Chapter 31
Marriage?
Qiao Wan blinked her eyes and suddenly understood.
She remembered.
A few days ago, Pei Chunzheng proposed to her.
The young man with dark and clear eyes looked at her quietly and said, "Qiao Wan, let's get married."
Marriage meant that cultivators could become married and be companions on the path.
She and Pei Chunzheng had finally reached this step.
Looking at the young man's face in front of her, Qiao Wan couldn't help but think, why did she like him so much?
She liked him.
Because back then, when she was lying in a pool of blood, she looked up and saw him.
The young man stood on the sword, covered in snow and wind.
Qiao Wan raised her head and looked directly into the young man's eyes, giving a firm answer, "Okay."
Pei Chunzheng's breath was shallow and long, with a hint of coldness, his long eyelashes, straight nose, and bright red lips, his striking features and cold temperament blended perfectly.
His breath touched her skin.
Pei Chunzheng had never kissed her.
Qiao Wan's heart pounded, thinking nervously.
Now...finally...can they kiss?
From childhood to now, she had never taken the initiative to kiss any man. Qiao Wan swallowed her saliva and felt a bit nervous. When she was about to raise her face to get closer, her face had already turned red.
The young man lowered his eyelashes, covered her eyes with his hand, and lightly kissed her lips.
"Qiao Wan." The young man's cold and clear voice sounded a bit hoarse.
The cultivation world's marriage was not as complicated as the mortal world's, but such an important event in life had to be taken seriously.
Before getting married, she gave Pei Chunzheng a protective talisman, drawing it with her own blood. As long as he wore this talisman and encountered any danger, even if they were thousands of miles apart, it would share half of his injuries.
One life, shared by the two.
On the day of the wedding banquet, many people came, including their master, Elder Martial Brother, Ma Huaizhen, and a few familiar disciples.
Qiao Wan dressed up, taking out all her jewelry.
From hairpins, bracelets, to earrings, she wore them all, her hair tied with a small butterfly, and she dressed in a bright red gown with wide sleeves.
Pei Chunzheng also changed into a big red wedding costume, with a jade belt tied around his waist. The young man had a slim figure, wide shoulders, and long legs. His shiny black hair against the bright red robe made his fair skin appear even more snow-like, with bright features.
In Kunshan, there was a Hehuang Palace, where a Hehuang Tree was planted in front of it. The Dao companions in Kunshan liked to make marriage vows there, hanging name cards with their names on the Hehuang Tree.
Everything was going as Qiao Wan had imagined, so perfect that it almost felt unreal to her.
Just as she and Pei Chunzheng hung the red thread name cards on the Hehuang Tree, a commotion suddenly came from behind them.
"Pei Chunzheng."
A soft and gentle female voice broke the joyful atmosphere.
Qiao Wan turned back and saw a sixteen-year-old girl standing behind them. Next to the girl stood a young man with fiery red clothes.
The girl stood in place, her gaze falling on her, or rather, on Pei Chunzheng.
Qiao Wan turned her head.
As soon as Pei Chunzheng saw this girl, his face immediately changed.
"Xiaoxiao," he said.
Qiao Wan heard it, and the boy hesitated and uttered two words, "Xiaoxiao."
He didn't blink his eyes and stared intently at the girl not far away, unconsciously taking two steps forward.
Qiao Wan was also stunned.
But even if she was foolish, she understood at this moment. The girl in front of her, who looked about seventy or eighty percent similar to her, should be the younger martial sister Mu Xiaoxiao that the entire sect had been longing for.
But wasn't Mu Xiaoxiao dead?
Mu Xiaoxiao's gaze fell on Pei Chunzheng and Qiao Wan.
"I just returned to the sect, and they said you were in Hehuang Palace. I rushed over in a hurry, but I didn't expect you..." The girl's eyes turned red. She was so anxious that tears started flowing with each word she spoke.
Qiao Wan glanced at Pei Chunzheng.
It was the first time she had seen him so flustered. The boy stared blankly at the girl in front of him, showing a confused expression on his fair, trembling face.
His whole body was shaking, and his lips were trembling.
"Xiaoxiao," he said.
Mu Xiaoxiao cried even harder. She lowered her eyelashes, and tears wetted her lashes, making it impossible for her to open her eyes.
Qiao Wan stood on the side looking like a piece of artwork, feeling a bit stiff.
Mu Xiaoxiao looked at Qiao Wan again. She trembled and forced a sorrowful smile. Her appearance was about seventy or eighty percent similar to Qiao Wan's: almond eyes, delicate features. At this moment, her tear-filled eyes looked pitiful and disheveled.
Qiao Wan looked at Mu Xiaoxiao and suddenly felt a sense of awkwardness and embarrassment. She didn't know where to put her hands.
This was Mu Xiaoxiao.
