PTYS Chapter 164

Xiao Muyu knew nothing about this. Right now, her mind was only focused on Shen Qingqiu. They were already very close to the Shen family home.

If she didn’t hurry, and Shen Qingqiu was taken away, she would have no chance to fight back.

This wasn’t the actual storyline. If it were happening in reality, Shen Qingqiu might still have a chance to wait for her rescue.

What she feared more was that this was the first challenge given by the dungeon. This was an S-level difficulty. If she made a mistake, Shen Qingqiu would be directly doomed here.

This thought burned in Xiao Muyu’s heart. She gritted her teeth, and under the cover of darkness, swiftly circled to the back of the Shen family home.

The sounds of suona horns and drums were getting closer, and the citizens of Yingzhou City seemed to be in a deep sleep, with no reaction at all. Only the distant barking of dogs could be heard intermittently, full of fear and anxiety.

Luckily, she had visited the Shen family home during the day and knew exactly where Shen Qingqiu’s room was. She leaped up, climbed a few times, and silently entered the Shen family’s backyard.

She then made her way to Shen Qingqiu’s room, took out the bronze sword she had prepared earlier, and opened the window, flipping into the room.

However, before she could stand up, a sharp cry erupted right in front of her.

Xiao Muyu’s heart raced, her head buzzed, and she lunged forward, covering the person’s mouth. Both of them fell heavily to the ground.

In her panic, Xiao Muyu could only use her right elbow to break the fall. The impact made her frown in pain, and she bit her lip, lowering her head.

The person she was protecting struggled violently underneath her, flailing their hands. Xiao Muyu had no choice but to press her whole body down on her, whispering, “Qingqiu, it’s me.”

Shen Qingqiu instantly froze, staring wide-eyed at the figure she couldn’t see clearly. However, the familiar scent at her nose confirmed it was indeed Xiao Muyu. Her heart, which had been filled with terror, finally calmed down. She then reached out and, with a mix of annoyance and relief,  and hit Xiao Muyu.

Xiao Muyu was also filled with a mixture of fear and relief. But seeing Shen Qingqiu safe beneath her, she felt reassured, although her palm touched something wet—Shen Qingqiu was crying.

This made Xiao Muyu even more at a loss. She quickly whispered, “I’ll let you go, but don’t make a sound. I saw a wedding procession on my way here. They should be arriving soon. Don’t panic, follow me, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Xiao Muyu’s words struck Shen Qingqiu like a thunderbolt. Even after Xiao Muyu let go of her, she didn’t react immediately.

It wasn’t until Xiao Muyu wiped her tears and helped her up that she regained her senses and asked clearly, “You mean you saw the wedding procession of Lord Baihe?”

Xiao Muyu nodded, then made a silencing gesture. The sound of the suona had stopped at the Shen family’s gate.

Xiao Muyu’s heart raced even faster. She quickly checked her cards—she had used up the three uses of her mask, the stopwatch was unusable, so the only things left for self-defense were the revolving lantern and the bronze sword Shen Qingqiu had insisted she keep. Shen Qingqiu’s memory hadn’t returned, making the situation very disadvantageous for them.

“Did you hear the suona?” Xiao Muyu asked Shen Qingqiu in a low voice. Shen Qingqiu looked bewildered and scared, shaking her head.

Xiao Muyu was surprised—Shen Qingqiu couldn’t hear it? Was it because her memory hadn’t returned?

But there was no time to ponder this. She had to wait for the so-called Lord Baihe to come in, and tonight, she would make him pay a price.

Strangely, after a moment’s pause, the suona moved away.

This puzzled Xiao Muyu. If they weren’t after Shen Qingqiu, why stop at the Shen family’s gate? Was the target someone else tonight, with Shen Qingqiu as the next target?

The suona sounds faded into the distance, drifting in the quiet night. Xiao Muyu frowned—if they weren’t after Shen Qingqiu, that was a relief. However, regardless of whether Shen Qingqiu was targeted, they couldn’t remain uninvolved. This was a challenge they had to solve to pass the level. Even though it was dangerous, Xiao Muyu didn’t want to miss this perfect opportunity tonight.

She glanced at Shen Qingqiu, who clung to her like a quail, with soft affection in her eyes.

Since entering the dungeon, Shen Qingqiu had always been the one charging ahead, protecting her. She had never seen her so scared and pitiful. Xiao Muyu found it both amusing and endearing, whispering, “Don’t be afraid, they’re leaving. Tonight, they might not be after you. Stay hidden in the room. Do you have the amulet?”

