Chapter 1: The Most Tragic Bride in History

The dense forest of the ancient tomb.

A sacred darkness dominated the land, swallowing all light. An endless black mist lay heavy beneath the pitch-black night, leaving the sky appearing empty and desolate.

Deep within the ghostly forest, tree shadows swayed and dark clouds loomed, obscuring the moon. Scattered stars appeared lonely and cold, their tiny points of light staining the night as if trying to guide a path of light for people through the darkness. The night wind blew slowly; there were few sounds of insects or beasts, making the eternal landscape feel solitary and weathered by time.

At this moment, the tranquility of the secluded valley was suddenly broken by a burst of hurried footsteps. A wedding sedan chair adorned with tassels shuttled rapidly through the depths of the dense forest, its sedan bearers moving with flying strides.

Despite being a bright red wedding sedan, there was not a single trace of festive color to be seen other than the chair itself; even the clothes worn by the bearers were a uniform black.

After a heart-wrenching scream, the quiet valley returned once more to its original stillness. That scream seemed merely a small interlude in the depths of the valley, quickly sinking back into silence.

As time flowed quietly, the black mist shrouding the sky above the valley suddenly dispersed. Moonlight poured down like water, and the entire valley was suddenly enveloped in a sacred white light. The radiance instantly reached ten thousand feet, driving away the darkness.

The white light enveloping the sky above the valley was not eerie; rather, it appeared soft and holy, possessing a divine quality that made the entire valley seem as if it were not of the mortal realm.

Beneath the holy halo, a particularly dazzling red light suddenly refracted from the mountainside deep within the valley. The red light instantly pierced through the clouds and the dark night, shining alongside the moon.

That mysterious red light was only fleeting, appearing as if it had never existed, and the source of this light was precisely the tassel-adorned wedding sedan chair wedged between a rock crevice and tree branches halfway up the valley side.

On another peak within the valley, a white figure stood tall, noble and elegant, looking down coldly upon the entire valley.

Under the shroud of moonlight, the wind gently stirred his snow-white magnificent robes, causing the hems to flutter and drift. His long black hair hung straight down to his waist, tied up with a fiery red hairpin, with stray strands dancing in the wind. His features were obscured, but as he stood there, he shimmered like a moon deity, descending upon the mortal world without warning.

The white figure was looking up, gazing at that fleeting burst of red light.

The divine light descends; the Witch appears.

Is it time for you to appear?

The way he slightly raised his head made it seem as though swarms of white snow elves were dancing incessantly around him, swaying in moving postures.

Deep in the ghostly forest, the sound of rapid, light footsteps reached the mountain peak, indicating that the newcomer possessed extraordinary lightness skills.

"Reporting to the State Preceptor, the thief who stole the divine artifact has been wounded, yet he still managed to escape... he fled into this dense forest. Your subordinate has already dispatched all the Imperial Guards to search the woods."

A young Black Cavalry Commander, dressed in the Flying Fish official uniform, knelt on one knee behind the white figure. He kept his eyes lowered, as if looking at the person before him even once would be an act of profanity.

"No matter what, you must capture that thief and recover the divine artifact."

A cold, emotionless voice swept past the Black Cavalry Commander's ear like a chilling wind, instantly making his heart tremble and his mind sharpen.

"Yes, your subordinate will attend to it immediately."

The Black Cavalry Commander respectfully withdrew, not daring to lift his head from beginning to end.

In the valley, a gust of night wind blew, parting the tassels hanging from the sedan curtains. The tassel-adorned wedding sedan wedged halfway up the mountain swayed slightly. Inside, the beautiful bride suddenly woke up. Two strands of hair brushed softly against her face in the wind, adding a touch of charming grace, mixed with a hint of playfulness and mischief.

Gu Liuxi's first action upon waking was to stare blankly at the bright red wedding sedan above her head, completely out of it.

What... what happened?

A pair of eyes that seemed capable of speaking turned wittily up and down, shimmering with a thousand colors of colored glaze. Her black pearl-like pupils rolled within their sockets, every part of them appearing lively and flirtatious.

What was this situation? How was she here?

She clearly remembered that just a moment ago, she was clashing powers with ten ability users in a very magnificent battle, under a sky devoid of light amidst shifting winds and clouds.

How was she here in the blink of an eye? And also, who could tell her what kind of damn clothes she was wearing?

She lifted her arms, and the bright red sleeves fluttered along with them.

Holy crap, isn't this the ancient bride's wedding attire that only appears on TV?

Oh my god! I'm seeing ghosts.

When did her clothes change? Why did she have no memory of it at all?

She pounded her head hard; she had absolutely no impression of it!

What on earth happened? Did this world become fantasy? Or was she driven to mental instability and hallucinations by those ten ability users?

Moonlight filtered through the sedan curtains onto her exquisite yet slightly worried little face, casting a translucent glow upon her crimson cheeks. Those lively eyes were even brighter than the starlight in the sky.

Clad in a magnificent bright red wedding robe, her face was like a lotus and her brows like willow leaves. Supported by the bright red silk, her skin was as white and smooth as congealed fat, her delicate features more beautiful than flowers. However, those star-bright eyes contained a faint trace of melancholy and bewilderment.

Forget it, I'll go out and see where this place is first.

Gu Liuxi did not know she was halfway up a mountain and that the sedan was suspended there. She took a step forward, intending to reach out her jade-white hand to pull aside the tassels, when the sedan suddenly tilted forward. The tree branch supporting the sedan gave a sudden *crack* and broke. The wedding sedan wedged in the rock crevice instantly lost its support and began rolling down from the mountainside.

She didn't even have time to let out a scream before her entire body tumbled down the valley along with the sedan.

Ah—!

Do not doubt it; that scream did not come from her.

"Ouch, my waist..."

Gu Liuxi lay on the grass clutching her waist, her little face scrunched up like a small bun.

I'm going to die. It hurts so much. Her slender waist was surely broken.

While clutching her waist to sit up, Gu Liuxi also held her head, which was spinning from the fall. Once her dizzy head finally regained normal function, she looked around. To her surprise, she saw nothing but an endless, vast forest with no visible end.

Something suddenly moved beneath her buttocks. She jumped up in fright. She wanted to say, hadn't she thought she heard something just now?

She thought it was a hallucination.

Leaning her body forward, she tremblingly reached out her small hand to push aside the wild grass.

Holy hell, she actually saw a blood-soaked person half-buried in the dirt, with a ferocious expression.

If you suddenly saw a blood-covered person appear before you, what would your immediate reaction be?

Gu Liuxi's expression was ridiculous. Her entire body froze, her round eyes widening in terror. Her black jade-like pupils were fixed, and the scream was stuck in her throat, unable to be released no matter what.