“An illusion?”

The moment Zhong Cheng got off the vehicle, he sensed eyes locking onto him. He turned to look, but found nothing.

Weeds ran wild. The road was nothing more than packed dirt. Dense plants surrounded it, and the mountain forest was deathly quiet.

Probably just his imagination.

Zhong Cheng had already withdrawn his gaze from the surroundings, though a trace of confusion still lingered on his face.

Bzzzz.

The passenger van behind him had already driven off. Now, Zhong Cheng was the only one left here.

He watched the van slowly disappear into the distance. Its shell was so battered it was a miracle it could still run. It had probably long passed the scrap deadline.

In this desolate wilderness, the only sign of civilization was this weed-choked road.

This place was extremely underdeveloped. There wasn’t even a bus line. Only privately operated passenger vans came through here, and they were the villagers’ main way of getting out.

Zhong Cheng looked up at the rugged mountain path ahead.

There was a village up there. His hometown was there too. Well, to be exact, it was his father’s hometown.

More than ten years ago, after his father found success in his career, he bought a home outside. The whole family moved out of the village and settled in the city.

If his grandparents hadn’t insisted on staying in the village, Zhong Cheng’s family probably would never have come back.

Maybe they just couldn’t get used to city life. No matter how much his father tried to persuade them, his grandparents refused to move out and stayed behind in the village.

So every holiday and festival, Zhong Cheng’s family would come back once to visit them.

Recently, with the National Day break, Zhong Cheng had returned from school. The original plan was for the whole family to come visit his grandparents together.

But his parents had something come up at the last minute. His bratty little sister only cared about hanging out with her friends and had zero interest in coming back to the village.

So the heavy responsibility of visiting Grandpa and Grandma could only fall to Zhong Cheng, the eldest grandson.

“Let’s go.”

Zhong Cheng took a deep breath, adjusted his backpack, set his face with resolve, and strode toward the mountain.

It was still a long way from here to the village, and the route was all rough mountain road. It was a real test of stamina.

Luckily, Zhong Cheng’s endurance was pretty good, better than most people his age. He had his childhood in the mountain village to thank for that.

Rustle, rustle.

A sudden noise came from the woods beside him.

Zhong Cheng looked toward the sound and found that something seemed to be hiding beneath the shadow of a tree. The moment he narrowed his eyes and stared, it noticed him at once and fled with sharp alertness.

It was incredibly fast, gone in the blink of an eye.

“A wild boar?” Zhong Cheng muttered, not thinking much more about it.

Animals on the mountain were normal. Nothing to make a fuss over.

He’d heard that tigers had appeared here in the past, but that was a very long time ago. Of course there weren’t any now. They’d gone extinct ages ago.

If there really were still tigers on this mountain, and the villagers found out, then heh.

Of course they’d catch it and hand it over to the state.

Rustle, rustle.

For some reason, the shadows in the surrounding woods seemed to have grown larger. The dead silence in the air felt a little eerie.

He had to be mistaken. It was broad daylight. What could possibly be eerie?

Unless... there really was a tiger around?

He’d heard that before a beast appeared, the mountain forest would turn abnormally quiet, as if everything had gone to ground.

Then, in the instant you let your guard down, the beast would pounce. Impossible to defend against.

Walking alone on a mountain path, Zhong Cheng suddenly didn’t feel so safe anymore.

Without realizing it, he quickened his pace uphill... then broke into a run. This wasn’t cowardice. He was protecting the tiger.

If something happened to him here and the villagers found out, they’d definitely organize a tiger hunt.

Protecting rare animals starts with me.

After half an hour of running,

Zhong Cheng finally reached the village entrance. Thankfully, the whole way had been safe, and nothing had happened.

He braced his hands on his knees, bent over, and gulped down air to make up for the oxygen he’d burned through.

Bao Hua Village.

Mud-brick houses were everywhere. It was the picture of a backward mountain village.

There were plenty of fields nearby, planted with all kinds of vegetables. Farther away stretched broad swaths of golden rice paddies.

Spring flowers had long passed, and now another autumn had arrived.

Other than the good natural environment and fresh air, the place had almost no advantages.

Though poor and underdeveloped, it still benefited from government support. It had electricity, running water, and TV. Just no internet cables.

So the living conditions weren’t too harsh.

The place was large, but sparsely populated, completely different from the packed density of the city.

Life moved slowly here. It was a good place to retire.

The moment he stepped into Bao Hua Village, he ran into a villager, an old man.

Most of the people still living in the village were elderly. You know how it is. Young people these days don’t want to stay in some mountain backwater and waste their youth.

They either went out to work, went to school, or hung around internet cafés.

“Th-th-th isn’t that the Zhong family’s grandson? Why are you back?!”

The old man was visibly shocked when he saw Zhong Cheng, like he’d seen a ghost. His cloudy eyes went wide.

