Chapter 42: What Is a Nether-Marriage? This Is the Secret of the Saintess

"Ha, neither of them is anything good. It's just a dog-eat-dog world, yet you're here trying to advise me?"

Wu Wang laughed out of exasperation.

The old village chief was clearly no good man.

Every single day he went around stripping away identities to replace others, ruthless and devoid of any conscience, stopping at nothing to achieve his own desires.

This Yin-marriage Deity was no better either.

With a Yin-marriage Maiden sacrificed every single year, how was it that the village still only owed him one up to the present day?

That meant for two hundred years, countless innocent young girls had suffered.

If it were only the villagers of Yin-marriage Village acting as the Yin-marriage Maidens, that would be one thing; after all, they were no good themselves and would only be reaping what they sowed.

Yet it was obvious that outsiders could also serve as Yin-marriage Maidens. There was no telling how many times they had kidnapped and deceived young girls from the outside world to perform these sacrifices.

Two vicious hounds were tearing at each other.

And now he was expected to help one of them?

"Unlucky Sister, if you have this kind of nightmare again next time, please help me pass a message to that so-called Yin-marriage Deity. If he has anything to say, he can say it to my face; I'll go see him." Wu Wang handed over the food and comforted her.

Wu Xiaoyou's trembling body gradually calmed down, though she had no spare energy to refute the "Unlucky Sister" moniker he had given her.

After letting out a long sigh, she took the food.

Sitting on the bed, she kept her head down and forced herself to eat in silence.

Originally someone who loved good food, she now found the carefully prepared delicacies provided by the village tasted like sawdust. She merely moved her jaws up and down mechanically before swallowing with great difficulty.

From the inexplicably dark circles under her eyes and the thick, whitish coating on her tongue when she opened her mouth, Wu Wang could tell this was far more than just being excessively frightened.

Her mental energy had been heavily depleted.

It seemed the side effects of the Yin-marriage Deity entering someone's dreams were quite severe.

Come to think of it, why didn't the entity just enter his dreams instead?

Putting everything else aside, when it came to mental energy—

Wu Wang truly had the stats if it called for stats, and the operational skills... well, he had the stats for that too!

As long as he died once, his mental energy would be instantly replenished!

He would even have time to dance a waltz with the entity in a dream and chat about current stock market trends.

Rustle, rustle—

Just as peace descended upon the dilapidated little hut,

an inexplicable, faint movement came from the perimeter, sounding like someone walking through the knee-high weeds and brushing against them.

Yet there was no sound of footsteps whatsoever.

Gusts of eerie, chilling wind were sweeping past.

"Speaking of which... how come you've stopped whispering secrets to me again?" Wu Wang asked the red vertical pupil on his wrist.

As he looked at it now,

that bizarre babbling had vanished.

Something similar seemed to have happened before.

Back when Wu Wang entered the art building in *Truancy Officers*, the red vertical pupil had transformed into the ability to let him see those students, allowing him to view everything through its perspective, and the babbling had ceased entirely.

What did this mean now?

Why was the Abyss God's mark sharing its field of vision with him once again?

Rustle, rustle, patter, patter—

The movement outside grew increasingly distinct.

By now, Wu Wang could hear what was happening inside the hut, but when he looked at Wu Xiaoyou beside him, she seemed completely oblivious.

Was this yet another thing that could only be perceived under specific conditions? No wonder the Abyss God had suddenly shared its vision with him!

"What's wrong with you..."

Although Wu Xiaoyou couldn't hear the movements outside,

she could tell that Wu Wang's expression had turned stern, and his entire posture seemed to be on guard against something.

Before she could finish her sentence, however, he executed a double jump and vanished through the hole in the roof, leaving only a light, breezy remark drifting down behind him.

"Don't speak while eating and don't talk while sleeping; just eat your food and stay quiet." Wu Wang lowered his voice as much as possible.

Looking down from his vantage point, he saw it.

The outside was packed densely with countless shadowy figures, and even more silhouettes were pouring out endlessly from the forest behind the house.

In the brief span of time he had spent chatting and thinking just moments ago, they had practically blocked off the rundown hut so tightly not even a drop of water could leak through.

