Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 425 - 376: Paper Man

What to do?

Pei Jing clenched his sweaty palms, his heart pounding so hard it threatened to burst from his chest.

As the legitimate son of Hedong’s Pei Family, he had followed his clan elders to hunt Aliens and even journeyed to the Endless Sea, glimpsing from afar those deep-sea behemoths that usually dwelled in abyssal depths, only occasionally surfacing.

But the feeling those Aliens gave him was far less bizarre and terrifying than the deathly still bridal procession before his eyes.

There’s no other way.

Sun Xinzhi took a deep breath, stepped forward, and approached a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl nestled in her parents’ arms in the aisle.

"What are you doing?!"

Pei Jing suddenly realized what was happening and reached out to stop Sun Xinzhi.

"The marriage contract!" Sun Xinzhi said gravely. "Mr. Pei, I know this girl. She’s the daughter of the Zhang Family, silk merchants in Luoyang Yongfeng Square. She just got engaged this year and is to be married in two years. This bridal procession has come for a bride. If we don’t hand one over, all of us will die."

"Wha..." Pei Jing turned his head to look at the terrified girl, whose parents were frantically shielding her. He found the situation utterly absurd. "Sacrifice Yu Country’s citizens first?" he asked Sun Xinzhi incredulously. "Is this how the garrison operates?"

Sun Xinzhi’s facial muscles twitched. "If there were any other way, do you think I’d want to do this?" he hissed. "Pei Silang, you are also a disciple of the Academic Palace; you should understand that dealing with Aliens always comes at a price. Sacrificing our own people, sacrificing others—it has always been this way for the garrison, for hundreds of years."

"You..."

Pei Jing tried to speak again, but Sun Xinzhi cut him off. "My Sun Family has served the garrison for four generations. Both my older brothers died at the hands of Aliens, their remains never recovered. We could only erect two more Tombs of Clothing for them in the ancestral graveyard. You can all accuse the garrison of being cruel and inhumane, but your ability to criticize so frankly is built entirely on the foundation of the garrison standing like a dam, holding back demons for Yu Country."

With that, he forcefully shook off Pei Jing’s arm, dragged the struggling, crying girl away from her parents, and pulled her toward the front of the carriage.

Perhaps Sun Xinzhi’s actions triggered some rule of the Aliens. The Paper Groom at the front of the train wore an even wider smile and retrieved a large, square red cloth from his robes. This cloth, called a "knee cover," was meant to be draped over the bride’s head to prevent others from seeing her face—in a sense, the so-called red bridal veil. The Paper Groom producing the knee cover signified his willingness to accept this bride...

He Fanshuang squinted at the scene, about to step forward, when Mr. Wan shouted abruptly, "Enough!"

He stopped Sun Xinzhi. "There is still a chance! Think about it—according to the wedding ceremony, what happens when the groom first enters the door?"

An encounter...

Sun Xinzhi froze for a moment, his grip on the girl involuntarily loosening.

According to the wedding ritual, after dismounting, the groom would push open the door and enter the bride’s home. The bride’s relatives could then seize the opportunity to shout, "The groom is like a bride’s family dog; killing him raises no questions!" while pretending to beat the groom, who was not allowed to fight back.

Li Ang, relieved that they had found a solution, continued to draw out his words loudly at the front of the carriage, "Step—down—from—the—horse."

"You let go first."

Mr. Wan had Sun Xinzhi release the still-sobbing girl. He then stood in the middle of the aisle, his thin hands unfastening hidden Mind Needles from his Die Xie waist belt and clutching them. Success or failure hinges on this moment.

The night breeze was bitingly cold. The dense forests on either side of the tracks, merging with the night sky, swayed in the wind.

"Let’s—talk—this—o—ver."

The instant the word "ver" landed, the two Paper Grooms, one at the front of the train and one at the rear, stepped down from their horses in unison.

Mr. Wan also flung countless Mind Needles toward both ends of the train.

