May 13, 2024

Ao Chi - Part 12

Inside the door, all the furniture on the splendidly lit white floor was red — red tables, red chairs, red flower vases, even the wine bottles and cups were made of translucent red glass. On the crescent-shaped stage at the far end of the hall, a band was playing, blending the sounds of the Western cello and the Chinese flute in an extraordinarily lively fusion. Without exception, the musicians were all dressed in red outfits, holding red instruments.

My gaze almost drowned in a sea of blood.

Yes, my first reaction wasn't red, but blood.

Countless "distinguished guests" who arrived earlier were dancing gracefully in the center of the hall — men and women of all ages, dressed in splendid attire, radiant with joy.

Everyone was engrossed and in a cheerful mood, with brilliant smiles on every face and beautiful dance moves. No one spared a glance at Jiu Jue and me; everyone was completely immersed in the ocean of happiness.

On the long dining tables flanking the hall, there was an extravagant display of colorful and sumptuous food and drinks. Young waiters with identical faces, dressed smartly in red waistcoats and red bow ties, skillfully and attentively served food to the guests.

The "囍" characters were pasted on every window, and every stroke of it was incompatible with this damn place that was neither entirely Chinese nor Western, neither modern nor ancient, and neither human nor otherworldly. On the west wall, there was a screen almost the size of the wall, broadcasting a live feed of the entire scene in the hall. The fluttering hemlines, drifting music, and laughter wove into strange combinations as the camera angles shifted continuously.

My gaze fell to the bottom left corner of the screen, and I was inwardly alarmed.

Adjacent to the stage, there stood a wheel almost two people tall, half gold and half black, with an arrow-shaped pointer at the center. In the center of the wheel, there was a multicolored quartz-like crystal flowing with wonderful colored lights, sparkling in rings that spread throughout the entire hall. Directly below the wheel, there was an exquisitely crafted scale, with peculiar hieroglyphs engraved on the scale pan and base. Judging by my natural sensitivity to gold, I could tell that the scale was undoubtedly made of solid gold. Moreover, judging from its construction and decoration, the scale had a long history and wasn't just a newly made decoration.

"Such strong demon energy..." Jiu Jue looked at the luminous body in the wheel, coughing uncomfortably a few times, and chuckled softly. "This is the least wedding-like wedding I've ever seen."

"Demon energy..." I naturally couldn't sense it, so I just gestured towards the guests. "They shouldn't be humans, right?"

Jiu Jue shook his head. "They are all humans." He observed the waiters and the cheongsam girls passing through the hall and said, "They are not, stupid tree demon."

"Of course, I know they're not. No human walks with their heels off the ground." I rolled my eyes at him, but then I was stunned at my own words – non-human with their heels not touching the ground…

Suddenly, I remembered a rumor. I took another look at the towering wheel and scale. They were completely devoid of the sense of beauty as "ornaments," instead showing a harsh and cruel fairness with immense pressure. Standing in front of them, one couldn't help but feel like they were being pushed onto an invisible judgment platform, awaiting a verdict.

What a glaring and strange sensation.

In this hall, despite the lavish decorations everywhere dazzling the eyes, many of which looked ten times more magnificent than the appearance of these two items, anyone with a little discernment should see who the real protagonists are here.

The wheel, the scale... girls whose heels don't touch the ground...

Suddenly, a person came to my mind. But is it possible? Didn't he exist as a being from "another world" all along?

I instinctively tightened my grip on Jiu Jue's arm, about to speak to him when, out of the blue, I spotted two figures in the crowd that were as familiar as they could be — Fatty and Skinny, holding large plates absolutely overloaded with food, eating and laughing. And when a beautiful woman walked by, Skinny's eyes stuck to her like super glue.

What are these two devils doing here? Don't they know this is a dangerous place!

Oh right, today is the wedding of "Shaluo." Their boss is getting married, so the duo's presence is only natural.

They seemed to have spotted me, and eagerly approached to greet me, saying joyously, "Did Boss invite Miss Mu too?! That's great! Finally, we see a familiar face!"

For these two, any beautiful woman is a familiar face, and I'm well aware of that. But to be so oblivious when their death is imminent!

Skinny looked at Jiu Jue beside me and asked curiously, "You are Uncle Jiu Jue, right? Why not go in and find Boss? Are you afraid of neglecting your new flame..." He pointed at me, smirking ambiguously.

I swatted away Skinny's wretched hand and said furiously, "Why don't you just roll back to your Unceasing right now?!"

"Wow, why are you such a shrew all of a sudden? You used to be such a gentle little girl..." Skinny rubbed his reddened hand with a look of grievance.

At that moment, the wedding march suddenly played, and the crowd burst into cheers. Several large beams of rose-colored lights all aimed towards the stage, which had been lacking the main character all along.

The lights dazzled my eyes, the applause gripped my heart, and all my attention fell on the door that slowly opened from the left side of the stage.

Only then did I realize that a wedding dress is indeed the most beautiful attire in a woman's lifetime.

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2 comments:

  1. "Judging by my natural sensitivity to gold"
    Lol, I really like this story, the MC is so hilarious.
    Thank you for translating this story.

    ReplyDelete