Chapter 121: Coercion

He never imagined that this shit-green dress would actually end up on him!

Wuwuwu, he was tainted now. This was truly a case of the cleaver in their hands, the fish on the block^[1]. Bian Chunzhou had nowhere to even cry. At some point, threads of faint, sobbing, eerie music drifted through the air. It didn’t sound like it came from strings or pipes — it was more like… wind forcing its way through a tiny opening, a hoarse, desperate, near-ruinous howl.

Cramped, gloomy — nothing whatsoever to do with a wedding.

Bian Chunzhou was pulled along by some force through a long, deep passage. Calling it a passage was generous; it was really a narrow mountain channel barely wide enough for one person. Probably because they were deep in dense forest, the passage was saturated with moisture. After only a short walk, he felt like the tip of his nose was already coated in mist.

And maybe it was his imagination, but he kept sensing that the moisture here carried the smell of decaying, rotting wood.

How could such a sticky, damp mountain path not collapse or sink?

“Young sir, you’d best stop struggling. The Divine Tree won’t mistreat you.”

The mountain path wasn’t long, and their group soon emerged. Bian Chunzhou, of course, was led along. And just as the last person stepped out of the passage, Bian Chunzhou watched helplessly as… the passage sealed itself shut!

More precisely, a thick tree root swallowed the opening, as if it had always grown there and the path they’d just walked had never existed.

Bian Chunzhou went numb just watching it. They wanted him dead!

“Bah! You’re forcing a respectable man against his will! Who wants some damn Divine Tree… mmph mmph!” Bian Chunzhou’s mouth was covered.

“You mustn’t disrespect the Divine Tree, young sir. The girls of our Xiaoshu Village — you’ll see when you meet them. No cultivator woman from outside can compare to the soft beauty of our village daughters. When the time comes, you’ll…”

The group moved forward again in silence, heads bowed, reverent, like believers bringing offerings to gods and buddhas.

But to Bian Chunzhou’s eyes, it made his hair stand on end for no clear reason. Every one of them had an ordinary, common face, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling… they were not his kind.

What kind of wolf’s den had he stumbled into? This place was so dangerous he didn’t even dare call out to his friends in his heart to come rescue him. It was too perilous.

Bian Chunzhou hung his head, feeling somewhat dejected. And just as he was about to sink into self-loathing, he suddenly realized —

Wait, something was wrong. That person earlier, the Xiaoshu Village villager whose arm Senior Sister Xiang had cut off — his arm had grown back!

It hadn’t been there just moments ago, right?! Had his memory gone haywire?

Cultivators could regrow severed limbs too, but never that easily. It required rare heavenly treasures or a massive leap in cultivation. Growing one back in the span of a breath like that was… far too astonishing!

“Yuan Po, hurry and bring out your daughter. The hour is nearly upon us.”

It was generally believed that the moment of strongest yang energy in a day was high noon. But for a place like Xiaoshu Village, deep within the Tenfold Mountains, the optimal time to marry the Divine Tree came after the midnight hour, when yin energy was at its peak and yang energy began to rise within that supreme yin — that was the moment.

Rumors from the outside world mixed truth and falsehood, or rather were seven parts true and three parts false. Girls in Xiaoshu Village indeed had to marry the Divine Tree at fourteen and devote themselves to serving it for two years. But after those two years, the girl who served the Divine Tree had to marry as quickly as possible — whether to an outsider or by taking a husband into the family — and urgently engage in the union of yin and yang, so she could give birth to daughters.

That was why Yuan Po had said that since her daughter had taken someone else’s slot, she needed to find a suitable husband for that person.

In the past, the ratio of men to women in Xiaoshu Village had been fairly balanced. But at some unknown point, everyone in the village began to take pride in bearing daughters, and fewer and fewer people bore sons. Gradually, the village girls found it harder and harder to find husbands.

Left with no choice, they had to marry out. But marrying out brought new troubles, and over time, even men from surrounding villages became unwilling to marry Xiaoshu Village women.

For someone like Yuan Po, who had a daughter at home, ensuring her daughter could smoothly marry the Divine Tree meant going to the city to lure men back. Though they had gained the Divine Tree’s power, that power could only be used within the village. In the city, they were weaker than even ordinary Qi Refining cultivators.

Yuan Po soon brought her daughter forward. A fourteen-year-old girl naturally hadn’t fully matured yet, but her features were delicate, her brows and eyes captivating — already showing the promise of beauty. Yuan Po’s daughter was named Man’er, and she too wore green, but hers was the color of tender new sprouts, setting off the girl’s fair skin and making her even more striking.

Though Man’er was only fourteen, her gaze was very calm — even more composed than Bian Chunzhou at over twenty. She didn’t so much as glance at the “restrained” bridegroom, only walking silently to the very front of the procession.

And the moment she took her place, the previously dark and gloomy village instantly brightened. Lanterns and colored banners appeared, as if the place had returned to the world of the living in a single second.

Even a crowd emerged from all directions in groups, carrying festive drums and suonas^[2], and they actually began to play with gusto.

As for how pleasant it sounded… one could only describe it as profoundly funereal.

Bian Chunzhou felt his mind grow muddled and heavy. His feet moved forward unconsciously, following the procession. It was as if he’d been bewitched, his eyes gradually turning vacant.

