Douluo Continent: The Twin Sons of the Styx River, Shaking the World and Destroying the Heavens

Chapter 259 Dark Marriage
She walked quietly along the cobblestone path in the village. The stones were uneven, and each step made a slight clattering sound. The mud-brick houses on both sides of the path were low and cramped, their walls covered with mottled lines etched by time, like wrinkled faces silently facing the sky.

Several stray dogs lay on the roadside basking in the sun, their bellies exposed against the scorching ground. When she walked by, they merely lifted their eyelids lazily, not even bothering to growl in a perfunctory manner, as if even being alert was a superfluous effort.

The air was filled with that familiar smell—the earthy stench, the foul odor of animal manure, mixed with the musty smell of rotten vegetable leaves fermenting in the corner, all intertwined into a sticky odor that seeped into the nostrils. It was the smell of poverty seeping into the bones, and the smell of ignorance accumulated over many years, like a layer of grease that could not be washed off, plastered on every corner of this village.

No one recognized her.

From the moment he became a "commander," the body that had once been pointed at and labeled "ugly" had been reduced to ashes in the lightning and fire. Now, this body, imbued with lightning, with its snow-white skin and amethyst-like eyes, is completely different from the shadow that used to cower in the corner, covered in mud.

Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, even though the memories and will of "Yu Qian" still remain in her heart, the form of her life has been completely transformed.

Since joining the "Sea Patrol Knights," the body that carried humiliation and pain has been completely reshaped—the former "Yu Qian," the name nailed to the mud by ugly labels, along with that despised face, has melted away in the tempering process.

The one who walks the world today is "Lei Lu," the hunting envoy Lei Lu.

The name Lei Lu carries its own majesty—"Lu" is the ironclad rule upheld during patrols, the standard by which evil is judged; "Lei" is the divine punishment that cleanses filth, the sharp edge that cleaves through darkness.

She was tall and slender like a bamboo shoot, with a graceful figure like a finely sculpted jade statue. A violet-purple long dress clung to her body, perfectly outlining her almost flawless silhouette.

Her features seemed to have been meticulously sculpted by the most devout craftsman using stardust as material and lightning as a blade, each detail exuding divine perfection. Her eyebrows were sharp as if carved by a knife, yet slightly upturned at the ends, adding a touch of cold elegance.

Her snow-white skin, as white as frost, appeared even colder against her purple dress. Her waist-length purple hair was like silk in the dark night, with a silver star-shaped hairpin occasionally reflecting a faint light. A few strands of lightning flashed across the ends of her hair, seemingly silently proclaiming her identity.

Her deep-set eyes made her purple eyes look even more like a chaotic mass filled with stars. Her long eyelashes were like butterfly wings, casting a light shadow under her eyes when they fell, and bringing a lightning-like sharpness when she looked up.

The obsidian pendant on her left ear and the silver lightning bolt ring on her right ear swayed gently, making a soft, tinkling sound, which mingled with the light tinkling of the silver anklet on her ankle—the pendant was shaped like a miniature lightning bolt, and every step seemed to be stepping on a silent lightning bolt.

The ankle-length deep purple dress was embroidered with dark gold thunderstorm totems, and the slit revealed legs encased in white stockings, with silver tassels at the top of the stockings swaying gently with her movements; the purple cape draped over her body was edged with "rolling thunder" patterns, and when she moved, it was like a curtain falling in the dark night, making her aura even more mysterious and majestic.

On her left wrist, the glowing lightning patterns on the amethyst bracelet echoed the longsword "Purple Cloud" slung across her shoulder—the matte purple metal scabbard was wrapped with silver chains and amethyst beads, and the chaotic amethyst embedded in the hilt matched the color of her eyes. In the shadows beneath the umbrella, the blade emitted a faint, eerie lightning light.
At this moment, in terms of appearance, she was indeed a peerless beauty, one in a million. Pure and aloof like a solitary lotus atop a snow-capped peak, noble as amethyst deep within the starry sky, her beauty possessed a sharp edge, inspiring both awe and an irresistible, breathtaking allure. Such grace was enough to captivate any man and turn the head of any woman, yet in those chaotic purple eyes, there was no concern for appearance, only the coldness of law and the resolute determination of divine punishment. She walked quietly, her gaze calmly sweeping over the familiar yet unfamiliar scenery around her.

Small bridge, flowing water, and houses.

Every blade of grass and every tree was exactly the same as she remembered, yet it stirred up waves of nausea in her heart.

As she crossed the creaking little wooden bridge and reached the archway in the northeast corner of the village, a burst of chatter mixed with the crisp sound of chess pieces hitting the board caught her attention.

Beneath the archway, around a polished stone table, sat two or three elderly men with white hair, dressed in coarse cloth jackets. They were engrossed in playing a popular local game of chess, sometimes clapping for a brilliant move, sometimes shaking their heads at a wrong one, the atmosphere as leisurely as the afternoon sun.

Lei Lu's appearance was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly disrupting the tranquility of the place.

The old men playing chess almost simultaneously looked up, their movements abruptly freezing. Their cloudy eyes were fixed on her, and the chess pieces in their hands hung in mid-air, forgotten to fall.

"Gulp." One of the old men swallowed hard, his eyes filled with amazement, but deep inside, there was a barely perceptible greed, like a hungry wolf spotting a piece of fat meat.

