My enemies became my companions

Chapter 685 Dark Marriage
Donggong Ruoshu looked around and finally caught a clue. She had never noticed it before, but now the more she looked, the clearer it became.

The candlelight flickered and lingered in the air, like murky amber, and the red of the room faded into a dull gray-black, like an old New Year's painting soaked in water.

Min Ning and Qin Qingluo's smiles were frozen; their lips curved perfectly, yet they were devoid of any vitality.

Chen Yi stood there, his eyes fixed on one spot, even the wrinkles on the hem of his clothes seemed to freeze.

It's so quiet here you can hear yourself... If ghosts have heartbeats, then this is probably the sound of a heartbeat.

But she didn't, so there was only deathly silence.

So the answer is clear, it's obviously...

A ghost marriage?!
The silly girl was shocked, and countless memories flashed through her mind.

Before the Pond of Wish Fulfillment, Donggong Ruoshu made a wish. The silly girl did not have the words "deep thought" in her dictionary. At that time, apart from fulfilling the Empress's entrustment, she made the wish on a whim. She did it as soon as she thought of it.

At that time, Donggong Ruoshu stared at her blurry reflection in the pool and had a premonition that the pool might really be a bit eerie, but nothing happened afterward, so she put it out of her mind.

After all, she's already a ghost, so even if she manages to seduce Chen Yi, he won't be able to get his hands on her.

The silly girl has always been so capricious, indifferent to everything.

Thinking back carefully, she realized that when she made the wish, she had only muttered to herself, "Next time he holds a wedding ceremony, I don't want to crawl under the bed again."

Who could have imagined... She looked around and saw bright red wedding candles, a hundred-son canopy, and a nuptial cup. Wedding rooms across the country, from the imperial family to ordinary people, were all roughly the same, and now they seemed strangely familiar.

Looking around, it all seemed perfect. Today was Chen Yi's second wedding, and there were three women in the bridal chamber. And she herself was there once again. Thinking of this, Donggong Ruoshu looked around the bridal chamber again and was startled.

What's wrong? You've become a ghost and you still want to have a ghost marriage with her?

Donggong Ruoshu murmured, "How terrifying!"

Donggong Ruoshu couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if she really had a ghost marriage with Chen Yi. One was a living person and the other was a dead ghost. What kind of situation would that be? Not to mention having children, they couldn't even have physical intimacy. If they touched each other, they would be transported to another world.

A thought pierced her confused mind like an icicle.

Chen Yi is a Taoist priest with the art of capturing souls and manipulating spirits; this is not difficult for him at all!
She didn't want to seduce him like that, otherwise everything would be over, and he wouldn't even spare the melon seeds even if she became a ghost!

The silly girl suddenly floated a few steps away, getting a little further away from the frozen Chen Yi.

The woman formed of white light, a pure and holy maiden, quietly "watched" her. The frozen, ignorant world around her rippled slightly, and her compassionate smile seemed to deepen.

“What you fear is not the form of a ghost marriage,” the ethereal voice of the Pure Saintess resonated directly in Donggong Ruoshu’s perception. “What you think about is nothing more than the word ‘joy’. Being by his side, you have a title and a place, you don’t need to hide, and you can be joyful all the time.”

Donggong Ruoshu was stunned. These words were like a needle, gently and skillfully piercing through the thoughts in her heart that she herself did not understand. She opened her mouth, wanting to refute, but no sound came out.

The Holy Maiden of Purity was surrounded by flowing white light, becoming increasingly hazy and holy, yet carrying an irresistible meaning: "Here, there is no ignorance, all thoughts are extinguished, and reality can be reshaped. Whatever you desire can be achieved."

As the words fell, the frozen, faded scene of the wedding room, like a reflection in water tossed with a pebble, began to distort and sway. The gray-black hues were stirred by an invisible force, and a strange, faint red tinge reappeared. The edges of the frozen figures of Min Ning and Qin Qingluo began to blur, as if they were about to melt into this reconstructed picture.

Donggong Ruoshu felt a tremendous, indescribable pulling force, which acted directly on her very existence.

She seemed to be forced into a pre-designed mold, under a plaque that read "Chen Yi's Ghost Wife".

She turned her head sharply to look at Chen Yi, who was still standing stiffly, oblivious to the dramatic changes around him. His brows furrowed very slightly in the shadow cast by his bangs.

When Donggong Ruoshu turned her head again, the hazy white light, along with her compassionate, smiling face, vanished silently into the frozen air, like a drop of water falling into the sea, as if ripples spreading outwards.
The scene suddenly shifted, and Min Ning and Qin Qingluo had disappeared.

The huge bridal chamber was suddenly left with only her... able to move, and the man with slightly furrowed brows, as if struggling with something.

Donggong Ruoshu wanted to rush to find someone, but was suddenly pulled back, and a warm hand gripped her wrist.

Turning around, Chen Yi, who had been standing frozen, was looking at her with a beaming smile.

The touch was so real it sent a shiver down her spine. She, a dead ghost, had actually been grabbed!

Donggong Ruoshu's face met a pair of smiling eyes.

Chen Yi had somehow broken free from his stiff stance and was now standing behind her, his eyebrows curved and the corners of his mouth turned up in a gentle smile she had never seen before.

But that smile, reflected against the deathly, eerie red and black background, only sent chills down her spine.

"You...you're awake?" Donggong Ruoshu's voice was shaky as she tried to pull her hand away, but the hand was held tightly.

Chen Yi's smile deepened, as if she had asked an extremely silly question. He naturally raised his other hand, his fingertips gently brushing her cool cheek: "What nonsense are you talking about? The timing is perfect. Although the guests have left, we have already paid our respects to the heavens and the earth."

He paused, his voice so gentle it could melt water, each word clear and distinct: "My wife."

The words "wife" struck Donggong Ruoshu like a thunderbolt.

She shuddered.

The eerie red hue around them seemed to have intensified, like dried blood.

The children's smiling faces embroidered on the Hundred Sons Canopy were stiff and lifeless, their eyes seemingly following her. The solidified candle wax piled up like pale bones. The nuptial cup lay quietly on the table, its rim gleaming with a cold light.

She felt a sudden dizziness, as if the ground beneath her feet was writhing, and the joyous wedding room had transformed into a bizarre and grotesque prison.

Chen Yi seemed oblivious to her fear, still smiling as he released her wrist and turned to pick up the wine jug on the table.

The amber wine was poured into the nuptial cup, the sound particularly jarring in the deathly silence. He picked up the cup and handed it to her, "Shu'er, I will make up for all the regrets I had in the capital today. Look, the red candles in the wedding hall, with heaven and earth as our witness, let us bow once more, this time just the two of us, shall we?"

(End of this chapter)