Mu Xiaoxiao had returned.
Qiao Wan's mind went blank.
But she wasn't surprised at all, as if she had anticipated it a long time ago. It felt like she had been somewhere and had experienced a situation like today before.
Perhaps the girl was in a state of confusion, and suddenly fainted. Pei Chunzheng's face changed drastically, he hurriedly came forward and caught her, extending his hand to feel her pulse, "Xiaoxiao?!"
The girl in his arms had a reddened face, weak breathing, and a scorching body temperature.
Pei Chunzheng, dressed in red, looked graceful and elegant with his white teeth and red lips.
Qiao Wan asked, "Pei Chunzheng, are we still getting married today?"
Pei Chunzheng seemed to have just noticed her presence.
In his eyes, there was a bit of confusion and also a sense of unfamiliarity, as if he didn't know her at all.
He held Mu Xiaoxiao's hand, trembling slightly.
Seeing the unfamiliarity in his eyes, Qiao Wan suddenly understood everything. She had longed for this marriage ceremony so much, but now she looked quite embarrassing.
Qiao Wan took a deep breath and sat down on the steps, feeling the rush of blood flowing through her head and realizing that she unexpectedly encountered such a melodramatic situation as a forced marriage.
She untied her bracelet and began to take off the hairpin from her head.
The more carefully she dressed up, the more embarrassed she felt.
Pei Chunzheng didn't like her at all.
Qiao Wan felt a bit sad in her heart, and her eyes felt a bit sour.
Pei Chunzheng held Mu Xiaoxiao tightly and whispered something to Qiao Wan.
Qiao Wan listened carefully and realized that he was apologizing. He apologized to her in a low voice, without loosening his grip on Mu Xiaoxiao's arm.
Qiao Wan took a deep breath and wanted to say, "Don't apologize to me."
But suddenly, the scenery in front of her changed again.
The sky became gloomy, like thick ink about to pour down. The gigantic Hehuang Tree suddenly grew taller and branches twisted and rolled, turning into black ghostly hands. The Hehuang Flowers on the tree transformed into bleeding heads.
Countless bleeding ghost faces surrounded a red string name tag.
Qiao Wan wanted to pull off the name tag with her and Pei Chunzheng's names written on it.
But the name tag seemed to be stuck to the tree and couldn't be pulled off no matter how hard she tried. The branches hit her, and when she looked up, the ghost faces on the tree almost touched her face.
The ghost faces looked at her and giggled, making Qiao Wan feel annoyed and restless.
She reached out and poked into the eye sockets of the faces, and with a scoop, she threw the faces away and continued to try and pull off the name tag on the tree.
The red string cut into her palm, deeply embedded in her skin. Qiao Wan took a breath and finally managed to pull off the name tag.
As soon as she turned around holding the name tag, she met Pei Chunzheng's gaze.
He stood still, his gaze filled with shock, hesitation, confusion, and blankness.
He stared at her, his skin already pale. He seemed even more stiff than a dead person.
Qiao Wan held the name tag, stunned.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew, and the branches of the Hehuang Tree rustled. Accompanied by sharp ghost cries, the heads on the tree seemed to come to life, flying off the branches and directly crashing into Qiao Wan.
One head took the opportunity to bite her shoulder. It almost tore off a piece of flesh, making Qiao Wan gasp. She raised her fist and smashed its skull.
In the next second, another ghost face bit her arm, thigh, and ankle.
Ignoring the intense pain, Qiao Wan struck out with a palm, creating a gap in the pile of ghost faces, and quickly rolled out from among them.
As soon as she rolled out, the pile of ghost faces closed in again.
And when she looked up, she, Pei Chunzheng, and Mu Xiaoxiao were already surrounded by the ghost faces.
Mu Xiaoxiao was unconscious, and Pei Chunzheng held her with only one hand to deal with the ghost faces. He was struggling, gritting his teeth, and using his flying sword, his eyes red with urgency.
His body was covered in bite marks from the ghost faces, bloody and without a good piece of flesh. Despite this, he didn't let go but held Mu Xiaoxiao tighter, protecting her in his embrace.
Qiao Wan saw this and felt like her heart was being sliced by a sharp sword.
There were too many scary faces, even if Pei Chunzheng tried his best to protect, there was still no way to ensure safety.
The young boy tightly held Mu Xiaoxiao in his right arm, and with his left hand, he took out several talismans from a red pouch around his waist, and slapped them forward.
The "Red Sun Talismans" lined up together and exploded with a loud bang, flames shooting up into the sky. The faces in the flames contorted, howling like ghosts, their sharp screams felt like needles piercing into the brain, making one feel dizzy and blurry.
The talismans in his pouch were limited in number, and there were too many scary faces. It only burned about half of them, and instantly countless new faces swarmed from the right side. But at this moment, his pouch was empty.
