the mountain.”

Everyone again showed incredulous expressions. Someone instinctively wanted to ask more, but from Namur’s tone and demeanor, they sensed this must be the Nine Heavenly Gates’ greatest unspeakable taboo—something they shouldn’t even hear, let alone ask about.

Everyone looked at each other. In the thick atmosphere of shock and suspicion, the originally unshakeable, lofty and inviolable image of the Nine Heavenly Gates in their hearts quietly collapsed at one corner.

Who was it?

Who had challenged the entire Nine Heavenly Gates, leaving it with an indelible memory and shame, hidden deep in the years, unable to be touched at all?

Who remained after such a challenge, while the Nine Heavenly Gates seemed powerless against it?

These secrets hidden behind the magnificent sect—perhaps only those involved would know.

“I always feel…” Namur gazed at the small village under the dim moonlight, unease in his eyes, “this matter isn’t finished. Someday…”

Everyone shivered and didn’t dare respond.

“Pretend I never said this,” Namur said listlessly. “We’ve already checked here. Go search the other side—there’s another small village beyond the mountain.”

“Yes.”

…

The wedding procession entered the small village with music and fanfare, and immediately, the bride was brought out.

Fearing the bride might escape, the girls and aunts moved very quickly, pulling the bride from the bed, covering her with a veil, and stuffing her into the sedan chair. They didn’t even follow the local customs of teasing the groom or door-entering ceremonies.

The bride hung her head limply, letting people pull her in and out. Until she entered the sedan chair, she didn’t make a sound.

The wedding procession passed through a mountain pass. The two villages were originally very close, just separated by a mountain ridge. After passing this mountain pass, they could see the old banyan tree of the groom’s village.

The wind at the mountain pass was sharp, stirring up sand and stones on the road. Faintly, there seemed to be a whistling sound as something was caught in the wind and shot toward the groom, hitting his lower abdomen with a “thwack.”

All these sounds were covered by the awful suona music.

The groom on horseback suddenly cried “Ow!” and said, “I need to pee!”

“We’re almost there, hold it…” the groom’s uncle beside the horse coaxed.

“I need to pee!”

Everyone was helpless. Thinking that if the groom shouted about needing to pee while fetching his bride, it would be even more embarrassing, they had no choice but to help him down and point him to a secluded spot in the nearby woods to solve his problem.

Groom Da Fu swayed into the woods. Just as he was about to undo his belt, he suddenly saw a person slowly walking toward him.

Da Fu stopped his hands and stared wide-eyed. He felt no fear, but suddenly felt he was seeing an immortal.

That person stepped through the dark moonlight, the silver mask on his face also glowing with moon-like radiance. His dark eyes were like eternal abysses that captured one’s soul with just a glance.

He raised his finger and pointed.

Da Fu only felt his head spin as the sky suddenly fell down.

Before losing consciousness, he only vaguely heard one sentence.

“I’ll take your place in the bridal chamber.”

…

The relatives waiting outside for the groom to finish relieving himself and return suddenly heard the groom’s hoarse shout from the woods: “There’s a ghost!”

Everyone was startled and rushed in, only to see the groom hiding behind a tree, looking toward the distant darkness in terror, trembling all over.

Everyone sighed, thinking Da Fu this silly boy was having another episode.

Everyone went to pull him, but Da Fu covered his face with both hands, absolutely refusing to raise his head. He insisted there was a ghost and wanted to go home, unwilling to take another step forward. When everyone dragged him, he generated tremendous strength that no one could budge.

Everyone was helpless. Finally, they discussed having Da Fu’s cousin from the procession take his place in fetching the bride, while two others would escort Da Fu back.

Anyway, the other side knew Da Fu’s condition well and wouldn’t refuse after an explanation.

As long as the bride price was substantial, no bride would be turned away.

When Da Fu heard he could go home, he immediately ran very fast. The two escorts couldn’t even catch up. Da Fu quickly ran back to the village. Before his waiting family could clearly see his figure, he had already rushed into the bridal chamber and slammed the door shut with a “bang.”

Da Fu’s father was a somewhat famous carpenter in the area, so their family was fairly well-off. In his good mood, he didn’t scold his son but laughed heartily, “This boy is eager to enter the bridal chamber! Since that’s the case, don’t bother him. When the bride comes in, let Huzi take his place in the ceremony.”

