CG Chapter 166: The Mummer's Grin
It is a trivial yet fundamental truth that most mortals seem unable to comprehend. No, it is far worse. They intentionally overlook this truth, striving not to fracture their feeble dreams and aspirations.
When one attempts to repel and rise above their preordained fate, to defy their set role in the storyline, Fate pushes back. It presses down on one like the crushing weight of a thousand mountains until one surrenders, facing this unfair tyrant, or breaks from the long road.
The joy of Aretius was extinguished like a candle in the wind; as soon as his role shifted from that of a janitor to an immortal tutor, the story seemed to diverge violently from its original trajectory.
Standing in his place, his eyes shifted left and right as the surroundings changed in front of him.
The scenery warped, shifting from a heavenly-looking pavilion at the back pond into a suffocating, dark night, dimly lit by a cold moon.
Around him was only the pale jade light flickering from a few sparse red paper lanterns.
The residence was saturated with thick yin energy, a ghostly aura seeking to devour the life out of anyone who dared trespass.
This scene would have made any normal man tremble in terror. Instead, it made him feel assured that his prior conjecture was correct and that he hadn't stepped into the yellow springs just yet.
He sneered, his breath carrying a cold mockery, "Were my actions not to your liking? Yet, you can't do anything but throw a tantrum?"
Long before he considered stepping into such a cursed village, Aretius had collected stories and information on folklore and the unorthodox, bizarre, and odd.
Normally, Aretius wouldn't have set foot in this village until the scale of risk and benefit tilted. The danger should have outweighed the fortune after he obtained the additional information regarding the mission from Manager Li.
The only reason he had come here was that something else confirmed the risk wasn't as high as it seemed, if one knew how to deal with it, that was.
He remembered that passage: "Those who are blessed with what doesn't belong to this world are cursed to follow its rules. Under Heaven, all are equal, and as such, the oddities born from it are to follow them."
Returning to his thought, he shifted his focus to the current mission.
His eyes dropped, glimpsing what now looked to be the smooth hands of a young man; this wasn't the only thing that changed, however.
His garments transformed once more into auspicious, bright red robes with golden, flowery embroideries. The festive brilliance should have formed a stark contrast to the gloomy environment; instead, it only made the atmosphere feel even more bizarre.
This, however, didn't appear to affect him; that was until he realized that he seemed to have forgotten something. Where were the two kids who stepped foot into this village with him?
Once he realized the fracture in the plot, his eyes shone with bright light, as if he had finally begun grasping at a thin string.
This thought was interrupted by the cry of someone calling out to him, "Brother-in-law! Brother! We have been looking for you all around. Where have you been?"
A young man wearing a forest green robe smiled joyously at seeing Aretius. His face was filled with an expression so excessive that it felt painted on by a thing trying to imitate a human and a sworn brother. And for some reason, Aretius sensed that he actually knew this person.
"Where is your coffin?" he asked in a soft voice, wanting to test something.
Yet, the only reply he got was the puzzled look on the young man's face.
"Huh? Did you say something, brother-in-law?" He jerked his head at a strange, unnatural angle as he shouted, "No, it doesn't matter now. We need to hurry; it is time for the betrothal ceremony."
The moment he finished, Aretius began to hear the loud, grating, metallic reverberation of someone beating a gong with their full force without any rhyme or skill, sounding less like music and more like a funeral announcement.
"Brother, it is time! Time to..."
The young man spoke in a now malevolent, soft tone. A mischievous, unnoticeable smile appeared on his face for a fleeting moment before disappearing, leaving his sentence incomplete as if he too was hinting at something unorthodox.
There was the full moon, the pale jade lights from the red paper lanterns, the dissonant gong noise, and, more importantly, the bright red wedding garments.
At that moment, the only thing Aretius had on his mind was the thought of cursing Manager Li.
That damned Manager Li knew from the very beginning that he was stepping into a wedding, but not just any marriage, but a Ghost wedding.
The unfortunate truth was that he was the groom-to-be, and the brother he met just now was most likely none other than that kid Li Wuyou, who seemed to be lost in his role.
He guessed that Hong Gu was also here somewhere; she might even have been one of his sisters-in-law or even his mother-in-law.
The plot might not be able to harm them directly, but if it were able to keep them in their roles for long enough, or break them, then it would win, and they, too, would become part of the story, part of Wei Ji Village.
"One who walks by the river often gets their shoes wet."
Everyone he met here, from the maid to the younger master, might also be people who have lost themselves to the plot.
"Brother, my dear brother."
A smile that carried more depravity than any frown could.
He heard sudden creaks from the bushes and felt a chill going down his neck and through his spine, as if something or someone were grazing the back of his neck as they breathed next to him.
Aretius muttered once again to the one who held the pen, 'One who walks by the river often gets their shoes wet. Hehe! Are you trying to break me? Let's see where the story takes me. Let's see if I become your son-in-law or take what I want. I have already consumed the Ghost Wedding wine once and wouldn't mind sipping on it once more.'