Seven Days, Seven Nights

Seeing that Ji Heng didn’t mean to say anything for a while (T/N: Su Er broke him), Wen Buyu finally choked out a few words: “Isn’t this a little… hasty?”

Su Er believed this was the best way at present.

After a long time, Ji Heng finally said: “Within the game worlds, ghost marriage is a taboo, and the living avoids it.” He rationally analyzed the drawbacks to Su Er. “It may be self-defeating.”

“I know,” Su Er said in a low voice. “Avoiding the ghosts’ onslaught is only one of the goals. If I can overcome the difficulties brought by the ghost marriage, the charm value may make great progress during settlement. Additionally…” (1)

He swept his gaze over the two: “Zhou Linjun’s mother was the culprit who killed him. Why didn’t he retaliate after he turned into a ghost?”

Wen Buyu subconsciously said: “Killing your mother is a great crime.”

“According to the Chief Guard, Zhou’s mother was angry at her son because her sweetheart lost the election.” Su Er paused: “If my heart was only moved a little when I was young, I wouldn’t be so muddleheaded. No matter how you say it, he’s my flesh and blood.”

Wen Buyu’s face changed, and she hesitated slightly: “Could it be… Mother Zhou had an affair?” (2)

Su Er nodded: “Not only that. Zhou Linjun might have been aware of it, so she had no choice but to act first.”

In the face of the rules, family affection meant nothing in this village.

Li Shouzhang could poison his biological father and uncles for the position of Chief Guard, and Zhou Linjun naturally would want to get rid of his mother before she could implicate him. (3)

Wen Buyu had an urge to vomit. She wasn’t a good person, but she could do nothing against her parents.

“Cheating is undoubtedly against the rules, so Zhou Linjun would have reason to kill her.” Su Er’s eyes shook slightly: “Unless Zhou’s mother has something that protected her life.”

Wen Buyu’s eyes lit up as she vaguely thought of something. In each instance, there will be one or two hidden props for the players to dig out. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find them.

“It’s just a guess. We can’t decide until we’ve seen Zhou’s mother.” Su Er turned to Ji Heng: “The marriage can’t be in vain. You can sell me in exchange for props.”

“…” Ji Heng: “Are you sure?”

Su Er nodded and suddenly asked: “Where is Bai Yan?”

He remembered she was the female player that liked to play with Wen Buyu. (4)

“When we arrived, she suffered a few more lashes than us for responding to the conversation. The wound got infected, so she’s resting,” Wen Buyu said. “Let’s think about how to plan the wedding. (5)

The town was conservative and did not allow men to marry men. In terms of candidates, Wen Buyu was more appropriate, but it was Su Er who needed to hold the red paper, so only he could do the marriage.

Wen Buyu bought rouge gouache, but Su Er’s hair was still a problem. No place in town sold wigs, so she found a bamboo hat to dress Su Er up in. With their limited resources, since men had larger bones and broader shoulders than women, they would be harder to disguise. However, Su Er was still young, so as long as no one looked carefully, they wouldn’t have a clue. (6)

After tossing around, Wen Buyu’s face was somewhat strange: “Do you want to change into a skirt?”

Su Er shook his head: “Find a set of loose and neutral clothing The length of the trousers should be long enough to conceal running shoes.”

In case there is an accident, it won’t hinder his escape.

Wen Buyu almost suffocated: “You still want to escape after marriage?”

“I’m just afraid of accidents,” Su Er said seriously. “When we begin the ceremony, you need to lead the skeleton away.”

Wen Buyu asked herself if she had the ability and subconsciously looked at Ji Heng. The latter said lightly: “I want to preside over the wedding.” (7)

“…”

It was probably more appropriate to cooperate with Wan Yi and Shen Jiangbei, but the temptation of props was too great for her. Even if gaining them was only a possibility, she couldn’t give up that easily.

Ji Heng nodded at Su Er, who asked: “Are you sure?”

Ji Heng: “It will be troublesome to annoy Wan Yi.” (8)

The next moment, a box suddenly appeared in front of Wen Buyu, who gasped.