Yet the eerie part was that their movements were completely devoid of any sound, nor was there any communication among them. Only the occasional rustling of disturbed weeds revealed that something had just passed by.

It was impossible to make out the faces of these figures.

Their eye positions appeared to be veiled beneath a thick layer of fog, like blindfolds that obscured their entire features.

One could only vaguely deduce that these figures were all female from their disheveled long hair and the rolling, varied contours of their chests—some towering like ridges, others sloping like peaks, undulating in height and distance.

[Mental Energy: 35 — 34]

Wu Wang, who had previously restored his mental energy through suicide, suddenly realized his Sanity was dropping again.

Abruptly, he noticed that all the shadowy figures had raised their heads at some point to look at him on the roof.

With just a single glance, they lowered their heads again to look through the window of the dilapidated hut.

From that angle, they could catch a precise view of Wu Xiaoyou sitting on the bed eating, her face devoid of any color.

After staring for a moment, their mouths suddenly split open.

It was like crocodiles opening their blood-maws, tearing all the way back to the corners of their ears until their entire lower jaws dropped open, revealing rows of sharp fangs akin to those of vampires.

Their smiles were horrifyingly bizarre.

Wu Wang was also somewhat puzzled.

"What kind of bullsh*t entities are these? Faceless nurses from Silent Hill? Is the uniform a bit off or something?"

"And seriously, how long has it been since you people brushed your teeth? Why do I smell something funky?"

————

"Hiccup~ Uncle Li~ Do you think I'll be able to have a Yin-marriageable fate this year? If I do get one, I'll definitely give everyone in the village a huge red envelope!"

The burly man Wu Wang had seen earlier at the village entrance was flushed red from drinking. Letting out a reeking hiccup, he slung his arm over Uncle Li's shoulder and asked.

The older man merely gave a slight shake of his head and replied, "Hard to say, lad. Who has a fixed standard for something like a Yin-marriage?"
A young boy of several years old happened to run past holding a stick of candied haws.

Hearing what the adults were saying, he stepped over with a curious expression.

"Uncle Dao, Grandpa Li, what on earth is this Yin-marriage thing you're talking about? Is it edible?"

The man from the village entrance rubbed the little boy's head.

With a cheerful laugh, he explained, "Let me tell you, within three days of the Great Festival, a lucky kid will always be chosen to consummate a Yin-marriage. That means the maidens from past years have taken a fancy to you."

With that, a hint of envy surfaced on his face.

He picked up the wine bowl on the table and gulped down another large mouthful, rambling drunkenly, "Kids who get a Yin-marriage have it good, oh yes. I hear you get to see the Yin-marriage Deity, and the entity will also promise you one reasonable request."

"Money, beauties, houses—whatever you want! I'll finally be able to find the best wife ever, hehehehe..."

As he spoke, he began to chuckle foolishly.

Overwhelmed by the alcohol, he slumped over the table and gradually fell asleep. Seeing this, the child nearby scampered off to share this secret of the Yin-marriage with his little friends.

Uncle Li watched this scene and let out a silent sigh, walking over alone to the edge of the square to light a cigarette.

Everyone in the village yearned for something like a Yin-marriage, and that included himself.

Even though they always said only children would be chosen,

in reality, there had been instances where adults were picked as well, and quite a few times at that.

Currently, his family's financial situation in the village wasn't particularly affluent. In fact, because last year's Yin-marriage Grand Festival lacked a maiden, his family's crops had suffered a disaster and yielded nothing.

He had experienced bad luck for almost the entire year.

Either Aunt Li had fallen and broken her leg while going up the mountain, or the car had mysteriously blown a tire and plunged down a ravine to become total junk, and even during the day, some freak had fallen out of the sky and smashed his house to pieces.

All these trivial things required money!

He had heard that when the maidens of past years came looking for someone to form a Yin-marriage with, they always favored those who were alone.

He truly hoped he would be chosen.

Come to think of it, the village had seen over two hundred maidens come and go. Why was it that every time a Yin-marriage took place, only a single maiden ever appeared?

How wonderful it would be if all of them could appear together!

That way, the village would surely become even more prosperous...