Ghost Bridegroom

Chapter 11: “He hugged his wife’s waist.”

In today’s society, the “jianghu” was a general term commonly used to describe the territory of cultivators, who kept away from mortals and weren’t controlled by the imperial court.

No one could accurately name the exact places that makes up the jianghu, but everyone in the world was aware that the jianghu was comprised of all the places cultivators passed through. 

And if one really wanted to get to the bottom of this, the range of activity itself for cultivators could be known as the jianghu. Initially, this name originated from one lake and one river1, two places that were already free from any restrictions and influences hundreds of years ago.

The lake in question was precisely where the number one righteous sect in the world, the Profound Sect, was located—Fallen Immortal Lake. 

Fallen Immortal Lake was considered the origin of cultivation, where immortals had first imparted the cultivation methods to ordinary people. Thus, later generations claimed that all the cultivation methods in the world had come from the Profound Sect. Naturally, a place like this transcended worldly affairs and wasn’t restricted by the imperial court. 

Meanwhile, the other river that makes up the jianghu referred to the Rising Dragon River, where all the cultivation sects gathered. 

The Rising Dragon River was the longest river in the entire world. It spanned the entire continent, beginning from the sky and surging continuously to the sea. 

And to the south of the Rising Dragon River, was precisely the place with the most spiritual energy—Jiangnan. 

Eighty-percent of Jiangnan was populous and affluent, flourishing with splendor. Other than the remote Profound Sect living high in the clouds and the demonic way hiding in Mobei, all the formidable cultivation sects gathered at this place. Thus, the people around the world had a saying:

If one does not go to Jiangnan, or enter the Profound Sect, then they have not entered the jianghu.

Although Bi Qianren had resided in Mobei for a long time, he wasn’t unfamiliar with Jiangnan. For this journey, he planned to go to Jiangdu City, which lies at the mouth of the Rising Dragon River.

According to his plans, the moment Qianren reaches Jiangdu, he’ll find a sect that is good at dealing with malicious ghosts and help Zhuge Qingtian find peace. Then, Bi Qianren would leave this place and head out to the sea, to the rumoured polar regions that had not a soul in sight. In the coldest domain of the entire world, Qianren would find a way to pass his calamity. 

However, reality is never as perfect as one’s imagination. The two of them had only reached the outside of Jiangdu City when they encountered yet another troublesome matter.

That’s right! Zhuge Qingtian, who had been kicked into the river by Bi Qianren, lost his head again!

Silently staring at the headless corpse bending over countless times in the water and making a big fuss, Qianren once again confirmed that sure enough, Zhuge Qingtian’s head was merely a decorative piece for the ghost.

However, in Jiangnan, where you could encounter a righteous hero just by buying a stuffed bun on the main street, bringing a headless corpse into the city was just asking for a fight. Although fighting and killing righteous cultivators was precisely the main job of the demonic way’s major Protector, currently, as someone travelling on vacation, Bi Qianren didn’t intend to work seriously. 

In fact, from Qianren’s perspective, leaving because he was unhappy and going on strike was precisely the behaviour of what real demonic cultivators should be like. Demonic cultivators weren’t people who needed praiseworthy characteristics like being dedicated to their work.

The flow of the river water wasn’t very fast, but the width was quite wide. Seeing how Zhuge Qingtian’s search bore no fruits, Bi Qianren knitted his brows and said, “Regardless of anything, you’re still a malicious ghost. Can’t you use sticky paste or something to attach your head to your neck?”

To be honest, to Zhuge Qingtian, other than that face of his he really had no other use for his head. However, that still was a somewhat handsome and elegant face ah!

Zhuge Qingtian had read a lot of strange tales where female ghosts repay kindness with their bodies. However, no matter which story it was, it would be impossible for a headless ghost to get married!

Sigh, he shouldn’t have released Fu Hongye so easily. If his wife didn’t want him anymore, Zhuge Qingtian would definitely climb Fu Hongye’s bed every day to cry!

As he complained about a certain righteous hero in his heart, Zhuge Qingtian helplessly spread out his hands to Qianren. “Wife, I’m not praising myself, but I’m already poor to the degree where other than myself and my sedan chair, I don’t even have a single piece of ritual money!”

There were so many useful things in the world, so why did you only retain the two most useless ones!

