Chapter 77: Awakening The Bone Bride
"I’ll... go check the kitchen."
Shen Yu forced the words through clenched teeth.
The moment he agreed, the murderous intent radiating from the stone creature wrapped around his back paused. The rapidly falling favorability value stopped declining, hovering just above the point where it would become irredeemable.
Without another choice, Shen Yu staggered toward the kitchen on the left side of the courtyard.
Every step felt unbearably heavy.
The child clinging to his chest smiled innocently.
The stone creature behind him tightened its grip around his neck like a python.
"Big Brother..."
"I want to eat..."
"You promised..."
Its cold whisper brushed against his ear.
"I know."
Shen Yu answered softly.
"I’m going."
The villagers watched him without blinking.
Dozens...
Hundreds...
Perhaps even thousands of dead eyes followed his every movement.
Lucian clenched her fists.
"Shen Yu..."
She wanted to help, but the moment she stepped forward, several stone faces immediately turned toward her.
She froze.
If she interfered recklessly...
She might trigger another trap.
Mohan merely leaned back in his chair.
His expression was one of complete confidence.
"Serves him right."
"I told him long ago."
"If he’d simply offered a piece of his own flesh like we did, none of this would’ve happened."
Taishan remained silent beside him.
His regenerated chest still carried faint pink scars where chunks of flesh had been carved away.
He glanced toward Shen Yu.
For a brief moment...
His fingers twitched.
But eventually...
They relaxed.
He lowered his head once more.
...
Shen Yu finally reached the kitchen entrance.
The instant he crossed the threshold—
His footsteps halted.
His pupils contracted violently.
The scene before him almost made his stomach revolt.
The kitchen was enormous.
Dense black smoke curled beneath the rafters.
Several chefs dressed in spotless white robes worked mechanically before gigantic iron stoves.
Yet the fuel feeding those blazing fires...
Wasn’t wood.
It was corpses.
Rotting human limbs.
Broken rib cages.
Half-decayed torsos crawling with fat white maggots.
Human skulls whose empty sockets still seemed to carry lingering terror.
Workers expressionlessly hacked apart the remains before tossing them into the roaring furnace.
Crack!
Crunch!
Pop!
Burning fat hissed beneath the flames.
Rotting flesh blackened almost instantly.
The overwhelming smell of blood mixed with burning grease filled every corner of the room.
Shen Yu instinctively covered his mouth.
"...What kind of nightmare..."
His voice barely escaped.
Meanwhile...
Above the blazing furnace rested an enormous black cauldron.
Inside floated countless pieces of bright red meat.
A chef stirred the pot lazily.
As the spoon passed through...
The meat rapidly transformed.
Bright crimson flesh became pale funeral paper.
Blood-soaked muscle became folded paper offerings.
Even the porcelain bowls gradually folded themselves into yellow spirit money.
Within seconds...
Everything inside the cauldron had transformed into the paper dishes currently being served throughout the village.
Another chef shouted numbly,
"Next dish."
Immediately...
Another worker threw a severed human arm into the fire beneath the pot.
The flames roared higher.
Shen Yu’s face turned pale.
"So..."
"The fuel creates the food..."
"But the food is only an illusion."
His heartbeat accelerated.
This wasn’t cooking.
It was some grotesque ritual.
Suddenly—
Cold fingers wrapped tightly around his throat.
The stone creature had become impatient.
"Big Brother..."
"I want food."
"I want food!"
Its voice transformed from childish innocence into hysterical madness.
Its grip tightened.
Shen Yu stumbled forward another step.
"I..."
Before he could even finish speaking—
Every person inside the kitchen stopped moving.
Absolute silence descended.
Then...
Every single chef slowly turned around.
Creak...
Creak...
Creak...
Their lifeless eyes landed on Shen Yu simultaneously.
Boom!
An unbearable pressure descended upon him.
His nose immediately began bleeding.
Warm blood dripped onto the floor.
His ears rang violently.
His vision blurred.
Blood flowed from the corners of his eyes.
His lips split open.
Even his ears began leaking crimson streams.
"What..."
"...is happening..."
His body suddenly felt unbearably heavy.
His skin wrinkled rapidly.
Dark patches appeared beneath his flesh.
The smell of decay rose from his own body.
Tiny white maggots seemed to crawl beneath his skin.
His breathing became increasingly difficult.
