Thank you “entameSubs” for the Ko-fi. Here are your chapters. (1/4)
Changsheng Building
Chapter 239: Wedding
Wen Jianyan was now an A-level anchor, and the system store had upgraded accordingly. The exchange limit for the “hand of guidance” for each instance had increased from 2 to 3, and he had received one opportunity to exchange for a “high-level hand of guidance.” However, the High-Level Hand of Guidance only pointed out the location of legendary hidden items, and this exchange opportunity does not refresh with the change of instances. Unless Wen Jianyan advanced to S-level and unlocked the S-level system store, the exchange limit for the high-level hand of guidance would not increase.
In other words, he now has only one hand of guidance left to use.
If Wen Jianyan had a team this time, his teammates could share the usage limits. Unfortunately, the heavens didn’t favor him, and he was the only one who entered the third painting.
In other words, he would use up all his remaining uses just on the third floor.
Damn it.
Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
But now that he was in this situation, he couldn’t afford to save the usage of his items. Gritting his teeth, Wen Jianyan directly activated the last hand of guidance in his backpack.
The moment the item was activated, a red arrow appeared, pointing behind him.
…Behind?
Wen Jianyan was taken aback and instinctively turned his head—
In the next second, a chill ran up his spine.
In the darkness, a corpse in a crimson wedding dress stood upright, with a red bridal veil covering its head. The “double happiness” character embroidered on the veil was clearly askew, as if it were “looking” in his direction.
In other words…
The third item was on this bride’s corpse.
Seeing the corpse exuding a strong smell of decay and thinking that he had to approach it to retrieve the item, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine.
But…
Time was running out.
Whether he was willing or not, he had to take action.
Wen Jianyan’s brain was racing.
Whether it was the white canvas covering the face in the first painting or the curse of the faceless child’s corpse in the second painting, deducing from the characteristics of these curses, the source of the curse in the third painting was most likely the bride’s red veil.
Therefore, as long as he obtained the red veil, he would acquire the item that was the source of the curse and end all of this!
Gritting his teeth, Wen Jianyan extended the hand that had regained mobility after touching the photo frame, reaching for the red cloth on the bride’s head.
The bride remained motionless.
The red cloth embroidered with the “double happiness” character covered the corpse’s head, completely hiding its face. However, based on the orientation of the character, Wen Jianyan was 100% sure that its face was directed at him.
“……”
The distance between his fingertips and the red veil rapidly decreased.
The bride maintained her stiff, unmoving stance, standing rigidly in place.
When his fingertips were only a few centimeters away from the red veil, Wen Jianyan’s movements paused slightly.
… Something’s not right.
Standing still, Wen Jianyan’s eyes flashed with struggle. His survival instincts screamed at him to proceed, but he gritted his teeth and forcibly stopped his actions, his trembling fingers hovering in mid-air.
No, this is definitely wrong.
From experience, every time he tried to obtain a crucial cursed item, he would encounter significant resistance. Whether it was the slowly opening eyes of the dead head on the previous floor or the gradually appearing handprints on the arm in the painting, all these confirmed this theory.
Although the curse on Wen Jianyan had somewhat loosened, the crying baby corpse hadn’t disappeared yet. So, he was barely maintaining a “dead” state, and theoretically, the resistance he encountered should be reduced, but it definitely shouldn’t be completely nonexistent like now.
Where did it go wrong?
Could it be that the red veil wasn’t the hidden item? That the true source of the curse was elsewhere on the corpse?
No, that shouldn’t be the case.
As soon as this thought appeared, Wen Jianyan quickly denied it.
In the “Changsheng Building” instance, “rules” were extremely important. Whether it was the first or the second painting, the concept of the curse was closely related to “face.” Therefore, even if the difficulty increased in the third painting, it wouldn’t break away from the entire system.
So, where was the problem?
Wen Jianyan stared intently at the bride’s corpse, covered with the red cloth, thinking rapidly.
As time passed, the recovery speed of his fingers accelerated. In just a few dozen seconds, Wen Jianyan’s right hand and arm had mostly regained their mobility. Although the child’s corpse hadn’t disappeared, he could clearly feel its crying weakening.
