Chapter 53: Bro, are you mute?

If Zhang Hao guessed correctly, that fox had already cast an illusion upon the "poacher."

Judging from the way the fox’s mouth was moving, it should have been inviting the person trailing it to attend a wedding procession.

And as for the poacher, his mind must have been thoroughly befuddled...

Lost in these thoughts,

Zhang Hao watched as the fox took the poacher by the hand, leading him step by step toward them.

At that moment,

the pace of the wedding procession slowed down considerably, as if deliberately waiting for the poacher's arrival.

Zhang Hao made no superfluous movements. He simply stood quietly, watching the poacher being led into the ranks, watching him assigned to the very rear of the procession, and watching him come to a halt right beside him.

The poacher's eyes remained vacant, his expression nearly blank, and his movements stiff and mechanical, as though being manipulated by invisible strings.

After placing the poacher next to Zhang Hao, the fox raised a furry paw and waved it casually through the air.

"Hmpf..."

The poacher shivered violently. The vacant look in his eyes cleared slightly, his expression returned to normal, and his limbs lost their stiffness.

He raised his head to look at the back of the head of the "person" walking ahead—a head covered in thick fur mingled with orange-tinted hairs—and observed their slightly rigid, swaying gait.

He glanced around.

Had he somehow transformed from a mere spectator into a member of the procession?

Wait, what had just happened?

Liu Wenchang frowned, thoughts exploding in his mind, yet his feet kept moving automatically, marching forward along the path in a mechanical fashion.

Just now... just now, someone seemed to have approached him, saying that meeting here was a stroke of fate, and invited him to join the wedding party. Something about wishing the bride and groom a harmonious union for a hundred years.

And then, he had felt a hand holding his—a hand that felt furry and very soft... No, wait, just soft, not furry...

No, wait, it did feel furry...

No, how could it be furry? It was just soft.

Yes, just soft.

After that, he had followed that person into the ranks, joining the wedding procession to celebrate this nuptial event.

Liu Wenchang raised his head and looked around at the procession moving steadily forward and the warm hospitality of the person who had brought him.

The hanging stone in his chest dropped back into place.

Judging by the current situation, no one had recognized him as a murderer—unless these people possessed ironclad psychological fortitude, and of the super-strong variety at that.

If ordinary people recognized him as a killer, even if they tried to hide it, they could never do so flawlessly; cracks would always show.

Yet look at them now. The people in this wedding party had corners of their mouths stretched almost back to their ears, grinning broadly, eyes narrowed into slits, staring straight ahead.

Their expressions were natural—far too natural—clearly not faked.

Granted, their movements were a bit stiff, slightly strange, and distinct from the people he interacted with in daily life.

However, the wedding party was dressed in ancient styles, replicating historical wedding customs. Perhaps they weren't used to it either, and with many traditional rules lost to time, their posture naturally appeared a bit awkward.

He didn't dwell on it or think too deeply; instead, the corners of his mouth turned upward slightly.

As long as these people hadn't recognized him, not only would he get a good meal, but perhaps he could even find a way to take something else with him when he left.

Like loading up on some food, or making off with a bit of cash.

Even a wedding deep in the mountains required money, after all.

Liu Wenchang stroked the stubble on his chin, narrowing his eyes as he quietly hatched his little scheme.

At that moment, a sweep of his peripheral vision made him freeze.

He finally noticed that the person standing right beside him was none other than the mountain-gatherer he had been tracking.

"Hey, buddy, did you get invited too?" Liu Wenchang struck up a conversation.

Zhang Hao glanced at him and remained silent.

Now that they had joined the fox's wedding procession—and since this "poacher" had been invited by the fox, effectively treating him as "one of their own"—the outcome was unlikely to be pleasant.

Therefore, the poacher had already been invaded by Yin energy and no longer fell into the category of the truly living.

It didn't hurt Zhang Hao to be near such a person, but he simply couldn't be bothered to engage with him.

Zhang Hao was a mountain walker, and since he regarded this man as a poacher, they traveled different paths and could never be comrades.

"Hey, buddy, are you mute?" Seeing Zhang Hao refuse to answer, Liu Wenchang frowned with growing impatience.

Zhang Hao’s expression tightened, but he still said nothing.

Liu Wenchang gave him a strange look, turned to eye the procession ahead, and asked curiously, "What's this? You guys aren't allowed to talk during a wedding procession? Some kind of taboo?"

Hearing this,

Zhang Hao paused for a moment, then nodded.

Huh?

Liu Wenchang experienced a flash of realization and nodded thoughtfully.

So that was it...

No wonder not a single person in the wedding party was speaking. There actually was such a rule.

Must say, it really was a strange custom.

Getting married in the middle of the night was one thing, but why couldn't people talk during the procession? Clearly, fetching a bride was a joyous occasion—how could one not speak during something happy?

Besides, deep in the night like this, with the sky completely black, there was no other light in the entire mountain forest except for the lanterns carried by the wedding party.

Moreover, for some reason, ever since he joined the procession, he had felt the temperature in the woods drop significantly, as if chilly drafts of Yin wind were constantly brushing against him. A layer of goosebumps had broken out all over his skin, though perhaps that was just the nighttime cooling.

Right now, he really wanted to ask the person who had led him here whether he could spare a piece of clothing, otherwise it would only get colder as time went on.

Yet, hindered by this local taboo, he truly found it hard to speak up.

After all, he was still very much looking forward to the feast...

Keeping his mouth shut and speaking no more, he alternated between watching the wedding party ahead, glancing at the ground to avoid tripping over stones and weeds, and turning his head to eye the silent mountain-gatherer beside him.

Within the pitch-black dense forest, a troop of foxes dressed in festive red garments played suonas and gongs, carrying betrothal gifts. Countless will-o'-the-wisps floated around them, illuminating the path beneath their feet and guiding them ever forward along the narrow trail.

Yet, at the very rear of the fox wedding procession, the two humans, Zhang Hao and Liu Wenchang, kept silent, trailing closely behind the foxes, each harboring their own secret thoughts.

Walking deeper into the dark forest illuminated only by drifting wisps of ghost-fire, the surrounding gloom was never dispelled; instead, it intensified, turning into a pitch-black abyss that felt capable of swallowing everything whole.

After walking for an unknown length of time,

suddenly,

Zhang Hao and Liu Wenchang both saw the wedding procession ahead grind to a halt.

Their own footsteps stopped instantly as they raised their heads in unison, fixing their gazes straight ahead at the front of the procession.