prynovel Chapter 47 Wedding and Burial City
Chapter 47 Wedding and Burial City
"Red ribbons and white banners, entwined with wishes for return, you have lit up the earth god temple of the wedding and funeral city."
Although it was an 80-mile journey, the whole process went smoothly, and we didn't encounter anything strange.
Chen Fu guessed that it was because of the map, and that was indeed the case. After lighting up the land temple in the wedding and funeral city, the game text prompted him that he had lost the map of the wedding and funeral city.
However, he had already lit up the Earth God Temple, which made him feel extremely at ease. He could teleport at any time, so he wasn't afraid even if he died.
Without a map, one would definitely encounter danger on the road. Who knows what one would experience without a map? Would one just die all the way through...? Chen Fu made the connection, seemingly seeing severed limbs and broken bodies along the way, and silently felt sorry for the players still in Blood Blade Town.
But that's no longer relevant to him. Most players have only just arrived in Bloodblade Town and will take a considerable amount of time to get here. He's the first person to explore the new map.
However, Chen Fu did not rush to enter the wedding and funeral city. After saving the location, he contacted the Golden Jade Boy and put the Taotie Tang Hengdao up for sale.
Because it is of excellent quality, the price is not as exaggerated as before. The starting price is 1,000 coins, and each time the price increases by no less than 500 coins.
Chen Fu is no longer as impulsive as before about how much money he can get from the amulets. Since upgrading skills will inevitably involve supernatural events, as long as the conditions are met, he won't spend too much.
After helping to set the price, Jin Yutongzi continued exploring the Forbidden City. She said there would be progress in a few days and told Chen Fu not to worry.
Chen Fu replied that it was alright, there was no rush.
He needs to push forward with his established plans; having too many things to do will only distract him.
Afterwards, Chen Fu began to deliberate on whether to quit the game and take a break.
Sigh, when people die too many times, they start to feel inexplicably uneasy once things go smoothly for them.
He hasn't died since he logged into the game, but he always feels like there's a huge pitfall waiting for him. It wouldn't be good if he encountered a supernatural event in real life.
This is a bit like the late stage of paranoia.
After hesitating for a while, Chen Fu put on his title and decided to go into the Wedding and Funeral City to take a look.
"You have entered the City of Wedding Funerals."
"Because you were wearing a title, the people of the Wedding and Funeral City didn't pay much attention to you. You listened to the casual conversations of passersby at the entrance of the Wedding and Funeral City and got a basic understanding of the city."
"Joyful events can resolve karmic debts in the underworld, while sorrowful music can redeem contracts in the afterlife. The wedding and funeral city is a prosperous metropolis in the Hu'e region, spanning the Han River. The left bank is called 'Xi Fang' (Wedding Lane), where red-painted buildings are busy making wedding dresses and red candles day and night. The right bank is called 'Sang Fang' (Funeral Lane), where craftsmen plan wood and carve coffins under white banners without raising their heads."
"There is an ironclad rule in the city: whenever a household has a wedding, a deceased person must be buried on the same day. This is called 'borrowing joy to suppress mourning, and drawing joy to avert death.' Therefore, it is common to see white soul-guiding banners hanging under the eaves of houses with double happiness characters pasted on their windows. Wedding sedan chairs and funeral sedan chairs pass each other at the bridgehead, and the sedan chair bearers' steps are perfectly synchronized."
"The Ghost Bride is one of the most notorious demons and monsters in the Hu'e region. She is the ruler of the Wedding and Funeral City and controls everything here. She has been searching for a husband with whom she can be together forever, and she has already found someone."
"Below the ghost bride, there are three more monstrous demons and monsters."
"The sedan chair general is in charge of carrying both the yin and yang. At Chenshi (7-9 AM), he carries the wedding sedan chair across the Mandarin Duck Bridge. At Xushi (7-9 PM), the same crew changes into black robes and carries the coffin down the same stone steps."
"The Weeping and Laughing Spirit Officer is in charge of two sets of suona instruments. The joyful 'Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix' and the mournful 'Asking the Way to the Underworld' are both sung by him and his servants."
"Grandma Sewing Skin, with her left hand she twists gold thread to embroider twin lotus flowers, and with her right hand she threads a silver needle to embroider longevity characters. Both the wedding dresses of the living and the funeral clothes of the dead are made by her."
The boss here is actually the ghost bride. Could she be the one looking for me?