The red-clad escorts didn’t even utter a groan before Mind Needles pierced their foreheads. Their entire bodies burst into dried shreds of paper with a loud BANG.

Pei Jing’s Flying Sword, He Fanshuang’s talisman paper, and Sun Xinzhi’s magic followed immediately, sweeping forward behind the Mind Needles and tearing apart countless paper figures.

Li Ang also seized this chance to unleash his Telekinesis, bombarding the paper figures ahead while continuing to recite loudly, "The son-in-law is merely the wife’s family dog; kill without question!"

The two Paper Grooms at the front and rear of the train flickered erratically, like a series of disjointed images, actually dodging the attacks instead of attempting to fight back.

After a few moments, all of the hundred or so paper figures in the escort had been cleared away, leaving red paper scraps scattered everywhere.

Yet the two Paper Grooms always managed to evade the cultivators’ assaults.

"Kill—without—ques—"

Unable to land a decisive blow after a prolonged effort, Li Ang could only draw out his chant. However, their time was up.

The Paper Grooms’ figures instantly stopped flickering. Both pairs of eyes stared intently at Mr. Wan and Li Ang, who posed the greatest threat to them!

Mr. Wan’s body trembled as a chilling current pierced straight to his heart.

He instinctively looked down at his feet, only to see the style and color of his boots rapidly changing from green boots to Black Boots.

Even the legs of his trousers were shifting to red.

WHEEZE—

Mr. Wan’s eyes bulged as he gasped violently. Then, unleashing his Telekinesis with all his might, he forcibly snapped his own legs off at the knees.

CRACK!

Blood sprayed out, spattering the faces and bodies of the surrounding passengers and causing even more panicked screams. The young girl whom Sun Xinzhi had pulled out earlier wiped the blood from her face and fainted.

But Mr. Wan’s transformation continued. His emaciated body grew tall and erect, the wrinkles on his aged face rapidly smoothed away, and his entire person levitated motionlessly in mid-air.

"Mr. Wan?" Pei Jing asked softly, his scalp tingling.

Mr. Wan’s eyes snapped open. His face had become that of a Paper Groom. He smiled and recited, "Tonight, the Weaver descends to the Human World, her makeup applied before the mirror with leisure; inherently possessing peach-blossom beauty, no need for cosmetics to mar her complexion..."

His severed torso descended, reattaching seamlessly to the legs standing below, leaving no trace of injury.

It wasn’t just him. Including the Paper Grooms at the front and rear of the train, all three began to recite in unison the next part of the wedding verses: the *Wedding Poem*.

In the wedding ceremony, this meant the groom had seen the bride. The next step was to take her away.

"Haotian above..." Sun Xinzhi muttered, his face a mask of despair.

With merely a glance, Mr. Wan had been transformed into a Paper Groom...

The *Wedding Poem* was long. He Fanshuang flashed to Li Ang’s side. "How are you?" she asked rapidly, simultaneously writing a talisman and sticking it to Li Ang’s chest in an attempt to suppress the transformation.

Li Ang’s body trembled slightly. The ringing in his ears was so intense he couldn’t hear what He Fanshuang was saying.

He only knew that he stood rooted to the spot, the colors of his clothes constantly shifting. Even the muscles in his feet were twisting and convulsing, gradually losing his control over them, becoming like dry paper.

The Paper Groom’s curse was spreading upwards from his feet. Wherever it reached, his body lost sensation and control.

The fate of the Pei family guards and Mr. Wan was a stark warning. If this continued, he would undoubtedly die.

A wry smile touched his inner thoughts. Li Ang took a deep breath and finally released the restraints on his Mo Si.

HUM!

The Mo Si, suppressed for months, abruptly awakened. It coursed rapidly through Li Ang’s body, penetrating bones, muscles, and blood vessels with even greater ferocity.

Then, it collided head-on with the Paper Groom’s curse.