The evening glow spread over the domain in the blink of an eye, dyeing more than half the vault of heaven blood-red. Yet this crimson hue differed from the previous blood curses; it was exceptionally clear and bright.
No matter how magnificent the sight in the sky appeared, Wei Yuan scented the breath of danger!
He immediately sent word through divine sense. The cultivators standing by at over a dozen formation nodes received the order and activated the formations at once. At the same time, several ancient bells in the domain chimed, their tolls echoing far and wide. Nearly a hundred cultivators who had been busy with their own tasks dropped their work the moment they heard the bells, sprinting at top speed toward their assigned formation nodes.
Once in position, they sat cross-legged. The active formations began drawing upon their Dao power, and an immense, faintly discernible dome of light emerged, encompassing three thousand zhang around the main peak.
Warning bells also rang in the five newly built cities. All the mortals cast aside what they held and fled toward the governor's manors at full speed. The first lesson they had learned upon entering the domain was how to defend against a Great Shaman's blood curse. They knew that whenever the bells rang, they had to run toward the city manor; fleeing within the protective formation's perimeter before the blood curse descended was the only way to preserve their lives.
Yong'an had long established defensive arts against blood shamans, and for the other five cities scattered further along the perimeter, the very first task upon choosing their sites was laying defensive formations before building houses or clearing land. Wei Yuan had assigned at least ten Dao Foundation cultivators to each city so the grand formations could be activated at critical moments.
Moments later, seven domes of light in varying sizes and hues emerged across the domain.
The red across the sky deepened, growing richer, yet it was not made of blood clouds. It was clear and transparent, as though the sky had always been red.
Then wisps of red mist began drifting down from above. The light screens of all the defensive formations flared simultaneously, resisting the falling mist. Within Qingming, the pool of azure water began to slowly recede.
Under the red mist's erosion, the clear qi and vitality accumulated across the entire domain began depleting at an extraordinary speed!
Wei Yuan was shocked. At this rate, the domain's entire reserve of accumulated nourishment would run dry in less than an hour. The power of this blood curse was far too immense compared to the previous ones.
In his urgency, Wei Yuan cast a streak of azure karmic luck directly into Qingming. Sure enough, the depletion of the boundary stone's nourishment slowed significantly. Wei Yuan threw in another streak of karmic luck, and the rate of depletion halved. Seeing that karmic luck worked, Wei Yuan tossed in over a dozen streaks of azure qi in a single breath until it could hold out for six hours.
The karmic luck itself was slowly being exhausted, taking roughly a quarter of an hour from the moment it was cast in until it was completely spent. Wei Yuan calculated that at the current intensity, sustaining it for an hour would burn through nearly ninety streaks of azure karmic luck.
Looking at the eight hundred or so streaks of azure qi in his sea of consciousness, Wei Yuan steeled his heart and prepared to exhaust them all. So long as people survived, karmic luck could always be gained again.
Though this blood curse appeared serene and subtle, its actual power was terrifying; the entire domain's accumulation could not even last half an hour. How many people had the Shamans sacrificed in blood this time? Three thousand, five thousand, or ten thousand?
Wei Yuan walked out of the room and looked toward the sky. His vision suddenly stretched out with shocking speed—reaching a hundred li away!
The sky was not something one could gaze into at will. Under normal circumstances on the ground, Wei Yuan could look out across his surroundings and even see a hundred li away. Looking up into the sky, however, he could see twenty li at most. Even without cloud cover, anything beyond twenty li was a chaotic blur; one had to fly higher to see further.
The higher one went, the heavier the interference and suppression on divine sense became, and not at a linear rate. Looking up into the air, a dharma idol cultivator could only see fifty li, and only a True Monarch could see a hundred li.
Yet at this moment, a special conduit seemed to have opened in the sky, allowing Wei Yuan's gaze to traverse a hundred li in an instant and behold a pair of unimaginably massive, ruby-like eyes high above!
The moment he saw those eyes, a roar boomed through Wei Yuan's consciousness as if something had detonated, and then darkness consumed his vision as he instantly lost consciousness.
***
How much time passed was unknown, but Wei Yuan faintly heard someone calling out.
He tried to hear more clearly, but the voice remained faint and indistinct, its words incomprehensible; Wei Yuan merely sensed instinctively that it was calling to him.
Moments later, Wei Yuan regained a bit of clarity, his thoughts gradually stirring with life. At this moment, he instinctively felt something was wrong with his state. Pitch-black darkness stretched before his eyes, showing nothing.
Wei Yuan felt as though he were submerged in a deep ocean, surrounded by pitch darkness. He instinctively sensed which way was up and began swimming upward.
