Yun Niang could not persuade Shen Mingshu otherwise and was taken away from Huaihua Village by Leng Feng.
Shen Mingshu looked at Pei Jingheng, who was sitting straight across from her, and asked in confusion, "Why didn't you go with Leng Feng?"
Pei Jingheng raised his left hand. The red thread was still tied around each of their wrists, and a profound smile flickered deep in his eyes: "Because you are here, and I want to stay with you."
These words carried a somewhat ambiguous tone, causing Shen Mingshu—who for the first eighteen years of her past life knew only how to hunt ghosts and subdue demons, and had never looked twice at any man—to feel her cheeks grow hot.
She raised a hand to cover her lips, gave a light cough, and said with feigned indifference, "There is no need. Once I finish dealing with things here, I will come to Huaiyang Town to find you."
Pei Jingheng gave a soft laugh, stood up, walked over to sit beside her, and gently hooked his fingers around her wrist: "I am afraid you might suddenly faint again and refuse to let go of someone else's hand. Wouldn't this red thread become a joke then?"
His fingertips were blazing hot, pressing against her skin like a brand.
Shen Mingshu's fingers curled slightly as she pulled her wrist back from his grip: "I am only interested in you; I have no interest in anyone else."
Not feeling that anything she had said was improper, she quickly stood up and walked toward the door, not forgetting to urge him: "Stay inside the house and do not come out. If that corpse truly undergoes a transformation, the Death Qi on it is not something you can withstand."
Shen Mingshu walked briskly out of the small courtyard, failing to notice the tips of Pei Jingheng's ears turning slightly red.
Pei Jingheng savored the words she had just spoken. *Only interested in him?*
A faint smile touched the corners of his lips before he quickly reined it in.
They had known each other for such a short time, yet he was actually cheered by a single remark from her?
Perhaps it was because she could suppress the Death Qi within him that he felt this special sensation toward her.
Pei Jingheng furrowed his brow slightly, stepped out into the courtyard, and called out in a deep voice, "Yueying."
Yueying emerged from the shadows like a ghost, dropping down before him: "Master."
"Go and follow her to protect her. If her life is in danger, take her with you and we will head straight for Huaiyang Town." Pei Jingheng had no interest in the affairs of this village, let alone a bunch of unreasonable villagers who were not worthy of his sympathy.
Yueying cupped his fists in assent: "Subordinate obeys!"
With a light tap of his toes, he sprang into the air, moving so fast he left afterimages behind as he leaped across the rooftops and vanished.
......
Red silk had already been hung at the entrance of the Zhang family's house, and even the corpse on the bed had been dressed in red wedding attire.
The people clustered around the entrance hurriedly cleared a path when they saw Shen Mingshu appear.
As Shen Mingshu walked into the courtyard, the air she breathed was heavy with the foul, rotting stench emanating from the corpse.
Even Chen Yang raised a hand to cover his nose and mouth, looking as though he had been quite overwhelmed by the odor.
Zhang Cuilan brought over the red cotton-padded jacket: "My good daughter-in-law, put this on quickly."
She beamed with delight, and anyone unaware of the truth would have truly thought Shen Mingshu was about to become her daughter-in-law.
Shen Mingshu wore a placid expression, letting Zhang Cuilan slip the red jacket onto her with the resignation of someone accepting her fate.
The western sky was already streaked with orange twilight, and the auspicious hour was approaching.
Chen Yang waved the fly whisk in his hand and announced in a loud voice, "Lift up the groom, and let us go pay respects to heaven and earth."
Shen Mingshu was grabbed by the arm by Zhang Cuilan and pulled along outside. She asked in a cold voice, "Shouldn't the wedding ceremony take place right here?"
Zhang Cuilan replied, "Master Chen said he's worried about a corpse transformation, so we need to take you both to the big locust tree at the west end of the village to hold the ceremony. It's far from the village, so if there's any danger, everyone can run back home and hide."
"A locust tree!" Shen Mingshu was startled, forcefully swallowing the words that rushed to her lips.
As she glanced at Chen Yang walking ahead, a layer of frost coated the depths of her eyes.