Everyone laughed in agreement. After all, everyone understood about the foolish son—whether he performed the ceremony or not didn’t matter. As long as he could sleep with a woman and produce children, that was enough.

The wedding sedan swayed, and Jing Hengbo slept for a while inside.

When entering the village, firecrackers exploded, waking her from her dream. She suddenly opened her eyes, her first reaction being: The devils have entered the village!

She lifted the sedan curtain and saw a small courtyard in front with three tile-roofed houses, much better than Er Ya’s thatched house from before. It seemed the groom’s family was among the better-off in the village.

She lifted the sedan curtain and saw a stocky young man being accompanied as he walked over. Jing Hengbo was somewhat puzzled. She felt this young man looked decent—honest and upright, quite matching that girl. Why would that girl fight to escape marriage rather than agree?

Another strange thing was that everyone looked joyful except this groom, whose facial expression was very odd—part unwillingness, part resentment, yet seeming to hide some hope… What did this mean?

As the curtain lifted, a pair of big feet kicked in, wearing straw sandals—Huzi had hastily replaced the groom without changing shoes.

The muddy big feet made Jing Hengbo recoil, and she lightly flicked her hand.

She was different from before now, and her moves were naturally skillful. The young man kicking the curtain was deflected, his body tilting as he tumbled to the ground. Without waiting for help, he rolled and got up, staring at the curtain with a voice full of grief and anger: “You…”

His voice was drowned out by a burst of firecrackers. Someone came to pull him away and helped Jing Hengbo out of the sedan, laughing with her, “Bride, step high for a prosperous life!”

There was a heat source ahead. Jing Hengbo drowsily yawned, feeling so warm, and instinctively moved toward that heat source and crouched down to warm herself by the fire.

…

The cheers stopped abruptly, and the firecrackers suddenly sounded eerily loud. Everyone stared wide-eyed as the bride didn’t step over the fire basin at the doorway but crouched down to warm herself.

Jing Hengbo warmed herself by the fire, thinking with satisfaction that wedding ceremonies in the Great Wilderness were really considerate—knowing it was cold fetching brides at dawn in winter, they specially prepared a fire basin for warming up. How humanized!

Ah, so quiet, so sleepy. Unable to resist the fatigue, she wanted to sleep again.

Everyone watched dumbfounded as the bride warmed herself, her body beginning to lean forward, her head beginning to droop…

“Oh no, the bride is going to jump into the fire basin to commit suicide!” someone suddenly shouted.

This cry awakened everyone. They all jumped forward—those kicking the fire basin kicked it, those supporting the bride supported her. Those kicking the basin feared it wasn’t far enough and kicked it into the crowd with one foot, causing another thunderous scattering.

While everyone hurriedly put out the fire, they also felt relieved—fortunately the bride’s suicide attempt was slow!

This time they didn’t dare perform any ceremonies. Everyone quickly lifted Jing Hengbo, carrying her over the threshold without her feet touching the ground. The parents at the head table quickly sat properly, and the ceremony master hastily prepared to call for the wedding ceremony.

That young man called Huzi was dragged out again, still with that strange expression on his face, standing beside Jing Hengbo.

Jing Hengbo felt dizzy spells in her head. She knew this was the wedding ceremony and didn’t mind—she understood the act must continue. The wind sounds above kept shifting around; that group was still searching nearby.

These two small villages were obviously places they had already searched, so here was temporarily safe.

She laughed softly… A wedding ceremony—who would have thought she’d actually have a wedding ceremony here with a strange man? In the Great Wilderness, this should count as her being married, right?

Thinking of this, she felt a surge of satisfaction—hmph, if you pester me again in the future, I’ll flash my yellow card—I am Mrs. Huzi! A married woman, no harassment please!

Let all you young masters and commanders call Brother Huzi your elder brother, ahahahaha.

“First bow to heaven and earth—” the ceremony master shouted loudly.

She prepared to bow down. Through the gap in her veil, she saw the young man beside her also bending his knee…

Bending… bending all the way down.

“Thud.” Huzi knelt down, and toward the bridal chamber direction no less, his knees hitting the brick floor with a crisp sound.

The hall fell into another deathly silence, even Jing Hengbo was startled.

Wasn’t it just a slight bow? Was it necessary to kneel down?

Sensing the atmosphere around her, it seemed everyone was also surprised. Could it be this groom didn’t understand wedding ceremony etiquette?

Oh, he looked proper but was actually a fool.

