Chapter 41: Lu Li, the Ghost Bridegroom

Lu Li opened his eyes to a ceiling he did not recognize.

No, actually, it was pitch black; he could see nothing at all. He reached out to touch it, and the ceiling felt a bit low. It felt like wood. Squinting, Lu Li pulled out a Zippo lighter and flicked it open. The bright flame illuminated the cramped, narrow space.

After glancing left and right, Lu Li roughly understood where he was. A coffin.

It was a pity there wasn't a roommate; otherwise, he could have had someone to chat with. Being all alone in a coffin, Lu Li felt a bit creeped out—and lonely.

He remembered being at home playing games of Pen Spirit, Disc Spirit, and Chopstick Spirit. Perhaps he had gone a bit too far, because suddenly, everything went black, and he knew nothing more. When he woke up, he was in this coffin. And he felt as though he were standing up.

That was just absurd! He had originally thought that either those three entities had been glitched out by his exploits or were about to make a move on him. Well, they had indeed made a move, but he hadn't expected them to drag him into this coffin.

Where was this coffin, anyway? Hopefully, he hadn't been buried alive.

Lu Li pushed against the lid, and it moved with ease. It seemed he hadn't been buried. He did a forward roll out of the coffin, then clutched his lower back and leaned against the side to recover for a long moment. Damn it, he’d pulled a muscle.

Holding his aching back, Lu Li surveyed his surroundings. It was a single-courtyard house. He was currently in the main hall, and the vertical coffin he had just been standing in was placed right in the center. The paint on it was a deep, dark red. A red coffin.

Outside, the rain pattered against the eaves, accompanied by the sound of droplets splashing against the bluestone floor. Lu Li walked slowly out into the courtyard. Looking back, the elegant calligraphy on the couplets flanking the main hall had been worn away by time into illegible strokes; no later visitor could ever decipher what the original owner had written.

Stepping over the stone path, smoothed by the passage of years, Lu Li walked toward the exit with his hands in his pockets, leaving faint ripples in the stagnant water behind him.

Just as he rested his hand on the door, someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Young man, you must not go out there!"

Lu Li turned around. Standing before him was an old man. He had a graying buzz cut, sparse eyebrows, and dark skin. His heavy eye bags sagged, and the deep nasolabial folds on his weathered face looked as if they had been carved with a knife. He wore loose shorts that fell past his knees and a somewhat worn but clean white undershirt.

How best to describe him? "Old man" was probably the most fitting term.

Lu Li caught a glimpse of the dark red upright coffin in the main hall out of the corner of his eye, then turned his gaze back to the elder. He was a standard village old-timer; if only he weren't looking at him with such terror, and if he were holding a palm-leaf fan and carrying a small radio, the image would be perfect.

"Uncle, where is this?"

"This is Old Locust Village. Young man, how did you end up in a place like this?"

*I'd like to know that myself.*

But Old Locust Village... wasn't that the answer the spirits had given? When Lu Li had asked his third question, "Where is my wife?" they had hesitated for a long time before finally answering, "Old Locust Village."

So, this was Old Locust Village? That saved Lu Li quite a bit of trouble—at the very least, it saved him travel expenses or gas money.

But then came the question: who was his "wife"? It couldn't be Bai Muli or Luo Qianning. With their level of power, the moment they descended into this world, the world would be corrupted. But the world was not corrupted—or rather, the world view had already shifted.

And there was one more female demon who had been coveting his young, juicy body and had already arrived in this world!

Huai Xu! She was in Old Locust Village! Or wait, according to Lu Li’s understanding, she should have been by his side from the very beginning. So, was it another young lady? Unlikely; it had to be Huai Xu.

What was her purpose in bringing him here? To kill him?

Lu Li used the light from the hall to study the old man again. The light cast a long shadow at the man's feet. Lu Li squinted and asked, "Uncle, why can't I go out?"

He took out a cigarette and offered it to the old man. The man didn't take it; his face, illuminated by the flickering lighter, looked exceptionally grim. "It's full of ghosts out there."

"Oh?" Lu Li's eyes lit up. He put away the cigarette and the lighter. "Sir, I love a thrill. I only came to Old Locust Village because I heard there were ghosts; I wouldn't have come otherwise. Ever heard of *Approaching Science*? I'm an investigative reporter for the *Approaching Science* program. By the way, sir, why is there a red coffin standing in your house?"

The old man started, then waved his hands frantically. "This isn't my house! I’m just a traveler who fled in here to hide! It’s pouring rain outside, and I was just passing through when I ran into this village to take shelter. It turns out this whole village is full of ghosts! I had to run into this courtyard to find a place to hide. Honestly, I didn't expect you to crawl out of that coffin."

The old man looked Lu Li up and down, the fear still not leaving his face. "To tell you the truth, if I hadn't seen that you had a shadow and that your feet made ripples in the water, I wouldn't have dared to speak to you."

"Alright then, you stay in hiding, sir. I'm going out to call for reinforcements."

"Hey! Young man! Young man!"

Lu Li waved his hand, ignoring the old man's persistent cries, and resolutely pushed open the courtyard door to step outside. Once out, he conscientiously closed the door behind him. The old, weathered seal on the door, its text washed away by time, looked a bit glaring. But Lu Li had never been one to care.

When he turned back, he froze.

What appeared before him was not an empty street. On the contrary, it was quite bustling. Even though it was raining, the long street was lined with various stalls, all sheltered by rain canopies. Pedestrians carrying umbrellas moved back and forth along the bluestone road.

A middle-aged man in a long gray gown walked over with a slick, oily smile. "Oh, why are you here? We were planning to welcome you in a couple of days!"

He glanced at the dilapidated courtyard door behind Lu Li, and his expression shifted. "Why are you talking there? That's terribly unlucky! Come with me."

He led Lu Li to the side. Lu Li raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem with that courtyard?"

The middle-aged man leaned in, cupped his hands around his mouth, and lowered his voice. "That courtyard is haunted!"

Lu Li nodded, thinking to himself that this was exactly the routine. The one inside says it's ghosts outside, and the one outside says it's ghosts inside. Were they putting on a double act?

Lu Li pointed at the long gown the man was wearing and the cloth shoes on his feet. "If you had changed into more modern clothes, I might have actually believed you."

*Wearing a Republic-era outfit and trying to pull this on me!*

Lu Li was certain that whatever was in the courtyard might not be human, but the guy in front of him definitely wasn't human either.

The middle-aged man paused, then revealed a sinister, ghostly smile. The entire night market, previously noisy with crowds, suddenly fell silent; you could hear a pin drop. They all stopped moving, and their faces turned toward him in unison. Even those who had been standing with their backs to Lu Li twisted their necks a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

Then, everyone stared at Lu Li with expressionless faces.

The middle-aged man bowed and gestured with his hand. "The groom is here. Please, follow me."