Pei Chunzheng widened his eyes, sidestepped, twisted his arm, and stubbornly withstood the attack. His right arm was instantly gnawed away, leaving no good flesh behind.
The scary faces transformed by the Hehuang Flower kept flying towards them endlessly. No matter how many were killed, there were always countless new faces taking their place.
Countless faces laughed and forcibly dragged Mu Xiaoxiao out of Pei Chunzheng's embrace.
"Xiaoxiao!!"
The young boy gritted his teeth, roared in anger, his eyes turning red. He leaped over, trying to save her.
Qiao Wan was attracted by the commotion over at Pei Chunzheng's place and stood frozen for a second.
The remaining scary faces seized the opportunity and snatched away the name tags from her hand.
Name tags!
Qiao Wan didn't have time to think too much, she rushed forward, but was immediately caught by the scary faces, biting her limbs.
The scary faces pulled her and Mu Xiaoxiao towards the Hehuang Tree. The ghostly hands of the tree reached out and wrapped around their limbs, firmly tying them to the trunk.
Qiao Wan didn't give up and struggled, but the ghostly hands were too tight. With her already depleted spiritual power and her limbs restrained, she had lost all her physical advantages.
The more she struggled, the tighter the hands squeezed her, pressing into her flesh, crushing her organs.
Qiao Wan's face turned red from lack of oxygen. She couldn't help but cough continuously, each cough expelling bits of flesh.
She was being strangled to death, but she still tightly held onto the name tags she had snatched back.
Pei Chunzheng furiously threw out various talismans without hesitation, fighting his way to the front of the tree.
As soon as he reached the tree, Qiao Wan locked eyes with Pei Chunzheng.
Pei Chunzheng looked at her, his eyes flickering with hesitation, guilt, and avoidance.
He lowered his head, refusing to look at her again, and drew his sword to cut off the ghostly hand in front of Mu Xiaoxiao.
Perhaps because Qiao Wan struggled too hard, and Pei Chunzheng was busy fighting, the ghostly hand seemed to change its mind. It decided to suck Qiao Wan first before dealing with Mu Xiaoxiao. It released its grip on Mu Xiaoxiao and all of them wrapped around Qiao Wan.
Crack--
That was the sound of the ghostly hands crushing her bones. The pain made tears and cold sweat flow down Qiao Wan's face together.
The young boy clenched his lips, his face pale, sweat constantly rolling down from his face, but he still didn't look at her.
After he finally managed to chop off the ghostly hands in front of Mu Xiaoxiao, the girl weakly slid down. Pei Chunzheng reached out quickly and caught her, then looked up to Qiao Wan.
At this moment, all the ghostly faces around flew over and enveloped Qiao Wan completely.
Pei Chunzheng's fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
He knew that if they didn't leave now, they would be trapped here and all three of them would die.
And Qiao Wan...
When he went to save Mu Xiaoxiao, he already knew.
Qiao Wan couldn't be saved anymore.
Pei Chunzheng took a deep breath and reached into the dark red sachet once again. He pulled out the last three talismans and threw them ahead, creating a path for them to escape. He jumped out while carrying Mu Xiaoxiao but stumbled and fell to his knees.
His face was covered in blood, too busy to take care of Mu Xiaoxiao. He turned to look behind.
At first, he could still see a glimpse of Qiao Wan's pink clothes. Gradually, the ghostly faces piled up higher and eventually swallowed her whole.
...
In the beginning, Qiao Wan struggled, but eventually, she had no strength left to struggle.
The ghostly faces multiplied.
Ankles, neck, face, thighs - the flesh from every part of her body was forcefully torn off by the ghostly faces.
Amidst the ghostly roaring and the tearing of flesh, the crunching sound of bones being chewed made one's teeth ache.
What was even more terrifying and painful was that Qiao Wan was conscious all this time.
She felt as if she was being pulled away, her spirit and body were separated, watching the ghostly faces greedily devouring her along with the ghostly hands.
Crunch... Crunch...
Those were the sounds of her thigh bone being chewed.
Some ghostly faces bit her fingers, while others bit her cheeks.
It might have been a long time, or just a few seconds.
Qiao Wan wondered.
Was she going to die?
But this scene in front of her looked strangely familiar, like she had seen it somewhere before.
Pei Chunzheng watched the scene impassively.
Qiao Wan's face contorted, her eyes bulged, unwillingly gazing at the sky as the demons swarmed around her, and in an instant, she was completely devoured.
That was the content of the original book "Immortal Ascending Road".
Qiao Wan closed her eyes, faintly grasping something in her heart.
Since a while ago, nothing was normal.
This was an illusion.
Illusions were known to stir up the hidden desires and thoughts buried deep within people's hearts.
What did this current illusion mean?
