The Heroine Fell Deeply For Her [Quick Transmigration] 227p2

Chapter 227: What’s This About Marrying First and Loving Later? 12(2)

Lingxiu Village was just remote, not inherently dangerous. With funerals happening every year, the entire village would eventually die out.

In Tao Ning’s view, this was just one of the fake Mountain God’s methods of accumulating prestige.

Marrying a bride every year might be its way of strengthening itself.

Eating only once a year, but not too much, and preferring outsiders, this slow-boiling frog approach was exactly what the villagers, unwilling to leave their homes, wanted.

Furthermore, with their deceased relatives resurrected under the “Mountain God’s” protection, if the living villagers left Lingxiu Village, their living corpse relatives couldn’t follow.

If the villagers didn’t want to continue worshipping the fake Mountain God, they would have to be cruel enough to abandon their living corpse relatives, asking themselves if they could bear the pain of separation.

Perhaps they would continue living like this until one day, a villager discovered that the Wandering Ghosts at night were afraid of the lanterns made from the bamboo forest near the cave on the mountain.

So they would go up the mountain to cut bamboo and make lanterns, for extra protection during their nightly travels.

As for whether they knew what was in the depths of the bamboo forest, perhaps they knew, perhaps they didn’t. One couldn’t see into another’s heart, even someone as powerful as Xuan Miao couldn’t see through people’s hearts.

The villagers lived in this self-deceptive atmosphere.

Until one day, all the villagers became living corpses, completely unable to resist, all becoming loyal followers of the fake Mountain God.

Just then, Xuan Miao’s voice came from her arms, she said, “I forgot so many things before, I can only remember bits and pieces occasionally.”

Tao Ning asked, “What did you remember this time?”

Xuan Miao opened her eyes, her tone slightly heavy: “I lost my core.”

In the past few days, Tao Ning had taken Xuan Miao almost all over Lingxiu Village, but they hadn’t been able to find where the fake Mountain God was hiding.

The conclusion they reached was that the fake Mountain God wouldn’t come out until the day of the Mountain God Festival.

The easiest way to see the fake Mountain God was to become the person most likely to see the Mountain God, for example, the Mountain God’s bride.

The fake Mountain God’s disappearance made Xuan Miao so irritated that she almost doubted her ghost life.

She wondered if she, in her slumber, would wake up on a specific date and eat the bride in the bridal sedan chair.

Tao Ning, however, said, “I’ve heard of split personalities, but I’ve never heard of a split ghost personality, don’t worry, what happened to Lingxiu Village definitely has nothing to do with you.”

Xuan Miao, lying beside her, responded, not saying whether she believed it or not, but undeniably, her mood had improved considerably.

This was the first person who, after hearing the story of the merchant’s family being wiped out, asked if she hadn’t set the fire, then who did?

Perhaps it was an illusion brought on by Tao Ning’s warmth, but Xuan Miao felt increasingly tired, as if all her strength had been drained, only wanting to lie limply and not move.

Slowly, she closed her eyes, the darkness before her like returning to that night.

The cocoon wrapped in countless red threads was carried out by the crowd. At the front, a Taoist priest in blue, with a goatee, directed them to carry it up the mountain.

The fire blazed, reflecting the hatred in everyone’s eyes. If it weren’t for the Taoist priest desperately stopping them, they would have thrown the thing on their shoulders directly into the river.

At that time, she hadn’t recovered from her injuries and knew nothing about what was happening outside the cocoon.

It was ironic that the memories she couldn’t recall when she was alive, she remembered everything after being poisoned and dying.

Not only did she remember her origins, her parents’ names, but also the direction of her hometown.

She had witnessed the fire from start to finish, the merchant’s mad son holding a torch, laughing hysterically, until he was finally engulfed by the flames, his laughter turning into a shrill scream.

Until daybreak, a heavy rain extinguished the flames on the ruins, and Xuan Miao left, walking in another direction.

But years had passed, and things had changed. Xuan Miao only saw her parents’ graves.

She heard from relatives who came to pay respects that the elderly couple, who had a daughter late in life, had been searching for the lost Xuan Miao, but their bodies couldn’t hold on, and they both died of illness.

At that time, Xuan Miao thought, this was enough, she wasn’t a child abandoned by her parents.

After leaving, Xuan Miao hid in a damp, dark cave for who knows how many years, discovering an unexpected talent, condensing a core and gaining considerable power.

Suddenly, one day, Xuan Miao found that she could stand under the sunlight. Unable to bear the loneliness any longer, she went out.

It was a time of war, refugees scattered everywhere. A couple saw the frail Xuan Miao and took her with them, caring for her like their own child along the way.

They would rather eat less themselves and give more to Xuan Miao, treating her like their own flesh and blood.

Those days were extremely difficult for others, displaced and constantly facing life-threatening situations, but for Xuan Miao, it was a rare time of warmth.

It reminded her of her own parents, and this brief warmth made her willing to repay them with her life.

Moving a river had taken a heavy toll on her. A Ghost King’s power shouldn’t be insufficient to move a river.