Silently slandering this unreliable malicious ghost in his heart, Bi Qianren, who had nearly lost all his patience, raised an eyebrow. His entire body emanated the aura of a demonic cultivator ready to harm the peace of society. “As a malicious ghost, where is your bad temper? If you don’t have something, then steal it.”

Before I had a wife, I indeed stole brides ah……and then you kicked both my sedan chair and my head flying……

Secretly thinking something that would have made Bi Qianren kick him flying again if the other man heard it, Zhuge Qingtian took a look at the demonic cultivator who was obviously only a step away from exploding. 

In accordance to his moral character belonging to good people, the ghost sincerely said, “Wife, if you do this, you’ll be wanted by the authorities.”

However, as the big killer Bi who had already forgotten how many high officials he had killed, the demonic cultivator expressed he didn’t fear this at all. Qianren even sneered before saying, “Heh, the old emperor has long offered ten thousand gold for my bounty fifty years ago.”

As a successful demonic cultivator, the bounty for their head offered by the imperial court was also something worth bragging about. Nowadays, on the jianghu’s highest bounty board, Bi Qianren was already ranked second. If he told this to the people in the jianghu, it was already enough to shock everybody.

As for his Master He Huan, who ranked first, he was an existence who already dominated the top of the board a hundred years ago. Things like snatching the emperor’s imperial concubine or swindling the empress dowager to run away from home, with regards to that person, these things were just a small appetizer. 

In fact, if He Huan hadn’t been forced to stop his career of committing outrages by his Daoist companion, Bi Qianren didn’t have the slightest doubt that one day, if his Master suddenly had the interest, he would have even kidnapped the emperor and introduce him to cultivation. 　　

Although Zhuge Qingtian didn’t really understand the system of value for demonic cultivators, that didn’t affect the shock he felt when he heard Qianren’s bounty of ten thousand gold. 

He silently converted how much that would be in copper coins, and then thought about how a mountain of coins like that still wouldn’t be able to buy the person in front of him. The ghost immediately exclaimed in admiration, “How worthy of Wife, you’re truly too valuable!”

Serenely watching the malicious ghost who was still swaying about in the water, Bi Qianren began to ponder over a very serious problem: although this person was clearly praising him, why did he still have the urge to step on him?

Perhaps the heavens believed that Zhuge Qingtian only had to lose his head once a day. When their conversation was about to welcome their standard ending, a burst of anxious footsteps attracted Bi Qianren’s attention. Immediately following that, a sudden shout also made Zhuge Qingtian crawl out of the river.

“Don’t move! With my Sky Master Mansion here, don’t even think about escaping!”

They had only been talking about stealing and didn’t even do it, even this could get them arrested? 

No, his wife was worth ten thousand gold, Zhuge Qingtian definitely couldn’t let others take him away! 

This was a thought that flashed by in Zhuge Qingtian’s mind right after he heard the shout. Thus, while still extremely wet, he immediately stood in front of Bi Qianren to block him from sight.

Unfortunately, Zhuge Qingtian was originally a head shorter than Qianren. Currently, he was also missing his head, so he completely wasn’t capable of blocking his wife’s mighty body. 

As a result, he was directly lifted by the big killer Bi, before the man flew the two of them onto a tree.

From the sound of the footsteps, Bi Qianren judged that the incoming person was only at the Golden Core realm. He knew that if the righteous way really wanted to deal with him, it would be impossible for them to send a junior and let him throw away his life. Thus, this guy probably encountered them by chance.

So with these circumstances, this person probably didn’t come here because of them. 

Bi Qianren and Zhuge Qingtian had just covered their figures with the tree leaves when the two running people rushed to the river bank. 

No, to be precise, it was one person and one ghost.

The one running in the front was a short, old ghost carrying a wooden cabinet with fancy engravings . He wore black burial clothes the deceased wore when being buried, while his trousers were rolled up to his knees, revealing extremely thin legs that looked like firewood. Because the ghost’s face was covered with a white piece of paper, only a pair of turbid eyes and frizzy hair was revealed. 

Although this ghost’s figure was quite hunched, he ran extremely fast. Even the cultivator chasing behind him couldn’t reach him. In the blink of an eye, the ghost leapt across the river and began swaggering away.

Seeing how the distance between him and the ghost was growing, the cyan-clothed teenager pursuing him could only curse, “Wretched, poverty ghost always runs so fast every time! If you have what it takes, face this lord in an open duel!”

