Starting Cultivation by Marrying the Weaver Girl

Chapter 4: Truth and Lies

———-

The Cowherd’s corpse lay on the ground.

Yet, Lin Yao felt no joy at the prospect of escaping.

He looked at the two bodies on the floor, his brows gradually furrowing.

“The prerequisite for Weaving Fate is to subtly pull the intruder into a world arranged by the caster through environmental cues.”

According to his initial thoughts, the Weaver Girl had used the red threads to fake his death.

But now, the corpse on the ground bore a face identical to his own.

“The Weaver Girl hid me behind the veil and dragged this corpse out from under the bed, throwing it to the ground.”

Everything that had happened made him feel as if it had all been prearranged by the Weaver Girl.

Lin Yao looked around. The strange guests could no longer contain their desires and pounced on the two corpses on the ground, devouring them voraciously.

The smell of blood filled his nostrils.

The dual assault on his senses made Lin Yao’s mind waver.

From the moment he had arrived in this world until now, he hadn’t dared to rest. It was only when the Cowherd fell that he suddenly realized he might have overlooked something.

If the Weaver Girl possessed Weaving Fate, why would she willingly become the Cowherd’s puppet?

Lin Yao reached out to steady himself on a nearby table. Exhaustion washed over him, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably.

“Now, can you return the marriage contract to me?”

The Weaver Girl’s voice came from behind, soft and trembling, evoking a sense of pity.

“Sorry.”

Lin Yao finally couldn’t hold back and sat down on a stool. His pale face betrayed his current weakness.

Cold sweat formed on his forehead, and his vision began to blur.

“Tsk.”

With a light chuckle, Lin Yao felt his heart tighten instantly. The suffocating weakness made him collapse to the ground.

“I told you, if you break your promise, this curse will activate and take your life.”

My life?

A flash of insight crossed Lin Yao’s mind, but it was quickly drowned out by the intense pain in his heart.

He writhed on the ground in agony, weakness and suffocation eroding his sanity.

“Hand over the marriage contract, and I might still let you go.”

Lin Yao forced his eyes open. Behind him, the guests had already finished devouring the two corpses.

Now, they were waiting for another feast to be served.

“Some even crouched in front of Lin Yao, intoxicatedly sniffing the scent of impending death.”

Stale, decaying, and foul.

Lin Yao looked at the guests before him, blood still staining the corners of their mouths.

Their eyes held no humanity, only greed and brutality.

“No wonder.”

From the sixth day, when the wedding ceremony was about to begin, to obtaining the ox hide, making a deal with the Weaver Girl, and now the Cowherd’s death, all he needed to do was hand over the marriage contract to complete the deal and secure his survival.

Everything had gone too smoothly.

So smoothly that it felt as if someone had planned it all in advance.

“On that pawn ticket, the price the Weaver Girl paid to reclaim her divine ability was that she could not lie from the moment the pawn was established.”

“But the prerequisite for Weaving Fate is to weave a beautiful lie. These two things are inherently contradictory.”

[Translator: sauron05]

He kept recalling the information on the pawn ticket.

That marriage contract wasn’t what the Weaver Girl truly needed!

What she wanted was the covenant formed after the marriage contract was signed. And because of the restrictions of the Rebirth Inn, she couldn’t destroy it herself.

Unless the groom fled the wedding or personally returned the marriage contract to her, she would remain bound by the rules of the Rebirth Inn.

“What a clever scheme.”

Lin Yao sneered inwardly.

The Weaver Girl had simply wanted to use him, or any other groom, to put on a good show for herself.

The Weaver Girl by the wedding bed, sitting in this eerie place for hundreds of years, guarding an unchanging enemy, mechanically repeating the same old script.

It must have been unbearably dull.

From a lofty celestial maiden of the heavens to this half-human, half-ghost existence, anyone would have been twisted to the extreme.

After piecing together all the clues into the most plausible theory, Lin Yao finally calmed down.

“In that case, your play is about to end, and my performance has been set up. Now, let the show continue.”

The Weaver Girl chuckled softly, her laughter gradually turning maniacal. The entire bridal chamber began to tremble.

“What’s wrong? Still hesitating?”

The strange guests had already started tearing at Lin Yao’s clothes.

