Chapter 281: Elopement

"What is your name?"

"Lang Xiao Ba."

"And you?"

The old rat pointed with its whiskers at Behind Miao Yu.

Behind Miao Yu still had a sliver of clarity, desperately wanting to activate his "Law."

But this place was within Xiao Yu Shan!

It was a "land beyond the law."

The imperial Ming law's power was already greatly weakened here.

And today, the old rat was Fu Daxiong—its power greatly amplified.

Behind Miao Yu's law seemed locked by something, utterly impossible to unleash!

After the old rat asked, Behind Miao Yu struggled for a moment, then finally parted his lips and answered:

"Behind Miao Yu."

Everyone was registered onto the "Gift List," and could no longer escape!

The old rat pointed its whiskers at the last one: "You… hmmm?"

The old rat stared dubiously at this last figure.

Its face was blurred and indistinct.

Crudely patched together with yellow mud.

The old rat sensed dense yin energy swirling around the figure, seeping from within to without.

And for some reason, it felt an inexplicable sense of kinship.

It simply felt that if this thing had a sharper mouth and a tail sticking out behind, it was clearly one of its own kind.

But… hadn't there just been a living person here a moment ago?

While the old rat was registering others, Xu Yuan, relying on his resistance from "A Hundred Taboos," managed to move slightly and quietly put on the mud mask.

Then he moved from his original hiding spot to another location.

"What are you?" the old rat asked.

Xu Yuan suspected the old thing was insulting him, but now was not the time to argue.

"I am family from the bride's side," Xu Yuan said. "The bride ordered me to come out and greet the groom."

The old rat immediately nodded vigorously, praising: "Truly a wealthy household—proper etiquette. But where did the other living person go?"

"Another living person?" Xu Yuan shook his head. "No one else—every living person has already been added to your Gift List."

"No, there was definitely still one!" the old rat was certain.

Xu Yuan hesitated, then said: "Not meant to disrespect, Mr., but… do you know how to count?"

The old rat bristled: "I'm giving the bride her due, or else I'd whip you with my tail for that remark alone!"

Xu Yuan held out one hand: "Mr., count how many fingers this is."

"Seven," the old rat snapped—this was obvious!

Xu Yuan quietly retracted the two fingers he'd mimicked with his Qi Pill: "No, this is five!"

"Nonsense…" The old rat looked again, its small eyes widening, rubbed them hard, looked again—and it truly was five!

"This… old age, eyes growing dim," the old rat made an excuse.

It absolutely could not admit it couldn't count.

The other rats and wild boars far away hadn't noticed how many living people had been hiding.

"Enough!" the wild boar grew impatient: "Since you're family from the bride's side, lead us in quickly."

"Yes, my lord, please follow me."

Xu Yuan quietly exhaled—thankfully, these malevolent spirits weren't very bright.

The pig-brains were obviously no exception.

These giant rats, despite standing over a man's height, if the Holy Mother were to crack open their skulls, their brains probably wouldn't be bigger than a walnut.

Xu Yuan turned and led them into the forest.

These malevolent spirits came to fetch a bride—who was it?

Obviously, the former dynasty's Wang Fei buried in the ancient tomb.

The wild boar urged: "Play the music!"

The wedding procession's joyful music sounded again.

The procession entered the forest, and Behind Miao Yu and the others shuffled numbly at the very end, walking alongside the chests and trunks.

Becoming part of the bride price.

Of them all, only Behind Miao Yu still retained a sliver of clarity within.

Within that sliver of clarity, one final flicker of hope struggled to remain:

All depends on Brother Xu!

Then, beyond that flicker of hope, a ripple of thought stirred:

I'm clearly superior to Brother Xu in every way—so why have I lately felt both envy and reliance toward him?

…

Xu Yuan looked around and found the entrance to the ancient tomb.

The entrance had originally been a wall formed by several massive stones.

Tomb robbers had blown open a hole with gunpowder.

Xu Yuan silently shook his head—what were these people thinking?

Setting off fireworks deep in Yu Shan would surely alarm the evil spirits within the mountain.

To exit safely must mean a stronger evil spirit has been secretly "caring" for you.

Xu Yuan stopped at the cave entrance and gestured with a hand: "The groom, please step inside."

But the wild boar reached out: "You go in first and tell the bride to get ready."

"This…," Xu Yuan hesitated slightly, then saw fierce light flare in the wild boar's eyes—he quickly ducked inside: "Fine, you're the groom, I'll do as you say today."

Xu Yuan's words pleased the wild boar; the ferocity faded from its eyes.

As soon as Xu Yuan entered, the wild boar impatiently urged: "Go in, go in, all of you! Bring the bride gifts inside too."

Be careful! I worked hard to gather these bride gifts!"

Inside the cave, darkness reigned.

Xu Yuan dared not light a fire, so he released his beast-tendon rope, letting it stretch like tentacles to probe ahead.

Fortunately, behind the entrance lay a tomb passage—spacious and straight—and Xu Yuan reached the tomb chamber, where two eternal lamps were already lit!

The flames were pale blue, slender and five feet tall, flickering erratically.

Just like Xu Yuan's own uneasy heart.

The moment the groom and bride met, he'd be exposed.

Behind him, footsteps from the wedding procession echoed down the tomb passage.

Xu Yuan cursed inwardly: You told me to go in first, yet you can't wait yourself.

Xu Yuan shouted into the tomb passage: "The groom, please wait a moment—the bride hasn't finished her toilette yet; she's not yet at her most beautiful."

"Hehehe!" came the wild boar's lewd laugh: "Good, I'll wait a bit longer. Tell the bride to hurry."

The tomb chamber was five zhang wide and three zhang high—already an extremely high standard in Southern Jiaozhi.

At its center stood a stone coffin, yet the entire chamber was immaculate, with all grave goods neatly arranged according to protocol.

It looked nothing like it had been looted.

Xu Yuan moved with caution—he knew he was surely already seen by the ancient corpse Wang Fei lurking in the shadows.

The ancient corpse Wang Fei had not yet appeared, likely deceived by the mud mask.

That meant the ancient corpse Wang Fei would believe Xu the Lord was from the bride's family.

Xu Yuan reached the coffin and carefully lifted the stone lid.

The current Xu the Lord had the strength for this.

It should have been filled with jewels and gold and silver—but between the stone coffin and the wooden coffin inside, there was nothing but emptiness!

Xu Yuan frowned, set the stone lid aside, and leaned in to push open the wooden coffin lid.

Unexpectedly, the wooden coffin lid was far heavier than expected—it didn't budge an inch when he pushed.

His posture made it hard to exert force, yet he dared not fully thrust his upper body inside.

The beast-tendon rope crept out, wrapped around the lid, then pulled upward with all its strength.

Puff—

As soon as a crack opened, a wave of miasma blasted out from the coffin!

Had Xu Yuan stuck half his body inside, it would have struck him square in the face!

The miasma condensed poison, plague, misfortune, and other calamities—hit by it, Xu the Lord might not die, but he'd lose a layer of skin.

Xu Yuan hid beneath the stone coffin; after the miasma erupted, the beast-tendon rope paused briefly.

Xu Yuan had already prepared his Sword of the Dragon-Slayer.

But the wooden coffin remained silent.

Xu Yuan listened closely again, then pulled the beast-tendon rope once more.

This time, he lifted the entire lid—yet still, no movement came from within.

Xu Yuan cautiously poked his head out and peered inside:

The wooden coffin was empty!

Xu Yuan frowned in confusion: Is the evil spirit not in the tomb?

The ancient corpse Wang Fei… fled the wedding?

(End of Chapter)