Nightmare Shuttle

The atmosphere was filled with vulgar and raucous laughter. The smell of sweat and rust rushed into his nose like an overpowering deterrent. The men stood to one aide staring down at him with green eyes as their large muscles bulged and flexed subconsciously. The man stood on the platform and stared down at the beautiful human with lustful and greedy eyes. The way those red eyes stared at him, only made the heat in his loins grow even stronger and the man couldn't help but lick his lips. 

Chu Yi's eyes slanted slightly and the red lips slowly downturned into a sneer. A ray of sunlight shone through the thick foliage of the trees and fell on Chu Yi's beautiful and wanton face. The young man lightly shifted his stance, raised the other hand, inserted his fingers into the long black hair that was a little messy, and slowly pulled the soft hair back. Clearly and completely revealed Chu Yi's eyes full of excitement. His pale red lips twitched, he suddenly grinned, and spoke softly.

"Little rabbit..."

"Quickly, let me see what you are!"

*****

Tang Shun opened his eyes slightly and looked around. This was an old house, the ground was uneven and rough, a rotten and cold air shocked the broken eave, and in his eyes, a pair of swollen feet swayed in front of him. Beside him, there was a shrill scream and a woman's eyes widened shockingly as she raised her head. The corpse above them had a pair of terrifying hands, with stiff fingers resting on either side of the woman's body. The claws were dark-yellow and thin like a beast's claws. At first, he didn't realize what it was, but soon enough a subconscious voice said: It was a corpse spot.

Don't look!

Don't look!

Ning Ning desperately wanted to lower her head, but it was too late. A little bit of dark red color broke into the corpse's eyes, the mouth of the person hanging on the beam was wide open, the long tongue was hanging from the lower jaw, and the eyes bulged almost out of their sockets were bloodshot and red. Tang Shun furrowed his brows and moved his sight away, there was no one else but them inside the room. The unusual corpse seemed to have been dead for a while now and didn't seem to have been placed after their arrival but rather before. A rough hemp rope had been tied around the body's neck and hung from the ceiling, the rancid and sour smell of decomposing meat completely engulfed them.

In the corner of his eyes, Tang Shun suddenly saw a flash of red. When he looked over he seemed to see a woman lying down at the door of the shack. In his vision, the woman was thin, the body that looked like a skeleton looked to be falling apart, falling into the darkness of the shadows in the corner and being swallowed by the dark entrance of the building. Her eyes were closed, her eye sockets were sunken and black, her lips were blue and bloodless, and her face sallow.

The woman's mouth moved as she wanted to say something, in his eyes a faint vision appeared.

Torrential rain poured down, smashing small pits into the rough soil of the forest. A woman in a red wedding dress stood beneath a large majestic tree. Behind her, there were screams and wails.

"Don't! Don't take my daughter away!" Under the rainstorm, a woman shouted hoarsely: "Let me go for her! Let me go! Don't sacrifice her! This is our sin!"

"You? What's the use of you going?!"

"Elder Ke! You know the rules, don't break the rules!"

"Hurry up and stop her!"

The woman in red never looked back. The dark clouds covered the sun, the debts that they have to bear will finally come to an end, and the hearts of the people could not be touched. The woman was pinned to the ground and unable to move. There seemed to be a sea of ​​blood and tears in her eyes and through a hazy film, she watched the girl in red walk barefoot to her death.

Her mournful cry and the drums sounded together and blood dripped from the two ears that had been ripped off by the people that held her down.

When he blinked again, the woman and the vision had disappeared.

From beside him, there was another bout of low sobbing and when he looked over, Tang Shun was surprised to see the two pointed ears pushing put from the curtain of the woman's long hair. The trembling figure and wandering eyes seemed scared. Tang Shun could even hear her muttering please softly.

The game they were in had a fantasy background. Tang Shun had long heard of the sinister tastes of Samuel and although he had never heard of him creating a fantasy game, he still did not underestimate the difficulties.

"Master Tang!" A middle-aged woman suddenly rushed in from outside with a face full of disbelief. Hurriedly climbing on the stool next to the corpse, she tried to remove the corpse from the ceiling, but it seemed that the rope had burrowed so far into the man's flesh it was impossible to get out. The woman's movement became anxious before with a sudden tug, the rope snapped and the corpse on the rope was completely removed. 

The body didn't look like a skinny old man at all but like an iron block of equal weight. Tang Shun knew very well that this was a sign that someone was dead, and there was a good word to describe it: lifeless.

The old man's body fell forward the moment he was taken down, and even the woman's hand could not control it. That face was aimed at Ning Ning, like a hungry ghost who wanted to drag her to her death, a biting chill rose from the tips of her toes to the top of her scalp. Ning Ning could barely move in fear.

The woman quickly grabbed the old man's long hair and dragged him back to her with a shallow sigh.

"Master Tang, why can't you be obedient!" The middle-aged woman sighed and reached out his hand to close the old man's wide eyes.

However, every time she closed the old man's eyes, the next second, those eyes would open again by themselves, wide open, as if even in death he could not rest. 

The woman gently placed his body to the floor as she scolded softly, "Master Tang, why do you harass the brides for the mating ceremony every year?!"

"These delicate creatures can't stand the stimulation. If they happen to be hurt before the ceremony in two days what are we to do then–"

The old man's eyes continue to stare lifelessly with resentment.

The woman didn't care for him any longer and raised ahead to smile at the two people in the room. The suppressed sobbing from Ning Ning did not faze her and her eyes locked onto Tang Shun's with overwhelming enthusiasm. "Oh, you two must be frightened. Master Tang was very impolite in meeting the bride before the ceremony. We will travel tonight to pass through the elven ceremony tomorrow. The sedan chairs have already been prepared however, the wedding dress has not been picked out."

Tang Shun blanked for a moment, even the girl beside him stopped crying for a second. "Wedding dress?"

The woman smiled brightly, "Yes wedding dress. For all the beautiful brides as they mate with the guardian tree."

"Such a noble and honorable duty, you must feel gratified and joyful. The elves will forever commemorate your sacrifice." 

The elf girl's face turned white with a deathly pallor. As if she knew something.

The woman's face suddenly changed and as if she had remembered something, she hastily grabbed the old man by his hair and dragged him out, shouting behind her as she left. "You two can get acquainted with the other brides before the dresses are delivered. However please be advised to not leave the vicinity of the camp." Her voice turned sinister, "If you do, I can't guarantee what will happen to you."

She opened the door briefly–Tang Shun could see the dark green forest terrain outside, covered by a faint grey fog, they stood like large tombs as if everything was in a state of decay before the door slammed shut behind her.

Tang Shun stood from the bed and moved to go outside. However, from behind, a shivering voice sounded, "I'd advise you not to go out." 

Tang Shun looked back, cold eyes hidden behind silver glasses. He didn't say anything but the young elf, felt as if she was being stared at by one of the horrifying green serpents that lived in the forest. Her already trembling voice got even lower and her head was almost buried into his chest under his gaze. "There are some crazy elves here that will attack you." Her head lifted slightly and in the pure green eyes, there was a dark light, "We call them: 

"The Unqualified."

Tang paused for a second and a absurd thought suddenly flashed through his mind. Since he was also a bride....would he have to wear a dress?!