Chapter 2: Time Stood Still on Their Wedding Night

  My body stiffened slightly, and the arm around me tightened its grip. I struggled in vain to free myself, but gave up on the idea of escaping and let him hold me like that. As he strode across the ice with large steps, we left the altar behind. Amidst the gentle jolting, I heard a sound similar to grinding gears coming from behind us - a low "creaking" noise. On the stone wall in front of us, which was lit by oil lamps, a crack slowly opened up, revealing a long tunnel behind it. The walls of the tunnel were also lined with dimly lit oil lamps.

  I leaned against his chest, the warmth of his body temperature transmitted through the thin clothes, and my originally cold body slowly gained temperature. I could even feel that the blood flow had recovered, and my body began to obey me. With his steady and powerful pace, I relaxed, and my mind seemed to clear up a bit. I started to fully utilize my imagination, thinking about the cause and effect of this transmigration event.

  The Taoist called the handsome man the castle owner and me the lady, which means that this body and he should be husband and wife. The original owner of this body died for some reason, and the handsome man also didn't know why he refused to accept this fact, so he captured my soul and put it in this body. But why did he do this? I recalled the handsome man's deep eyes earlier, could it be that he loved her very much? I laughed at myself, how is this possible? Even if he loved her very much, now there is only a corpse and a strange soul left, can his love continue? Doesn't he understand this reason? So, does he have another reason?

  I shook my head, a moment's time, the information I got was too little, and I couldn't make a judgment. Maybe it was my head-shaking action that caught his attention, he lowered his head to look at me, I stared blankly into his eyes, full of doubts and confusion, how would he treat me?

  His eyes flashed with a hint of tenderness that was about to spill over into tears, leaving me stunned. But the tenderness vanished too quickly, and his gaze returned to its usual endless indifference. Yet I was certain I hadn't misread it - could it be true that my guess was correct? Was he reluctant to let go of my soul because of his attachment to this body? Because of his deep love for the original owner of this body? But what good would that do? What should I do now?

  A gust of fresh air hit me, and I looked up in surprise to find that I had already reached the exit. Under the quiet night sky, there was nothing but empty space in front of me, without any obstacles. It turned out that I was in a mountain cave.

  He held me tightly, and as he walked down the stairs, I felt myself being carried by him towards the mountain. The slightly cool mountain breeze made me feel refreshed, and my throat seemed to be less dry than before. I couldn't help but ask in doubt: "Where are you taking me?"

  I felt him stiffen as he held my hand, but he didn't lower his head to look at me again. After a long time, he indifferently spat out two words: "Go back to your room."

  I was stunned, I thought I was clever, but now I'm completely bewildered by the situation in front of me. I couldn't guess what would happen next, this first moment of crossing over is really too strange, and I couldn't find anything similar in my memory. I hate this feeling of being at a loss, I absolutely cannot let myself be filled with uncertainty about the next moment. I turned my head and started to carefully observe the surroundings.

  He strode across a vermilion-painted gate, with a huge red lantern hanging above it. After entering, he walked into a garden, and I couldn't see the surroundings clearly, only knowing that he continued to walk in, passing through winding corridors, and then stepped through another door. Suddenly, the front of the house was brightly lit, with large red lanterns hung under the eaves, and red decorations draped over the beams. The atmosphere was extremely festive. He entered a room at the front, and a huge red "囍" character came into view, dazzling my eyes. Two thick candles, each as thick as an arm, had less than half a foot left, burning with a faint glow.

  Is this the new house? I was stunned, could it be that they had just gotten married? Then why did the bride die? A string of question marks floated in my mind. As soon as I entered the inner room, everything was red, and in front of the large red wedding character on the window, there were still a pair of dragon and phoenix candles that were about to burn out, red silk carpets covered the floor, on the table was a pair of mandarin ducks wine, new colorful embroidered red lotus silk curtains, cherry-red golden thread mandarin duck quilt...

  He gently put me on the bed. I only felt something hard under my body. Reaching out to touch, a handful of copper coins, longan, lotus seeds, peanuts...

  I was stunned. This... Is this the ancient folk "Suo Zhan" ritual? Why does this new house seem like no one has ever lived in it before? And what should be the groom's man is wearing a black robe, while what should be the bride's body has turned into me.