Only then did Shen Yu finally understand.
"It isn’t..."
"...the kitchen."
"It’s..."
"The gaze."
"As long as they acknowledge your existence..."
"You become fuel."
His entire body trembled.
If he stepped inside...
He would become another corpse feeding the furnace.
He immediately stopped advancing.
He didn’t dare move another inch.
Unfortunately...
The stone creature behind him had no intention of waiting.
With a loud crack...
The tombstone attached to its body detached completely from Shen Yu’s back.
It crashed heavily onto the ground.
The creature itself finally crawled free.
Its gray body wrapped around Shen Yu’s neck.
Two stone arms tightened mercilessly.
"Big Brother!"
"Where’s my food?"
"You promised!"
"You lied!"
Its shrill scream echoed throughout the courtyard.
Shen Yu’s airway closed.
His face rapidly turned purple.
His feet left the ground.
He struggled desperately to pry apart the stone fingers.
They didn’t budge.
"Shen Yu!"
Lucian finally rushed over.
She grabbed the stone creature with both hands.
"Let him go!"
No matter how hard she pulled...
It remained completely attached.
As though fused with Shen Yu’s body.
Nothing worked.
Mohan watched leisurely from his seat.
"I warned him."
"I’ve already shown everyone the correct method."
"You pay with flesh."
"They become satisfied."
"But now?"
"He angered both the kitchen..."
"...and the tombstone child."
"He brought this upon himself."
Lucian glared at him furiously.
"You’re seriously just going to watch him die?"
Mohan crossed his arms.
"If he can’t survive something this simple..."
"Then he isn’t worth bringing along."
Those cold words made even Taishan frown slightly.
Yet...
He remained silent.
...
Shen Yu’s consciousness gradually blurred.
His vision darkened.
Every breath became agonizing.
He searched desperately for any clue.
Anything.
Anything at all.
His gaze swept across the courtyard.
The villagers.
The tables.
The lanterns.
The paper offerings.
Finally...
His eyes landed upon the crimson coffin resting inside the burial pit.
The bride.
Still lying silently beneath her scarlet veil.
A thought suddenly flashed across his mind.
Earlier...
The system had introduced her.
Bone Bride Yun Han.
Dislikes rough behavior.
Obsessed with literary refinement.
Literary refinement...
His clouded eyes brightened slightly.
Without hesitation...
He forced himself to speak.
His voice came out hoarse.
Yet every word echoed clearly across the silent courtyard.
"Only through hardship..."
"...does one discover true gold."
"Though battered by storms..."
"...the righteous heart remains unbroken."
"My body may grow old..."
"...but my resolve shall never weaken."
"Though poverty surrounds me..."
"...I shall never abandon my lofty ambition."
Every sentence resembled an ancient verse.
The courtyard gradually fell silent.
Even the villagers stopped chewing.
Lucian stared blankly.
"...Shen Yu?"
"What are you doing?"
Mohan burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Has he lost his mind?"
"He’s reciting poetry before dying?"
"Did he suddenly think ancient poems can kill ghosts?"
His laughter echoed loudly.
Yet...
As he laughed...
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
His smile slowly disappeared.
His pupils shrank.
"No..."
"Impossible..."
"If Shen Yu dies here..."
"...then whose voice did I hear in Future Echo?"
"In every simulation..."
"His voice survived."
"So how..."
"How can he die now?"
Cold sweat appeared on Mohan’s forehead.
For the first time...
Future Echo contradicted reality.
His confidence began cracking.
"What exactly..."
"...are you?"
He stared fixedly at Shen Yu.
Unable to understand.
Unable to predict.
Unable to calculate.
Then—
The entire courtyard trembled.
Buzz...
Buzz...
Buzz...
The earth shook violently.
Every villager simultaneously lowered their heads.
Even the grotesque stone creatures froze.
The crimson coffin at the center of the burial pit began shaking.
Its lid creaked open another inch.
Inside...
The motionless bride slowly sat upright.
Her scarlet wedding veil fluttered despite the absence of wind.
Beneath the veil...
Her hidden face slowly turned.
Not toward the villagers.
Not toward Mohan.
Not toward Lucian.
Her gaze settled directly upon Shen Yu.
The poetry hanging in the air had reached the only listener who truly mattered.
And for the first time since entering Twin Tomb Village...
Something inside the Bone Bride had awakened.
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