Starting Cultivation by Marrying the Weaver Girl

Chapter 2: The Bride

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Lin Yao stood at the entrance of the ox pen.

The night breeze was slightly cool, diluting the scent of blood in the air.

“Young master, the time has come.”

After she spoke these words,

the guests who had been in the courtyard suddenly emerged from behind her.

They stared at him, their throats visibly gulping with undisguised hunger.

Lin Yao suddenly patted the dust off his wedding robes and stretched lazily.

“In that case, I mustn’t keep my bride waiting. Wouldn’t you all agree?”

The people before him seemed taken aback by Lin Yao’s calm demeanor at this moment, unsure of how to react.

“In that case, young master, please proceed.”

Xiu Niang stepped aside, and the guests quickly made way.

Lin Yao walked calmly toward the bridal chamber, with Xiu Niang following closely behind as usual.

As he passed by, the guests on either side continuously sniffed the air, some even wiping the corners of their mouths.

Lin Yao felt their gazes but continued to ponder the words on the ox hide.

“The middle section seemed deliberately erased. Xiu Niang disappeared for a while earlier, and when she returned, her sleeves and palms were stained with blood. If what’s written on the ox hide is true, then the wedding ceremony might be the only way out?”

He furrowed his brows. The old yellow ox shared his name and identity.

This was no coincidence.

Escaping through the dry well and fleeing the wedding would have been a great humiliation for the bride in ancient times.

Yet, as a personal maid, would Xiu Niang dare to act without her mistress’s orders?

Moreover, since his arrival, Xiu Niang had been by his side constantly.

The ox pen also showed no sign of the dry well.

Even the old yellow ox, upon seeing him for the first time, had tried to trick him into swapping identities.

All of this made Lin Yao feel that something was amiss.

“He told me not to trust Xiu Niang, but he himself was also deceiving me. Perhaps all the answers lie in that bridal chamber.”

However,

Lin Yao glanced at the guests beside him.

“These people aren’t afraid of Xiu Niang. Are they waiting for me to complete the wedding?”

“Seven days. Why seven days?”

He felt as though he was on the verge of understanding something, but the scattered clues made it impossible to piece together the full truth.

As he pondered these things,

Xiu Niang’s voice came from behind.

“Young master, we’ve arrived.”

Lin Yao snapped out of his thoughts and looked up.

Xiu Niang’s expression remained unchanged, but her hands trembled slightly.

“Is she afraid?”

Behind Xiu Niang, the guests had lost interest in the wine, all waiting for Lin Yao to enter the bridal chamber.

“Everyone, today is the joyous day of my union with the lady. Thank you all for your presence these past days.”

After saying this, Lin Yao turned and pushed open the door to the bridal chamber, stepping inside.

“Young master, you must hurry. I can only hold them off for an hour at most.”

As he crossed the threshold, Xiu Niang’s voice whispered in his ear.

Lin Yao didn’t pause. As he closed the door behind him, he glanced at the maid who had been by his side all this time.

She could easily overpower the strange guests in the courtyard, yet she could only hold them off for an hour?

He couldn’t help but sneer inwardly. Xiu Niang was indeed suspicious.

The bridal chamber was decorated similarly to what he was familiar with from his past life.

Lin Yao looked to the left, where a crimson veil separated him from the bride.

The shadowy figure behind the veil was indistinct, making it impossible to see the bride clearly.

He didn’t rush to lift the veil.

In ancient times, weddings typically began at dusk and weren’t considered complete until the wedding night, so he still had some time.

“But…”

Lin Yao looked at the veil. He couldn’t fully trust either Xiu Niang or the old yellow ox.

There were too many contradictions between their stories.

He carefully examined the bridal chamber, and when he looked up at the ceiling, he finally noticed something unusual.

“The ceiling… it looks like a star map.”

Lin Yao pondered deeply. In his past life, as a screenwriter, he had dabbled in various texts, including those on astronomy.

Though not an expert, he had some basic knowledge.

On the star map above, two spots were embedded with night pearls, as if only these two stars remained shining in the sky.

However, the one closer to the veil was dim, flickering like a candle in the wind.

“This star map seems to depict the second constellation of the northern Black Tortoise, the Ox constellation.”

He looked at the star map above. The remaining bright star represented the Weaver Girl constellation.