The real problem was that she had become entangled in the karma of hundreds of people. Most of these people should have died, but because of her intervention, they survived.

Fifty years of slumber wasn’t enough for her to fully recover.

She didn’t know that her foster parents, who had led everyone to Lingxiu Village and become the village chief, had built an ancestral hall for her and enshrined her.

After their death, they passed on the responsibility of village chief to the next virtuous person, promising to continue worshipping the Mountain God.

At that time, the name engraved beneath the statue was still Xuan Miao Yuanjun, not the current altered Xuan Miao.

The moment Xuan Miao awakened from her slumber was too sudden, facing direct malice.

Someone waved their sleeve, listing her crimes: “A hundred years ago, this evil ghost killed sixty people in the wealthy merchant’s family in Deyang County and set fire to their mansion. Before his death, my master ordered me to find this evil ghost, uphold justice, and restore peace to the land.”

“Following my master’s orders, I’ve been searching for her for years. I didn’t expect this evil ghost to be unrepentant, hiding in Lingxiu Village and continuing to do evil, spreading plagues.”

“Destroy this thing, and she will never be able to do evil again. To untie the bell, you need the person who tied it. Only if you destroy this thing can I successfully complete the formation.”

Blinded by rage from losing their families, the villagers used scissors to cut the red threads, layer after layer, finally revealing the snow-white cocoon.

However, the sharp scissors were useless against the last layer of red thread, unable to cut it no matter how much force they used.

Although it felt like a soft red thread, when cut with scissors, it was like hitting metal against stone. Several pairs of scissors broke, but the red thread remained intact.

“This was tied by the old village chief, it can’t be cut.”

“That old couple believed in this bullshit Mountain God the most, not allowing anyone to speak ill of her. Who knew the red thread they tied would be so hard to cut.”

“What Mountain God, clearly a murderous evil ghost, fortunately, the Taoist priest is upholding justice, discovering this evil thing.”

The last layer of red thread was woven by Xuan Miao’s foster parents, with the most devout heart, tied on bit by bit.

The red thread couldn’t be cut, but the villagers had another method. They picked up rocks and smashed the cocoon.

They worshipped the deity and then killed her. Only they could break the cocoon. Even if the Taoist priest used all his strength, he couldn’t open it.

The white cocoon shattered, something falling out and rolling away, picked up by a hand.

No one noticed the actions of the short, dark figure, and neither did the fragmented Xuan Miao.

The crowd simply rolled up their sleeves and pushed the cocoon fragments into the cold pool.

The white-bearded Taoist priest asked, “Didn’t you see a round bead? It’s the key to suppressing the evil ghost, we must find it.”

The Taoist priest’s apprentice also searched the ground, wearing clothes similar to his master’s, but found nothing.

The villagers, having vented their anger, were stunned, turning to search, all saying they didn’t see it.

Unable to find it, the Taoist priest gave up on searching for the bead he mentioned, assuming that this ghost with immortal fate had insufficient cultivation and hadn’t formed a core.

“This is a good place, the Yin Gathering Formation is already in place, you can cultivate here,” the white-bearded Taoist priest’s voice gradually lowered, “Then I can…”

The rest of his words were inaudible. Xuan Miao’s fragmented remains gradually sank to the bottom, accompanied by the cold pool water.

Another hundred years passed, and someone broke into the cave, burning the connecting red threads with a single flame, kicking away the red candles, and releasing her.

The person was actually from Lingxiu Village.

What surprised Xuan Miao even more was that the village down the mountain had started worshipping the Mountain God again, praising her past deeds, seemingly as prosperous as before.

Night passed, and the Wandering Ghosts returned to their homes.

After a while, the villagers came out, gathering in front of the ancestral hall again to continue preparing for the ritual.

As the mist dispersed, a figure carrying a sword walked along the path towards a small house at the edge of the village.

It was the fifth day, and Chu Que, who had been missing for a whole day, suddenly appeared in front of Tao Ning’s house, cutting the lock on the door with his sword.

The lock fell to the ground with a clang, and he pulled out the bolt, pushing the door open.

Chu Que said to Tao Ning, who was waiting inside: “There’s no Mountain God in Lingxiu Village, you’ll be killed if you get on that bridal sedan chair, I can save you.”

Tao Ning put down her teacup and asked, “How do you know there’s no Mountain God? What’s your proof?”

Chu Que thought she was just being stubborn and said anxiously from the doorway, “Then how do you know there is a Mountain God? Have you seen her?”

Good question, the real Mountain God was lying in the bag on Tao Ning’s lap, recuperating.

Chu Que beckoned her: “I’ve figured out a way to get out, I can’t bear to watch someone go to their death, I’ll help you escape.”

He spoke sincerely, like a righteous disciple who couldn’t stand the evils of the world.

When such a person offered help to someone in trouble, it was hard not to be moved. Tao Ning seemed to be moved, standing up from behind the table and walking towards the door step by step.

Getting closer, Tao Ning noticed more details, glancing at the mud and bamboo leaf fragments on the edges of his cloth shoes.

She thought she knew where Chu Que had been all day. He had gone to the cave where Xuan Miao was trapped and seen the murals inside.