Chen Fu sensed something was wrong, but there were too few clues to make a judgment, so he could only continue reading the text.
"After hearing the basic information, you now have a basic understanding of the wedding and funeral city. The area is incredibly prosperous, with streets and alleys that connect in all directions, and crowds surging like waves, their noise as loud as boiling water. Where would you like to go for a stroll first?"
"The Red and White Maidens' Clothing Shop is the oldest clothing shop in the wedding and funeral city. The proprietress is a direct disciple of the Skin-Sealing Granny, whose skills are said to be able to attract souls into the clothes. However, there are rumors that what is fermented in the dye vat in her backyard is not madder, but the corpses of the deceased who are destined to be married and float down from the upper reaches of the Han River every month. Therefore, the red color is eerie and has a fishy smell."
"The Yin-Yang Knife Shop is a meat stall run by a dirty butcher, specializing in the three sacrificial animals and meat for weddings and funerals. On the left half of the stall, there is rouge meat for weddings, and on the right half, there is clear jelly for funerals. The dirty butcher has an ancestral Yin-Yang knife. He uses the back of the knife to cut the meat for weddings and the blade to cut the meat for funerals. If you use the wrong side, the meat will either cry or laugh."
"Yin-Yang Sedan Chair Inn, a property under the Sedan Chair General, has twelve red sedan chairs at its entrance that are always covered with silk cloth soaked in the juice of mimosa flowers. The most expensive sedan chair in the inn is the Wedding Sedan Chair, which is equipped with gilded sedan chair bars. It is said that no bride has ever died violently after being carried in it. But regular customers all know that renting this sedan chair requires depositing a piece of personal jewelry. In the cellar of the sedan chair inn, such jewelry has filled seven camphor wood chests."
"The Corpse-Keeping Candle Shop is a unique business of the funeral parlor workers. They specialize in selling candle beads, which are said to prevent the corpse from turning into a zombie when placed in the mouth of the deceased. On the first day of each month, the funeral parlor workers will disappear for one night. The next day, news will inevitably spread from a certain family in the wedding parlor that the bride has gone missing. However, three days later, the bride will always return on her own, but with a cinnabar mole on the back of her neck."
"The storyteller at Xingshi Tea House was a guest who died laughing at a wedding banquet. After his spirit returned, he performed stories in this tea house. Whenever he got to the part about the wedding night, paper money would float down from the beam. The old tea drinkers all knew that at this time, they should throw a piece of paper money into their teacups. There was a listener who didn't believe in the superstition and refused to throw one. When he returned home that night, he found that his doors and windows were covered with faded 'double happiness' characters."
"The Reincarnation Stage stands on the banks of the Han River, where the same play, 'The Tomb of the Mandarin Ducks,' is performed day and night. On stage, the actors wear half their faces in red makeup and half in white powder, reciting joyful lyrics in mournful tones and using cheerful drumbeats to accompany their sorrowful tunes. Local rumors say that these actors were all transformed into the spirits of the play by the Weeping and Laughing Spirits. A drunkard once saw a sticky liquid, a mixture of blood-red rouge and pale white paste, seeping from the cracks in the stage floor tiles after the performance."
"The Resurrection Wine Shop is a newly opened tavern in the City of Weddings and Funerals. The owner was originally a groom who died suddenly during his wedding ceremony. He was resurrected by a ghost bride who returned from afar and opened this shop. The Three Lives Wine he brews is made from glutinous rice buried three inches below the grave of a couple who were buried together, mixed with the blood from the fingertips of an unmarried girl for fermentation. Drinkers will see a hazy figure in a wedding dress. It is said that it is the ghost bride looking for her husband."
"..."
"O chosen one who is entering the City of Weddings and Funerals for the first time, where do you plan to go? Will you just wander around, or go nowhere, or follow the advice of the Six Ghosts?"
Chen Fu stared at the huge pile of text, his head buzzing, and then followed them into the Grand View Garden, where he was overwhelmed by the sights.
This wedding and funeral city is simply enormous; Blood Blade Suppression can't even compare. Just strolling around has revealed so many things; if we were to explore it all, who knows when it would take.
Chen Fu felt that the paranormal events must have escalated to offer him so many more options. Otherwise, given the previous situation, such a thing would have been impossible.
He focused his attention on the final resurrection ritual.
If before it was just a suspicion that the ghost bride in the burial city was the same person he was going to marry, now the evidence is conclusive.