Excruciating pain continuously assaulted his nerves.

“Does it hurt?”

Lin Yao suddenly felt a chill.

He looked up and saw that the Weaver Girl, who had been by the wedding bed, was now standing before him.

If not for the cracks, her exquisite face would have been the most beautiful sight Lin Yao had ever seen.

The eerie guests surrounded the two, their faces filled with glee.

The Weaver Girl gently caressed Lin Yao’s face.

It was as if she were comforting her lover.

Lin Yao remained silent, a gentle smile on his lips, his eyes filled with tender affection, like rippling spring water.

He reached up and touched her face, just as she had done to him.

The texture under his fingertips told him that the cracks were real, etched into her skin.

“Does it hurt?”

The same words came from Lin Yao’s mouth, causing the Weaver Girl to freeze momentarily.

Then, her wedding dress billowed without wind, and the red candles in the bridal chamber turned an eerie green.

The guests no longer smiled, writhing on the ground in agony.

The human skins on the red threads appeared behind the Weaver Girl, silently watching Lin Yao.

The once festive bridal chamber now resembled a hellish purgatory.

“Does it hurt? Heh, it’s been a hundred years. I’ve been trapped here for over a century, spending every day with these things. They can reincarnate after death, but I have to continue being used by the Cowherd. At first, I thought he was a beast, but now I understand him.”

The Weaver Girl reached up and removed the silk covering her face. Contrary to expectations, her eyes were as beautiful as stars.

She cupped Lin Yao’s face, gently wiping away his cold sweat.

“So I trapped them here, never to reincarnate, just as they once trapped me.”

“Some of these people behind me were as clever and calm as you. Others couldn’t wait to consummate the marriage as soon as they entered the bridal chamber. But when faced with death, they all begged for mercy in terror. I suddenly realized how much I enjoyed seeing the restrained lose control.”

As the Weaver Girl spoke, her fingers slid downward, and with each movement, the pain in Lin Yao’s chest intensified.

“I watched them fall, one by one, breaking their own principles.”

By now, Lin Yao could no longer speak. He could only move like a puppet under the Weaver Girl’s control.

“But you’re special. Even now, you’re still thinking of a way to escape.”

The Weaver Girl wiped the blood from Lin Yao’s lips with her fingers and gently smeared it on her own. She leaned close to him, whispering in his ear,

“Am I beautiful?”

Lin Yao tried to speak, but only a mouthful of blood came out.

Seeing this, the Weaver Girl burst into laughter, her body trembling with manic glee.

In this moment, she cast aside the pride of her celestial past, reveling only in the pleasure of toying with human hearts.

“What a precious treasure you are.”

The Weaver Girl straightened Lin Yao’s disheveled clothes.

However, the look of affection on his face made her uncomfortable.

Was he not afraid of death?

A flicker of doubt crossed her mind. Lin Yao slowly moved his body, the taste of blood constantly rising in his throat.

He stood up and looked calmly at the Weaver Girl.

“I have one last wish before I die.”

“Speak.”

Lin Yao looked at the Weaver Girl’s puzzled expression and said, “I’ve never had a wedding ceremony.”

Hearing this, the Weaver Girl sensed the scent of desire in his thoughts.

She didn’t doubt that Lin Yao was lying. This prison was woven by her using the laws of the Rebirth Inn.

No lies could exist here.

“Mortals can never escape these desires. But since you’ve entertained me for so long, I’ll grant your wish.”

The Weaver Girl stood up and waved her hand gently. The bridal chamber returned to normal, and the guests and human skins disappeared.

The two stood in the center of the room, bowing three times like a newlywed couple.

After this, Lin Yao no longer had the strength to stand and collapsed to the ground.

The Weaver Girl played with a wine cup in her hand, draining it in one gulp. She walked over to Lin Yao.

And kissed his lips.

The cold wine carried a hint of metallic sweetness.

Lin Yao’s consciousness began to fade. He could already feel death approaching.

The Weaver Girl lay on top of him, whispering in his ear, “My dear husband, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of your skin.”

Lin Yao suddenly laughed. The sound made the Weaver Girl pause in surprise.

He whispered back, “You shouldn’t have lent me Weaving Fate.”

(End of Chapter)