Before nightfall had completely fallen, Shen Mingshu caught sight of the locust tree growing on the hillside.
Its massive canopy blotted out the sky, and the trunk was so thick that roughly five grown adults could not have wrapped their arms around it.
Aside from the elderly and children who could not walk, nearly the entire village was present.
They formed a loose circle, enclosing the locust tree from afar and blocking off any direction in which Shen Mingshu might attempt to escape.
The bed had been placed at the base of the tree, and Shen Mingshu and Zhang Cuilan stood beside it.
Night had fallen.
The air suddenly grew bone-chillingly cold.
Chen Yang circled the locust tree once, pointed to the base of the trunk, and commanded, "Come, dig a pit here."
Several sturdy young men obediently began digging up the dirt with shovels.
Zhang Cuilan looked eagerly at Shen Mingshu, cupping her hands in a bow toward her: "Mingshu girl, from now on you are the great benefactor of my Zhang family. Dashan will take good care of you, and every New Year and holiday I will surely burn plenty of wonderful things for you both, ensuring you never lack for food or clothing."
The village chief, standing some distance away, chimed in, "That's right, Mingshu girl, you are our village's great benefactor, and we will all burn ghost money for you in the future!"
Shen Mingshu let out a cold laugh, her clear, crisp voice ringing out: "It was clearly Zhang Cuilan who committed the wrong, yet now you expect me to pay with my life. Have you no shame at all!"
Though scolded by her, not a single person dared to talk back.
Shen Mingshu abruptly ripped off the red cloth covering the bed, exposing that dark, greenish face covered in corpse spots, and struck it hard across the cheek: "While I am still alive, I am going to vent this anger!"
Zhang Cuilan scrambled forward to grab her: "You little wretch, how dare you hit my son!"
With a single kick, Shen Mingshu sent her flying down the earthen slope, shouting, "Get lost!"
Cursing incessantly, Zhang Cuilan tried to scramble back up, but was pulled back by the village chief: "Zhang Cuilan, quiet down! Finishing the ceremony is what matters!"
With no one watching her anymore, Shen Mingshu walked over to the locust tree, reached out to touch the trunk, and began walking in a circle around it.
Chen Yang frowned as he watched her: "What are you doing?"
Shen Mingshu glanced at him sideways: "I've never seen such a huge locust tree, I'm just curious."
A sudden chill swept through Chen Yang under her cold gaze. *Strange,* he thought, *why does this girl's gaze look so terrifying?*
Perhaps it was only natural for someone about to die to have a fierce look in their eyes.
He raised his head to look at the moon in the sky, quietly awaiting the right moment.
Shen Mingshu channeled the Chiyang Gold Fire into the tree trunk and then began setting up a formation all around the locust tree.
The villagers watched her squat down from time to time, though none of them knew what she was doing.
The soil on the slope was extremely firm, bound fast as it was by the locust tree's roots, making the digging arduous work.
Time ticked away second by second, and the pit was finally more or less dug out.
Chen Yang calculated the time with his fingers, waved his fly whisk, and commanded, "Put the corpse inside."
Yet no one stepped forward to lift the body; after all, just looking at that thing was nauseating, and nobody wanted to touch it.
Left with no choice, Chen Yang said, "You Zhang family members, come and carry it yourselves."
Zhang Cuilan and Zhang Dahai lifted the corpse, but had barely taken a few steps when flames suddenly burst forth from the body.
Terrified, Zhang Dahai instantly let go, shrieking, "My hands! Ah, ah!"
Zhang Cuilan's hands caught fire as well, and she screamed, "My son! My son's body!"
The two of them tried to beat out the flames on their hands, but the fire only burned fiercer and fiercer.
The corpse on the ground was also burning furiously, blazing like a human torch.
No one could have guessed that the sudden combustion of the corpse was connected to that slap Shen Mingshu had delivered.
Muttering an Incantation under her breath, Shen Mingshu manipulated the flames, causing the blazing corpse to slowly rise from the ground.
"A corpse transformation!"
"Run for your lives!"
With a cry of terror, everyone broke into a run.