The night in the Chen family compound was as thick and heavy as an inkstone of ink that couldn't be dissolved.
The female ghosts, who had just been furious and ready to tear down the ancestral hall, now seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall, letting out mournful cries.
A black, malevolent aura surged from the direction of the ancestral hall. This wasn't ordinary yin wind; it was the **ancestral rule** accumulated by the Chen family over centuries of cannibalism and blood-drinking.
The malevolent aura had a physical form.
It transformed into countless black tentacles, rebinding and dragging the newly freed female ghosts back into the bottomless mansion.
"Unfaithful to women...kill without mercy..."
"Breaking the rules...drowning in a pig cage..." The deep, aged roar, seemingly from the depths of the earth, shook the roof tiles.
The red lanterns in the courtyard instantly turned a ghastly green.
Hundreds of paper effigies suddenly came to life. Their cheeks flushed a deep crimson, and wielding mourning clubs, chains, and ghost-head knives, they moved with stiff yet orderly steps, closing in on Suochun Garden.
This was the true BOSS.
Not the Zombie King, nor the Ghost Bride.
But the mansion itself, the monster embodied by feudal ethics.
"Looks like the reasoning is over." Shen Qingqiu stood on the steps, watching the approaching army of paper effigies.
She sighed softly, raising her hand to remove the silver needle from her hair bun.
Her cascading black hair fell loose, dancing wildly in the eerie wind.
"Seventeen."
"Here."
"They want to celebrate, they want to see the bride." A chilling smile curled at the corners of Shen Qingqiu's lips, her golden eyes burning with a frenzied fighting spirit.
"Then let them see."
She stretched out her hand, grabbing at the air.
[Universal Interface · Matter Recombination] [Appearance Loading: Phoenix Coronet and Wedding Robe (Combat Version)]
*Whoosh—* A fiery red light enveloped her.
When the light faded, her cheongsam was gone.
In its place was an extremely luxurious, yet chillingly powerful, crimson wedding gown.
This gown was no ordinary silk; it was woven from the red code she had created in the cyber world. The skirt stretched for several meters, embroidered not with mandarin ducks playing in the water, but with golden dragons coiled among clouds.
The jewels on her phoenix coronet were miniature floating cannons, and the jade belt at her waist was a high-energy shield generator.
She was like an empress reborn from the ashes, beautiful in a domineering, sharp way.
"Am I beautiful?"
She turned her head, looking at Seventeen behind her.
Seventeen's breath caught in his throat for a moment.
His purple eyes reflected that touch of red—the highest definition of "beauty" in his core database.
"Beautiful." His voice was hoarse, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"Want to…hide."
"Can't hide anymore." Shen Qingqiu waved her hand, her wide red sleeves billowing a fragrant breeze.
She drew a folding fan from her sleeve, its unfolded surface gleaming with the cold light of nano-cutting blades.
"Since it's a ghost marriage, there must be a ceremony."
She looked at the dark, eerie shrine, her eyes full of provocation.
"Seventeen, do you dare accompany me…in the wedding ceremony?"
Seventeen smiled.
That smile melted away ice and snow, transformed demons into Buddhas.
He stepped forward, blocking Shen Qingqiu's path.
He hadn't changed his clothes; he was still wearing that black robe. But he raised his right arm, the one adorned with stars.
Click, click.
The sound of mechanical transformation rang out.
The hand didn't turn into a gun; instead, it extended and reassembled infinitely, finally transforming into a two-meter-long, pitch-black, starlight-bladed broadsword.
Blade Name: [Slaying Evil].
"I am your groom." Seventeen held the blade in one hand, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground, drawing a spark.
"I'll clear this wedding."
...
"The auspicious hour has arrived—!!!" The surviving paper matchmaker, hiding in the shadows, let out a piercing scream.
Boom!
Hundreds of paper figures launched their attack simultaneously.
A rain of mourning sticks and chains, like a white storm, crashed down on the two figures, one in red and one in black.
Seventeen moved.
Instead of retreating, he advanced, meeting the white rain of death with a single strike.
"First bow to Heaven and Earth!" Shen Qingqiu's clear voice rang out on the battlefield.
Seventeen's blade, in sync with her voice, slashed upwards fiercely.
Swish—!
A ten-zhang-long black blade aura, accompanied by the sound of exploding stars, soared into the sky.
This strike did not bow to Heaven, but cleaved the heavens.
The paper effigies, white lanterns, and even the thick, dark clouds overhead were all neatly sliced in two by this single stroke.
Moonlight streamed down once more.
Paper scraps flew, like a grand rain of white blossoms.
Seventeen stood amidst the rain of blossoms, his black robes fluttering in the wind.
He didn't turn back, but simply held the knife horizontally in front of him, protecting the red figure behind him.
"Second Bow to the Ancestors!"
Shen Qingqiu stepped forward, her footsteps treading on the scattered paper scraps.
The folding fan in her hand flew out like a red blood droplet, tracing deadly arcs through the air, reaping the heads of those who escaped.