Ji Heng: “It can last for about four hours, but if you use it properly, you won’t have a problem lasting until dawn.” (T/N: He gave her the ghost bone flower that was half bloomed so she can use it when distracting the ghost king)

Su Er only kept a few red papers and gave more than half of the rest to Wen Buyu. Ji Heng kept the remaining amount on him.

Before Wen Buyu left, Ji Heng suddenly said: “If you get scared and run away with the box to tell Shen Jiangbei everything, I will kill Li Shouzhang.” (9)

And then everything would have been in vain. (10)

Wen Buyu trembled in fear and pushed down her excessive thoughts: “Of course I won’t.”

After she left, Su Er put on his hat: “Let’s go.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. Translated by lucia Elys. If you’re not reading this on luciaelys . wordpress . com, this translation was stolen.

Describing where the mother lived as ‘quiet’ could not do the place justice. Not a single noise could be heard from the surroundings, and the yard was full of weeds due to neglect. When the door opened, the house was unexpectedly tidy inside, but the windows were deliberately sealed shut.

Ji Heng bowed and introduced himself, stating that he came from the Educational Hall.

The woman’s hair was greying at the temples, but her eyes were sharp, and she looked difficult to get along with.

Ji Heng: “A few days ago, a man died in the Educational Hall.”

The old lady was already a little impatient and wanted to drive the annoying guests away with her crutches. Before she could, Ji Heng continued: “A ghost killed him.”

The crutches hit the ground twice, and the old woman scoffed: “Nonsense!”

“I saw it with my own eyes.”

The old lady spoke harshly: “Why didn’t that ghost take you away too?”

“I thought about it.” Ji Heng said: “At that time, I pleaded anxiously that my sister would be taken care of when I died, so he changed his mind.” (11)

The Chief Guard had said that the old lady was crazy, but he found she was actually quite smart after meeting her face to face.

Ji Heng paused and said, “That ghost claimed to be Zhou Linjun.”

As soon as that name appeared, the old lady’s complexion changed drastically. Her lips trembled, and she unconsciously wanted to slam the door.

Ji Heng pretended not to notice: “He said he was too young to get married before he died, so he asked me to match my sister with him in a ghost wedding.”

The old lady turned a deaf ear: “Go quickly! If you don’t leave, I’ll call the Chief Guard!”

Ji Heng smiled bitterly: “I am not a liar. Would a liar send his own sister to your door?”

After a few seconds of silence, the suspicion in the old lady’s eyes dissipated a little.

Ji Heng: “There are other cases of living people marrying into the underworld. It is said that marriage can calm the anger of the deceased and reduce family disasters.”

Behind him, Su Er was surprised. Ji Heng was usually a serious person, yet here he was talking one nonsense after another. If you didn’t know (T/N: that it was bullshit), you would have been fooled.

The last point on reducing disasters seemed to convince the old lady: “Your sister agrees too?”

Ji Heng nodded: “She’s mute and grew up in the Educational Hall. It will be difficult for her to marry into a good family in the future.”

Su Er nodded cooperatively, cowering behind Ji Heng timidly.

Ji Heng took out an envelope with some scattered money in it. He handed it over and said, “This is the dowry. Consider it as the bride price.”

Giving money showed he wasn’t trying to swindle her, and she completely let go of her doubts.

Ji Heng struck when the iron was hot and indicated it was better to get the marriage done tonight: “If it is later known by the other people in the town, they’re likely to gossip. The weight on the ghost’s mind must be settled so he can reincarnate as soon as possible.” (12) 

Thus, Su Er’s ‘marriage’ was finalized in a few words.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

At night, the moon hid behind the clouds.

Two Geng Cards, one which held Su Er’s eight characters birth date and the other which held Zhou Linjun’s, were placed together. Two white banners (flags) stood in the yard, fluttering in the night wind. (13)

Ji Heng had experienced a game with a zombie bride before, so he understood the basic steps of a ghost marriage and roughly imitated it. During this period, he pretended to be busy decorating the inside and outside of the house, but he actually took the opportunity to find props.

Su Er folded his hands on his lap and sat very dignified. Taking advantage of the time Zhou’s mother was in the yard, he whispered: “Did you find it?”

Ji Heng nodded. “I have some eyebrows.” He glanced at the papier mâché clothes, shoes, and socks. “When the Geng Card is burned, Zhou Linjun may also feel it. But then, it will be too late to annul the marriage.” (14)

Su Er only asked: “When this game ends, is it possible to ever see the Ghost King (of this game) again (in future games)?”

