Chapter 74: Courting Another Man’s Bride?
In the eyes of Mohan and the others, Shen Yu simply walked through the village gate in his ordinary appearance.
Mohan froze.
"What... how?" he blurted. "How did you get in without offering anything?"
His composure shattered.
"Hey! Gatekeepers! Are you blind? He didn’t present a gift!"
He shouted at the two guards, but neither of them reacted.
The lean gatekeepers remained perfectly still. The eerie stone faces growing from their backs stared straight ahead, their carved mouths frozen into unsettling smiles, as though Shen Yu had always belonged there.
"...Damn it."
Mohan’s expression darkened.
"I’ve seen his livestream."
"Was that his talent? Did it evolve?"
His thoughts raced.
A high affinity with supernatural beings was already terrifying enough. If Shen Yu’s talent had truly advanced, then every ghost and monster he encountered would naturally treat him more favorably.
Mohan had simulated countless futures just to discover a safe method of entering Twin Tomb Village.
Yet Shen Yu...
...had simply walked inside.
His fists clenched until his knuckles turned white.
"What right does a rookie have..."
"What right?"
Grinding his teeth, Mohan turned away.
"Fine."
"I’ll watch you die with my own eyes."
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The sound of firecrackers echoed through the thick black mist.
The deeper the group ventured into Twin Tomb Village, the stranger the scenery became.
Every household displayed a white lantern hanging above its entrance.
Inside each lantern burned a crimson flame.
On the paper surface was a single blood-red character:
Happiness.
Shen Yu frowned.
"A white lantern symbolizes mourning..."
"A red lantern symbolizes marriage..."
"So what exactly is a white mourning lantern marked with the character for happiness?"
It felt as though the entire village celebrated a wedding and a funeral simultaneously.
The atmosphere was suffocating.
Lucian quietly moved beside Shen Yu.
"Did you notice something?"
"What?"
"Mohan."
She glanced toward the man walking ahead.
"He seems to know everything."
Shen Yu nodded slightly.
"I noticed."
"He expected every step except my entrance into the village."
"So whatever his ability is, it isn’t absolute."
Lucian lowered her voice further.
"I’ve heard rumors about him."
"He’s arrogant."
"The type who treats everyone else as expendable."
"Very similar to Yuji."
"I’ll keep an eye on him," Shen Yu replied.
The line of lanterns finally came to an end.
Before them stood an old courtyard enclosed by mud walls.
Its wooden gates were wide open.
Inside, an elderly couple sat smiling in the main hall as though welcoming honored guests.
In the middle of the courtyard was a freshly dug grave.
A crimson coffin rested inside.
Its lid had been removed.
Within the coffin lay a young man dressed in luxurious scarlet wedding robes.
His face was pale.
His breathing absent.
He was unmistakably dead.
Beside him lay another figure—
A woman wearing equally magnificent crimson bridal robes.
Unlike the corpse, however...
Her shoulders trembled.
She was alive.
Shen Yu’s pupils contracted.
"A living burial..."
Before anyone else could react, a familiar mechanical notification echoed inside his mind.
Ding!
A conquerable target has been detected.
Binding target...
Bone Bride: Yun Han
Appearance: ★★★★★ (97)
Height: 175 cm
Personality: Elegant, refined, highly educated.
Dislikes crude behavior and vulgar speech.
Current Affection: 10
Shen Yu stared blankly.
"...You’ve got to be kidding."
His mouth twitched.
"You’re telling me..."
"My next target..."
He looked at the terrified bride lying beside her dead groom.
"...is another man’s wife?"
He rubbed his forehead.
"This system really has no moral boundaries."
Before he could complain further, the system calmly added another line.
Mission Objective: Save the Bone Bride from the burial ceremony.
Shen Yu sighed.
"Well..."
"I suppose she technically isn’t married yet."
"That means I’m rescuing her..."
He paused for a moment before muttering under his breath,
"...not stealing someone else’s wife."
From somewhere inside the instance, the Ghost Bride Lily’s annoyed voice immediately rang out.
"Hmph."
"That’s exactly what every shameless thief says."
* * * * * *
Chapter 49: The Wedding Banquet
Shen Yu stared at the system notification in silence.
His gaze shifted from the unconscious bride...
...to the corpse lying beside her.
The corners of his mouth twitched.
"So..."
"Does this count as stealing someone else’s wife?"
He paused.
Looking at the groom’s lifeless face, he corrected himself.
