Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

After hearing Shen Jingshu's words, Gu Yunzhou felt a little relieved, but he was still shaken.

With those words, he was essentially spared from certain death.

Li Beichen was completely relieved and immediately made arrangements to cancel all of Gu Yunzhou's schedules for the night. The two of them, along with Shen Jingshu, returned to Gu Yunzhou's private villa and waited for nightfall to break the deadlock.

As night deepened, the stars and moon disappeared, and the heavy darkness pressed down on the earth.

The villa of Gu Yunzhou was quiet and still. The warm lighting inside could not dispel the faint chill in the air.

Shen Jingshu sat on the edge of the bed, her expression calm: "Lie down and go to sleep. Just close your eyes and fall asleep as usual. There's no need to be afraid. No matter what you see or what happens in your dreams, don't take the initiative to perform the wedding ceremony, don't respond, and don't raise your hand."

"I will follow the path of your dreams and enter them with you to protect you and break this century-old illusion."

"Okay." Gu Yunzhou nodded emphatically, suppressing all the panic in his heart, and lay down and closed his eyes as instructed.

Having been plagued by nightmares for days, he was already mentally exhausted. After a short while, his breathing gradually became steady, and he fell into a deep sleep.

Li Beichen held his breath, staring nervously at his sleeping friend, then at Shen Jingshu who was sitting still.

Shen Jingshu slowly closed her eyes, her brows twitched slightly, and her consciousness instantly detached from her physical body, following the faint path of Gu Yunzhou's dream soul, and stepped into his dream.

……

Suddenly, the world spun around them, and the surrounding scenery abruptly changed.

The ancient suona and festive gong sounds filled my ears, noisy and jarring, yet carrying an indescribable eeriness and chill.

What lies before me is no longer a modern villa bedroom, but an old and secluded century-old mansion.

Red ribbons hung throughout the courtyard, and red lanterns were suspended high, creating a festive atmosphere for the wedding. However, the courtyard was desolate, the grass and trees were withered, and the red ribbons fluttered in the wind. The whole world was shrouded in a gray haze, with no sunlight. Beneath the celebration, there was only a chilling desolation and deathly silence.

The dream, which had repeated itself six times, has come again today as expected.

Gu Yunzhou, dressed in a modern suit, stood out awkwardly in the center of the antique wedding hall, his eyes vacant, his consciousness bound by a dream. He involuntarily followed the ancient etiquette and slowly rose to prepare to perform the kneeling ceremony.

Right in front of the wedding hall stood a slender figure in red.

The woman was dressed in a brightly colored retro wedding gown, with a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe. She had a slender figure, and her head was covered with layers of bright red veils. The mist swirled around her, making it impossible to see her face clearly.

A century of obsession, a century of waiting, tonight, the seventh night, is the day her soul-locking will be fulfilled.

The suona horns grew increasingly urgent, creating an extremely eerie atmosphere in the wedding hall.

Just as Gu Yunzhou was about to bow down—

A clear, cool, and serene girl's voice suddenly resounded throughout the entire illusion, piercing through all falsehood:

"A mere remnant soul of a hundred years dares to create illusions, bind the souls of the living, and force a marriage between the living and the dead?"

The moment the words were spoken, the red ribbons froze in mid-air!

The noisy music and ceremonial music stopped abruptly!

The entire century-old illusion fell into a deathly silence in an instant!

The bride in red, standing in the center of the wedding hall, suddenly froze, and a towering black mist and chilling resentment surged around her, instantly shrouding the originally festive illusion in a dark and malevolent wind.

She slowly, very slowly, turned her body.

Through the bright red veil, a pair of venomous and cold eyes stared intently at Shen Jingshu, who had suddenly intruded into the dream.

For a century, no one has ever broken her illusion, and for a century, no one has ever dared to interrupt her marriage ceremony.

This is the first time someone has broken in, someone has disrupted the situation, and someone has shattered her obsession.

A chilling, hoarse female voice echoed eerily in the empty wedding hall:

"Who... dares to disturb my wedding?"

Shen Jingshu stood in the illusion, her body protected by spiritual energy. Her white clothes were untouched by any evil, and her eyes were clear and fearless as she stared directly at the red-clad ghost before her.

"How can the living be imprisoned by evil spirits?"

