Xiao Wangxu · Chat

The air was thick with the acrid scent of burning joss paper, mixed with the damp, metallic stench of earth that forced its way into her lungs. Gu Zhiyun snapped her eyes open. What met her gaze wasn't the sterile white ceiling of a hospital, but a blinding, stabbing red. Red candles flickered, casting mottled shadows. She was standing before a sinister ancient mansion. The vermilion gates were half-ajar, and two white paper lanterns hung from the lintel, swaying in the night wind. She wasn't wearing a hospital gown, but a traditional bridal crown and robes so heavy they were suffocating. The jewels atop her head made her neck ache, and a red veil embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in water covered her face, isolating the world into a chaotic, blood-colored haze. She couldn't help but shudder. This scene was too familiar—so familiar it made her heart throb with sudden pain. Just a few hours ago—or perhaps, in another world—she and her lover had been dressed in wedding attire just like this. That was her wedding to Xiao Wangxu. They had just gotten their certificate and agreed on a grand Western wedding. But on the way to the chapel, a truck out of control had charged at them like a steel beast. *Screech—BANG!* The piercing sound of brakes and the violent impact seemed to still echo in her ears. She remembered the final moment: Xiao Wangxu throwing herself over her, warm liquid splashing across her face—that was her blood. To protect her, Xiao Wangxu had been crushed by the deformed car door, her breath leaving her instantly. "Xiao Wangxu..." she murmured the name, her voice trembling uncontrollably. Suddenly, layers of silk wrapped around her ankles, and a faint, velvety sensation brushed against her skin, sending a prickling itch through her. The crisp click of high heels suddenly sounded right beside her ear. The wail of a suona erupted from the courtyard, as shrill and mournful as a funeral dirge. "Mid-July, the bride is led..." An ancient chant rang in her ears, sounding as if it were seeping up from the ground itself. Her body began to shake involuntarily. She tried to lift the veil, only to find her fingers wouldn't obey. Just then, a pair of ice-cold hands wrapped around her waist from behind, lifting her up gently. In a daze, she seemed to see a pair of soul-stirring eyes flashing with a flirtatious glint and a slight, playful curve of pink lips drawing closer.