Chapter 72: Portrait of the Bride
Ji Li felt an almost tangible, dense aura of Yin surrounding him.
He was inside the flower-covered bridal sedan, yet the small space was completely filled with red.
In his eyes, the red appeared as deep and vivid as fresh blood.
The silk curtains swayed with the wind, like a dancing waterfall of crimson.
His left pinky began twitching uncontrollably again—a clear warning.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed a dark figure sitting beside him.
His body's instincts screamed: it was a ghost.
Taking a deep breath, he turned sharply—but the moment he saw the figure, he froze in shock.
The occupant of the sedan was neither living nor dead.
It was a painting.
The painting stood roughly a meter tall and forty centimeters wide, framed in vermilion. It was positioned sideways, leaving just enough space for Ji Li to enter without crowding.
Ji Li never expected the sedan's occupant to be a painting.
As he examined it, his astonishment deepened.
The painting depicted a woman.
She wore a phoenix crown and a flowing red robe, seated on a wooden chair, resembling a bride awaiting her wedding.
The detail was lifelike, vivid. In poor lighting, without prior expectation, one could easily believe a real woman sat beside him.
Ji Li's suspicion grew. He retrieved a flashlight from his bag, reaching toward the canvas.
The painting's surface was slightly rough, the ink faded in places, indicating it was old. The wooden frame bore scratches and dents, suggesting it wasn't a household decoration.
Focusing on the woman in the painting, it became clear: she was a bride, captured before her wedding.
Her face, partly obscured by red veils, was indistinct. But Ji Li noticed her hands resting on her lap—they were unnaturally pale. Despite the painting's dark red background, there was no hint of the color or warmth of a living person.
'Could she… have already been dead when painted?'
The third persona, a constant presence within Ji Li, voiced this bold speculation.
Ji Li's face darkened. He turned off the flashlight and covered the painting with a canvas.
Sitting in the sedan, he murmured thoughtfully:
"From the outside, the sedan is heavy. The bearers seem strained. But inside, it's only a painting. That can only mean one thing…"
'What?'
"This painting is the supernatural entity."
It was a highly likely conclusion. Ji Li pressed his twitching pinky, confirming the presence of a ghost inside the sedan. The painting, as the sole object, was the most suspicious.
Yet the mission had barely begun. If the painting was indeed a ghost, it seemed unusually early to appear.
At that moment, Ji Li felt the sedan shift beneath him, losing balance.
"The sedan is moving again!"
He braced himself, lifting the curtain.
Nearby were the bearers in red robes, restarting the sedan's motion. A little further away, the chaos of red and white began.
The funeral attendants had completely mixed with the wedding procession, the two merging into one, indistinguishable, moving in the same direction.
At the very front, he saw the black coffin.
This time, the coffin led the way, wobbling deliberately as if guiding the procession with intent.
Ji Li's suspicion grew.
The red-and-white clash had apparently ended.
As he suspected, the intended collision was never the processions themselves—it was meant for the shop sraff.
Ji Li's eyes darkened as he surveyed the scene, just as he reached for his phone to check if he could contact the others.
Suddenly, Ji Li's gaze fixed on the four men carrying the coffin, walking at the front…
These four were different from everyone else in white and red robes.
The others moved like lifeless puppets, expressionless and stiff.
But the four carrying the coffin stepped cautiously, glancing left and right as if observing something.
'It's Tongguan! Yu Guo! Fang Shenyan! And the slender one at the back… Chang Nian?!'
The third persona, seeing the four bearers, realized they had somehow been swapped with the shop sraff. His mind struggled to process the sudden shift.
The four had completely changed attire, now dressed in funeral garments, acting as pallbearers leading the procession forward.
Beside them rode a tall figure on a white horse.
He wore a white robe and seemed to be the leader of the funeral procession, now guiding the pallbearers, walking alongside Tongguan and the others to indicate the route.
Ji Li slowly lowered the sedan curtain, once again focusing on the canvas-covered painting beside him. He was pondering one question:
Were these two vast processions the work of the ghost within the sedan, or orchestrated by something else?
It was clear that something was deliberately guiding them to a specific location.
Tongguan and the others had no choice—they, like Ji Li, were likely replaced by supernatural forces the moment their eyes closed.
But Ji Li's situation was unique; he retained a considerable degree of freedom.
Even the bridal sedan could move at his will.
What concerned him now was weighing the benefits of moving versus staying still.
He still didn't know whether the red-and-white clash was a hotel ploy or the manipulation of a supernatural entity.
But either way, since he had been placed alone inside the sedan, he had the right to choose.
"Move… or stay…"
'No, there's someone in the coffin!'
Just as Ji Li hesitated, the third persona offered insight in his mind.
'The coffin's shaking has clearly increased, but Tongguan and the others don't appear fatigued. Even Chang Nian seems unaffected. This suggests that the object inside the coffin isn't excessively heavy. It may not even be a person—but a coffin is designed to hold one. That's my best guess.'
The analysis made Ji Li focus on the front once more.
Everything matched the third persona's deduction, and then Ji Li had a sudden realization.
"The missing bride! Everyone else has appeared, but she hasn't. Could the extra weight in the coffin be her—the slender woman?"
You can read Eerie Overseer ahead by 50+ chapters ad-free and for free at htt ps://ravenarchives. com/book/eerie-overseer]. Bulk uploads are a bit tricky, so updates here might be irregular, but they'll keep coming.