Who would go out of their way to mess around with their husband? It must be because of her previous condition that the ghost bride turned into this state.
Chen Fu thought to himself, if all else fails, I should just pack up and run away. I'm not staying in this wedding and funeral city anymore. Otherwise, if I really run into them, won't I be dragged back to be married off?
But he has nowhere else to go now. Bloodblade Town has definitely been looted by other players. If he wants to continue improving, he can only explore the Wedding Funeral City.
The good thing is that he has a title, letters, and six ghosts clearing the way. If he's careful, there shouldn't be any major problems.
Furthermore, by coming to the Wedding City, you can also inquire about the Ghost Bride. Once you come out of the instance and have a way to deal with her, you can completely resolve the situation.
Chen Fu finally decided to ask the Six Ghosts to see what information they would provide.
"The six ghosts chattered on, telling everyone what they knew, saying that the Laughing and Crying Spirit and the Sedan Chair General were the very people Wu Kun had corresponded with. It would be much easier for you if you went to the Reincarnation Stage or the Yin-Yang Sedan Chair Inn."
"Furthermore, because you are wearing a title, you will receive preferential treatment when you go to these two places, so you won't face a certain death situation right away."
The title letter began to take effect, offering two locations to choose from. After thinking for a moment, Chen Fu clicked to go to the Reincarnation Stage.
"You set off for the banks of the Han River and arrived at the ticket checkpoint of the Reincarnation Stage. The servants of the Weeping and Laughing Spirit were very friendly to you. They gestured with their eyes for the person hiding next to them to step back, and then introduced you to the features of the Reincarnation Stage and the ticket price while laughing and crying."
"The Reincarnation Stage is where people in the Wedding and Funeral City enjoy operas and entertainment. Once you come, you'll know how wonderful it is, making you linger and lose track of time. There are three types of tickets: first-class tickets allow you to have close contact with the performers, second-class tickets allow you to touch and see them, and third-class tickets allow you to only see them. The price varies depending on the type of ticket. The servants of the Weeping and Laughing Spirit Official will ask you if you want to go in?"
Chen Fu blinked. Could it be that the "Reincarnation Stage" was just a front for watching the opera, and actually a brothel? The game has this feature? Wow, I didn't expect to be so lucky; I found the right place right away!
Bah! No way! Using this to test cadres? How could the upright and righteous Master Chen like this kind of place? He just wanted to see what was going on.
Chen Fu clicked to enter.
"The servant of the Laughing and Crying Spirit Officer stretched out his hand and said, 'Although you are a well-mannered Blood Blade Town resident, we do not offer credit here. You can only enter if you pay. If you don't have money, then get out of here.'"
Chen Fu was taken aback. "You didn't say how much money it was."
"The servants of the Laughing and Crying Spirit Officer, seeing that you wouldn't leave, lost patience and their favor towards you decreased. They assumed you were trying to sneak in and laughed at you."
"You're hilarious."
"You are dead."
What the heck? This is inexplicably hilarious!
Chen Fu looked bewildered as he saw the game text indicating that he had been given an eight-hour stamina penalty and had arrived at the Earth God Temple at the entrance of the Wedding and Funeral City.
"The Six Ghosts said that everything in the Wedding and Funeral City costs money. You are penniless now, but perhaps when you have some money for amulets, you will have a different experience when you go to the Reincarnation Stage."
Why didn't you say so sooner? You wasted my chance to be tested!
Chen Fu pursed his lips helplessly. It's alright, after dying once, there shouldn't be any supernatural events in reality. It's like clearing away bad karma, which aligns with his previous thoughts. Besides, he can't escape the Reincarnation Stage; there will be plenty of opportunities to go in and see it later.
After exiting the game, Chen Fu opened the Spirit Investigation Bureau forum.
Zhang Mingyuan's matter had subsided, and what caught Chen Fu's eye were various tearful posts denouncing the despicable behavior of a certain player. Chen Fu's attention was immediately drawn to them, and after clicking on a few, he understood what was going on.
Some players claimed that they encountered a massacre as soon as they entered Bloodblade Town, and later some people shouted to overthrow the mayor's brutal rule.
The players, all unwilling to be oppressed, immediately joined in. They razed the town to the ground, avenged themselves, but in the end, all they got was a little experience and a few broken items; they gained nothing else.