Shen Qingqiu bashfully let go, nodding and taking out the amulet, silently handing it to Xiao Muyu.

Xiao Muyu accepted the amulet, feeling it warm in her hand. It seemed her suspicion was correct—those things had gotten very close to Shen Qingqiu.

“The amulet heats up when something unclean approaches, warning you. I have something important to do. Keep this with you, and I’ll be back as soon as I finish.”

Without explaining why she was there, Xiao Muyu handed the amulet back to Shen Qingqiu and prepared to leave.

Shen Qingqiu grabbed her clothes tightly, breathing rapidly, “You’re going alone to follow those ghosts?”

Under the moonlight, Xiao Muyu could vaguely see Shen Qingqiu’s face, pale and anxious, her brows tightly knitted in disapproval.

“I have something very important to do and must go. Don’t worry, I have ways to protect myself.” After speaking, Xiao Muyu tried to pull Shen Qingqiu’s hand away.

Shen Qingqiu’s expression turned resolute, her fear overridden by determination. She held on tightly, her tone firm, “No matter how important, I won’t let you go alone. Either don’t go or take me with you.”

Xiao Muyu was stunned. She looked carefully at Shen Qingqiu—still the innocent look, no memory regained. Yet, she was deeply moved and touched.

A sudden thought surged in Xiao Muyu’s mind, but she suppressed it. With Shen Qingqiu unwilling to let go, Xiao Muyu had no choice but to nod and take her along.

Held in Xiao Muyu’s arms, Shen Qingqiu’s face turned red with embarrassment as they climbed over the wall.

As the wind hit her outside, she calmed down, not understanding her earlier insistence. But she had strongly felt that if Xiao Muyu went out alone, she would regret it.

The outer wall of the Shen family was higher from the outside than from the inside. As a delicate woman, Shen Qingqiu felt intimidated by the height.

Xiao Muyu looked up at her with open arms, whispering, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll catch you.”

Even though Shen Qingqiu was different from before, Xiao Muyu still had immense patience with her.

Knowing the urgency, Shen Qingqiu closed her eyes and leaped down, landing steadily in Xiao Muyu’s arms.

The suona was now very distant. Xiao Muyu led Shen Qingqiu carefully along the street, following the sound. Though it seemed far, Xiao Muyu remained vigilant.

Shen Qingqiu was nervous and full of doubt, “I can’t see anything here. Is the suona still playing? I can’t hear anything.”

Xiao Muyu frowned, “I don’t know why you can’t hear it, but I still can, though I can’t see the procession.”

Since they had entered the Shen family home, Xiao Muyu wasn’t sure if they were still on this street, so she followed the sound.

As they reached a crossroad, both stopped almost simultaneously.

Under the moonlight, they saw a stretch of shimmering water extending southward, some parts dark, others glistening under the moonlight.

They had taken another street.

At that moment, the suona stopped. Xiao Muyu felt something was wrong and immediately stopped, whispering to Shen Qingqiu, “The suona stopped.”

In fact, Shen Qingqiu had not heard any sound from the beginning. She found it strange. Normally, if someone dragged you out in the middle of the night saying they saw ghosts, you’d think they were crazy. Yet she had followed Xiao Muyu without question. She used to think Xiao Muyu was the one with a damaged brain, but now it seemed she was the one with issues.

She watched Xiao Muyu nervously, and then, she actually heard the suona, coming closer quickly.

“I hear it,” Shen Qingqiu’s heart clenched, her face turning pale. Hearing suona and drums at night wasn’t festive but ominous.

Xiao Muyu also realized the procession was moving faster. The suona had sounded festive earlier, but now it was low and mournful, echoing eerily in the deserted street, truly terrifying Shen Qingqiu.

“Isn’t it a wedding procession? Why does it sound like funeral music?” Shen Qingqiu trembled.

Xiao Muyou said nothing, pulling Shen Qingqiu to hide at the corner of a wall, half-holding her against it, covering her mouth, and shaking her head, fearing she might scream.

Shen Qingqiu gave her a wide-eyed look to let go, but Xiao Muyu refused. Shen Qingqiu quickly lost the will to struggle as she saw two faint shadows cast on the ground, distorted by the moonlight.

The silhouettes were very strange, with stiff lines. Soon, the owners of those shadows appeared.

These two figures moved rigidly, walking like marionettes, hands in a fixed position as if playing the suona.

