A single divination predicts life and death; the entire internet begs me to start a live stream.

At midnight, the fog rises.

This is not ordinary night fog.

It emerged from a crack in the ground.

Strand by strand, it crawls forward, close to the ground.

Along the old roads in the suburbs, most of the streetlights have long been broken.

The remaining few lamps also seemed to have a faulty connection, flickering on and off.

At the end of the underground passage, an abandoned old road leads out.

The roadside weeds grew up to knee-high.

In the distance lies an old village that has been half-demolished.

Black tiles and crumbling walls, broken doors and windows.

When the wind blows, the tattered plastic sheet hanging on the wall rattles loudly.

It's like someone is waving a white banner in the dark.

Lin Wanqing held the flashlight, her palms already covered in cold sweat.

She wasn't unfamiliar with dead people.

She had seen murder scenes, car accident scenes, and scenes of decomposing corpses.

But this road in front of us doesn't look like a path for the living.

Too quiet.

It was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.

There wasn't even the sound of insects chirping by the roadside.

The two detectives behind him were also on edge.

One of the younger ones looked visibly unwell.

He lowered his voice:

"Team Leader Lin, there's no cell phone signal here."

Lin Wanqing glanced at the screen.

No service.

She put her phone away and looked at Chen Bufan in front of her.

Chen Bufan stood in the middle of the old road, holding an old copper coin in his hand.

The copper coin spun gently on his fingertips, vibrating faintly and making a soft sound.

a bit.

a bit.

Like a heartbeat.

Lin Wanqing asked in a low voice:

"Is Xu Yao up ahead?"

Chen Bufan looked into the depths of the fog.

"Um."

Lin Wanqing followed his gaze.

There was nothing at the end of the road.

Only white mist.

But the next second, she heard a sound.

woo-

woo-

The sound of suona horns.

It's very far.

Very fine.

It felt like it was blowing in from another world.

The expressions on the two detectives changed simultaneously.

The young detective instinctively reached for his waist.

Chen Bufan didn't even turn his head.

"Keep the gun."

The young detective froze.

"Mr. Chen, are you sure you don't need it?"

Chen Bufan didn't look at him:

"If you just want to punch a few holes in the paper figure, you can try it."

The young detective's throat tightened, and he silently lowered his hand.

Lin Wanqing's eyes were calm as she asked:

"What can we do now?"

Chen Bufan said:

Stand behind me.

"Whatever you see, don't call it by name."

Lin Wanqing frowned.

"Whose name?"

"Xu Yao's."

Chen Bufan lowered his voice slightly.

"Calling for her soul on the road to the underworld will scatter her spirit."

Lin Wanqing nodded.

"clear."

The sound of the suona grew closer.

Not just the suona.

There's also a gong.

drum.

Wooden fish.

thump.

thump.

thump.

The voice was neither hurried nor slow.

Like a wedding procession, they are marching this way with measured steps.

A lamp appeared first in the fog.

White lanterns.

The lantern has a black "囍" character written on it.

Black double happiness character.

White lanterns.

It doesn't look like a wedding for living people at all.

Then came the second lamp.

The third one.

A row of white lanterns emerged from the mist.

Paper figures walk beneath the lanterns.

The paper figure's face was covered in pale powder.

A red smile line was drawn at the corner of his mouth.

There are only two black dots in the eyes.

It was made of paper, yet it walked very steadily, step by step.

They were holding up celebratory plaques.

The sign reads:

[The Song Family Wedding Procession]

[Yin and Yang Ceremony]

[Eternal Bond in the Afterlife]

Lin Wanqing felt her throat being suddenly grabbed, making it difficult to breathe.

She forced herself to stand firm.

Do not retreat.

Don't make a sound.

But what we're seeing now has completely gone beyond the scope of a normal case.

The two detectives were trembling uncontrollably.

One of them muttered a curse under his breath:

"What the hell is this thing...?"

Chen Bufan lowered his voice to an extremely low level:

"Shut up."

The detective immediately gritted his teeth.

The wedding procession is getting closer and closer.

The white-faced sedan chair bearers walked in the middle.

They were dressed in black funeral clothes, and their faces were bloodless.

None of them had their feet firmly planted on the ground.

It's like floating.

Four sedan chair carriers carried a black coffin on their shoulders.

Red flowers were tied to both sides of the black coffin.

A large red "囍" (double happiness) character was pasted on the head of the coffin.

The coffin lid was replaced with a sedan chair curtain.

A layer of red cloth hung down, swaying gently in the cold wind.

A black coffin was used as a sedan chair.

A dead person gets married.

Lin Wanqing finally understood why Chen Bufan said he would see something he shouldn't see tonight.

This thing, once a normal person sees it, will never forget it.

At the front of the wedding procession, a paper figure resembling a matchmaker emerged.

She had two patches of red rouge on her face, and her mouth was wide open.

When walking, the body folds and bends.

Like a cardboard box being blown by the wind.

She was holding a marriage certificate in her hands.

Black water droplets were dripping from the edge of the marriage certificate.

Chen Bufan stared at the black coffin.

The second layer of life imprint flashed across his eyes.

He saw it.

There was the presence of a living person inside the black coffin.

very weak.

But it hasn't stopped yet.

Xu Yao is still alive.

Chen Bufan stepped forward and stood directly in the middle of the road.

