Chapter 3: 2. Do You Want a Wife or Not?

2. Do You Want a Wife or Not?

"You don't need to worry about that. She's actually a living person—it's just that, for some reason, she got buried together with Ah Chang." Zhou Sanji said without looking up. "Besides, I've checked her birth characters. She's very suitable for playing Master Zhong Kui Kui's younger sister."

"Alright, alright…" Sun Yanshun took another breath, but the doubt between his brows still lingered. He glanced at Zhou Chang on this side of the black cloth—ever since 'Ah Chang' had been pulled out of the coffin, he'd felt that 'Ah Chang' radiated an eerie aura all over, as if he'd been 'reborn anew'!

Especially since Ah Chang, originally buried alone, had been dug up again—and inside that thin-shelled coffin where he'd lain, there was now an additional 'thing' of unknown origin, neither man nor ghost. Even though Zhou Sanji said that thing was a person, he didn't believe it!

How could any person be buried underground, stuck inside an airtight coffin, and still not die?

What's more, the sealed earth over Ah Chang's grave and the coffin nails on the coffin showed no signs of having been disturbed—yet that thing had simply appeared out of thin air inside Ah Chang's coffin!

But now, with circumstances pressing, 'Li Xiamei' could appear at any moment, so even though Zhou Sanji's methods reeked of the uncanny at every turn, he could only rely on this Old Duan Gong's tricks to see if they could carve out a path to survival!

Sun Yanshun said no more.

Zhou Sanji circled back in front of Zhou Chang, looked at that deathly pale face, and said with a smile: "Do you want a wife or not, Ah Chang?

Look at you—just dug out of a coffin, and already you can bring a wife home. If those bachelors heard about this, their eyes would pop right out of their sockets!

What do you think about this marriage yourself?

Forget it, forget it—whatever you think doesn't matter at all!

As the old saying goes: a match needs a parent's word and a matchmaker's word. Your parents have long been dead and gone. Your grandpa here is your elder, and I, as the head of the household, agree to this match!

But after all, you're going to be Master Zhong Kui Kui's brother-in-law—using your real name isn't quite proper.

Let Grandpa think of a name for you. You'll be called…"

As Zhou Sanji covered Zhou Chang's chest and back with those ghost-scribble-like characters, Zhou Chang slowly developed a feeling that countless holes were burrowing out all over his body—a warm current kept surging deep into his shell, and even his thoughts seemed to be nourished.

His thoughts slipped through those 'holes' out to the outside, began breathing the fresh air outside, and finally could interact with the outside world—no longer like before, as if sealed inside a stifling coffin.

He tried to control the muscles and bones of his body to make himself stand, but this body showed no response.

Still, those ghost-scribbles on his body did have some use after all. Though they weren't enough to let him stand up and move right away, at least he could speak now.

So when he saw Zhou Sanji frowning in thought, he spoke up at the right moment: "My name is Zhou Chang.

Zhou as in Zhou, Qin, Han; Chang as in sun and moon, prosperous and bright."

"Your birth characters are…"

Zhou Chang quickly converted the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches year in his mind and said: "Wuzi, Jiayin, Wuwu, Jiayin."

Only at this point did Zhou Sanji react, as if belatedly catching on. He raised his head, looked deeply at Zhou Chang, was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Good, then you'll be called Zhou Chang."

After speaking, he turned and walked to the other side of the room, separated by the black cloth.

Zhou Chang watched that black cloth sway slightly and heard Zhou Sanji's voice inside, talking with a woman.

"Little girl, you heard everything we said out there, didn't you?

For us to escape now, the only way is to trouble you to pretend to marry my grandson. I'll cover your face with this yellow paper, and you'll be Master Zhong Kui Kui's younger sister.

Later, whatever I ask you, just nod and agree. Do you think that will work?"

"Y-yes, that'll do…" a thin, timid female voice answered Zhou Sanji in Sichuan dialect.

Having gotten the woman's agreement, Zhou Sanji turned back, fixed his eyes on Zhou Chang, and said: "Later when I ask you things, you nod and agree too, got it?"

"Got it." Zhou Chang agreed with interest.

He had taken in all this absurd, bizarre information, and in his heart there were only faint ripples.

He had always been this way—often detached from all things, and to outsiders a very dull person.

At this point, Zhou Sanji handed out suona, bangzi, erhu, and other instruments to everyone. The people each took their seats in the room, lips pressed tight, making no sound.

Then Zhou Sanji set up a white-cloth banner in the center of the room and ducked behind the white cloth himself—in the candlelight, the stretched white cloth showed only a faintly swaying human shadow.

In the blink of an eye, the room was so quiet one could hear the candle flame burning.

Zhou Chang sat among it all, like an outsider.

He watched the shadow on the white cloth, used as a screen for a shadow play. The moment the figure on the white cloth moved its hand, someone immediately struck a burst on the bangzi.

The crisp percussion warned everyone present that a grand performance was about to begin.

After the bangzi stopped, Zhou Sanji's hoarse recitative rang out: "When it comes to marriage, ancient and modern alike need a matchmaker's witness; the rites of sages and worthies must rely on proper credentials.

