Chapter 119: Touching Someone

On the bed, the bride in red sat ramrod straight, her hands resting between her legs, which were pressed tightly together, exuding a look of shyness and trepidation.

Fang Mu walked over and stood before the bride.

No movement.

The bride was incredibly still, though her body betrayed her. She was trembling at a high frequency; in Fang Mu’s eyes, it looked as if she were terrified.

Fang Mu lifted a foot onto the edge of the bed. Being forced into marriage had left him feeling quite speechless. The red veil before him obscured the bride’s face, leaving it hidden from view. He pinched a corner of the veil and lifted it.

As the veil fell to the side, the bride’s appearance was revealed.

Beautiful. Strikingly beautiful. Bright eyes and pearly teeth, skin like congealed fat—if the saying about fish sinking and geese falling was not just a legend, Fang Mu felt it would be perfectly fitting for her.

With the veil removed, the bride kept her eyes tightly shut, her teeth clenched firmly.

"That shouldn't be right."

Fang Mu rubbed his chin. Something was off. How could a supernatural entity act so shy and timid? Shouldn't they be more uninhibited? He wondered if the entity's state had changed, and if so, whether that meant he could "examine the corpse" again.

With that thought, he reached out and patted her up and down, but to no avail.

The bride opened her eyes, a flicker of fury burning within them.

"Huh?" Fang Mu had a growing suspicion: could this thing actually be a human?

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he noticed something peculiar about the collar of her robes. Beneath the red wedding dress, there was a different color at the neckline. With the veil covering her earlier, he hadn't noticed it.

"Hmm..."

Fang Mu pondered for a moment, then reached out to undo the bride’s collar. He peeled back the red wedding dress, revealing a purple garment underneath.

"Indeed..." Fang Mu muttered to himself. "What’s underneath is the real one..."

He became increasingly certain of his hypothesis: this thing might truly be a human. The moment he realized this, he recalled his previous actions.

"I’ll kill you!"

The instant the red wedding dress was loosened, the woman in purple moved. A flash of purple radiance surged toward Fang Mu, enveloping him. The scene before his eyes shifted, as if he were suddenly standing on the edge of a cliff.

"An illusion?"

Green light appeared in Fang Mu’s pupils, and countless thin threads and a single point of light became visible. Fang Mu reached out to touch the point of light, and the scenery vanished, revealing the astonished face of the woman in purple.

"Slap!"

A crisp sound echoed as the woman was struck down by Fang Mu’s palm, completely stunned.

Fang Mu drew his butcher’s knife and held it against her neck. "Name, origin. Answer slowly, and I’ll turn your rugged mountain path into a flat plain."

As he spoke, he glanced downward, his implication clear. He was now one hundred percent certain that this was a human.

"Qian Qiuyue, a runaway disciple of the Snow Ridge Illusion Sect," she said quickly, reading the situation clearly.

Compared to her earlier fury, Qian Qiuyue now appeared quite docile. Although she had only just encountered this man, she knew well that he was nothing like the others. The blade was not just for show; she could feel the genuine intent to kill.

Fang Mu rubbed his chin. "Why are you here? And you must know who I am, right?"

He had killed the woman in yellow, and the commotion in the clearing had been significant.

Qian Qiuyue’s eyes darted away. "The Profound Ghost Ruins are a great opportunity; everyone wants to come. After entering the city, I saw a set of wedding robes. I don't know what possessed me, but I put them on instinctively, and then I became like this."

"Hmm..." Fang Mu nodded. "There is still one question you haven't answered."

"I have seen you," Qian Qiuyue said with a bitter smile. "You killed my junior sister."

Fang Mu sheathed his butcher’s knife and said with satisfaction, "Good, you really are human."

Qian Qiuyue froze, suddenly realizing. It was Fang Mu who had killed the woman in yellow, and that had happened before they entered the ruins. If he recognized her, it meant he was someone from outside the Profound Ghost Ruins.

"If I hadn't known," she stammered, "or if I hadn't seen... would you have..."

"Killed you," Fang Mu said flatly.

Qian Qiuyue fell silent.

Fang Mu sat on the edge of the bed and patted it. "Come on, get up and talk."

Qian Qiuyue sat up, a trace of lingering anger in her eyes.

"Don't be angry. I was just examining you from a professional perspective earlier," Fang Mu said earnestly.

"Huh?" Qian Qiuyue was bewildered.

"I am a coroner," Fang Mu said. "I am very professional."

Qian Qiuyue felt terrible. So, I was the one who was taken advantage of, and you’re claiming to be the one who lost out? Am I supposed to thank you?

"Let’s put that aside for now," Fang Mu said. "Do you understand this place?"

In truth, Fang Mu wanted to kill her on the spot, but considering the nature of rule-based supernatural entities, he held off for the moment. Since they had placed this woman here, there had to be a catch.

"Reincarnation!" At the mention of this, Qian Qiuyue turned serious. "The Snow Ridge has records of this. It uses specific scenarios to reenact events that happened in the past. If we fall into the pattern, we will be 'reincarnated,' and they will take over our bodies, making us part of them."

As she spoke, she looked at the red wedding dress and sighed.

Fang Mu fell into deep thought. Reenacting a predetermined sequence meant that a wedding had truly taken place here once.

"Reenacting events that happened in the past," Fang Mu said. "Then we just shouldn't act it out."

If they didn't act, the subsequent events wouldn't occur.

Qian Qiuyue shook her head. "It’s not that simple. If you don't act, you stay trapped forever. There is only one way: keep acting. The best way to deal with rule-based anomalies is to find a flaw within the reenactment."

She stopped there.

Fang Mu grunted and began to undress.

Qian Qiuyue was startled. "What are you doing?"

"The wedding night, of course," Fang Mu sighed. "I’m a red-blooded man, and you’re a delicate woman. The only way to continue this act is the wedding night. Sigh, I’m the one losing out here."

Qian Qiuyue panicked. "No, wait! There are other ways!"

"I can't hear you," Fang Mu continued undressing.

Qian Qiuyue gave a bitter laugh. "I was wrong."

She couldn't help but see that Fang Mu was just messing with her.

Fang Mu stopped. "If you have something to say, say it all. I don't like people who beat around the bush."

This woman wasn't being honest; she was holding back half the truth.

Qian Qiuyue said helplessly, "To break the cycle, the best way currently is to 'act,' but not a true reenactment. It’s a deduction—trial and error—to see what happens in this scenario."

Fang Mu pondered. "So, if the wedding night is successful, that’s also a deduction?"

"Don't, big brother," Qian Qiuyue said desperately. "That’s the last resort! Let’s try deducing other things, okay? I’m just a girl... Big brother, don't look at me like that! Just pretend you’re the one losing out—you can't actually take this loss!"