Lin Wanqing's expression tightened.

"Chen Bufan".

Chen Bufan raised his hand.

He gestured for her to stay still.

The wedding procession stopped.

The suona horns stopped.

The fog rolled along the old road.

The white lanterns swayed gently.

All the paper figures turned their heads at the same time and looked at Chen Bufan.

Their faces are all smiling.

But that laughter was more chilling than crying.

The matchmaker tilted her head.

A cracking sound came from his neck.

"Give Way."

The voice is high-pitched.

Like scissors scraping paper.

Chen Bufan stood in the middle of the road, without moving.

The matchmaker's grin widened even further.

"The Song family welcomes the bride."

"The matchmaker paves the way."

"Strangers, give way."

Chen Bufan sneered.

"What are the Song family anyway?"

The matchmaker's smile froze for a moment.

The paper figures behind them all swayed in unison.

The light from the white lanterns suddenly dimmed.

The matchmaker's voice was cold and sinister:

"Those who obstruct the marriage in the afterlife will have their lifespan shortened in the present life."

The two detectives turned pale.

Lin Wanqing gripped the life-saving charm in her pocket tightly.

The talisman was pressed against her chest, and it was slightly warm.

Chen Bufan didn't even lift his eyelids.

"A ghost marriage?"

He looked at the black coffin.

"Matching a living person with a dead person."

"Using money meant to buy one's life to deceive one's parents."

"Use a red string to bind the soul of the living."

"Using three lives to settle the grudge of an evil spirit."

"You dare talk about ghost marriages?"

The rouge on the matchmaker's face began to trickle down.

Red paint dripped down the pale paper face.

Like blood.

"The marriage certificate has been issued."

"The betrothal gifts have been sent."

"The woman's family has given their consent."

"The bride gets into the sedan chair."

"The ceremony is now complete."

Chen Bufan gave a soft snort.

"Has the woman's family given their consent?"

He took out a yellow talisman and held it between his fingers.

"Xu Yao said it herself."

"She won't marry."

The matchmaker shrieked:

"Once the parents accept the betrothal gift, the woman's fate is to marry!"

Chen Bufan raised his hand, and the yellow talisman spontaneously combusted without wind.

The firelight reflected in his eyes.

"Then I'll sever this ghost marriage for her today."

The words fell.

The yellow talisman transformed into a golden-red fire line, shooting straight at the marriage certificate in the paper matchmaker's hand.

The matchmaker suddenly stepped back.

Two pale-faced sedan chair bearers stepped forward at the same time.

They raised their hands to block.

His arm was instantly burned through by the fire.

Black smoke billowed from the paper-mâché arm.

A piercing scream rang out from the sedan chair carriers.

It wasn't a human voice.

It's the hissing sound of paper being burned.

Lin Wanqing's eyes widened in shock.

Chen Bufan can really hurt them.

The matchmaker's attitude completely changed.

"The Chen family."

She stared at Chen Bufan, her voice suddenly turning sinister.

"The Chen family line is now extinct."

"You still dare to interfere with ghost marriages?"

Chen Bufan's eyes were extremely unpleasant.

"Who told you that?"

The matchmaker did not answer.

It grinned.

Someone has been waiting for you for a long time.

Chen Bufan narrowed his eyes.

"Xuan Qingzi?"

The matchmaker's smile became even stranger.

"The bride has boarded the sedan chair."

"The road to the underworld never opens a door for turning back."

"You can't catch up with him."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the wedding procession suddenly started moving again.

The suona horn suddenly rose in pitch.

One by one, the white lanterns lit up.

The black coffin sedan chair pressed forward.

Lin Wanqing said sternly:

"stop!"

Two detectives instinctively stepped forward.

Chen Bufan shouted:

"Don't touch the sedan chair!"

The two of them stopped abruptly.

The black coffin sedan chair had already arrived in front of Chen Bufan.

A chilling aura swept over us.

Like a coffin being pushed out of a grave.

Chen Bufan raised his hand, and the old copper coin flew out.

The copper coin struck the front of the black coffin.

clang!

A crisp sound.

The black coffin sedan chair finally came to a stop.

All four sedan chair carriers looked up at the same time.

Beneath those four white faces, there were no eyes.

There was only a black hole.

Lin Wanqing felt a chill run down her spine.

Chen Bufan reached out and grabbed the red sedan chair curtain.

The paper matchmaker screamed:

"No!"

Chen Bufan said:

"I insist on watching."

He suddenly lifted the sedan curtain.

Red cloth fluttered.

A person was sitting inside the coffin.

Red coat.

Phoenix crown.

Head covering.

Place both hands neatly on your knees.

Lin Wanqing's heart tightened.

"May……"

She was about to call out Xu Yao's name when she immediately remembered Chen Bufan's words and stopped abruptly.

But the next second, her expression changed.

Because the person inside the sedan chair was not Xu Yao.

The woman slowly raised her head.

Beneath the red veil was a deathly pale face.

The lips are bluish-purple.

There were dried bloodstains at the corners of his eyes.

She is not Xu Yao.

It's Meng Yun.

The victim in the first case involving a bride in red.

Meng Yun sat in the black coffin and stiffly raised her hand.

The red string was still on her wrist.

She looked at Chen Bufan, her lips slowly parting.

The sound seemed to come from underwater.

"save……"

"Save my sister..."