Grandpa Wu and the ghost matchmaker were both stunned when they saw Du Shuo. Grandpa Wu patted the ghost matchmaker on the shoulder and said gratefully: "I didn't expect that the handsome man you mentioned is really so outstanding." The ghost matchmaker had a blank expression and did not reply. His eyes were slightly surprised, but seeing that there was nothing strange about the other party, he thought that this was the one who was really going to have a ghost marriage.
Chen Yang stood in front of Grandpa Wu and smiled shyly. Grandpa Wu was relieved and sad. He said to them: "Originally, your marriage was a ghost marriage. There was no need to hold a ceremony in the hall. You only needed to kowtow to the gods. But Yangyang is a living person after all. You can only be married after you have bowed to the heavens and the earth." After that, he said kindly: "Yangyang, your grandfather is here too."
Chen Yang's eyes widened as he looked at another empty seat. When the moonlight shone down, a kind old man with white hair and long beard appeared in the empty seat. It was Chen Yang's grandfather who had passed away. When Chen Yang was about to rush over and shout with tears in his eyes, Grandpa Chen raised his index finger to indicate that he could not speak. He smiled and said, "On a wedding, you can only talk to the groom."
Chen Yang wanted to kneel down and kowtow to him, but the ghost matchmaker stopped him: "When you get married, you must kneel before heaven and earth and your parents. You cannot kowtow again. You can show your filial piety later when you have time." There are many rules for getting married, but the old man just believed in this and insisted on following the rules. Chen Yang had no choice but to stand up and take the red silk handed over by the ghost matchmaker.
The other end of the red silk was handed to Dushuo by the ghost matchmaker, and Dushuo held it in his palm. Outside, the seats were full of ghosts. The ghosts were just wandering ghosts who had never seen the King of Fengdu. Dushuo restrained his aura at this time so that the ghosts who came to the wedding banquet would not recognize him, otherwise they would all run away. These ghosts who came to the wedding banquet filled their stomachs and got red envelopes, so they were very respectful.
The ghost matchmaker sang: "Bow to heaven and earth!"
Chen Yang hesitated, but he still knelt down, raised his head and looked at Du Shuo. The latter stood still for a while and knelt down, and they bowed to heaven and earth together. After bowing, they stood up and turned to face the two elders, Grandpa Wu and Grandpa Chen.
The ghost matchmaker continued to sing: "Bow to your parents!"
They kowtowed again. When the ghost matchmaker sang, "Husband and wife kowtow to each other!", Chen Yang and Du Shuo faced each other, their lips opening and closing as they nervously swallowed their saliva. This was the last kowtow, and after that they would become husband and wife, witnessed and recognized by the heavens and the earth. They could never regret it, and from now on they would support each other and never leave each other, unless their relationship was severed, or they would be buried together in death.
Du Shuo stared at the young man in front of him with deep eyes. Seeing him bowing his head with a determined look, he couldn't help but feel funny. But he followed him and bowed unconsciously. He came to his senses halfway through the bow, but he had to bow anyway. He didn't take this marriage too seriously. When the time came, he would end their relationship.
The ghost matchmaker sang: "Send her to the bridal chamber!"
Grandpa Wu and Grandpa Chen's expressions suddenly changed, and their kind smiles turned hideous. Grandpa Wu pulled Chen Yang aside and warned him, "Go back to the bridal chamber. Don't take off your clothes to sleep, okay? At least not now." After thinking about it, he remembered that the Fengdu ghost messenger had said before that he was just repaying a favor and would not really spend the bridal chamber, but he was still a little worried. He said with a serious face, "Men are all pigs, especially old men. You can't trust what they say, okay?"
Chen Yang nodded.
Although Grandpa Wu and Grandpa Chen were reluctant, they still had to send the couple to the wedding room according to the rules. However, they were anxious and worried, so they lay outside the door and eavesdropped on the movements inside. Du Shuo went in for a while and said to Chen Yang, "You go to sleep first."
Chen Yang raised his eyes: "Aren't you going to have a wedding night?"
Du Shuo turned around and said, "You are still young. Let's talk about it when you grow up." After that, he opened the door and walked out.
Chen Yang breathed a sigh of relief. He was not mentally prepared yet. Fortunately, the other party did not really intend to have a wedding night. He was scared to death and was nervous for a long time.
