Chapter Sixty-One: The Bride Weeps 31

As the white mist dissipated, Su Man first caught sight of a single leg. Her face lit up with hope, but in the next instant, her expression froze, for it was only one leg. More precisely, it wasn’t just a leg, but half of a body—everything from head to toe was halved, the missing side concealed within a small patch of lingering fog.

“Am I...?” Huang Meilun looked down at herself, confusion clouding her eyes.

Su Man tried to comfort herself: at least it was Huang Meilun who had appeared, and she could still speak. She ought to be grateful for that much.

Yet the depletion of her mental strength left her faint and weary. She sat down on the bed, uninterested in beating around the bush. “Earlier, you mentioned saving Miao Sheng. What did you mean by that? I need to know the truth before I decide whether to help you.”

“Or to put it plainly—are you the Shuyi he spoke of?”

Huang Meilun’s curious examination of herself came to a halt. She hesitated, then nodded cautiously. “Miao Sheng and the village chief want to destroy this village. Miao Sheng doesn’t know the chief’s true nature—he’s no match for him.”

She then stammered out a story from the past.

Years ago, as a young lady from a wealthy family, she had been kidnapped while out. Her captor originally intended to demand ransom, but she resisted at every turn. In a moment of carelessness, the kidnapper killed her, never collecting any ransom, and on a dark, windy night, dumped her body in a mass grave.

At that time, there was no Heavenly Master Village. The place was shrouded in yin energy, well-suited for the breeding of malevolent beings. She had died unjustly, and over time, under the influence of the place, she regained her consciousness and unwittingly became the most powerful presence there.

Yet, despite her power, she never stirred up trouble. At best, she avoided being bullied. The other sinister beings, however, fought viciously among themselves, sometimes harming ordinary passersby.

It was then that a formidable heavenly master arrived upon hearing of the chaos and subdued them all.

The master, seeing the heavy yin energy there, realized he could only control it for a time, not forever. Sooner or later, disaster would arise again. He proposed building a village on this very spot. Coincidentally, his clan needed to relocate, so they made this place their home, founding the Heavenly Master Village.

Huang Meilun thought she would die at the master’s hand, but unexpectedly, he sought her out. He told her he could spare her, on the condition that she help guard the village. He also told her that protecting the village would earn her great merit, and when the time was right, she could shed her ghostly existence and reincarnate.

But at the time, she didn’t wish for reincarnation. She only longed to see her parents again. The master promised that as long as she continued to guard the village, that day would eventually come.

Left with no other choice, she agreed. They signed a pact with heaven and earth, and she became the village’s guardian spirit, protector of its people.

As time passed, she realized what the master’s “right time” meant. By protecting the villagers, she earned merit, and the village, in turn, repaid her. She could sense that once her merit was complete, she would be free to do as she wished.

And so she guarded the village in silence for nearly thirty years, until one day, as she wandered the village, she met Miao Sheng.

Miao Sheng was then in his prime, full of youthful vigor. When he first encountered a drifting spirit in the village, he was instantly intrigued and determined to eliminate her.

Truth be told, though Miao Sheng was skilled, he was no match for her, an old ghost. But she had made a pact with the master, so she didn’t harm him—she merely taught him a minor lesson, all the while puzzled at how he could see her.

Curiosity piqued, their paths crossed again and again, until they grew close. Huang Meilun had died young, never having tasted the sweetness of love. Under Miao Sheng’s persistent pursuit, her heart gradually yielded, and the two fell in love, defying all conventions.

“But you don’t look the same as in Miao Sheng’s memories,” Su Man reminded her, warning her not to lie.

“That’s because I’m already dead. If I appeared as I did in life, I feared it would cause trouble.”

“And... before the one you love, you always wish to show your best self.”

So she changed her appearance. Miao Sheng loved her gentle and graceful demeanor. She even changed her name—Shuyi, a name she had pondered for so long.

As for Miao Sheng’s lack of memories, it was all her doing, a simple matter for her.

Thus, she appeared before the world as Shuyi, becoming Miao Sheng’s girlfriend, gradually accepted by everyone. They even set a wedding date. Everything seemed perfect—until the village chief approached her, declaring he knew her true identity. He accused her, saying a ghost like her should not be in love with Miao Sheng. He insisted that without her, Miao Sheng could become a truly great heavenly master, perhaps even reach the level of the founder of the village.

He further told her that if she stayed by Miao Sheng’s side, he would not live another two years.

She hadn’t believed him at first; but after being with her, Miao Sheng’s health did indeed grow worse. He hid it from her, but she discovered it by accident.

From that day on, she resolved to leave him. She wanted him to live well.

Yet, she still clung to the happiness of being with him, thinking she would leave after the wedding, erasing his memories then.

But fate changed faster than plans could keep up. In the middle of the night, the villagers, overestimating themselves, tried to harm her!

Naturally, they were no match for her, but she saw it as a good opportunity. By letting the villagers believe she died by accident, Miao Sheng could remember her, but not grieve for long.

What she hadn’t expected was that Miao Sheng would follow her in death so soon after.

“You really are selfish,” Su Man suddenly remarked coldly.

Huang Meilun stared in surprise, a trace of vexation flickering in her eyes, instinctively wanting to defend herself. How could Su Man say that?

“Isn’t it true? You could have made Miao Sheng forget you before the wedding. Then the ceremony wouldn’t have happened. But you were greedy—you wanted to marry him, to let him suffer the pain of losing you, and you wanted him to remember you for the rest of his life.”

Her words struck straight to the heart, stripping away Huang Meilun’s last shred of self-deception.

A fleeting look of embarrassment crossed Huang Meilun’s face, but she soon composed herself. One eye looked at Su Man with mixed emotions. “No, you don’t understand, because you haven’t gone through it. No one can be truly magnanimous in love. That’s human nature. You are selfish, and so am I.

I can talk grandly about how, after I disappear, Miao Sheng should find someone who loves him more and live happily. But when the moment truly comes, I cannot do it.”

Whenever she thought of Miao Sheng forgetting her, marrying another, whispering sweet words to someone else, her heart ached until she could hardly breathe. In that instant, all she wanted was for him to remember her.

“But I truly never wished for him to die.”