Ji Heng laughed: “The chance of that happening is lower than meeting the same host.” (T/N: Oh god if only they knew LMAO)

Su Er let out a sigh of relief and said neatly, “bind.” (15)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wen Buyu felt cold all over as her footsteps clattering down the cold, quiet street. She constantly looked left and right, wary of ghosts suddenly emerging from around a corner. The excessive tension was making her hallucinate sounds, and she swore she heard firecrackers and drums were ringing out in the distance. (16)

On the night candles lit up in the bridal chamber of others, she was left to freeze on the streets while luring monsters. How sad.

On second thought, Su Er was getting married to a ghost, so what she was experiencing now was barely acceptable.

Clang!

There seemed to be a sound.

This time, it was definitely not a hallucination. Wen Buyu opened the box without hesitation, and the petals began to bloom extremely slowly once more.

Obviously, it had felt his prey was nearby, but it couldn’t approach at all! It was like a ghost hitting the wall. Enraged, more maggots writhed out of his eyes. This was the first time Wen Buyu ever faced such a thing. She covered her mouth in terror and pressed against the wall (17)

The skeleton turned several times before gradually moving in the right direction. (18)

Thump-thump. Wen Buyu held her breath, but she couldn’t hide her intensely beating heart. Just as she was wondering if she could survive the night, the skeleton suddenly smashed into the boulder next to her. The flying gravel scraped the corner of her mouth, leaving a bloody tear, and she had to quickly press on it with her hand to prevent the smell of blood from attracting the ghost. (19)

Unexpectedly, the skeleton had just started to vent out its anger when it turned and sped away in a certain direction. With no lower body, it was like some kind of reptile, and it’s claw marks could clearly be seen on the ground.

She didn’t know how long it had been. Wen Buyu slid down the wall and sat on the ground, cold sweat dripping down her forehead.

As the Ghost King crossed the town, the creatures of the night all cowered in their nests, afraid to provoke the skeleton’s wrath.

It was being forcibly married!

It’s a pity he had long since lost his eyes, otherwise, the current state of the skeleton would have definitely cracked his canthus. (20)

The ghost king held hatred in his heart. He should have figured out a way to kill that old woman long ago. He died under the rules, liked and feared the rules. If asked what was the most disgusting, it was definitely the continued shared blood. Fortunately for the other ghosts, they had long since rid themselves of that bondage. However, half of his corpse still lived, which was the equivalent of owing half of his body to the old woman.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Geng Card burned fiercely in the brazier.

Ji Heng indicated with his eyes, silently hinting at Su Er to look somewhere. Su Er looked over, and there was a pendant hanging from the old woman’s neck. Within, there was a red coral pattern that disappeared into and then reappeared out from the deeper core of the pendant. (21)

“An eminent monk blessed the jade pendant,” Ji Heng said: “Umbilical cord blood had been injected into the inner wall.”

Su Er: “How can you tell?”

Ji Heng: “I have an appraisal prop.”

Su Er didn’t ask further but secretly thought that this man probably reincarnated as a treasure hunter in his last life.

The wind blew dark grey powder into the air, and the Geng Cards completely turned to ash. The white banners shook violently. Terrified, the old woman backed away from the brazier and ran to the house to shut the door.

Ever since entering the game, Ji Heng had always let Su Er make the choice: “Escape or go in?”

“Go in,” Su Er said decisively.

It was probably difficult to run now. How can people be faster than ghosts?

The two moved quickly and squeezed in before the old lady closed the door.

The old lady looked horrified: “Is he… dissatisfied with his new bride?”

Ji Heng: “Don’t worry, we just came in for a cup of tea first.”

At this time, it was better to do something than to stand still. The old lady muttered something, she turned around to pour water.

Su Er lowered his voice: “The ceremony is complete. Now, the skeleton can never kill me.”

Currently, Ji Heng was still in the mood to joke: “The old lady has a jade pendant to defend herself with, and you got married. I’m afraid it will start with me first.”

Su Er shook his head: “I’m currently your sister, so that means you’re his elder brother.”