I’m probably done for, he thought. He hoped Wen Xuxu and Chen Zui and his master wouldn’t grieve too much for him.

The grating, gloomy music played on endlessly, yet every face wore an exaggerated, gleeful smile. Aside from Bian Chunzhou, everyone here seemed overjoyed by this grand nighttime Divine Tree marriage ceremony, as if once the rite was complete, they would all be treated to a magnificent wedding feast.

Yuan Po stayed right beside Bian Chunzhou the whole time, her face plastered with an over-the-top grin. Her two sagging cheekbones made the expression indescribably eerie and horrifying.

Bian Chunzhou suddenly jolted alert. Right — Yuan Po was so old she looked like she could be Man’er’s grandmother. Were they really mother and daughter?

And why were there so few men in this village? So few they were practically negligible.

He was shoved along until they reached the base of an enormous tree. Something resembling an altar had already been set up there, surrounded entirely by blazing fire basins — the kind you could toss a person straight into and burn.

“Begin.”

Yuan Po and another old woman stepped forward. Yuan Po already looked extremely aged, but this other woman was even older. She seemed to be at death’s door, hair fallen out, teeth loose, yet her steps were remarkably light and brisk, like a young girl’s.

The old woman turned toward Bian Chunzhou and seemed to show a satisfied smile. “Yuan Po, your eye for quality is not bad.”

The meaning was clear: she was quite pleased with Bian Chunzhou’s appearance.

Yuan Po answered in a low voice: “Let’s begin quickly.”

The old woman withdrew her “ready-to-devour” gaze and knelt facing the giant tree, five points prostrate^[3] — an exceedingly bizarre posture. But immediately after, everyone else knelt as well.

The old woman began to chant in a low voice, in some unknown language. It sounded like a prayer, yet also like a supplication — rough and harsh. But the giant tree before them… suddenly began to move.

To be honest, it was impossible to tell what species this tree was. With Bian Chunzhou’s crude botanical knowledge, he could at most identify it as some kind of deciduous shrub. As for spiritual plant names, he couldn’t recognize it at all.

He’d never had an affinity for flora. Back in the Poyun Secret Realm, if not for Wen Xu’s help, he probably wouldn’t have even passed the first trial.

Only when you need knowledge do you regret having read too little. A boundless regret instantly welled up in Bian Chunzhou’s heart.

If only he’d known, he would have read more books. Maybe then he could have put it to use now. As things stood… he could only hope that Senior Sister Xiang He would bring reinforcements to save him.

Please, please, just keep kneeling a little longer.

**

Pursued relentlessly by two monsters who could not be killed and felt no pain, Xiang He had exhausted all her wits just to barely escape the danger. Or perhaps those two had simply given up chasing her.

It was strange. They were clearly ordinary mortals, yet their cultivation rivaled that of Golden Core Stage cultivators.

No, she had to return to the sect as soon as possible to find help for Junior Brother Bian. She had to hurry; she had a feeling that if she was too late, things would go badly for him.

Xiang He had no time to tend to her wounds. She swallowed two Blood-Replenishing Pills and sprinted toward the exit. Fortunately, her sense of direction was good, and she soon reached the boundary of the Tenfold Mountains.

“Is that Senior Sister Xiang He?”

“You are…” Xiang He had already spotted the blindfolded Wen Xu. “Little Grand-Uncle Master, why are you here?”

“Where is Junior Brother Bian?” Chen Zui craned his neck to peer past her. “Didn’t he go out with you?”

Xiang He’s face was full of guilt. “Send a distress signal, quickly. Junior Brother Bian has been captured.”

“Xiaoshu Village?”

Before nightfall, Wen Xu and Chen Zui had walked around the town. As expected, everyone knew the rumors about Xiaoshu Village, but whenever they asked, people kept their mouths shut. But it did not matter. Money could sway anyone, and if that was not enough, they could back it up with Chen Zui’s fists.

Sure enough, Xiaoshu Village “ate people,” specifically men. Any man who married a woman from Xiaoshu Village would become utterly bewitched by lust, and would soon die in some accident or another.

Not only that, but the man’s family would also suffer inexplicable misfortune, until their household was ruined and even their ancestral graves were swallowed by the mountains. All the surrounding villages and locals kept silent about Xiaoshu Village, treating it as a closely guarded secret.

“That’s right. That village is incredibly sinister. Even ordinary people there possess Golden Core Stage cultivation. There also seems to be a strange force surrounding the village, providing them with an endless supply of spiritual energy.”

Xiang He watched the signal of Yonglu Mountain bloom in the night sky, only then letting out a soft sigh of relief. “I overestimated myself. I thought I could handle it, but I ended up putting Junior Brother Bian in danger.”

Wen Xu, however, felt increasingly uneasy. He could not help but open his eyes to look at the gloomy sky. The rain was on the verge of falling but had not yet, making the wait rather agonizing.

“Can you still hold on, Senior Sister? Would you be able to lead the way?”

Hearing this, Xiang He looked up at the two determined men and quickly nodded. “Alright.”

After resting for a moment, she led them toward Xiaoshu Village. Having traveled the route twice now, she realized that Xiaoshu Village was not actually that far from Fangjia’ao. Of course, that was only relative to cultivators.

“Senior Sister, wait.”

Xiang He took a step back. “What is it?”

Wen Xu reached out his hand as the wind swept past his fingertips. “The wind ahead has changed.”