When Grandpa Wu and Grandpa Chen saw Du Shuo coming out, they quickly hid aside. Du Shuo said calmly, "All of you follow me." After that, he walked into the next room. Grandpa Wu and Grandpa Chen were displeased by his tone, so they walked in. As soon as they walked in, they were frightened by Du Shuo's terrifying momentum and dared not move.
Grandpa Wu was still able to stand up, but Grandpa Chen simply huddled into a ball in fear. Beads of sweat dripped down Grandpa Wu's forehead, and he asked fearfully and cautiously, "Who are you?!" He regretted it deeply, thinking that he had found a good match for Chen Yang. Unexpectedly, he attracted a more terrifying evil ghost. Could this be a Shura who entered the Tao from a ghost? Or an Asura
Du Shuo glanced at them indifferently, and only by restraining his aura did they feel less stressed. He stroked the jade ring on his thumb, turning it regularly while saying, "You are so bold, hiding a person with an extremely yin fate for sixteen years. Fengdu didn't know about it, and the underworld was also kept in the dark, so many evil spirits couldn't be killed. Now you are still thinking of getting married to the underworld, how audacious!"
Grandpa Wu: "You are..." He was horrified and could vaguely guess who this person was. He gave up resistance and said, "I hope you can forgive me. The Chen family has been doing good deeds for generations. Now only Chen Yang is left. He has never done anything evil. He really shouldn't be deprived of the chance to live because of his strange fate."
Du Shuo: "Letting this last drop of blood marry a man, wouldn't that also cut off the Chen family's incense?"
Grandpa Wu said: "Although the ancestors of the Chen family said that fate is natural, and we just need to follow it and not do things against our will, since the incense of the Chen family has been cut off, it is fate, and they will not try to change it. But since Chen Yang is a member of the Chen family, why not try if there is a way to keep him alive? The ancestors of the Chen family have been doing good deeds for generations. They can do good to others and respect life. Why can't they treat their own descendants equally? It is not a sin to have a strange fate. The Chen family voluntarily sacrificed their lives to protect Chen Yang. With this feeling and attitude, shouldn't Chen Yang live?"
Du Shuo: "Since ancient times, those with strange fates have mostly brought disaster to the world of the living. How can you be sure that Chen Yang will not bring disaster to the world of the living?"
Grandpa Wu bowed and saluted: "If you think so, you won't marry Yangyang."
Du Shuo stopped turning the jade ring and looked up at Grandpa Wu. The latter said to himself, "Emperor, your marriage with Yangyang is witnessed by heaven and earth. You can't abandon her after having sex with her."
Du Shuo's temples throbbed slightly, and after a while he said, "I will give Chen Yang a chance and protect him until he is eighteen years old. If he makes trouble during this period, or for the rest of his life after he turns eighteen, I will kill him with my own hands. And I will hold you accountable too!"
"Thank you, Great Emperor!" Grandpa Wu sang loudly.
Du Shuo felt a little pain in his eyes when he saw the serious Grandpa Wu, and waved his hand to let him go. But Grandpa Wu still shamelessly asked: "Emperor, may I ask about your marriage with Yangyang after you turn 18?"
Du Shuo said firmly: "It doesn't count!"
"Your Majesty is wise!" Grandpa Wu bowed exaggeratedly, his forehead almost touching the floor.
Du Shuo felt pain in his eyes and head when he looked at Grandpa Wu, so he simply stopped looking at him because he felt annoyed. At this moment, he didn't know that every time he saw Grandpa Wu, who had become the city god, his head and eyes would hurt even more. Because every time he saw him, Grandpa Wu would glance at him with his eyes slanted, his eyes full of indifference and angry accusations: Big pig's hoof!
Back in the bridal chamber, Chen Yang was already fast asleep on the bright red wedding bed. He had fair skin and a juvenile frame, which made him look very good against the bright red. However, Du Shuo only thought he looked good and didn't have any other thoughts. In his eyes, Chen Yang was still a child, and he was more than qualified to be his great-grandfather.
He covered Chen Yang with the quilt, and sat on the wide chair beside him, clasped his hands in front of his abdomen, closed his eyes and rested. After a while, he opened his eyes and looked at Chen Yang who was sleeping soundly facing him, and remained silent.
Du Shuo discovered Chen Yang, a person with an extremely yin fate, about two months ago. At that time, he had just discovered that there were ghost messengers in Fengdu who had formed a ghost marriage with a living person in the world of the living. He thought that the ghost messenger was bullying people, but he found out that there was actually a person with an extremely yin fate who had escaped the eyes and ears of Fengdu and lived in the world of the living for sixteen years. At that time, thinking of the extremely yin fate who had caused chaos in the world of the living and Fengdu seven hundred years ago, the emperor felt disgusted, so he went to the world of the living to find Chen Yang and planned to kill him with his own hands.
