Chapter 80: Buried With The Bone Bride
The pressure on everyone’s backs grew heavier with each passing second.
"If we don’t stop them from burying the coffin," Mohan said through gritted teeth, "those things growing from our backs will completely replace us. But if we attack them..." He glanced at the grotesque stone arms wrapping around his body. "...our tombstone forms will awaken even faster. What kind of impossible situation is this?"
For the first time since entering Cemetery Village, genuine panic flashed across his face.
There had to be a way out.
There always was.
The future had never gone completely silent.
That meant someone would survive.
The grotesque figure protruding from the tombstone behind Mohan let out a shrill, childlike giggle as it crawled higher along his back, its stone arms wrapping around his shoulders like a parasite eager to be born.
His breathing became ragged.
"Taishan..." he said hoarsely. "Watch my back. I need to use Future Echo again."
Taishan nodded without hesitation.
Golden light flickered around Mohan’s ears.
Buzz.
The sounds of the courtyard faded.
The laughter...
The shovels striking earth...
The crying bride...
Everything dissolved into distant echoes.
Fragments of voices drifted through the endless darkness.
"Perhaps... the way to survive... isn’t stopping the burial..."
Mohan’s eyes widened.
That voice...
It wasn’t his own.
It belonged to Shen Yu.
"During the burial... there must be another condition..."
More voices overlapped.
"The courtyard... only the house on the right..."
"Hurry..."
The echo abruptly ended.
Mohan’s eyes snapped open.
"So that’s it..."
Without waiting another second, he shouted, "Everyone! The answer isn’t stopping the burial! Follow me! The house on the right must contain another survival condition!"
The moment the words left his mouth, he dashed toward the eastern room of the courtyard.
Taishan immediately followed.
Luxian hesitated only briefly before turning to run after them.
Only Shen Yu remained where he stood.
His sharp eyes swept across the entire courtyard.
The villagers.
The laughing stone figures.
The kitchen.
The wedding tables.
The coffin.
Something didn’t add up.
If escaping simply required entering the right-side house...
Then why had Yun Han helped him?
Why had she secretly sent him the red paper crane?
Why had her favorability increased?
His gaze settled on the crimson coffin buried halfway beneath the earth.
A realization flashed through his mind.
"...The bride."
His pupils contracted.
"No..."
"The real key isn’t the house."
"It’s the bride herself."
Shen Yu suddenly looked toward Lucian.
"If you trust me..."
His voice was calm despite the chaos around him.
"Come to the coffin."
Without another explanation, he sprinted toward the pit.
"Shen Yu!"
Luxian froze.
"What are you doing?"
She watched in disbelief as he ignored Mohan’s directions completely.
Was he really risking his life...
For another woman?
The closer Shen Yu approached the coffin, the heavier the burden on his back became.
Crack...
Crack...
Crack...
The tombstone embedded in his spine split farther apart.
The stone creature emerging from it had already crawled to his waist.
Its icy chin rested upon his shoulder.
Its lips stretched into a horrifying grin.
"You..."
"You will die."
"Everyone will die."
"No one escapes Cemetery Village."
Shen Yu’s expression remained cold.
"Shut up."
His feet landed inside the muddy burial pit.
The earth felt unnaturally soft, almost as though he were stepping on flesh instead of soil.
Just as he prepared to leap into the coffin—
CLANG!
A silver shovel descended from above.
The force behind it could have split his skull in half.
"What are you doing?"
The stone figure behind the village elder glared at him with murderous intent.
Its gray eyes burned with hatred.
Nearby, the stone creature behind the elder’s wife continued dragging the heavy coffin lid shut.
Only a tiny opening remained.
Shen Yu narrowed his eyes.
No time.
If he stopped...
Everything would be over.
The shovel descended again.
This time faster.
Deadlier.
Yet just before it reached him—
Clang!
Two tiny hands suddenly caught the shovel’s handle.
Everyone froze.
Even Shen Yu’s eyes widened.
Standing before him...
Was the little stone child.
The same child he had shared a seat with.
The same child he had fed using Yun Han’s red paper.
Its tiny body trembled violently as it resisted the enormous strength of the elder’s stone servant.
The stone cracks covering its body widened under the strain.
Still...
It refused to let go.
"Big Brother..."
The child smiled innocently.
"You should go."
Shen Yu’s heart shook.
The favorability notification flashed silently before his eyes.
Stone Child Favorability: +20
The child had chosen him.
Not because of power.
Not because of fear.
But because Shen Yu had treated him kindly when no one else had.
The elder’s stone servant roared.
The shovel pressed downward with terrifying force.
Cracks spread across the child’s stone arms.
Yet it continued blocking the attack.
"Go!"
The child’s voice became louder.
"They’ll close it!"
Shen Yu took one final look at the brave little figure.
"I’ll remember this."
Without another word, he threw himself forward.
Whoosh!
His body slipped through the narrowing gap just as the crimson coffin lid slammed shut.
BOOM!
Darkness swallowed everything.
Outside the coffin, countless villagers erupted into joyous applause.
"Wonderful!"
"A perfect marriage!"
"What a blessed union!"
The elder laughed loudly.
"Seal it."
The female stone servant raised an ancient iron hammer.
Beside it lay thick black nails as long as daggers.
Clang!
The first nail pierced into the coffin lid.
Inside the cramped coffin, Shen Yu’s breathing slowed.
The air was suffocating.
The scent of blood, incense, and old wood mixed into an overwhelming stench.
Only inches away from him lay the groom’s corpse.
Its skin had already begun to decay beneath the scarlet wedding robes.
Despite years of death, its face remained eerily intact.
Its empty eyes stared directly at Shen Yu.
As though waiting.
Watching.
Judging.
Shen Yu ignored it.
Instead, he turned toward the trembling bride beside him.
Her crimson veil still concealed her face.
Her delicate body shook uncontrollably.
Outside—
Clang!
A second nail struck.
The coffin trembled.
Soft sobs escaped from beneath the veil.
"...Don’t..."
The whisper was barely audible.
"They’re... sealing us..."
Shen Yu remained silent.
Instead of panicking, he carefully observed her skeletal fingers hidden beneath the sleeves.
Earlier...
Those same fingers had folded him a paper crane.
They had saved his life.
This wasn’t an enemy.
This was someone asking for help.
Another nail pierced the lid.
Clang!
More dirt crashed onto the coffin.
The air grew even thinner.
Outside, the villagers continued cheering.
Inside, silence settled between the living and the dead.
Finally, Shen Yu spoke.
"Miss Yun Han."
The trembling stopped.
"You helped me."
"I won’t pretend I don’t understand."
He looked directly toward the crimson veil.
"You don’t want this marriage."
No answer came.
Only quiet breathing.
After several long seconds...
A tiny nod.
Almost imperceptible.
Outside—
Clang!
Another nail.
The coffin shook violently.
The bride clenched her skeletal hands.
"They..."
"They won’t let me leave."
Her voice sounded broken.
"I’ve tried..."
"So many times..."
Shen Yu slowly raised his hand.
Without hesitation...
He gently placed it over her trembling fingers.
"I’ll take you out."
The moment those words left his mouth—
The entire coffin suddenly fell deathly silent.
Even the hammering outside paused for a single heartbeat.
Then...
A soft system notification echoed within Shen Yu’s mind.
Ding!
Bone Bride Yun Han has been deeply moved.
Favorability +10.
Current Favorability: 28.
At the same instant, beneath the crimson bridal veil...
A faint smile slowly appeared.
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