Sure, Zhong Cheng hadn’t been back to Bao Hua Village in two years. He was in puberty, had grown a lot taller, and his appearance had changed quite a bit. But there was no need to be this shocked, right?

“Long time no see, Grandpa. How’ve you been?” Zhong Cheng greeted him politely.

“Good, good, but you... uh...” the old man stammered.

“What is it?” Zhong Cheng asked.

“Nothing, nothing.” The old man hurriedly waved his hands in a tactical retreat, as if trying to cover something up.

Then he suddenly gave Zhong Cheng a serious once-over and asked carefully,

“You’ve been fine lately, right?”

“I’ve been fine.” Zhong Cheng felt puzzled.

“That’s good. Good is good.”

The old man kept muttering that to himself. Then he turned and left at once, not giving Zhong Cheng a chance to say anything else.

He walked with surprising speed. You’d never guess he was nearly seventy. He looked sturdy enough to still work the fields.

Bao Hua Village really was a good place to retire.

Though the old man had acted a little strangely, Zhong Cheng didn’t think too much of it and kept walking deeper into the village.

He ran into more villagers one after another.

For some reason, every villager who saw him reacted strangely. Surprise, shock, sadness... and then they all avoided him like the plague.

Was he really that scary?

Or had he somehow, without knowing it, mastered the legendary Conqueror-style aura? One look and everyone got intimidated.

Even the little brats who used to cling to him didn’t dare come close this time. They stopped playing, stood obediently to the side, and stared without making a sound.

Like they were looking at some incredibly rare animal.

No one spoke. They just stared. The quiet, eerie atmosphere made Zhong Cheng frown deeply.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?” Zhong Cheng asked.

The moment he spoke, several of the kids turned and ran.

“...”

As expected of Conqueror-style aura. Pretty impressive.

He remembered that every time he came back before, these sheltered little brats loved pestering him. They’d ask about the city, snatch his phone to play Honor of Kings, and beg him for snacks. It was annoying as hell.

This time, Zhong Cheng had even specially prepared a bunch of snacks to deal with them. They were all in his backpack.

In the end, he never even got the chance to use them. One look and they all ran off.

It saved him trouble, sure, but it still didn’t feel great.

What do you do when you’re unwelcome and getting shut out?

Forget it. Better go check on Grandpa and Grandma at the ancestral house. That was the main reason he came back this time.

With a swaggering, no-one-can-tell-me-what-to-do stride, Zhong Cheng headed toward the ancestral house.

Actually, the Zhong family had always been one of the big families in Bao Hua Village. Their ancestral house was over a hundred years old, enough to count as a historical building.

Though if you measured that “big family” by city standards, they’d still be poor.

Because it had fallen into disrepair over the years, the ancestral house was badly dilapidated and not imposing at all.

The Zhong family ancestral house was near the end of the village, so he still had a bit more walking to do.

“Did someone in the village hold a wedding recently?”

Zhong Cheng looked at the faded red wedding papers pasted all over the place, along with the scraps of firecracker paper, and felt a little surprised.

It wasn’t like Bao Hua Village had never held weddings before. But one this grand, with wedding papers plastered everywhere, was a first.

Though they were already old and worn, probably from several months ago, he could still sense how lively it must have been back then.

Just then, he happened to spot an uncle he knew passing by, so he asked whose wedding it had been, and why it had been done on such a grand scale.

Who knew the man would turn and run without answering.

It made Zhong Cheng’s secondhand embarrassment flare up.

It had only been two years since he last came back. Why did everyone suddenly feel so unfamiliar? Like they didn’t know him anymore, and were all collectively rejecting him.

Was this targeted discrimination or what?

“That Ancient Shrine...”

By chance, Zhong Cheng noticed the Ancient Shrine outside the village. It too was covered in wedding papers, dressed up so thoroughly it looked completely refreshed. He was stunned.

That Ancient Shrine was basically Bao Hua Village’s signature landmark. No one knew how many years ago it had been built. The old folks only ever said it was from a very, very long time ago.

But exactly how long ago, no one knew.

He’d heard the shrine enshrined a Ghost Emperor, an incredibly powerful one, said to suppress all the demons and ghosts in the surrounding mountains and command every kind of spirit and specter.

According to legend, many years ago there had once been a period of natural disasters, human calamities, and rampant monsters, leaving the people in utter misery.

Someone accidentally discovered that as long as they stayed near the Ancient Shrine, disasters wouldn’t occur. So a village was built beside it, and it had continued to this day, peaceful and prosperous.

There was another version of the legend too. The villagers had heard of the Ghost Emperor’s might and, seeking peace and safety, had voluntarily built this shrine to worship him.

Of course, those were all just legends, products of feudal superstition. These days, hardly anyone believed them. People only treated them as stories.

As a modern person who had received nine years of compulsory education, Zhong Cheng naturally didn’t believe any of it.

