After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

After a quick wash, only one lamp remained in the room, casting a dim, yellowish light.

The wooden bed was indeed narrow, and when the two lay side by side, their arms inevitably touched.

Xie Jinchen was already much taller than Jiang Dusheng, and now lying on this simple wooden bed, he felt even more cramped.

His long legs had almost nowhere to go, so he had to bend them slightly to barely fit them in, with his heels almost dangling off the edge of the bed.

Jiang Dudu could clearly feel the body temperature coming from beside him.

She turned her head to the side, and the two were so close that in the dim light she could even see the faint shadow cast by his long eyelashes.

The subtle silence made Jiang Dusheng a little uncomfortable. She cleared her throat and broke the silence first, her voice very low:

"Tomorrow... are you really going to dress up as the bride? The wedding dress was prepared according to Lian'er's size, you might not be able to fit into it."

Xie Jinchen remained silent for a moment.

In the darkness, his breathing seemed clearer.

Then he spoke, his voice lower than usual, "Jiang Dusheng, I have my own selfish reasons for dressing up as the bride."

"I don't want to see you wearing a wedding dress and walking towards someone else." His voice was soft, but carried a hint of possessive obsession. "Even if it's fake, it's unacceptable."

These words were like a pebble thrown into Jiang Dusheng's heart, which was already somewhat disturbed by his approach, instantly creating even bigger ripples.

She stared blankly at Xie Jinchen's profile, which appeared exceptionally deep in the dim light, her throat felt like it was blocked by something, and she couldn't speak for a moment.

Xie Jinchen seemed to notice her stunned expression. He turned his head and met her gaze for a moment in the dim light.

At that moment, it seemed as if an undercurrent was surging, and some intense emotion was about to break through the ice, but in the end, he only looked at her deeply for a moment, and then quickly looked away.

"Don't worry," he lay back down, gazing at the simple roof, as if his earth-shattering words from just moments ago were merely an illusion, "I've already arranged everything regarding the wedding dress."

"I just had my bodyguards deliver the wedding dress I prepared to the nearest town overnight, to find a skilled embroiderer to make slight adjustments to my measurements."

"It won't affect the appearance or design, and it will definitely be returned by tomorrow evening. There's still time."

As Jiang Dusheng listened to his calm narration, his wildly beating heart gradually regained some rhythm, but the palpitation remained in his heart.

A vague guess that left her somewhat at a loss quietly surfaced in her mind.

However, before she could muster the courage to speak, Xie Jinchen spoke again, "Go to sleep."

Jiang Dusheng had to swallow back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

She looked at Xie Jinchen's profile, calm and with his eyes closed in the dim light, his breathing even and long, his chest rising and falling slightly with each breath, as if he had truly fallen asleep.

His blunt words, and the distance between them—so close yet seemingly so far—inexplicably transformed the indescribable emotions in Jiang Dusheng's heart into a nameless annoyance.

She suddenly spoke, her voice exceptionally clear in the silence, "I can't sleep. Let me tell you a story."

Xie Jinchen's eyelashes fluttered slightly, but he didn't open his eyes. Instead, a low chuckle escaped from his throat, carrying a hint of languor.

"If it's the kind of story that's heartfelt and invigorating, then there's no need to tell it before bed."

Jiang Dusheng was speechless, his anger seemingly hitting a pillow, and he mumbled an "oh" before turning his face away.

After a brief silence, Xie Jinchen gently turned to face Jiang Dusheng.

He began to recite in a calm and soothing tone, "Once upon a time, there was a monk who was meditating in the mountains. At midnight, he heard a woman crying outside his window, very sadly. The monk thought to himself: 'This is a deep mountain wilderness, where could a woman come from? It must be a demon disturbing me.'"

Xie Jinchen's voice was unhurried, yet carried a soothing rhythm:

"Then he focused his mind and recited the Diamond Sutra: 'All forms are illusory. If one sees all forms as non-forms, one sees the Tathagata.' The crying gradually subsided. The next day, he looked out the window and saw only an old vine entwined around a tree, with night dew dripping onto the stone, its sound merely a sobbing."

Jiang Dusheng's initial annoyance dissipated unconsciously in his calm voice.

The tense nerves slowly relaxed, the eyelids gradually became heavy, consciousness gradually blurred, and finally, I drifted off to sleep.

Xie Jinchen noticed the change in her breathing, and the deliberately slowed chanting gradually stopped.

The room fell silent again, with only the soft, intertwined breathing of the two people.

Xie Jinchen gazed quietly at Jiang Dusheng's sleeping face.

His gaze lingered on the tip of her pert nose, finally settling on her slightly pursed lips, where it remained for a moment.

Xie Jinchen reached out, his fingertips stopping abruptly just a hair's breadth from touching her cheek.

The fingertips curled slightly in the air before slowly retracting.

His gaze seemed to hold a surging love, yet it was firmly restrained by his strong willpower, transforming into the restraint he displayed at this moment.

Finally, Xie Jinchen sighed almost inaudibly, like a lover's whisper:

"Jiang Dusheng..."

He murmured her name as if he were holding a bittersweet date in his mouth.

"You save all living beings and resolve their attachments. All the injustices and sorrows in this world seem to be within your grasp."

His voice was so low that only he could hear it:

"Only..."

"I will not be saved by Xie Jinchen."

This statement contains no complaint, no accusation, only loneliness and self-mockery.

It was like a feather, drifting down to the deepest part of my heart, stirring up ripples that had been firmly sealed away by reason.

Eventually, things returned to calm.

The next evening.

The secret guards delivered the altered wedding dress.

When Xie Jinchen changed into the modified wedding dress and walked out of the woodshed that had been temporarily used as a dressing room, Jiang Dusheng, who was waiting in the outer room, looked up and was momentarily stunned, frozen in place.

The wedding dress was a bright red, embroidered with intricate mandarin duck and pomegranate patterns, and its style remained that of a woman.

However, when Xie Jinchen wore it, it produced a strange effect.

This attire did not make him appear effeminate or comical; on the contrary, it softened his originally overly cold and sharp features, giving him a refined and otherworldly good looks.

He stood there, dressed in red with ink-black hair, not like a bride-to-be, but more like a celestial being who had accidentally descended to the mortal world and unintentionally donned a wedding gown, his beauty transcending gender, exuding a breathtaking sanctity.

The only problem is that he's just too tall.

Even though the hem of his wedding dress had been specially lengthened, he was still much taller than an ordinary woman, a far cry from Lian'er's petite and delicate figure.

Jiang Dusheng quickly recovered from that moment of amazement, suppressing the feelings in her heart that she herself couldn't distinguish as admiration or something else.

She took a deep breath, regained her usual composure, and stepped forward.

She swiftly drew a talisman in mid-air, its light flashing and disappearing into the wedding dress.

"I have cast a blinding spell and a shape-mimicking spell on you. To ordinary people, your current appearance is exactly the same as Lian'er's. Unless the other party has extremely high cultivation, it will be difficult for them to see through it."

She paused, her gaze fixed on the indistinct outline of the mountain god temple nestled in the shadows at the foot of the mountain at the edge of the village. "I will hide outside the temple. If anything changes, call me."

Xie Jinchen nodded. "Okay."