Lin Yao’s brows furrowed slightly. He couldn’t find any other clues in the room.

He sat on a stool, his mind racing through possibilities.

“Seven days for the wedding, guests with strange expressions, Xiu Niang, the old yellow ox, and the star map of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl.”

Lin Yao was now certain he had entered the world of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

However, this world seemed different from the one he knew.

“The ox hide hinted that the way out was to complete the wedding ceremony. But now, the bride hasn’t appeared from behind the veil, and even Xiu Niang seems terrified of her.”

He hesitated, standing still. Outside were Xiu Niang and the strange guests.

Behind the veil awaited something even more terrifying.

The ox hide had also fallen silent, offering no further clues.

Fear of the unknown enveloped Lin Yao, and his survival instincts made him tremble slightly.

“Calm down! I must stay calm!”

Lin Yao forced himself to steady his breathing and searched the room once more.

What he needed now was to gather as many advantages as possible before facing the bride behind the veil.

[Translator: sauron]

But he had nothing to work with.

He looked up at the ceiling again. The night pearl representing the Cowherd star still flickered.

Lin Yao frowned slightly.

“According to records from my past life, the Cowherd star is located southeast of the Weaver Girl constellation. But why is it completely reversed in this star map?”

He visualized the layout of the manor in his mind. Though he couldn’t remember every detail, he had a rough idea of the general directions.

“If the bridal chamber represents the Weaver Girl star, the entire manor corresponds to this star map. The ox pen and the night pearl on the ceiling are separated by the guests, one in the southeast and the other in the northwest.”

It was as if…

they were separated by the Milky Way!

“The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd gaze at each other from afar.”

Lin Yao picked up a stool nearby and turned to look at the double happiness character (囍) hanging in the main hall.

The red candles flickered, their light as crimson as blood.

From the first day he arrived, he had noticed that the bridal chamber’s orientation was unusual.

Now, Lin Yao finally understood.

The ox pen and the bridal chamber corresponded to the two major constellations. This was the bridal chamber, but it was also the tomb of Lin Yao, the groom.

He hurled the stool in his hand toward the center of the bridal chamber.

“Boom!”

The stool shattered in mid-air, its fragments grazing Lin Yao’s cheek, leaving streaks of blood.

The entire bridal chamber trembled, and the veil was lifted by the wind.

Lin Yao picked up a stool nearby and turned to look at the “double happiness” symbol hanging in the main hall.

He reached out to touch them, but a cold voice came from beside him.

“Touch them, and you die.”

Lin Yao acted as if he hadn’t heard, his expression calm as he grabbed the two pieces of paper.

The presence behind the veil was provoked by his actions.

Countless red threads shot out from the sides, tightly wrapping around Lin Yao’s arm holding the papers.

Blood seeped out, staining the threads a dark red.

But Lin Yao showed no sign of pain, silently staring at the two pieces of paper in his hand.

A marriage certificate and a pawn ticket.

He knew he had guessed correctly. The stronger the reaction from the presence behind the veil, the more important these two documents were.

In ancient times, the most important aspect of a wedding was the marriage contract, and its proof was the marriage certificate.

As for the pawn ticket…

Lin Yao couldn’t immediately think of a reason why the bride would value it so much.

The threads around his wrist suddenly tightened with immense force, pulling him toward the veil.

Lin Yao stumbled to his feet, still clutching the marriage certificate and pawn ticket.

The veil had been lifted, and when he looked, even though he had prepared himself mentally,

the scene before him still made his stomach churn.

The bride sat quietly on the bed, dressed in a bright wedding gown. She wore no veil, only a red silk cloth covering her eyes.

Her face was pale yet strikingly beautiful, but it was marred by numerous cracks.

Like a porcelain doll that had been shattered and pieced back together, she was both tragic and eerie.

Countless red threads extended from her back, winding around the beams and tightly binding her.

No blood flowed from the threads, but human skins hung from them, swaying gently in the wind.

The area behind the veil was unlit, the only light coming from two faint candles by the bed.

The bride reached out, causing the threads to tremble.

The human skins slowly turned toward Lin Yao, their hollow eyes fixed on him.

The wedding candles suddenly turned an eerie green, and a cold, shadowy wind blew against Lin Yao’s body.

Their lips moved in unison.

“Give me the marriage certificate!”

(End of Chapter)