When he came to the mortal world, it was the Ghost Festival on July 15th. He saw Chen Yang being chased by ghosts and trying hard to survive. He looked very embarrassed but full of vitality. Out of curiosity, he did not make a move. He thought coldly in his heart that even if he did not make a move, Chen Yang would not be able to survive under the pursuit of ghosts. The gods regarded him as an evil ghost, and the evil ghosts regarded him as a meal. No one in the world could help him. Chen Yang was isolated and helpless.
Du Shuo thought Chen Yang would die on the Ghost Festival, but he didn't expect that he could escape from the stage and survive even when he encountered a yaksha. He was curious and observed him for a month. He found that Chen Yang could escape death and survive again and again, which surprised him at his strong vitality.
Later, Du Shuo figured it out. Since Chen Yang could live to the age of sixteen, he must be familiar with the nature of ghosts and have great means. If such a person with a strange fate grows up, it will be very scary. So he tried to dig out Chen Yang's heart. To kill a person with a very yin fate, he had to dig out the other person's heart and grind it into ashes. Who knew that he saw a drop of zombie blood inside, which belonged to the blood of a flying zombie that was more than two thousand years old.
At that moment, Du Shuo suddenly wanted to know how many people wanted Chen Yang to survive. Ordinary people, heavenly masters, ghosts, Fengdu ghost messengers, and even thousand-year-old flying zombies were trying to keep him alive. He suddenly changed his mind and wanted to see how far Chen Yang could go. So he also became one of the people trying to keep Chen Yang alive, protecting him from the age of sixteen until his lifespan burned out. He also protected him after death, and they were buried together in the same grave.
Du Shuo turned the jade ring and disappeared from the room in an instant, returning to Fengdu Du Shuo Mountain to make arrangements. When he came back at dawn, he saw Chen Yang turned over and continued to sleep with the quilt in his arms. He smiled, leaned his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes to rest.
Chen Yang got up at 6:30 the next day, when it was already daybreak. He got up and found that he had gone to bed last night without even changing into his groom's clothes. He looked around but could not find his ghost husband. He blinked and guessed that he might have returned to Fengdu to work.
He went into the bathroom to wash up and change out of his groom's suit. Just as he was about to throw it into the clothes basket, he discovered that there was another suit in it. After a pause, Chen Yang cleared his throat twice and pretended to throw the clothes in as if nothing had happened. The two suits were stacked together, as if they were thrown together for washing after the wedding night.
Chen Yang patted his red cheeks to calm down before opening the door and going downstairs to prepare breakfast, only to find his ghost husband standing in the yard watching Grandpa Wu practice Tai Chi. Du Shuo was wearing a Tang suit, and he and Grandpa Wu, who was also wearing a Tang suit, seemed to get along very well.
He hesitated for a while and chose to go into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. When his figure entered the kitchen, Du Shuo suddenly turned around and looked at him with an unpredictable look.
After Grandpa Wu finished his punch, he suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his view, and asked very vigilantly: "What are you looking at?"
Du Shuo gave him a cold look, walked around him and went into the house. Grandpa Wu naturally saw the hidden meaning in that look. How could the great Emperor of Fengdu fall in love with a child
Grandpa Wu said to himself, "Yangyang is so outstanding, it's unbelievable that he is chosen? Fortunately, the target of the secret kiss is him, otherwise he would definitely be taken away by those casual pigs." He touched his chest and muttered, "But I am uneasy and worried. Why am I so panicked?" Shaking his head, Grandpa Wu, who couldn't figure it out, decided to take better care of Chen Yang after his death.
Chen Yang brought the prepared breakfast to the table. Three bowls of mixed porridge were brightly colored, steaming and fragrant. After serving the three bowls of mixed porridge to everyone, he returned to the kitchen to bring fried eggs and crispy pancakes. The eggs were fried golden and slightly burnt, and the crispy pancakes were full of ingredients, including ham, bacon, enoki mushrooms, beef, etc., and were wrapped with lettuce inside and outside to absorb the fat and relieve greasiness.
Du Shuo picked up the soup spoon and fiddled with the mixed porridge in front of him. He found that the porridge was also made with rich ingredients. At present, he could see minced meat, fresh shrimps, small pieces of mushrooms, and corn. Jade-like chopped green onions were sprinkled on the surface, which made him very hungry.