As he spoke, whatever was approaching outside was getting louder and louder, and the two white banners in the yard snapped from the middle, breaking into several pieces.

The author has something to say:

Wen Buyu: While his front foot climbs into Mr. Shuhai’s bed, his back foot can’t wait to marry the Ghost King. What is his secret? (22)

Su Er: Men of great sanctity are bold. (23)

Wen Buyu: …

Actually, the ghost marriage is a very important plot, because it’s related to the following story…

 

FOOTNOTES

质的飞跃 – qualitative leap, great progress. Settlement refers to the distribution of points and rewards at the end of each game among the players who survived.“周母在外面有人” – “Mother Zhou had someone outside?” I assume this meant an affair based on context.More literally: “Zhou Linjun also naturally wanted to get rid of his mother out of fear of being implicated by the other party.”活动 – move about, playRefer to chapter 11, when they first entered this game. Bai Yan was one of the two who responded to the question another player asked about the force value dropping.水粉 – Rouge powder; a cosmetic made from powder and glycerine. 斗笠 – bamboo hat, large rain hat. I’m not sure if Wen Buyu bought a Chinese bamboo hat with a veil, but it might be better in covering Su Er’s head.Wen Buyu wanted to ask Ji Heng to act as bait to lure the Ghost King away, but before she could, Ji Heng claimed rights over the role of overseeing the wedding ceremony so tough luck Wen Buyu stuck as bait lol搅 – stir, annoy, disturbMore literally: “If you get scared and bring the box to Shen Jiangbei to explain the original story, I will kill Li Shouzhang.”“At that time everyone will inevitably draw water with a bamboo basket” (draw water out of a well with a bucket full of holes; act in vain)原是想的 – “I thought so,” “Originally I thought,” “I thought about it.” I wasn’t sure how to translate this bit心事 – Weight on one’s mind; worry庚帖 – Geng Tie – a card with the horoscope of a boy or girl sent as a proposal for betrothal; 庚 means age; 帖 means card悔婚 – Annul a marriage engagement; break a pledge of marriage; Ji Heng was creating the paper doll to represent Zhou Linjun. (open doll link for a not so fun time)结 – meaning to knot, bond, tie; to bind to (i.e. in marriage); can also mean to check out (of a hotel); it could mean he is saying it is time to start the wedding ceremony to bind Su Er to Zhou Linjun because he believes that he will never see Zhou Linjun again after the second arc is over. 结婚 means to marry/get married.On the cold street, Wen Buyu was cold all over. After every few steps, she had to look right and left to prevent ghosts from suddenly emerging from around a corner. The excessive tension made her have auditory hallucinations, as if firecrackers and drums were ringing out in the distance鬼打墙 – “Ghost hit the wall;” a Chinese expression meaning “getting lost, going in circles and not being able to get out;” similarly, consider the saying “being a headless chicken.” Writhe – make continual twisting, squirming movements or contortions of the body; To be alive with/be crawling withWen Buyu probably did not know that the maggots in particular were able to sense her general location due to the red tickets and relay her position to Zhou Linjun.Thump thump –   咚咚 (pinyin: dong dong); The first sentence in the raws was “Thump, thump her heartbeat was particularly fierce,” but I cut it out and instead attached the “intensely beating” part to the next sentence since it again talked about how strongly her heart was beating.Canthus is the outer or inner corner of the eye where the upper and lower eyelids meet. The canthus is an anchor point that allows the eyelids to completely cover the eye. So if it is damaged/split open like the author said, he can’t close his eyes. I imagine this means his eyes are bulging and bloodshot lmaoooo若隐若现 – partly hidden and partly visible; indistinct; disappeared, reappearing again. Think of a string of liquid being crystalized in some solid matrix, and the liquid swirls and zig zags through parts of the materials. The matrix is a more transparent color near the surface, but the closer you go to the core of the matrix, the more opaque the color, so you can’t see anything in the center other than the matrix color. Meanwhile, you can still see the liquid color on the layers near the surface. The liquid is again going in and out from the center to the surface and then back.Front foot – foot you use to take the first step when walking. You can consider it sort of similar to “stepping on two boats at the same time”高人 – man of noble character; man of great sanctity; man of superior attainments; past master; 胆大 – brave, bold, audacious