Chapter Thirty-Two: The Bride’s Severed Arm

He was still so thin, his eye sockets sunken, resembling a skeleton; only now his face was covered in corpse spots, making him even more terrifying.

"Uncle!"

I called out instinctively.

I couldn't understand why the person standing before me was my uncle. After Madam Wang drove away those rat demons, my uncle appeared. Could it be that he was the one who sent the rat demons to attack us? Yet the sinister expression on his face did not belong to my uncle.

Madam Wang immediately said, "Child, he's not your uncle. This is soul borrowing a corpse."

"How could that be? Of course I am Yiwa's uncle!" he replied with a wicked grin.

"Lame Ma, you may fool others with your tricks, but you can't fool me," Madam Wang sneered.

Yes, he couldn't possibly be my uncle. My uncle gave his life to protect Old Grave Hill; it's impossible for him to be resurrected and appear here. Moreover, the day before my uncle's funeral, his body vanished. Because the peddler had visited my uncle's home, I thought it was his doing, that he had taken my uncle's corpse. Now it seems I was mistaken—the one who took the body wasn't the peddler.

Lame Ma was previously injured by my grandfather's Daoist arts; to outsiders, he was already dead, and his body had been burned. Now he exists only as a soul, without a body, so he stole my uncle's corpse to return as a living person.

So, the peddler's visit to my uncle's home was simply to fulfill his duty as a soul courier, only taking my uncle's soul to the underworld.

At this moment, Lame Ma walked toward us, saying as he approached, "Fine, I admit it, I am your Grandpa Ma. Yiwa, let me tell you, people should know their limitations. You're so clueless, after everything I've told you, you still dare to come to Old Grave Hill. Do you really think Miss Ye will marry someone of uncertain origin like you? Do you truly believe that an old woman, expelled from her sect years ago and now gravely injured, can help you?"

"So it was you who hurt Madam Wang!" I exclaimed.

"So what if I did? Yiwa, you should be grateful for my generosity. If it weren't for her bringing you here to die, she'd have long since become one of my ghostly victims!" Lame Ma said proudly, clearly pleased with his own trap.

Madam Wang only stared at Lame Ma, silent, but I heard the sound of her right hand gripping the peachwood sword, creaking ominously.

She spoke coldly, "Lame Ma, do you truly believe I, Wang Qinghua, am no match for you?"

Her words were as icy as frost.

A gust of wind caught Madam Wang's apricot-yellow Daoist robe, making it flutter.

She braced herself, suddenly dashing forward. The peachwood sword in her hand moved with force, shooting forth like an arrow released from the bowstring. A shadow, moving at incredible speed, and in that instant, Lame Ma's eyes flashed with sharp light. He raised his hand, deflecting Madam Wang's peachwood sword.

The sword was knocked aside, but in the next moment, Madam Wang's fingers swiftly formed seals, and with two fingers, she struck Lame Ma right between the brows.

The force was tremendous.

I saw a shadow forcibly expelled from my uncle's body by Madam Wang's strike. My uncle's corpse staggered and collapsed to the ground. Madam Wang quickly pulled out a yellow talisman, pressed it onto my uncle's forehead, and affixed it there.

No doubt, Madam Wang's move broke Lame Ma's soul borrowing, and sealing the brow with the talisman was to prevent my uncle's body from being used again.

I couldn't help but marvel—truly a disciple of the Complete Reality School, Madam Wang's skills exceeded my imagination time and again. Such a master—why couldn't she take me as a student, teach me a few techniques?

The shadow expelled by Madam Wang was naturally Lame Ma's soul. Without a body to inhabit, and deprived of his previous strength, he immediately fled into the mountains and woods.

With Madam Wang's Daoist skills, if Lame Ma's soul dared to show itself again, it would be utterly destroyed.

Madam Wang now crouched beside my uncle's corpse.

She sighed deeply, as if about to speak, but suddenly began to cough. After two coughs, she spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, which dripped from her chin, crimson and frightening. I rushed over, wanting to help but not knowing how; she shook her head and said, "Child, don't say a word."