After another unknown stretch of time, Wei Yuan's consciousness breached the surface of the sea with a sudden rush. Only then did he recover his senses and slowly open his eyes.
What met his eyes was a field of dark red, the color drifting and undulating like blood spreading in all directions.
"Husband, are you awake?"
The sudden voice jolted Wei Yuan wide awake. He looked toward its source, but his body felt rusted through, heavy and sluggish, such that even the simple act of turning his head proved agonizingly difficult.
Fortunately, his vision cleared somewhat, revealing the canopy of a large bed. The bed was finely crafted, its canopy, four posts, and back panel all intricately carved with detailed patterns. At this moment, Wei Yuan's vision was still blurred, leaving him unable to clearly make out what was carved upon them.
Wei Yuan turned his head with difficulty. The room was hazy. He could vaguely make out thick red candles burning upon a table, and on the other side of the room stood a floor candelabra holding several red candles. All the candles burned, yet their flames were a dark crimson, casting a red sheen over everything in the room.
Before the bed sat a figure draped in a veil and dressed in brilliant red robes—a newly wedded bride.
Outside the window, someone seemed to be playing a bamboo flute, its plaintive, weeping melody sounding as though it were recounting a tale.
Red filled every corner of the room. Only now did Wei Yuan realize the quilt covering him was red, as were the pillow and bedsheet. This seemed to be the legendary bridal chamber.
Outside the window, the tune of an erhu joined in, punctuated occasionally by notes from a zheng that felt jarringly out of place.
Wei Yuan felt freezing cold, as if harsh winter reigned outside while no fire burned in the room. Even beneath the quilt, it was clammy and frigid, devoid of any warmth.
"Husband, the hour grows late. We should rest now."
The voice was melodious and gentle, carrying an indescribable allure.
Wei Yuan's primordial spirit seemed veiled by gauze; he felt there were many things he could not recall. Yet that voice possessed an inexplicable magic, making him feel as though he had known her for a very long time, and that tonight was rightfully their nuptial night.
Wei Yuan regained a bit of strength and managed to prop himself up. He slowly sat up, his vision clearing a little more.
Leaving the bedclothes, Wei Yuan felt an extraordinary chill pervade the room. Everything he laid eyes on seemed devoid of warmth, including the bride in her bright red wedding dress. Instinctively, Wei Yuan shivered.
"Did Husband drink too much wine tonight? Are you still unwell?"
"Indeed, I cannot hold my liquor..." The moment the words left his mouth, their unfamiliar cadence gave Wei Yuan a jolt of fright.
Yet the bride found nothing amiss and urged him once more, "The hour grows late. Let us rest early."
Wei Yuan slid to the edge of the bed and set his feet on the floor. Only then did he realize that he too was dressed in auspicious wedding robes. As he stood, the corner of his eye caught something near the bedpost. Turning to look, he saw a spiderweb.
*The servants are slacking off again...*
Wei Yuan swept his sleeve to brush the web away, unexpectedly stirring up a puff of white dust. He paid it no heed, however, and walked over to the bride, for she was urging him again.
Wei Yuan placed his hand upon the bridal veil. At that moment, he heard instruments outside the window once more. This time it was a vertical xiao, winding and weeping, sounding as if someone were speaking:
"Don't lift it!"
"If he lifts the veil, he's done for."
Wei Yuan seemed to hear someone speaking, yet he also thought it must be the sound of the xiao flute. He did not ponder it further, for he felt the hour was indeed late and that it was time to rest.
And so he lifted the bright red veil—only to see Zhang Sheng's face.
Wei Yuan was shocked out of his wits!
*Crack!* A fracturing sound rang out in Wei Yuan's consciousness. Countless fissures suddenly tore across the world before him, and then it shattered. The bride in the bright red wedding dress and the bride covered in dust and cobwebs dispersed across shard after shard, drifting away into the distance.
His consciousness plunged into darkness once more.
How much time passed was unknown, but the calling reached Wei Yuan's ears again: "Husband, wake up."
Wei Yuan opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the canopy of the bed. This time his vision was far clearer, and he could make out the reliefs carved upon it.
Upon the relief, several ferocious little ghosts were carrying a bloody, humanoid thing onto a large table. Seated around the table were seven brides dressed in bright red wedding dresses, the one in the center gripping a bloodstained cleaver. Her hands were slender and pale, while the cleaver's edge was heavily notched.
A sudden thought stirred in Wei Yuan's heart: *Why do I feel my vision is clearer this time? Have I seen this before?*
"Husband, the hour grows late. We should rest."
Wei Yuan slowly turned his head and saw the bride sitting before the bed, her wedding dress dazzlingly, piercingly red.
Chapter 185