“Who!” The kneeling Huzi didn’t immediately get up this time, shouting even more grief-stricken, “Who hit my knee?”

Jing Hengbo: “…”

All the guests: “…”

Huzi’s knee seemed seriously injured. He struggled several times before getting up but couldn’t stand straight for a moment. It looked like this ceremony couldn’t continue.

People around whispered, discussing the various strange and bizarre events of today’s wedding.

“What should we do?” the ceremony master asked the head table.

“Speed it up. Let the couple bow to each other once and be done with it,” the groom’s father decided decisively.

Huzi was helped to stand facing Jing Hengbo. His facial expression became even stranger—part expectation, part pain, part hesitation. His eyes rolled around as if nervously thinking about something.

Someone came beside Jing Hengbo and said, “Bride, you bow first.”

Only then did Jing Hengbo realize that the husband-wife mutual bowing in ancient TV dramas was different here—the bride must bow first while the groom gives a half-bow, then the groom gives a half-bow while the bride bows down, showing the principle of respecting the husband and honoring men.

If she had to bow, she’d bow. Someone was pressing her back from behind anyway.

Her waist hadn’t yet bent down when she suddenly felt a cold wind sweep past her knee, followed by a “thwack,” and Huzi across from her fell down.

His head hit the ground with another crisp sound.

Jing Hengbo froze in her bowing position and looked back. Behind her was a side door leading to the main room—the new bedroom.

The new bedroom should be empty right now.

The wedding hall erupted in commotion again. Huzi was once more helped up by everyone. This time he seemed to have gone mad, suddenly breaking free from everyone’s support and pouncing over to hug Jing Hengbo’s legs, crying loudly, “Er Ya! Er Ya! Don’t be angry with me! I know I’m getting my comeuppance! I know I wouldn’t elope with you and I’m getting my comeuppance! I’ve figured it out! Let’s go! Let’s go right now! You even performed the ceremony with me—it’s destined that you’re my woman. I’ll take you away right now!” As he spoke, he dragged her and pushed through the crowd, trying to run.

The plot took a sharp turn. The hall full of guests froze, and Jing Hengbo didn’t struggle. She slightly shifted sideways, clearing the position of the side door behind her.

She was waiting.

Sure enough, the next moment, a cold wind swept by and struck Huzi’s temple with a “thwack.” Huzi cried “Ah!” and fell backward, caught by the ceremony master who rushed forward.

“Quick to the bridal chamber! Quick to the bridal chamber!” the groom’s father shouted tremblingly. The groom’s mother had already rolled her eyes back and fainted in her chair.

Huzi was dragged away. After waking up, he still kept shouting about eloping with Er Ya, followed by muffled sounds—probably someone had gagged him.

Jing Hengbo was somewhat bewildered—with the plot developing to this extent, it was truly chaotic. A fake bride met a fake groom and was almost dragged away to elope. If she had really been dragged away, her plan would have been ruined.

Now there was also a problem—there seemed to be someone in the bridal chamber, and seemingly a master. Who was this master? Nine times out of ten, it was someone from the Nine Heavenly Gates!

She was pushed toward the bridal chamber by a group of women behind her.

The blue flowered cloth curtain of the bridal chamber swayed slightly.

She watched that curtain alertly, slowly reaching for the dagger at her leg.

…

Namur had already led people around the vicinity three times, turning the small mountain upside down, even jumping into caves within caves to search, but still found no trace of those two people.

He grew increasingly irritated, feeling as if fire burned in his heart.

The wedding celebration was still going on below. Thinking of that charming bride he had seen who was to marry such a foolish ugly man, he felt there was truly too much injustice in this world.

Back when the Nine Heavenly Gates bestowed such an ugly woman on him, he had been overjoyed, with many people envying him. Now that he’d descended to the Great Wilderness, even a foolish ugly monster had better romantic fortune than him.

“Brother Namur…” someone nearby read his expression and tentatively said, “Should we search that village again?”

“Hmm?” His gaze flew over sideways. “Didn’t we already search it?”

“Maybe someone’s still hiding in the bridal chamber? Earlier the bridal chamber was empty, so we didn’t search carefully.” That person chuckled lowly, his eyes shimmering with ambiguous light, though his expression still maintained calm dignity.

Namur looked back at him and laughed heartily.

“You make a good point,” he nodded, squinting as he gazed at the red characters on that bridal room. “Then I’ll go take a look alone. You all don’t need to follow.”

“Yes.”