I nodded, understanding her intention. If Lame Ma, lurking in the shadows, knew Madam Wang was so badly injured, he would surely strike again to finish us. If he doesn't know, he may be deterred. Madam Wang took out her handkerchief, wiped the blood from her chin, put it away, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Your uncle's body can only remain here for now. But don't worry, with this talisman, no evil spirits will approach—it should be safe."

She paused, then continued, "Child, we must hurry. Your bride must not be taken away!"

"Grandma!"

I blurted out, the words coming straight from my heart.

Madam Wang was stunned. After a moment, she turned and looked at me coldly. "Didn't I say, I have nothing to do with your grandfather?"

I had no other motive in addressing her so—it just felt right, as if she were my grandmother; I wanted her as family. She knew she was gravely wounded, yet still came to Old Grave Hill without hesitation, all to help me marry a ghost bride, and so my grandfather might awaken.

For my grandfather, she would even give up her life. I was moved by her devotion.

Even if Grandfather were a block of stone, he ought to be warmed by now. But why did he reject Madam Wang so heartlessly all those years ago?

Madam Wang rested for half a minute, then stood up.

She carried her peachwood sword, walking ahead, sword tip pointed skyward, her bearing extraordinary.

Descending from the ridge opposite Old Grave Hill, below lay a half-ruined temple. Seeing it, I suddenly recalled an incident from my childhood—the memory was hazy now, but I remembered meeting a sister in red, though I couldn't recall her face.

Inside the ruined temple, Madam Wang and I paused. Ahead, villagers under control were everywhere. Under the wordless stele, because of Ye Weiyang's earlier words, the Ma family was overjoyed. They had prepared in advance, dressing Ma Mingjing in a groom's robe, while Ye Weiyang now wore bridal attire.

She was stunning in her bridal gown.

But the red veil covering her face was never lifted.

Were they truly about to marry like this?

"Once they bow to heaven and earth, they will be husband and wife. Child, this is your last chance. Come with me—we'll snatch this marriage!" Madam Wang declared, full of authority.

I couldn't hold Madam Wang back. In fact, at that moment, I wasn't aware that Ye Weiyang already occupied a place in my heart.

That was why, seeing all this, I felt so uneasy. I thought it was just jealousy, but it was love taking root.

As Madam Wang and I left the ruined temple to crash the wedding, a bolt of lightning slashed across the sky, so fierce it seemed to split the heavens in two.

The earth was illuminated in ghastly white.

Beneath the wordless stele, the two figures were equally pale.

Black clouds churned overhead like thick ink; raising my eyes, I sensed a vast shadow writhing within them.

Plop.

A heavy raindrop landed on the back of my hand.

On my palm, atop the thousand steps of Baiqing Temple, the old Daoist had once written the character for "rain." At the time, I didn't understand its meaning, but now it seemed clear. The old Daoist's words were straightforward, yet I made them too complicated—it was simply "rain."

Madam Wang saw I was motionless, paused, noticed me staring at the back of my hand, her eyes flashing, and asked, "Did the old Daoist tell you about that character?"

I nodded.

Seeing this, Madam Wang sheathed her peachwood sword, seeming to understand, and said, "Come, let's return to the ruined temple."

Though I didn't fully understand, I followed Madam Wang back. Standing at the temple's entrance, I watched the rain grow heavier.

Moments later, the steady patter became a torrential downpour.

The rain came fiercely, and not far away, beneath the wordless stele, the wedding was disrupted by the sudden storm. Everyone became drenched, their elaborate paper wedding gifts battered by the rain, reduced to mud—satisfying to see, lifting my spirits.

In the rain, the Ma family stubbornly tried to make Ma Mingjing complete the final bow. Yet before he could finish, the bride collapsed.

Ma Mingjing was startled, reaching to grab her; pulling with force, he tore her arm off.

If you enjoy Yin-Yang Tribulation, please bookmark: () Yin-Yang Tribulation updates fastest.