  A small flame on a candle in front of the window, about the size of a bean, flickered lightly twice before suddenly going out. The room became even darker. It was very quiet, eerily so. As if time had stopped at that moment when the wedding candles were lit. The scene in front of me was eerie and made my hairs stand on end. What happened here?

  I looked up at him. He was also silently sizing me up, meeting my fearful and puzzled gaze. He slightly furrowed his brow. Coldly said: "You rest well!" After speaking, he turned around and walked out.

  What? You're just going to leave me like this? You know I'm a stranger in a strange land. Since you brought me here, shouldn't you at least give me an explanation?! My heart racing, I suddenly forgot my fear. I sat up from the bed and shouted in a low voice: "Halt!"

  He was about to step out of the doorway when his back suddenly stopped there.

  "What's up?" Still that indifferent voice.

  A flame burst out in my heart, and I struggled to keep myself from exploding, but my tone was no longer so polite: "What's going on? You should at least give me an explanation."

  "You don't need to know what's going on, just behave yourself and that's all!" He still didn't turn around, saying it with his back to me.

  "What a joke!" I blurted out in anger, jumping up from the bed with a whoosh, and stepped forward with my foot, only to forget that there was still a footboard in front of this ancient bed. Suddenly, one foot stepped into thin air, losing balance, and my body tilted over, falling towards the ground.

  A figure flashed before my eyes, and I hadn't even had time to cry out in surprise when my waist was tightly wrapped around, my body sank, and I was hugged back to the bedside and sat down.

  I raised my eyes to glance at him, this man knows kung fu? All I saw was his eyes full of anger, staring at me with a scowl, wanting to speak but forcing himself to hold back.

  His inconsistent expression made me pause for a moment, and then I understood that he was very concerned about this body. Seeing his expression, I suddenly felt a sense of joy in my heart, and the anger from earlier completely disappeared. My mouth couldn't help but curve into a slight smile, haha, it seems I've grasped something.

  My untimely smile seemed to enrage him even more, the fire in his eyes almost bursting out, yet he desperately restrained himself, and all I heard was his suppressed voice saying: "You'd better be careful."

  "What's wrong?" I stared at him innocently and teased, "Be careful not to fall?"

  He took a deep breath and didn't answer.

  It's really like that, the smile on my face is even sweeter: "Baizhu, why don't you sit down and let's have a good chat? Otherwise, if I don't understand the situation, who knows, I might accidentally make another scene!"

  Watching his anger almost ignite himself, I sneered in my heart, thinking of deceiving me? Either give me a clear explanation, or let's see who deceives whom!

  "What kind of evil spirit has possessed Pingyang that you would be so shameless!" He glared at me, gritting his teeth.

  Am I being unreasonable? I stared at him with wide eyes, is this man sick in the head or something, bringing me here for no reason and then blaming me for being unreasonable? He even looked like he was the one who had been wronged, what a scoundrel!

  "Whether you're a rogue or just bored, in any case you can't leave, first explain it clearly to me!" I shrugged my shoulders in disagreement. If I don't get the situation clear now, once he leaves, this place is so big, where am I going to find him?

  He just stood there, half a beat without speaking, silently staring at me.

  "Is it so hard to tell me the reason?" I asked him patiently.

  He still stood there, motionless, and I almost thought he would turn into a stone statue, but unexpectedly, the anger in his eyes was gradually fading away.

  You still have some city manners! I hummed in my heart and started to move my stiff shoulders, casting a sideways glance at him.

  "What do you want to know?" He regained his calm and serene appearance, saying indifferently.

  "What do I want to know?" The question was thrown back at me, and I smiled coldly: "I have a lot of things I want to know. Who are you? What is this place? What era is it now? Why did you bring me here? What identity is this body? What do you want me to do? What's the purpose? You've captured my soul, what about my original body?"

  I fired off a string of questions in one breath, and as expected, he furrowed his brow, momentarily unsure of how to respond.

  Forget it, at this rate, I reckon by dawn I still won't understand, I sighed and politely said: "Why don't you sit down, aren't your legs tired from standing?"

  He still stood there motionless. This guy is like an ox, and I really can't be polite to him anymore. I rolled my eyes and said, "What are you standing there for? Are you tired of me looking up at you? Or should I stand up too?"

  This move was indeed effective, the handsome man in front of him was stunned, and finally stopped insisting, silently walked to the round table in the center of the house and sat down, half a sound before saying: "My name is Ling Yi."