Some speculate that the player who started the trouble took most of the benefits, leaving them with only a little bit of leftovers.
Chen Fu scratched his head. Why does this sound like it's about me?
He would never admit it, and after closing the post, he started searching for information about the copy.
He is currently a Level 3 Coroner with 58% experience points. He can continue to level up as long as he completes the job change before reaching 99%.
There are all sorts of dungeon guides, including various mythologies and many corresponding class dungeons, but after looking through them all, there isn't one specifically for the Coroner Walker.
Could it be that it's too rare? Is there no one else with this profession besides himself? Chen Fu felt that was probably the case. He hadn't actually seen any other players with the same profession since he started playing.
What should we do then? Should we explore alone like before?
After thinking for a moment, Chen Fu asked in the WeChat group.
Chen Fu: "@QuanzhenJiaozi, has there been any progress on the job change you mentioned before?"
At the time, Zhang Mingyuan had only told him that Level 3 would face a job change, and no one else knew about it. Chen Fu had essentially revealed the news.
Zhang Mingyuan: "I was just about to tell you. I contacted the people in Yanjing, and someone has already successfully transferred to the new job. I'll send out the information later."
While Chen Fu was experiencing the Blood Blade Town and Wedding Funeral City storylines, the players in the Yanjing area weren't idle either; they had made significant progress in the job change process.
No one else in the group said anything. They didn't know what the two were talking about, but they all realized it was closely related to the game, so they just watched quietly from the sidelines.
Soon, Zhang Mingyuan sent the information to the group.
Zhang Mingyuan: "@Chen Daguanren, please take a look first. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I will organize the information and update it on the forum later."
Chen Fu opened the document and examined it carefully.
The document states that each profession must undergo a job change at level 3 before it can continue to gain experience points. This was previously known information, but to change jobs, two things are required.
The first is the directional guidance of the gods, which can forcibly restrict the dungeons to be experienced to aspects related to one's profession.
Secondly, it's best to have items that can increase affinity in dungeons, which will make the start easier and reduce the difficulty to some extent.
Chen Fu happened to have the directional guide and the letter of recommendation from the Buddha of the Western Paradise, which perfectly met the requirements.
The latter part of the information also mentions that because different professions require different dungeons, it is not possible to give too much advice at the moment. However, you can try to collect or practice knowledge and skills related to your profession in real life to improve your success rate.
Chen Fu was a practicing coroner, and according to this advice, he should read more books on anatomy or personally dissect corpses.
He had dissected several bodies before and was already quite familiar with the procedures. He could borrow books from Song Shuangwei; the girl happened to be a medical student.
Seeing this, Chen Fu sent Song Shuangwei a message, asking her to bring over her textbooks when she had time.
Song Shuangwei didn't reply, probably because she was playing a game. Chen Fu wasn't in a hurry either; if he couldn't get it today, he could just go see her tomorrow.
Now that everything is ready, all that's left is to wait for the dungeon to update. Chen Fu breathed a sigh of relief. After clearing the dungeon and completing the class change, his strength will be enough to deal with the Ghost Bride.
Thinking of this, he brought up the snake demon's blood-red curse again and found that the progress had increased to 50%.
Chen Fu calculated that at this rate, the dungeon would be full by next Monday. He would need to enter the dungeon immediately after it refreshed to have any chance of obtaining a way to deal with the Ghost Bride.
After sorting everything out, Chen Fu realized he hadn't eaten yet. He immediately got out of bed, slipped on his shoes, and headed to the snack street to find something to eat.
On the way, his phone kept ringing. When he took it out, he saw that it was full of messages from Zhang Mingyuan.
Zhang Mingyuan: "Is there anything to add? If not, I'll just post it on the forum."
Zhang Mingyuan: "@Chen Daguanren, why aren't you replying? Are you looking at some documents?"
Zhang Mingyuan: "Then I'll wait a bit longer. Remember to let me know when you've finished reading."
Zhang Mingyuan: "@Chen Daguanren, oh right, I have a question for you. What's your game progress like now? Are you in Blood Blade Town? After I came from Yanjing, I found that the map has changed. I'm in a place called Wedding Funeral City now. It's not easy here. I've died several times."
Chen Fu's gaze sharpened.
Leaving aside the previous points, it can be explained in a single sentence.
After coming from Yanjing, Zhang Mingyuan actually ended up in the City of Weddings and Funerals?
……