As they fully emerged into the moonlight, Xiao Muyu squinted to see clearly. Her heartbeat quickened, and she felt Shen Qingqiu gasp in shock, the sound noticeable even through her hand.

Xiao Muyu was equally stunned. It was impossible for two wedding processions to appear, yet the two suona players had turned into paper figures!

Two paper figures dressed in red had uneven colors, as if someone had hastily smeared cinnabar on them.

They looked life-sized, their ghastly pale faces painted with exaggerated features, with heavy blush on their cheeks and blood-red lips split open. Their narrow eyes, combined with their other features, appeared to be smiling, but there was an eerie aura about them that made it impossible to look at them directly.

Following closely behind were two more paper figures, walking stiffly like wooden puppets, with smiling eyes looking forward, holding up wooden plaques.

This scene was exactly what Xiao Muyu had seen before, but this time, instead of only seeing the right plaque, she could see the left one too, which read “Funeral.”

All four paper figures looked very similar, but Xiao Muyu noticed that each had bells tied around their waists, jingling as they moved.

Instinctively, she looked at their waists. The figure holding the “Funeral” plaque had a black bell hanging from its waist.

Xiao Muyu tried to look for the bells on the other three figures. She only managed to see the waist of the paper figure blowing a suona horn on the left, but as it quickly passed by, she couldn’t see the color of its bell.

The protagonist of this wedding—the groom—finally appeared. However, the groom was not a paper figure; he was riding a paper-mache horse that looked lifelike, but its eyes were crudely drawn, making it seem out of place.

He wore a red wedding robe with a large red flower on his chest, but his head was turned backward, as if looking at his bride, so Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu couldn’t see his face.

Just as the groom was about to disappear from view, he finally turned his head.

At that moment, Shen Qingqiu’s head jerked back, her eyes closed tightly, almost letting out a sob.

Xiao Muyu’s heart, hardened by countless experiences, still felt a chill at the sight. The once-handsome groom’s face was swollen and bloated, resembling a large steamed bun soaked in water.

His eyes bulged out, lips turned outward, looking like they were about to burst from over-inflation—a terrifying and nauseating sight.

What made Xiao Muyu’s skin crawl even more was that after Shen Qingqiu moved, the groom suddenly stopped, then slowly turned his head, his horrifying eyes fixed on the left side of the street.

At the same time, the suona music stopped, and the sound of dripping water could be heard. Water dripped down the groom’s legs onto the stone pavement, though the paper-mache horse showed no fear of getting wet.

Xiao Muyu held Shen Qingqiu tightly against the wall, both of them holding their breath, not daring to breathe.

Time stretched out agonizingly, the sound of dripping water clearly ringing in their ears, almost like a death knell, heightening their tension to the extreme.

Just when Shen Qingqiu couldn’t take it anymore, the suona music resumed, and the groom, stiffly nudging the horse, moved forward with the procession.

Xiao Muyu exhaled a long, slow breath, her limbs weak. She was about to peek out when Shen Qingqiu clutched her waist, shaking her head in terror, eyes fixed on the ground.

Following her gaze, Xiao Muyu felt a chill down her spine. What she hadn’t noticed before was now clear: a shadow had fallen on the street in front of them—something was approaching!

Moreover, Xiao Muyu smelled a strange scent. Realizing what it was made her heart nearly stop—it was the smell of paste mixed with ink, indicating a paper figure was approaching.

Holding their breath, they wished they could disappear into the wall. Finally, after the paper figure took a few steps forward, its feet came into view, then it turned and followed the procession.

After the paper figure left, Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu waited a while longer. When the suona music was distant, they cautiously stepped out.

The procession was now mostly gone, with only the sedan chair and the paper figures behind it still visible. The eight paper figures carrying the sedan chair were burly, almost like real people. Xiao Muyu noticed the poles of the sedan chair swayed up and down as they moved—someone was inside.

As they were about to disappear, the paper figure at the rear turned its head again. Luckily, Xiao Muyu was on guard and quickly pulled back.

She then noticed something strange about this paper figure. The entire bridal procession’s paper figures were dressed in red, but this one was pure white, wearing straw shoes instead of cloth ones, and had a hemp rope around its waist.

Shen Qingqiu, exhausted, sat on the ground, her face pale, lips trembling.

Her fear-filled eyes stared blankly at Xiao Muyu, her voice shaking, “He… he’s in mourning. That outfit is for a funeral.”

The author has something to say: It’s finally starting. This part will test your language skills, but not yet. Haha, my mom is here, so I can let loose.

White rice two bowls, Fuxuan, 44939024 one.