Chapter 249: Ghost Marriage Tales (2)
The bumpy van drove for another stretch before finally coming to a stop. The driver said in the local dialect, "Miss, Yangjiagou is here."
"Okay, thank you, sir." Ji Ning gathered her belongings, paid the fare, opened the door, and stepped onto the dry yellow earth.
Yangjiagou was like villages in many remote areas, named after the surname of the residents who clustered together. So most of the families living in the gully were surnamed Yang, and the family hosting the wedding was also surnamed Yang. They were a prominent household in Yangjiagou, with the largest cave dwelling and the most thriving population.
From a distance, Ji Ning saw the host's home adorned with red cloth decorations, with tables, chairs, wooden crates, and a temporary cooking shed set up in the courtyard.
Two rows of large cave dwellings, seven or eight doors in total, lined up and connected, looked quite spectacular. The men, women, old, and young bustling about all had sallow skin and flushed cheeks, a result of living on the Loess Plateau.
When Ji Ning climbed up the gentle slope and appeared in the courtyard, her fair-skinned, beautiful, and unfamiliar appearance drew many stares, stopping people in their tracks to size her up.
Ji Ning was also surveying the scene and quickly spotted a few Real Players who, like her, were out of place.
A woman came forward, her voice booming so the entire courtyard could hear: "Are you a relative of the Yang family or the Du family?"
"Auntie, I'm a relative of the Du family. My surname is Ji." Although they were strangers, Ji Ning knew that calling middle-aged men "uncle" and women "auntie" was always a safe bet.
"Oh! You're the girl from the Ji family. Come, come, find a seat. Dinner will be ready soon." The woman, whether or not she actually recognized Ji Ning, acted very familiar. She ushered her to a seat and called for someone to bring her tea.
Ji Ning put her luggage aside and sat on a red plastic stool around the wooden round table.
She thought silently: Relatives of the Yang family meant the groom's side; relatives of the Du family meant the bride's side. Judging by the instance name, this was a feudal ghost marriage. She wondered who the deceased was, or if perhaps both parties were dead.
Was it her imagination, or did Ji Ning feel a faint, fishy stench of decay floating in the air?
She breathed shallowly, casually studying her surroundings. She noticed a few women sitting around a small table by the wall, cutting paper.
The paper was red. The shapes were unclear from a distance; she could only vaguely make out what seemed like clothes, square shapes with two arms sticking out at the sides.
Ji Ning stood up and strolled in that direction.
She was so focused that she didn't realize she had walked right in front of a man who had just arrived, blocking his path.
Shen Yu stopped and waited for her to pass before continuing on to greet the NPCs.
Getting closer, Ji Ning finally confirmed that the women were cutting out paper clothing.
The table held not only paper clothes but also quilts, cars, household appliances like refrigerators, and shoes folded from red paper. Everything a newlywed couple needed to start a life together had been replicated in paper.
It was a festive day, meant for beating drums and gongs, yet they were preparing paper offerings typically found in a funeral wreath shop. There was nothing overtly horrifying about it, but it was deeply chilling if you thought about it too much.
Having seen enough, Ji Ning looked around, pretending to search for a restroom. Not finding one in that direction, she turned back.
Then she noticed many people watching her, especially the men. Growing uneasy, she stopped wandering and wanted to return to her previous spot.
That was when Ji Ning saw that Shen Yu had also sat down at her table, directly opposite her.
Ji Ning's things were right beside her, and many of the other tables were already full. She had no choice but to sit down obediently, keeping her legs tightly together and placing her hands on the table.
Her posture wasn't glaringly out of place, just more proper than most people's, making her look like a child feeling restrained due to unfamiliar surroundings.
Shen Yu hadn't intended to pay her any attention, but they kept encountering each other. Now, impossible to avoid, his gaze occasionally landed on her face.
Truth be told, aside from having a clear impression of her name, his memory of her face had already blurred. He just found her familiar, especially those lively, almond-shaped eyes.
Calling out to her had been nothing more than a test. If she truly was a former student, he had to avoid her at all costs.
Because he was not a beast, let alone a degenerate.
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