Yu Chen's ears perked up at the distant clamor, his sharp senses attuned to the urgency. Wei Yu and the others exchanged quick glances before dashing outside, drawn by the commotion.
"You're immortals, aren't you? Please, I'm begging you!"
A man, disheveled and desperate, knelt on the ground, his voice cracking under the weight of despair. His trembling hands clasped together in supplication, and tears streaked down his weathered face.
Yu Chen stepped forward, his expression softening as he crouched down to meet the man's gaze. Placing a firm yet reassuring hand on the man's shoulder, he spoke with quiet authority. "Sir, lead the way."
The man nodded frantically, his movements jittery, as though relief and terror were warring within him. Then, with the speed of a man clutching onto a thin strand of hope, he bolted ahead, his legs moving with surprising agility for his age.
Yu Chen stood, his dark eyes meeting Wei Yu's. Without a word, the group followed the man, their footsteps quick and purposeful.
Before they left, Ling Xiao turned to Li Ming. "Inform the house owner that we have an urgent task. Tell them we cannot aid their daughter right now."
Li Ming nodded briskly, breaking away from the group as the others pressed forward.
The man's pace faltered as they approached a humble, weather-beaten house. Outside, a woman knelt on the ground, her body convulsing with sobs that echoed with raw anguish.
"Yi'er!" she wailed, the name breaking from her lips like a plea to the heavens. Her voice was hoarse, her tears relentless as they soaked her already damp sleeves.
Her eyes, red-rimmed and wild, locked onto her husband. Fury erupted like a storm within her as she staggered to her feet and seized his collar with trembling hands.
"I TOLD YOU, DIDN'T I?!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with grief and anger. "I told you those rich families bring nothing but misfortune! Nothing but heartbreak!"
The man's face contorted, his guilt spilling from his lowered gaze. He didn't resist as her hands twisted his clothing, her nails biting into the fabric.
Her voice dropped, trembling with pain as she whispered through clenched teeth, "If only… if only I hadn't agreed."
Her hands slowly loosened their grip, and her shoulders slumped as the fury drained away, leaving only despair in its wake. She sank to her knees, her sobs muffled by her hands as she collapsed onto the floor, her grief spilling over like an unstoppable tide.
Yu Chen stepped closer, his expression unreadable yet calm. He exchanged a brief glance with Wei Yu before kneeling beside the woman. "Madam," he said gently, his tone low and steady, "we're here to help. Please, tell us what has happened."
The woman looked up, her tear-streaked face a canvas of anguish. Her swollen eyes, red from endless weeping, held a flicker of hope as if clinging to a fragile thread. Her voice, hoarse and broken, trembled as she began to speak.
"My Yi'er," she whispered, choking on her words, "she was taken—kidnapped by the ghost bride."
The air seemed to grow heavier, the weight of her words pressing down on the group. She clutched at her chest as though the memory itself was a blade twisting in her heart.
"This... this all started on New Year's Eve," she continued, her voice shaking. "The richest family in the city, the Yan family, was searching for a suitable wife for their eldest son, Yan Hao. They spared no expense, hosting lavish banquets, inviting the finest families, and offering riches beyond imagination."
Her fingers dug into the floorboards as though she could claw away the pain. "They found her—a girl of extraordinary beauty, perfect in every way. The wedding was grand, the entire city celebrated. But..." Her voice broke, tears spilling anew.
"But the bride disappeared on the wedding night, while she was in the bridal chamber."
"What do you mean disappeared?" Hua Rong interrupted, her tone sharp with impatience.
The woman shot her a piercing glance, her grief now tinged with fury. "Gone!" she spat, her voice rising in a wail. "She vanished as if the earth had swallowed her whole. No body, no trace, nothing. They said she had died, cursed to a fate worse than death."
Her sobs wracked her frame, but she pushed on, her voice trembling yet determined. "But it didn't end there. It's as if the Yan family was marked for ruin. Every bride since—every woman who dared to marry into their cursed bloodline—was taken. Some disappeared on their wedding night, others a few days later. Gone without a whisper of warning. Alive or dead? No one knows!"
The group exchanged uneasy glances, the weight of the tragedy settling over them like a shroud.
The woman's hands trembled as she gripped the edge of her tattered clothing, her eyes now hollow with despair. "They called it the curse of the ghost bride. And now... now it's my Yi'er! My little girl..." She broke down, her body shaking as though it would crumble under the weight of her sorrow.
Yu Chen stepped forward, his calm voice cutting through the tension. "How long has she been missing?"
The woman struggled to compose herself, her words barely above a whisper. "Two nights ago... the day she was to marry. She left the house wearing her bridal gown, radiant as the sun. She never came back. Her red veil... it was found in the woods, perfect like nothing happened."
A cold wind seemed to sweep through the room, and for a moment, silence fell, save for the woman's quiet sobs.
"We will find her," Yu Chen said firmly, his voice like an anchor in the storm of despair. His eyes burned with determination, but the others could not shake the ominous chill that had seeped into their bones.
Outside, the distant howl of the wind seemed to carry a faint, mournful wail—like the echo of a bride's lament.
"Ma'am if I may ask, Do the Yan family have any other son aside from Yan Hao?" Wei Yu stepped forward. The woman looked at Wei Yu and felt in a trance, then as if suddenly remembering she hurriedly made sounds of acknowledgement. "Yes! Yes! They had a younger son, Yan Bo, but unfortunately he died before his coming of age ceremony."
"I see." Hua Rong mumbled. This incident did not happen in the original novel, so she was completely clueless about this matter, many things have changed since she had transmigrated.