It meant that she was afraid; afraid that she still had feelings for Pei Chunzheng, afraid of being compared to Mu Xiaoxiao, and even more afraid of the ending in the book where thousands of demons devoured her.
As her thoughts shifted, a pure and holy Buddhist chant seemed to echo in her mind.
Noble and dignified, like an enlightening elixir!
The Buddha seal left in her sea of consciousness suddenly emitted a dazzling golden light.
A level-one wake-up call for the mind!
Qiao Wan suddenly jolted awake.
The demons were still devouring her limbs.
Qiao Wan opened her eyes, flipped her palm, and raised her hand to unleash a brilliant burst of light.
How could she let these things continue to gnaw on her? Her spiritual consciousness is about to break through the Yuanying stage!
With a palm, an overwhelming Buddha light surges forth, and under the Buddha light, all the demons turn into ashes.
That Hehuang Tree is also undergoing changes and in the blink of an eye, it transforms into a towering bodhi tree!
Buddha light pours down like rain from the branches, cascading down millions of golden threads.
A golden lotus gradually rises from the bodhi tree.
Pei Chunzheng holds Mu Xiaoxiao in his arms, kneeling on the ground with blood stains on his face. Seeing the changes in front of him, he is stunned in place.
The sound of the Buddha's voice affects his mind, and with a buzzing sound, his spiritual awareness suddenly becomes clear.
This...
A drop of blood rolls down the boy's eyelash.
He wonders dazedly, is this an illusion?
The person in the illusion is Mu Xiaoxiao...
And...
Qiao Wan...
Dots of Buddha light scatter in front of her, and the golden lotus slowly blooms, enveloping Qiao Wan in the Buddha light.
Buddhist energy...
This is Buddhist energy...
Why does Qiao Wan have Buddhist energy on her?
And this lotus imprint, Pei Chunzheng raises his head to look.
Just a single imprint, and he can sense the profound cultivation; this imprint can only be left by someone who has achieved great mastery.
Why does Qiao Wan have a lotus imprint protecting her? Who pressed a lotus imprint in her sea of consciousness?
The bodhi leaves sway in the wind, and majestic Buddha light showers down.
Qiao Wan loosens her grip and sees the name tag clenched in her hand, breathing a sigh of relief.
If she used to worry about having lingering feelings for Pei Chunzheng, now she has completely let go.
Pei Chunzheng apparently notices it too, his gaze falling on her hand.
The name tag has Qiao Wan and Pei Chunzheng's names written on it.
But Qiao Wan doesn't look at him.
She lifts her hand and tears the name tag into pieces right in front of Pei Chunzheng.
As the name tag is destroyed, the ghostly face, Hehuang Tree, Pei Chunzheng, and Mu Xiaoxiao all disappear.
The illusion fades away.
Faintly, it seems like someone is calling her.
"Qiao Wan?"
"Qiao Wan?"
Qiao Wan opens her eyes with a start and meets a pair of dark irises.
Pei Chunzheng is staring at her in a daze.
She is still in the Mudstone Secret Realm, with water dripping from the cave walls.
Meeting Pei Chunzheng's gaze, both of them understand a message from each other's eyes.
The illusion just now was probably shared.
Thinking of this, Qiao Wan's face distorts.
Could it be that Pei Chunzheng thinks her inner obsession is to marry him?! Is the heart demon Mu Xiaoxiao and that cliché wedding snatch?
Qiao Wan can't see the emotions in Pei Chunzheng's eyes, nor can she figure out what he is thinking.
Pei Chunzheng looks at Qiao Wan, but his heart feels like it's being twisted by something.
In the blink of an eye, he loses sight of Qiao Wan and frowns as he looks for her, only to find her lying unconscious on the ground.
He takes a step forward, but unexpectedly, he is also dragged into it.
If it weren't for his distracting thoughts, he wouldn't have seen Qiao Wan in the illusion...
And...become her Dao companion...
The illusion reflects the "reality" of one's heart.
He... actually wanted to marry Qiao Wan.
Pei Chunzheng clenched his fists.
Not only that, he also witnessed her willing to die rather than tear the talisman.
Pei Chunzheng's eyelashes drooped, his gaze fell on the dragon scales at the corner of her eyes, fixedly, as if unable to move.
Just before entering the illusion, he thought she couldn't let go of him and wanted to become dao companions with him.
Being in the illusion, a person's consciousness will be more or less affected by it.
At that time... what emerged in his heart wasn't impatience.
It was inexplicable joy and luck.
But in the illusion, Qiao Wan would rather endure the torment of countless demons than tear the talisman. It was then that he realized that the obsession in her heart was not him at all. She just... she just wanted to cut off her old feelings cleanly and decisively.
Recalling the scenes in the illusion, Pei Chunzheng tightened his jaw, the veins on his forehead bulged, and his whole body became cold, from the top of his head to his fingertips.