"Who...whose daughter is this? She's...so pretty..." another old man murmured, his voice trembling, his gaze lingering on her, sliding from the slit in her purple dress to her snow-white neck, his lewdness undisguised.

“Look at that figure, that demeanor… she doesn’t seem to be from our village. Could it be… a daughter of a high-ranking official from the city, visiting relatives in this poor place?” The third old man clicked his tongue, his tone a mixture of awe and calculation, as if he was already plotting how to curry favor with this “windfall.” Lei Lu listened quietly, his face remaining completely expressionless.

Just then, a group of children, about seven or eight years old, ran out of the alley not far away, laughing and playing. They were chasing a colorful butterfly, their faces full of innocent smiles, like a flock of chirping little sparrows.

When the children ran to the archway, they caught sight of Lei Lu standing there. They were instantly frozen in place, their mouths agape as they stared at her, forgetting even to breathe.

One of the boys, a chubby-faced, leader-like figure, was the first to recover after a brief moment of surprise. He gazed at Lei Lu's otherworldly beauty, his eyes filled with undisguised amazement and a childlike, pure, and straightforward possessiveness. He mustered his courage, walked up to Lei Lu, tilted his little face up, and declared in a childish yet incredibly loud voice, "This big sister is so beautiful! I want to marry her!"

The child's innocent words drew good-natured laughter from the elderly around him, and even the air seemed to soften a bit.

Upon hearing this, Lei Lu's body trembled violently, and a complex emotion flashed in her icy purple eyes—astonishment, bewilderment, and a hint of panic that she herself was unaware of.

She blushed slightly.

A strange, unprecedented feeling, like a faint electric current, instantly coursed through her body, causing the lightning at her fingertips to flicker.

Beautiful? Marry her?

These two words were a luxury she had never dared to dream of in her long life.

To be honest, she's only 1500 years old now.

She remembered that on her previous planet, whenever she saw the pretty girls in the village surrounded by boys like stars around the moon, listening to their clumsy but sincere chatter, she would always feel endless envy and inferiority.

She had also secretly fantasized that one day a boy would look at her with such gentle, smiling eyes and say, "You are so beautiful," even if it was just a casual remark.

But every time I wake up from this tiny dream, what I see in the mirror is always the face I despise, and the scorn and ridicule from those around me that sting like needles.

And now...

This dream, buried deep in the ruins of her memory, was realized so suddenly and even absurdly?

She started walking, continuing towards the direction that made her nauseous in her memories of coming to this world. After turning a familiar corner, the third house on the south side of the road came into view—the low, mottled mud walls, the crooked wooden door with peeling paint, and the bare patch of dirt in front of the door, trampled bare, not even a blade of grass could grow... Everything was exactly as she remembered, yet because of the strangeness on that wooden door, it was shrouded in an eerie shadow.

Above the wooden door, two small triangular flags were stuck diagonally on either side. One was a glaring red, as if it had been dipped in blood; the other was a pale white, as if it had been covered in frost.

How could a wedding and a funeral be held side by side in front of the same house?
Lei Lu's brows furrowed slightly, her purple eyes swirling with a chaotic undercurrent, and an ominous premonition crept up her spine. She didn't immediately push open the door and enter, but instead turned around and walked steadily back to the archway, stopping in front of the old men who were still giving her those sticky stares.

The old men who had been whispering just moments before fell silent instantly, their eyes trembling under her icy gaze, their hands gripping the chess pieces until they turned white. The old man who had previously cursed "Yu Qian" swallowed hard, forcing a smile to appear calm: "Young lady... is there something you need?"

Lei Lu did not respond, but simply pointed to the house with red and white flags hanging on it. The lightning in his purple eyes dimmed a little, but became even more intimidating: "That family holds both weddings and funerals at the same time. What is the reason for that?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable pressure, like a barely perceptible electric current, causing the elderly people to subconsciously straighten their hunched backs.

One of the fastest-reacting old men immediately stood up, a fawning smile plastered on his face, and rushed to reply, "Oh! Young lady, are you from out of town? Or... a distant relative of the Yu family? I knew it! With such a big event happening in the Yu family today, all sorts of relatives have to be invited to join in the fun!"

He paused, deliberately lowering his voice, his tone a mixture of mystery and schadenfreude: "Miss, this is a long story. I don't know if I should say it or not, but anyway, it's those two fiery-tempered people in the Yu family who are arranging... a ghost marriage for their troublesome son!"

A ghost marriage?

Lei Lu's pupils suddenly contracted, the chaos in her purple eyes churning like boiling water. She naturally knew what those two words meant. But... the groom, if nothing unexpected happened, should be her younger brother, Yu Qing, who was six years younger and had just turned fifteen this year.

"A ghost marriage?" Her voice remained calm, but a chilling glint, almost tearing the air apart, flashed deep within her deep purple eyes. "He's so young... how could this be..."

"Sigh, it's such a pity about that Yu family lad," another old man chimed in, shaking his head and sighing. "That kid was quite capable. His family was poor, but he was determined. At a young age, he went to work as an apprentice at the biggest restaurant in the city, 'Fumanlou.' He was quick-witted and efficient, and the boss really appreciated him. He could have made something of himself..."