Chen Yang sat down and glanced at Du Shuo, then said softly, "I don't know your taste, so I made some breakfast casually. If you want to eat here in the future, you can tell me the food you don't like."
Grandpa Wu looked up at the two of them and said, "Yangyang, he doesn't live here all the time—"
Du Shuo interrupted Grandpa Wu in a calm voice: "I don't like ginger and coriander, but anything else is fine." He ate a spoonful of hot porridge and found it thick, smooth and delicious. He ate two more mouthfuls and found scallops in it. This feeling was a bit novel, just like opening a treasure chest and thinking that all the wealth is in your eyes, but you can still find unexpected wealth in the corners.
Chen Yang looked up and smiled, "Got it."
Grandpa Wu was very depressed and buried his head in his food, slurping it.
After breakfast, Chen Yang had to go to school. He whispered to Du Shuo who was standing at the door looking at the eaves: "I'm going to school." Du Shuo was silent for a while before responding: "Yeah." Hearing the response, Chen Yang smiled and took his bicycle and went out to school. Standing at the door for a long time, you can still hear the sound of the wheels rolling on the bluestone slabs and his loud laughter when he greeted the aunt next door.
Du Shuo stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky. A large mass of dark clouds rolled in from the mountain tops, and soon they occupied the sky above his head. It was dark and heavy, like a sponge that was soaked with water and could not bear the weight of the water and was about to fall.
He remembered that Chen Yang didn't bring an umbrella when he left.
Chen Yang was worried about not bringing an umbrella with him, but it didn't rain until noon. He slowly breathed a sigh of relief, took a nap after lunch, and then got up for the first class. Halfway through the first class, there was a sudden strong wind, thunder and lightning, and heavy rain. Many people in the classroom complained that they didn't bring an umbrella, and looked at the heavy rain outside with worry, hoping that the rain would stop before school was over.
Chen Yang was also a little worried that Grandpa Wu would secretly drink some white wine in the afternoon when he was not there, and take a short nap after drinking, which would definitely make him miss the time for school. He was worried that staying in the school for too long would easily attract ghosts. He had experienced being locked up in the school by ghosts before and almost died. This school was not peaceful. It used to be a mass grave. During the war, the bodies were piled up here, like a small mountain.
He had seen the mountain of corpses when he was trapped in the school. The corpses had melted together over the years. The fat and meat had melted together and it was hard to tell who was who. The legs and hands looked like insect arthropods, and the facial features had also melted away. But there were still many pairs of eyes on the surface of the mountain of corpses. When they noticed where Chen Yang was, all of them opened, densely embedded on the surface of the mountain of corpses, staring at him in unison.
Chen Yang sighed silently, and the girl next to him seemed to sense something and looked back at him. The girl's lips moved, wanting to say something but holding back, and turned back. She was distracted during class, and when the teacher called her to answer a question, she didn't even know what the question was. Just when she was embarrassed, she saw Chen Yang tapping on the book, and glimpsed the question and the answer. The girl quickly answered, and she passed without any danger.
After class, the female classmate thanked him. What he was still hesitating about saying came out all at once: "Chen Yang, you should be careful after school. It's best to find someone to go home with you."
Chen Yang wondered: "Why?"
The female classmate showed a look of fear: "Recently, a headless woman holding a black umbrella appeared on the road leading to the bridge from the school. She only appears in the evening when it rains. I heard that if someone goes to talk to her, they will find that the woman under the black umbrella has no head, and there is a mouth in the black umbrella. That mouth will eat the head of the person who talks to her."
Chen Yang was surprised: "I often walk that road, but I have never seen a headless woman with a black umbrella." When it comes to the headless woman with a black umbrella, he did see her when he was a child. In his memory, he only felt that it was scary, but he could not remember what she looked like specifically.
The female classmate said, "Really." She looked around and lowered her voice and said, "I've seen it. My dad drove past there some time ago, and I saw a man chatting up that woman. The woman was wearing a beautiful cheongsam, but her head was blocked by a big black umbrella. I was curious and kept staring at her. When the car turned a corner, I saw the umbrella swallowed up the man's head."
She was so frightened that her voice trembled as she warned Chen Yang, "Don't try to chat with her, or take another route. It's raining so hard today, I feel uneasy."
Chen Yang was slightly surprised, and then he took out the evil-repelling talisman that Grandpa Wu gave him from his schoolbag: "You wear it." The female classmate wanted to refuse, so he said with a serious expression: "Sometimes people's feelings are very accurate, don't ignore this feeling. Take it."