As his body gradually recovered to a human state, some eerie phenomena began to appear in this place, which was half a wedding hall and half a mourning hall.
Wen Jianyan could smell the increasingly strong scent of decay and the pungent, sweet, rotting smell of blood.
Wen Jianyan knew that his time was running out.
He gritted his teeth, his eyes flickering.
Facing the unmoving, seemingly wooden corpse, although it hadn’t attacked him yet, the extremely dangerous and creepy aura it emitted was gradually awakening.
The crimson veil swayed slightly, its vivid, eerie color stark against the darkness, as if dyed with thick, fresh blood.
Wen Jianyan clearly realized that the malice hidden within was stirring, waiting for the moment he became its prey.
If the problem wasn’t with the “target,” then where could it be?
…Wait a minute.
Wen Jianyan suddenly paused, as if he had thought of something. He lifted his eyes to look at the corpse in front of him, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.
If the danger in the third painting was purely contained within this corpse, then the entire scene shouldn’t be so “exquisite.”
The layout of the first painting was similar to this place, but compared to here, it seemed very crude, even rough.
Whether it was the western room connecting two worlds, the courtyard, or even the core area of the curse, the northern room, they were all empty. Apart from the corpse, the coffin, and the terrifying power hidden in the darkness, there was nothing else.
But here…
Whether it was the mourning hall, the coffin, or the various decorations, although everything was eerie, the overall arrangement and the bride’s corpse were internally coherent and reasonable.
This meant that the internal setup of this painting had a purpose.
Wen Jianyan clenched his teeth and, with great courage, once again looked at the bride’s corpse.
If the crucial hidden item being the “red veil” was correct, then could the key lie in… the way the item was obtained?
In traditional weddings, the red veil wasn’t lifted by the groom’s hand but required a steelyard.
Wen Jianyan’s breathing quickened slightly. He lifted his eyes and swiftly scanned the area.
This place was not small, but there weren’t many places that could hide something. Whether on the corpse or the nearby altar, there was no space to hide a steelyard. The only remaining option was…
His gaze fell on the nearby coffin.
The coffin lid was half open. Due to the curse’s restriction, Wen Jianyan couldn’t move his head much, so the visible area wasn’t large. He only knew that there was no corpse inside, and a portrait was placed at the farthest point. As for whether something was hidden deeper inside, it was hard for Wen Jianyan to see.
Logically speaking, if he indeed needed to use a steelyard to lift the veil to obtain the item, then the coffin was the most likely place for the steelyard to be.
After all, a wedding requires two “people.”
And the groom, who was responsible for lifting the bride’s veil, was the one lying in the coffin.
Since the five-minute mark had passed and the ghost baby had disappeared, Wen Jianyan could no longer have it fetch the item for him and had to do it himself.
Fortunately, due to the curse’s diminishing effect, he was much more agile now than before, no longer needing to move step by step.
Wen Jianyan quickly walked toward the coffin.
He could feel the bride’s head silently turning as he passed by, the crimson veil swaying, seemingly following his movements.
Though there was no attack, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingle and instinctively quicken his pace.
Soon, he reached the coffin.
The wooden coffin was covered with a layer of crimson glaze, looking cold and smooth. Although there was no corpse inside, Wen Jianyan could still smell a strong scent of decay emanating from it.
Wen Jianyan leaned slightly, peering into the coffin’s interior.
Despite the dim light, he could clearly see a brass steelyard lying quietly at the bottom of the coffin. It looked very old and covered in stains, but it was indeed there.
“!”
Wen Jianyan’s spirits lifted immediately.
Seeing the steelyard, he knew he had guessed correctly.
At the same time, he felt a wave of fear.
If he hadn’t stopped in time and had lifted the bride’s red veil by hand… Wen Jianyan couldn’t imagine what terrifying fate would have awaited him.
Wen Jianyan glanced at the system store’s item list. There was no item that allowed him to retrieve the steelyard with only one hand and stiff fingers.
Even if it were theoretically possible, it would take a lot of time.
And right now, time was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
It seemed he had no choice but to use the most primitive method.
Gritting his teeth as if making a decision, Wen Jianyan maintained his posture of holding the child’s corpse with one hand and slowly and stiffly bent down, reaching into the dark coffin.