Because of long neglect, the Ancient Shrine’s walls were cracked in many places, and roof tiles had fallen away. It had already become a dangerous structure.

Years ago, the villagers had put up a barrier to stop people from getting too close, in case falling tiles hit someone.

He remembered that when he came back as a child, he’d once wanted to go inside and play, only to get scolded by the adults.

“Feels like someone’s watching me from over by the Ancient Shrine?” Zhong Cheng muttered.

He didn’t know why he had that feeling. It was almost neurotic.

He’d been feeling jumpy ever since he got off the van, always sensing that something was off. It wasn’t like he’d never come back to the village before, but this was the first time he’d ever felt like this.

Was it because he stayed up late gaming last night?

As if possessed, Zhong Cheng decided to go take a look.

He started walking toward the Ancient Shrine.

Ten minutes later.

The closer he got to the Ancient Shrine, the more he could feel how extraordinary it was. It was completely different from the village’s generally low, cramped buildings. It even had a certain grandeur.

Too bad it had fallen into disrepair. Now it was just a dangerous building that could collapse at any moment.

As he drew near, Zhong Cheng could clearly feel it. The gazes on him had grown stronger, and more numerous.

It gave him a faint sense of oppression and unease.

In broad daylight, what the hell was this supposed to be? Was the place haunted or something?

Zhong Cheng refused to believe in that stuff. He was a modern man with nine years of compulsory education.

He had already reached the front of the Ancient Shrine.

Backed against the mountain, the Ancient Shrine looked almost embedded into the mountainside. The front entrance was wide open, while lush trees flanked both sides in an embracing arch.

Even someone who knew nothing about feng shui could tell this was a place with excellent geomancy. It was no ordinary spot.

For a grand shrine dedicated to the Ghost Emperor, that did make sense.

No wonder the legends had survived to this day.

The intense gazes from just moments ago all vanished in an instant the moment Zhong Cheng stood before the Ancient Shrine.

So it really had been his imagination?

Zhong Cheng studied the shrine in front of him and found it even more dilapidated than he remembered. It looked ready to collapse, so much so that he didn’t even dare get close.

And yet this very shrine was plastered all over with wedding papers.

Could it be that some newlyweds had held their wedding here?

Even if they were poor, there was no need to go this far, right?

Besides, hadn’t the villagers always held the Ancient Shrine in deep reverence, practically worshiping it as divine? Normally they wouldn’t let people casually go inside and mess around.

Even if the village brats snuck in to play and got caught, they’d be hung up and spanked as punishment.

So no matter how naughty they were, none of them dared play inside the Ancient Shrine.

Outsiders, even less so. They weren’t even allowed to get close.

So how could anyone have been allowed to hold a wedding here and profane the Ghost Emperor?

How strange.

The Ancient Shrine had no doors, so he could see inside.

But the scene within felt somewhat sinister.

Two congratulatory couplets hung at the entrance, gold letters on red paper. They read:

[Congratulations to the newlyweds on their union]

[May your love last a lifetime in the underworld]

Zhong Cheng felt there was something seriously wrong with those lines. Who congratulated newlyweds like that? Wasn’t that basically cursing them to die?

Or was this some weird young people trend? It wasn’t enough to stay in love while alive. Even after death, down in the underworld, they had to keep being lovey-dovey?

That was taking love way too far.

Zhong Cheng flat-out couldn’t accept it.

He looked deeper into the Ancient Shrine and saw two portraits placed on a stone platform, the man on the left and the woman on the right.

The woman’s face couldn’t be seen. It was covered by a red bridal veil. The background was dim and eerie, and her hair and clothes were in the style of an ancient bride.

The man’s face, though, was visible, and very clear. He had delicate features, red lips, white teeth, and wore the robes of an ancient groom.

“Wait, why does this guy look kind of familiar... Isn’t that me?!”

Zhong Cheng froze in shock. He thought it might just be a coincidence, but then he saw the four words written beside it: [Groom: Zhong Cheng].

It was obviously him.

“Holy shit,” he blurted out without thinking.

Then he looked beside the bride’s portrait and saw: [Bride: Ghost Emperor of Baishan].

What kind of sick prank was this? Zhong Cheng was a living, breathing person. How had he ended up married to a Ghost Emperor?

A ghost marriage?

This had gone way too far.

Zhong Cheng wanted to find out what the hell was going on right away, and who was messing with him. He turned and headed toward the ancestral house.

He had to ask his grandparents and get this cleared up.

If he was right, then the villagers avoiding him like the plague had to be connected to this!

The moment Zhong Cheng turned to leave, the inside of the Ancient Shrine suddenly became unnaturally sinister. The scenery that had been visible just now could no longer be seen.

Sneaky black shadows began to appear.

[The groom has arrived]

[We have to inform Lord Ghost Emperor]

[If Lord Ghost Emperor finds out, she’ll definitely be pleased. Heh heh heh heh]