Her gaze was fixed on the ancestral hall shrouded in black mist directly ahead.
There, the ancestors of the Chen family were enshrined—the **"Ancestors"** of this copy.
"Roar—!" The doors of the ancestral hall exploded open.
Countless black tentacles stretched out, the resentment of successive patriarchs, seeking to strangle the unorthodox couple.
Seventeen snorted coldly.
He gripped his sword with both hands and leaped high into the air.
Behind him, a three-headed, six-armed mechanical avatar vaguely appeared in the void.
[Xingtian - Mountain-Splitting Stance.]
"This ancestral hall is unworthy of my bow."
"Collapse!"
Rumble—!!!
The massive broadsword, carrying immense force, slammed heavily onto the roof of the ancestral hall.
In that instant, it was as if an earthquake had struck.
The ancestral hall, representing centuries of authority and oppressing countless women, crumbled instantly under Seventeen's blade, like paper.
Bricks and tiles shattered, beams and pillars broke.
The black tentacles, scorched by the power of the stars, let out a shrill scream before dissipating into wisps of smoke.
Amidst the ruins, only a massive, black memorial tablet remained standing.
Inscribed upon it were two blood-red characters: [Cannibalism].
Shen Qingqiu stepped forward.
She looked at the tablet, her eyes devoid of pity.
She stretched out her embroidered shoe and slammed it hard into the tablet.
*Thud.*
The tablet fell to the ground, shattering in two.
"The cannibalistic rule is broken."
She coldly pronounced her verdict.
...At this moment, the entire Chen family compound was reduced to ruins.
The paper effigies were all dead, the zombie king had vanished into thin air, even the ancestral hall had collapsed.
Only this newlywed couple remained in the world.
Seventeen sheathed his long sword.
His long robe was stained with a little dust, but his purple eyes remained clear.
He walked to Shen Qingqiu, gazing at her fiery red wedding dress.
"Qingqiu."
His voice trembled slightly, a mixture of excitement and reverence.
"There's one last step." Shen Qingqiu looked at him.
Surrounded by ruins, beneath her feet lay shattered memorial tablets.
This was perhaps the most rudimentary, and also the most extravagant, wedding scene in the world.
But her heart was fuller than ever before.
"Mm." Shen Qingqiu nodded, her eyes sparkling, more radiant than a starry sky.
"Husband and wife… bow to each other."
She didn't say it aloud.
She only murmured it in her heart.
The two faced each other and slowly bowed.
On this eerie, ghostly ruin, after this baptism of blood and fire.
They bowed deeply to each other.
This bow was not for gods or Buddhas, not for heaven and earth.
It was only for the person before her.
It was only for this love that had transcended life and death, transcended dimensions, blossomed amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Buzz—
Just as the two rose,
the Reincarnation Watch on Shen Qingqiu's wrist suddenly emitted a dazzling golden light.
[A closed loop of "causality" detected.]
[Hidden Quest Triggered: Ghost Marriage (True End)]
[Quest Objective: In this despairing world, forge a sincere contract.]
[Status: Completed.]
[Reward: Special Item—Nun-Binding Wine (Soul-Binding Liquid)] An ancient jade cup, carved with dragon and phoenix patterns, appeared out of thin air between the two.
The cup did not contain wine.
But rather, a pool of pale golden liquid emitting a strange fragrance.
"This is…" Seventeen looked at the cup, instinctively sensing the extremely powerful soul energy contained within.
"It's a gift from the Supreme God." Shen Qingqiu smiled.
She picked up the jade cup and held it to Seventeen's lips.
"Drink it."
"This is the lock that completely binds our souls together…" Seventeen did not hesitate.
He took Shen Qingqiu's hand and drank half of it.
Then, he did not return the cup to her.
Instead, he leaned down and kissed her lips.
Half of the golden wine, through that kiss, flowed into her mouth.
Boom!
A warm current instantly coursed through her body.
Shen Qingqiu felt as if her soul had been scalded, followed by a strange sensation.
She could clearly feel Seventeen's presence.
Not through data, not through his eyes.
But… within her soul.
His joys and sorrows, every heartbeat (core pulse), were synchronized with hers.
[Soul Binding: Successful.]
[From this day forward, we will share life and death, inseparable.]
"The ceremony is complete." Seventeen released her, his forehead pressed against hers, his purple eyes filled with intoxication.
"My lady."
He called out.
Shen Qingqiu's cheeks flushed, breathtakingly beautiful against her red wedding dress.
"My husband."
She responded softly.
The surrounding ruins began to blur.
The terrifying Fengmen Village was collapsing, turning into countless data fragments.
This was a sign of dungeon completion and imminent teleportation.
But amidst those bizarre and fantastical fragments,
that splash of red became an eternal stillness.
Dressed in crimson, the glint of blades reflecting the nuptial cup.
Treading upon the bones of an old era, amidst the wails of vengeful ghosts, they completed the grandest, and most romantic… god-slaying wedding.