Chapter 25: The Bride of the Enigmatic King (25)

Sigh, forget it. Let it be. The plot is already in shambles. It might be better to just wait for the next batch of players, reset, and start over.

—

However.

A little girl tugged at Jiang Lang’s hand, her face full of innocence as she pointed toward the brides, including Tang Mu.

“Brother Jiang, who are these people? Why are they all dressed in red, with red veils on their heads?”

The Dread King, Jiang, bent down gently and picked up the little girl.

“They are brides brought here for sacrifice.”

“Did the sacrifice succeed?” The little girl tilted her head, her face puzzled.

The Dread King gazed into her eyes, his look gentle yet profound.

“Not this time.”

“Oh… Why not this time?” the girl asked, bewildered.

The Dread King didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “Are you happy, Ah Hua? This time, Zhu Wenshi failed to torment the bride to death. He’s dead. He’s vanished from this world. He can never bully you again.”

At the mention of Zhu Wenshi’s name, Ah Hua’s once bright and innocent eyes instantly turned crimson.

A fierce, howling wind swept through the small underground chamber out of nowhere, making Ah Hua’s clothes flap wildly.

“Why?” she demanded, her mouth unmoving, the voice rising from her belly.

“Why should I forgive him just because he’s dead?”

The little girl’s body swelled and grew, transforming into the figure of an adult woman. As a human, Ah Hua’s features weren’t particularly beautiful, but her hatred and presence were overwhelming.

Ah Hua rushed to Zhu Wenshi’s corpse. Her expression twisted with rage, and in that cramped chamber, the cries of a hundred women echoed eerily.

The flickering candlelight made the place even more sinister and terrifying.

The souls of the brides once tormented by Ah Hua, like her, were forever trapped here. Without forgiveness, they could never be released.

—

“Jiang Lang, do you know what I endured that day? All I did was refuse him, and he tore me apart with a stone hammer! He scalded me with boiling oil, stabbed me with scissors. He smeared honey on my wounds to let insects bite me... Do you know how many days and nights I endured before I finally died? Seven. Seven full days!”

“I thought you would come to save me. I thought you would be my salvation. But you didn’t… Jiang Lang, you didn’t.”

Ah Hua’s eyes turned blood-red, tears of blood welling up, filled with despair.

“So, no one can demand my forgiveness! Not even you have that right!”

Her body, swollen with resentment, grew again, from a woman of average height to a towering figure. At the same time, her crimson nails lengthened grotesquely.

“I’ll kill them all! Not just Zhu Wenshi, but these brides as well! When I was being tormented, none of them saved me! They even pushed me toward Zhu Wenshi to spare themselves. So they all deserve to die! No one escapes, no one!”

Inside the coffins, the brides—already woozy from the drug—burst into tears out of terror.

One, a little braver than the rest, dared to protest softly.

“We weren’t the ones who hurt you back then…”

“Besides, the forced protection mechanism is active now. You can’t kill us, so why not just let us go…”

“Can’t die? Ha! Isn’t that perfect?” Ah Hua’s blood-red eyes welled up with even more blood.

“That means I can torment you over and over again, endlessly. As long as the next batch of players doesn’t arrive, you can never leave! I’ll make you suffer the pain I did, for all eternity! You’ll be imprisoned here, just like me, enduring endless agony and torment!”

“Hahaha! Die, die, all of you die. Only when your blood soaks your wedding robes will my hatred finally dissipate!”

As Ah Hua was about to transform once more into a vengeful spirit, about to inflict upon the brides the same tortures Zhu Wenshi had inflicted upon her—

Tang Mu’s eyes grew cold, and she let out a contemptuous snort.

“Pitiful. And utterly laughable.”

The scorn in her voice and demeanor sent Ah Hua’s rage soaring.

Ah Hua roared at Tang Mu.

“What is that attitude? Aren’t you supposed to beg and weep for mercy like the other brides?”

Seeing Tang Mu’s calmness, Ah Hua wondered if perhaps her own fierceness wasn’t enough to inspire terror.

In truth, Tang Mu wasn’t afraid at all.

—

The highest-level boss in a B-ranked instance is only B-rank. With the Red Thread Bell (A) in her possession, she could wipe out Ah Hua in an instant.

But in some instances, even killing the boss doesn’t guarantee escape.

So she had to think of another way.

“How long have you lingered in this world? Centuries, right? How many have you killed? How many died because you couldn’t control your urge to torment? Did your resentment vanish after all your killings?”

“It didn’t, did it?”

Tang Mu gestured at Jiang Lang, who had remained silent behind her, his eyes only ever fixed on Ah Hua, but never intervening.

“You haven’t spared yourself, nor the one you love most. For centuries, you’ve wandered here, consumed by hatred. Jiang Lang has stayed with you, wandering these halls for a hundred years. For you, he even lied to the Dread Granny, claiming he was the killer, not you. He did all this just to preserve your innocence in the eyes of those closest to you.”

“So many have loved you. But you were too absorbed in your own pain to care about the hands reaching out to pull you from the abyss. Do you love them? No, you don’t. Instead, you dragged them into the abyss with you, forcing them to share your endless torment.”

“So what right have you to say they never tried to save you?”

“They tried! They made the effort! It’s just that, centuries ago, they were as powerless as you, and missed the chance to save you.”

“But what about now?”

“You could have ended Zhu Wenshi with your own hands. Yet you insist on dragging others into your pain, forcing them to relive your suffering over and over. So don’t call others selfish. You’re no different from them!”

No! That’s not true!

Ah Hua’s face twisted in madness, desperately trying to defend herself, as if by doing so, she could wash away the years of slaughter and evil she had wrought.

“It was Zhu Wenshi who tortured others, not me! He killed so many poor girls for his own selfish desires. Everything I did was for justice!”

“You should blame Zhu Wenshi!”

“Why are you blaming me?”

“I did nothing wrong! I’m the most innocent one! I did nothing wrong!”

In the dim underground chamber, the desperate and crazed cries of a hundred brides rose and swelled again, hundreds of sharp female voices echoing from all sides, making the temples throb with pain.