"No."
"I’m stealing a corpse’s fiancée."
"...Sorry, brother."
"If you wake up later, I’ll explain."
Around the deep burial pit, dozens of banquet tables surrounded the open coffin.
It looked exactly like a joyous wedding feast.
Men.
Women.
Children.
Everyone laughed merrily as they toasted one another.
Nobody paid the slightest attention to the terrified woman lying beside the corpse.
If an outsider walked in...
They would genuinely believe a wedding celebration was taking place.
Only Shen Yu and the others knew...
This was a living burial.
"What exactly is this dungeon asking us to do?"
Since Twin Tomb Village had already descended into reality...
There were no system missions.
No beginner guidance.
No main quest.
Everyone had to discover the rules themselves.
That made every step far more dangerous.
The four of them remained standing outside the courtyard.
Suddenly—
An elderly man seated at the head table smiled warmly.
"Friends outside..."
"Why don’t you come in and have a seat?"
The cheerful atmosphere vanished instantly.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Swish!
Every single villager turned simultaneously.
Hundreds of pale eyes locked onto the four outsiders.
Not a single blink.
Not a single breath.
Then...
Something bulged beneath their backs.
Crack... Crack...
Dark stone tablets slowly pushed through their flesh.
Exactly like the two gatekeepers.
The carved faces upon those stone monuments began twisting violently.
"Come in..."
"...Come in..."
The smiling faces stretched farther and farther out of the stone.
Some had already extended grotesquely long necks.
Their mouths opened impossibly wide.
Watching this horrifying scene, Mohan’s face became pale.
"We have to enter."
"If we stay here..."
"...those things are going to crawl out."
He slowly closed his eyes.
Golden light flowed from his ears.
S-Rank Talent—Future Echo.
Unlike ordinary prediction abilities...
Future Echo couldn’t show complete visions.
It only allowed Mohan to overhear scattered fragments from possible futures.
Tiny pieces of dialogue.
Broken sounds.
He had to reconstruct the future from those fragments.
It was both powerful...
And horribly unreliable.
Before coming here, he had simulated countless possible teams.
Again and again...
He heard only screams.
Everyone died.
Only one combination allowed the future sounds to continue.
Shen Yu.
And Lu Xian.
That was why he had insisted on bringing them.
Not because he trusted them...
But because every future without them ended in silence.
Golden light flickered.
Wind rushed into Mohan’s ears.
Then—
A voice emerged.
"Sit down!"
"All of you sit down!"
"Damn it!"
"Who told you to point the fish head that way?!"
"AHHHH!!"
The sound ended abruptly.
Mohan suddenly opened his eyes.
His breathing quickened.
"I see..."
"The seating matters."
"The fish..."
"It can’t face a certain direction."
Although he hadn’t heard the entire future...
That single clue was enough.
He immediately activated Future Echo again.
Since he now knew one of the rules...
The future changed.
This time...
Another conversation reached his ears.
"This table doesn’t have a pig’s heart."
"No?"
"Junior."
"Do you have one?"
"No."
"...Then I’ll use yours."
Silence followed.
Mohan frowned.
He recognized that voice.
He had heard it before...
Inside Fei City’s Defense Department.
It belonged to someone completely unrelated to Twin Tomb Village.
"...Again."
Future Echo was like that.
Sometimes it revealed priceless information.
Sometimes...
It replayed fragments from futures that had already changed.
Or even memories that no longer mattered.
Grinding his teeth, Mohan forced the ability a third time.
Buzz...
A sharp ringing exploded inside his ears.
Blood slowly trickled from one nostril.
His face turned slightly pale.
Using Future Echo repeatedly carried an enormous burden.
Meanwhile, Shen Yu quietly watched everything from the side.
He had long noticed Mohan’s strange behavior.
He’s collecting information from the future...
But every time he changes the present...
The future changes too.
Meaning...
The more he relies on his talent...
The less reliable it becomes.
A faint smile appeared on Shen Yu’s lips.
"What an interesting ability."
"It gives him hope..."
"...while constantly moving the answer farther away."
Inside the Heart Cabin, Lily let out a soft laugh.
"He really believes he can outsmart fate."
Yang Jin folded her arms.
"Future prediction has always had limits."
"It only works..."
"...if the future refuses to change."
Shen Yu silently agreed.
His greatest advantage...
Had never been knowing the future.
It was that every action he took...
Created a future no one else could predict.
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