No… still can’t reach.
Staring at the brass steelyard not far away, Wen Jianyan stood on tiptoe and stretched his hand deeper into the coffin. His fingertips gradually got closer to the steelyard, the distance between his fingers and the item rapidly shrinking.
…Almost there.
Wen Jianyan held his breath slightly, his soft abdomen pressing against the cold, hard edge of the coffin as his fingertips continued to search inward. His upper body had unknowingly completely entered the coffin.
Almost!
In the next second, out of the darkness, a pale hand abruptly shot out and grabbed Wen Jianyan’s wrist tightly.
“!!!”
Damn it!!!
Wen Jianyan’s pupils shrank, showing a horrified expression.
One, two, three…
More pale, bluish hands emerged from the darkness, each gripping Wen Jianyan’s arm tightly.
In the next second—
A strange, cold force surged in. Wen Jianyan felt a whirl of dizziness. When he regained his senses, he found himself being forcibly pulled into the depths of the coffin.
His whole body ached everywhere.
A physiological tear squeezed out of the corner of Wen Jianyan’s eye.
But worse than the pain was the sudden, overwhelming fear.
The air around him was filled with the stench of decay, and the coffin, stained as if by fresh blood, was narrow and terrifying, trapping him like high walls.
“Crack—”
A sharp sound of wood scraping echoed.
Wen Jianyan looked up in horror.
With a loud “bang,” the crimson coffin lid slammed shut above him, sealing him in tightly.
The inside of the coffin was pitch black.
Nothing could be seen, nothing could be heard—only an invisible terror spreading and driving him mad.
The urge to scream was caught in his throat, and his face pale with fear. Wen Jianyan instinctively raised his hand and pushed hard against the coffin lid above him—
Upon touching it, he immediately noticed something strange.
No.
The surface of the coffin lid was not entirely cold and smooth. On the contrary, it was pitted and uneven.
Wen Jianyan, unable to see, traced the indents with his fingers and gasped.
Those… those were large, deep scratch marks made by fingernails.
It seemed as if someone alive had been trapped in the coffin, scratching madly in despair, refusing to stop even after breaking their nails, and bleeding profusely.
“Drip.”
The sound of a water droplet broke the deathly silence, echoing inside the coffin as if right next to his ear.
“Drip.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
He seemed to realize something, slowly and inch by inch, turning his head to look beside him.
In the darkness, lying next to him was a bride’s corpse in a wedding dress, its head covered by a red veil. The crimson cloth seemed to be soaked with blood, with thick, fresh blood dripping from the veil’s edge, falling onto the coffin floor, and making a clear sound.
Ahhhhhh help me ahhhhhh damn it ahhhhhh!!!
Wen Jianyan’s face turned pale, his heart racing, his whole body overwhelmed.
He realized that the cries of the child corpse he held had weakened significantly and were now barely audible, as if it was losing the battle in this clash of curses, gradually losing its effect.
“Crack—”
The sound of bones creaking echoed.
In the darkness, the bride’s corpse slowly turned its head.
In the narrow, dark coffin, Wen Jianyan lay side by side with the corpse, their faces just centimeters apart. He could even see the clear texture of the fabric on the veil.
“!!!”
Not good, not good, not good!
In Wen Jianyan’s dilated pupils, the sticky blood began to spread from beneath the veil, flowing on the crimson coffin floor like it had a will of its own, reaching towards him—
Quick, quick, quick!
His only movable hand fumbled around, desperately searching for something in the darkness based on his memory.
“Drip, drip, drip.”
The foul-smelling, cursed blood was just a few centimeters away from touching Wen Jianyan’s cheek.
A cold sweat poured from his forehead, his whole body shivering under extreme pressure.
And just then—
Wen Jianyan’s fingertips seemed to touch something. In the narrow gap between him and the coffin wall, there lay a cold, hard metal rod.
That’s it!
The steelyard!!!
Wen Jianyan’s whole body jolted, clutching it like a lifeline.
No time to hesitate, no time to think.
With a do-or-die determination, Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, quickly turned, and used the steelyard to lift the veil off the corpse’s face!
With each chapter I get more and more attached to Wen Jianyan, I love him so much.