​​Chapter 17 Dragon-Phoenix Candles, Spirit Marriage Spouses​​

Huh?

Huh??

Hey?

Hello?

Hi?

System?

I must ask.

What the hell??

For others' seventh-day ceremony, there’s marrying ghost kings and bowing to landowning godfathers.

My seventh-day ceremony?

Seven negative attributes!?

Take a step back? The more I think, the angrier I get.

Swallow it for now? The more I ponder, the worse it feels.

As night fell,

After the funeral procession had departed,

Lin Ye gripped a corpse-oil lantern in one hand and an iron shovel in the other.

Then he slipped away from the tomb chamber, unnoticed.

"Xiao Cui!"

"Master?"

"If the girl in there resurrects, can you kill her?" Lin Ye’s voice was sharp.

A cursed burial ground?

Never!

"Master, Xiao Cui has never killed anyone before. But freshly buried spirits are weak—I can handle it!"

"Good!"

Dig dig dig in the garden small!

Heave ho!

Plant tiny seeds for tiny flowers tall.

Heave ho!

Cursed efficiency meant it took half an hour just to unearth the fresh grave.

At dusk,

Lin Ye had watched the bride lowered here.

Yet when he dug it open...

It was empty.

Huh?

Huh??

Where is she?

Lin Ye instinctively scanned his surroundings.

A cold gust swirled—

And there it was:

A lavish bridal sedan, identical to the funeral procession’s, materialized behind him.

Silent.

Sudden.

Perched on its rails sat a woman draped in red bridal robes.

Her face remained half-visible beneath the veil.

Paper-white skin.

Blood-red lips jarringly stark against it.

Hair cascaded like ink down her shoulders.

She sat unnervingly still.

A marionette poised for strings.

| Identity: Ghost Bride |

| Rank: Ghost Captain (Early Stage) |

| Type: Corpse |

| Form: Ghost Bride (Next Evolution: Lost-Dynasty Princess) |

| Evolution Token: Backyard Blossoms |

| Minion: Puppet on Strings |

| Cultivation: Thousand Threads Blood-Devouring Art |

| Ghost Domain: Scarlet Funeral |

| Lore: Kindness or cruelty—once, she too was gentle, dreaming of her wedding day. |

◉ Puppet on Strings: A blood-soaked wooden doll hung at her waist. Her lifeline.

◉ Thousand Threads Blood-Devouring: Crimson threads pierce targets, siphoning blood until only husks remain.

◉ Scarlet Funeral: Conjures a spirit-wedding nightmare realm.

"RUN!"

Lin Ye’s first thought after seeing her stats.

She was just buried alive—she can’t be stronger than a Ghost Soldier!

He’d underestimated her rage.

His limbs froze mid-turn.

Under the ghastly veil, pale fingers uncoiled.

Blood-red threads shot toward him—

Barbed wires stabbing flesh.

Agony seared as threads wove a cocoon around him.

Blood oozed from pierced skin,

Dripping down threads:

Plink... plink...

Like rain from eaves.

Ghost Soldier (Mid-Stage) vs. Ghost Captain (Early Stage)

Hopeless.

Life drained with every drop.

"I’ll turn to jerky!"

Where is Xiao Cui!?

Self-rescue was his only chance.

In desperation,

Lin Ye focused his will.

The bronze coin sword tumbled from his pack.

Moonlight struck blood-slicked metal—

Cobalt light flared.

SHING!

The blade sliced every thread.

Freedom.

Lin Ye sprinted without looking back.

But his legs grew heavier—

Squelch.

Feet sinking into earth.

Each step became a mountain to climb.

Weight crushed his spine.

Breath choked in his throat.

He risked a glance sideways.

His eyes nearly burst from their sockets.

She clung to his back.

Her head lolled limply on his shoulder.

Beneath the veil:

Two hollow, pupil-less eyes—

Only bone-white voids—

Staring through him.

Her lips never moved,

But a singsong dirge echoed in his skull:

"Are you... my spirit groom?"

Lin Ye swallowed the "No" on his tongue.

That answer meant death.

"Whatever—River Lord’s wife, Weasel Immortal’s bride—"

Her words sparked an idea.

Now or never.

He summoned the Dragon-Phoenix Candles!

The very pair from the Lustful Ghost’s coffin.

These artifacts served but one purpose:

To forge a spirit marriage pact.

He looped one red thread around his finger,

The other around her bone-chilled one—

And lit the candles.

(He swore he wasn’t out to cuckold some ghost.

But survival demanded it.)

"YES! I’M YOUR SPIRIT GROOM!"

A gale screamed—

The world dissolved into shadows.

When Lin Ye opened his eyes,

Reality had rewritten itself.