Plain skirt and hairpin, plain skirt and hairpin—without a matchmaker, would it not be a secret, illicit union?

Today there is the Zhong family's young lady 'Zhong Li,' meeting the Zhou family's young lord 'Zhou Chang.' Though Heaven and Earth bear witness and both hearts are sincere, yet without a matchmaker and credentials, would it not make this pair of lovers suffer all the more, becoming a pair of ill-fated mandarin ducks?"

The moment the deeply worried recitative ended, several more beats of bangzi rang out in succession.

Then the sounds of erhu, sheng, and guan wove together, until someone blew the suona, and the room was suddenly thick with festivity.

Even though the chill inside the house was bone-deep, under the flood of music, this room seemed to have returned to a time of gentle spring and bright scenery, with a hundred flowers in bloom.

Everyone handled their instruments skillfully, coordinating seamlessly, like the musicians of a theatrical troupe.

At this moment, the shadow cast on the white cloth suddenly shifted—and a matchmaker with a hunched back and a slightly obsequious air instantly sprang up on the screen. A deliberately pinched, shrill voice rang out: "Oh my, oh my—let me serve as the go-between who ties the red cord;

Let me serve as the old matchmaker who seals the pact…"

The 'matchmaker' hunched low, tilting her head toward the other side of the room partitioned by the black cloth.

The matchmaker on the screen had originally been only a silhouette, but as 'she' tilted her head to look toward the other side of the black cloth, a pair of 'eyes' drawn in ink slowly emerged on the screen.

Those "eyes" stared at the black cloth partitioning the room, as if they could pierce through that black cloth and see the woman behind it. Though the matchmaker's voice did not change, those eyes made it seem especially eerie and ghastly: "Miss Zhong, this young lord of the Zhou family comes of a clean background. Though he lost his father and mother young, he was fortunate to be raised by his grandfather, who brought him up properly. His character is upright, and he has never taken up bad habits.

I wonder if Miss Zhong is satisfied with this young lord of the Zhou family's family background?"

The needle-like voice pierced through the black cloth.

Behind the black cloth, the woman sat curled up on a high stool, her shoulders trembling.

Her face was covered by a sheet of yellow paper, and her dark hair was coiled up inside a phoenix crown.

The woman wore a bright red wedding robe. The well-fitted wedding dress accentuated her graceful figure; though her face could not be seen, she still gave an impression of radiant beauty and noble elegance.

It's just that—a bride in full wedding dress sitting in this dilapidated room, her crimson clothes looking like blood plasma, made the place seem even darker and colder.

The flickering firelight in the room cast itself onto the black cloth, projecting tangled, hazy shadows.

Hearing the matchmaker's question grow clearer amid the uproar of music, Bai Xiue came to her senses and answered timidly: "S-satisfied…"

She always felt that the present scene was one she had lived through many times before.

It seemed that in those previous times too, just like now, there were people whose faces she couldn't quite see who told her to simply nod and agree.

Outside, the 'matchmaker' raised her voice and told a man whom Bai Xiue did not know about the background of the 'Young Lady of the Zhong Family,' and asked that man the same question.

Bai Xiue heard that man reply flatly with a single word, 'Satisfied.' She pressed her lips together, feeling nothing stir within her.

Beyond the black cloth the music grew ever more festive, while the temperature inside the room grew ever lower.

Bai Xiue's shoulders trembled slightly. Some memories, both strange and familiar, surfaced one by one in her heart along with the noisy music.

She sat at the mirror to dress and apply makeup. In the mirror, mist swirled, and a face, alluring and full of feeling, emerged from the haze, gazing back at Bai Xiue through the glass.

That beautiful face smiled gracefully, little by little rising out of the mirror's surface.

Its nose tip pressed against Bai Xiue's nose tip.

The matchmaker's questioning voice came again at this moment: "The Zhou family's young lord's given name is a single character, 'Chang.' His birth date and eight characters are: Wu Zi, Jia Yin, Wu Wu, Jia Yin...

I wonder if Miss Zhong and your parents and elders find Zhou Langjun's birth date and eight characters a good match for you?"

A gust of yin wind blew in past the black cloth, and behind the black cloth Bai Xiue sat upright on a tall stool, not moving in the slightest.

……

Clang!

The yin wind pushed open the room's door, and the festive music inside the room fell silent at once.

Everyone froze in place, exchanging glances with one another. They neither dared to keep playing their instruments nor dared to turn around to see what lay beyond the door the wind had pushed open.

The horror stories weighing on their hearts, and the oppressive might of 'Li Xiamei,' now almost solidified into something tangible.

And Zhou Chang, taking advantage of the moment the door opened, stole a glance outside.

Beyond the door the sky was like a domed tent, covering the four wilds, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Zhou Chang then looked toward the white cloth spread open in the center of the room. Behind the white cloth, Zhou Sanji had his eyes shut. The pair of 'Liu Moyan' on his eyelids trembled slightly, and pitch-black ink flowed down from the ink pupils — though his flesh eyes were tightly closed, the pair of ink eyes granted him a hazy perception.

In the instant the door was pushed open by the wind, he felt that a 'person' had entered the room, going to the other side blocked off by the black cloth.