He was not sure if there was a headless woman with a black umbrella, but if there was, she would definitely come to him even if he did not take the initiative to talk to her. Grandpa Wu said that he had a secret marriage with the ghost messenger of Fengdu, and logically speaking, his fate had changed, so there should be no more ghosts coveting him. However, it might not be very effective in the early stage, and there would still be big ghosts coming to him. Because his fate was famous in the ghost world, those ghosts came because they heard about it, not because they discovered his fate.
According to the description of the female classmate, the headless female ghost with the black umbrella did not originally belong here, and should have come from somewhere else. A ghost cannot leave its own body unless it cultivates into a spirit or possesses something. Chen Yang guessed that the female ghost should be possessed by the black umbrella and kill people everywhere.
The road from the school to the bridge is the only way home, so it seems that he can only wait for Grandpa Wu to arrive at the school. Chen Yang thought so as he watched the rain still not subsiding after school.
The female classmate hesitantly invited him to go back with her, but Chen Yang shook his head and refused: "Thank you, you go back first." He couldn't even protect himself, so there was no need to implicate others.
The female student had no choice but to look at him and leave with an umbrella. Soon, the lively classroom was empty, and there were no students in the corridors or at the entrance of the teaching building. The students who had complained about not having umbrellas either shared an umbrella with their classmates or had their family members give them umbrellas, and all left.
The clock in the classroom was ticking, and the wind and rain outside were hitting the windows. Suddenly, I heard the sound of high heels coming from the corridor. The pen tip paused, and Chen Yang suddenly stood up, closed the doors and windows, turned off the lights and hid under the window. The students on duty left and drew the curtains. It was past five o'clock, and it was dark early because of the heavy rain.
As soon as the lights were turned off, the classroom went dark. The crisp sound of high heels was getting closer and closer, and it became clearer and clearer in the empty corridor. This was a high school classroom, and female teachers rarely wore high heels. Because they had to stand for an hour during class, sometimes for two or three consecutive classes, so female teachers rarely wore high heels. Even if they did, they would be thick heels or platform shoes, which would not make such a crisp sound. It was obvious that the force was applied at one point, which was why the sound was so loud.
Chen Yang only learned about these things from the discussion among the girls in the class, and never expected that they would be useful now. The sound of high heels stopped nearby, moved after a few seconds, wandered outside the classroom, and finally stopped above his head.
Chen Yang looked up and suddenly saw a woman in cheongsam clinging to the window glass. Her head was invisible because it was covered by a large black umbrella. This was the headless woman with black umbrella mentioned by the female classmates. She didn't expect that she would come to the school because she couldn't wait for Chen Yang.
Bright red blood oozed out of the black umbrella and slowly slid down the window glass. She stood at the window and stared at the classroom for a long time before leaving. Chen Yang breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. A hideous man's head suddenly hit the window glass with a light "bang". Chen Yang, who had just stood up, looked at him, and the man's head on the shoulder of the cheongsam woman showed a strange smile.
Chen Yang's pupils shrank, and he reacted quickly and ran forward. The next second, the glass behind him shattered, and the fragments cut the skin on his hands. He ignored the pain and ran towards the door. As soon as he ran to the corridor, the cheongsam woman grabbed his neck and pressed him against the wall. The man's head on the woman's shoulder fell to the ground, and her other hand opened the big black umbrella. The black umbrella cracked open with a salivating mouth, and the jagged teeth inside opened, pulling out white saliva, and the stench was overwhelming.
Chen Yang had difficulty breathing, and he grabbed his left hand with his right hand to pull the red rope off. Just as he was about to use the red rope and the ancient bronze coin to break free from the cheongsam headless woman, she seemed to be grabbed by a huge force and thrown against the wall, and finally fell in the air and torn in half. The big black umbrella jumped down from the corridor, was also caught and torn in half, and then ignited with a ghostly blue fire. The cold and jumping fire burned the cheongsam headless woman and the weird big black umbrella into ashes.
Chen Yang stood up with the help of the wall, tears welling up in his eyes from coughing. He dimly saw Du Shuo holding a black umbrella and reaching out to him: "I'm here to take you home."
The author has something to say: To those who say that the Emperor is stealing or deceiving brides, the Emperor is watching you!
Grandpa Wu: What do you think of this marriage
The Emperor (with firm determination): It doesn’t count!