"Your obsession is unyielding, your past is pitiful, yet you mistakenly take innocent living people as salvation, forcibly locking their souls and forcing them into marriage. Six nights of haunting dreams, seven days of soul-locking, harming lives, disrupting the order of Yin and Yang—"

"Today, I will shatter your century-old illusion, sever your obsession, and guide you to rebirth."

As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Jingshu raised her hand to form a seal, and a clear golden light suddenly exploded from her palm!

A blinding golden light instantly pierced through the thick fog and enveloped the entire mansion!

The red-clad female ghost's resentment surged, her wedding dress fluttered wildly without wind, and dark yin energy surged into waves as she frantically pounced on Shen Jingshu!

"I want a grand wedding... I want a perfect ending... No one can stop me!!"

A wave of yin energy, carrying a bone-chilling cold, rushed towards her, and the surrounding red silk transformed into sharp, malevolent energy, sweeping fiercely towards Shen Jingshu.

The red-clad female ghost's screams were shrill and mournful, filled with a century's worth of resentment and bitterness. The entire wedding illusion trembled violently and teetered on the brink of collapse.

Shen Jingshu's expression remained unchanged as her fingertips rapidly changed hand seals, forming a thick aura around her body that completely blocked the approaching Yin energy and malevolent aura, preventing them from getting close.

"A hundred years of loneliness, a marriage shattered. I know the bitterness in your heart, but you shouldn't use this as an excuse to burden innocent people." Her voice was clear and cold, each word echoing throughout the entire illusion. "Back then, you should have been accompanied by a good man, marrying in grand style. But on the eve of your wedding, tragedy struck, your beloved died unexpectedly. Heartbroken and desperate, you died in your wedding dress, your obsession trapped here for a hundred years, reliving the wedding ceremony every day, just to fulfill the unfinished marriage. Am I right?"

A single sentence reveals a century-old secret.

The woman in red trembled violently, the surging yin energy suddenly stopped, and tears silently streamed down her face beneath the veil. Her fierce anger subsided in an instant, leaving only endless sorrow and bitterness.

After a long silence, she spoke softly, her voice filled with vicissitude and loneliness: "That's right... I waited for him my whole life, longed for him my whole life, but in the end it was all for nothing. I'm not reconciled. I just want to find someone to accompany me to this wedding, to end this life's regret. I never intended to harm anyone..."

"But your actions have already violated the rules of Yin and Yang." Shen Jingshu slowly stepped forward, looking at her calmly. "You seek out someone whose fate is compatible with yours to enter their dreams, depleting their Yang energy day after day. On the seventh day, the soul-locking mechanism is formed, trapping the person alive in the illusion. How is this any different from harming someone and taking their life? Gu Yunzhou is a complete stranger to you, yet he suffers this undeserved calamity. How innocent he is."

The female ghost lowered her body, her malevolent aura gradually subsiding, her voice filled with bewilderment and helplessness: "I'm just too lonely. A hundred years have passed, and I've been alone in this empty house. I just can't take it anymore..."

Seeing that she had come to her senses and had no ill intentions, Shen Jingshu withdrew the golden light surrounding her and softened her tone: "When you are entangled in obsession, it is never others who are trapped, but yourself. That marriage that could not be completed is already in the past. Your beloved has already been reincarnated, drunk the Meng Po soup and forgotten his past life, and has already started a new life. You are clinging to a lost love and wasting a hundred years of your life. It is really not worth it."

"If you truly lock Gu Yunzhou's soul away today, not only will you fail to fulfill your wish, but you will also be tainted with heavy karma of killing, fall into the Avici Hell, never be able to be reborn, and have no chance of reincarnation."

Her words struck a chord deep within, completely waking the red-clad female ghost from her obsession.

She stood there, lost in thought, reflecting on her century of solitude and the near-fatal mistake she had made, her heart filled with regret.

At this moment, Gu Yunzhou, who was in the illusion, was already affected by the Yin energy. His consciousness became increasingly blurred, and his body swayed precariously. He was about to completely sink into it.

Shen Jingshu said no more, raised her hand and sent out a warm and gentle soul-transferring light into Gu Yunzhou's body to stabilize his scattered soul.

He then looked at the woman in red and said, "Let go of your obsessions and the past. I can send you to the underworld to find the traces of your former lover in the cycle of reincarnation, resolve your regrets, and then enter the cycle of reincarnation in peace to start over. This is much better than being trapped in this illusion."

The woman in red remained silent for a long time before slowly raising her hand and gently removing the bright red veil that she had worn for a hundred years.