For Bi Qianren, people were far more dangerous than ghosts. Thus, he sized up the teenager.

Judging by his appearance, this boy was no more than fifteen or sixteen years old. The eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes2 decorated his cyan-coloured robes. He ought to be from the largest sect in Jiangdu City; the Sky Master Mansion. 

The Sky Master Mansion had always taken upon itself to eliminate ghosts. The Mansion Master Ling Sui Daoren3 also had a very good relationship with the Sect Leader of the Profound Sect. In the jianghu, the Sky Master Mansion was also a sect that had considerable strength. 

Originally, Bi Qianren had been too lazy to provoke this group of cultivators. But after taking a look at Zhuge Qingtian, he changed his mind.

Heh, this malicious ghost really wasn’t afraid of anything. Seizing this opportunity, Zhuge Qingtian had directly hugged Bi Qianren’s waist.

Looking at the arm on his waist, Qianren saw that a certain malicious ghost appeared like he even wanted to touch him a few more times. Thus, the demonic cultivator’s gaze grew even more frosty. “What is your hand doing?”

The space on the tree they were on was truly quite small. Originally, Zhuge Qingtian had to hold Bi Qianren’s waist so he wouldn’t fall off. 

However, after hugging him, the ghost realized that although this person didn’t look like a burly, muscular man, Qianren didn’t have any flab on his body at all. Even his waist felt extremely tight and firm.

Zhuge Qingtian had seen many farmers covered in muscle from head to toe in addition to pretty, delicate scholars. However, it was the first time he had seen a someone like this; a cultivator who had refined all the impurities in his body, resulting in a perfect figure that appeared as if it was sculpted by the heavens itself. Suddenly curious, the ghost used a finger to give it a poke.

Bi Qianren had never allowed strangers to approach him. The last time he was this intimate with someone, it was when he was  fed milk by his Master as a baby. Thus, with the current situation, his gaze had naturally become cold and sharp.

Unfortunately, Zhuge Qingtian completely didn’t understand the killing intent hidden Qianren’s words. Instead, he glanced at the flustered and exasperated righteous teenager below the tree.

The ghost thought, his wife and this youngster had a relationship like an officer and a thief. Naturally, when a thief encounters an officer, they would feel nervous. This was precisely the time Zhuge Qingtian should protect his wife!

Thinking of this, the ghost decisively took out his nonexistent masculinity before telling the great demonic elder: “Wife, don’t be afraid, I’m already hugging you tightly.”

Of course, the results of this action undoubtedly received only a single word from Qianren— 

“Scram!”

Thus, just when the Sky Master Mansion disciple began agonizing over how his first ghost capturing mission was about to fail, a red silhouette fell from the sky and directly smashed that escaping old ghost onto the ground. 

Stupidly staring at the huge hole that had suddenly appeared, the disciple immediately realized that the headless corpse wasn’t an ordinary existence. There was only one thought in the boy’s mind right now—

Using a corpse……a corpse to smash people? Which sect’s cultivation method was this??

In the end, the teenager finally managed to react. The Mansion Master had taught them; as an upstanding Sky Master Mansion disciple, they must preserve the grace a member from a famous sect would have when encountering people from the jianghu. They definitely couldn’t let all the limelight be snatched away from the lunatics of the Profound Sect, who practically lined up to take turns dying for a just cause. 

Right now, although the teenager didn’t know why this person had come to his aid, they still helped him capture the poverty ghost. They even gifted him a headless malicious ghost. No matter what, the youngster had to give them a solemn thanks.

After thinking of this, the teenager immediately cupped his hands before loudly saying, “This one is Mo Pan, Sky Master Mansion, Ling Sui Daoren’s disciple. Dare I ask which senior has made a move to aid me? Please appear so this junior can prepare a thank you gift.”　　

When he heard this, Bi Qianren fell silent again. This was really awkward. 

How could he have expected that his random kick would have caused Zhuge Qingtian to fall precisely on that escaping ghost?

As for the malicious ghost who had finally achieved his dream of becoming his wife’s weapon, Zhuge Qingtian suddenly thought of Fu Hongye’s resounding and powerful manner of speaking. In combination with this teenager, the ghost obtained his first impression of the righteous way in the jianghu—

The voices of righteous disciples were really loud ah!