CH 20

For the entire wedding, our table was just a small interlude. Everything was proceeding according to the pre-designed program, and it was evident that Jiang Chen attached great importance to this wedding. Everything was of the highest quality, and he did not allow even the slightest mishap to occur during his special day.

After the guests were introduced, the CEO of Jiang Jin Group personally gave his blessing, the MC warmed up the atmosphere with his opening remarks, and then finally moved on to the next segment.

“Alright, dear friends, let’s count down from five and welcome the bride and groom to their entrance.”

“The red apricot blossoms are lively on the branches, and the bride approaches on the jade-columned bridge. She is wearing a pure white wedding dress and a beautiful flower crown. The two lovers walk towards us, hand in hand, with smiles on their faces, to the grand wedding march. Let us sincerely wish them the best, pray for them, cheer for them, and applaud passionately for their perfect union. Let us once again congratulate them and wish them a beautiful future!”

The applause thundered through the hall as the hundred-meter-long red carpet crossed the room. Ye Bing, in her wedding gown, leaned affectionately on Jiang Chen’s arm, and the beauty at his side made him appear even more proud and confident.

Dressed in a pure white suit, Jiang Chen held his head high, gazing around with a commanding and contemptuous air, waving to the crowd from time to time.

As they reached the halfway point, he glanced over at the far corner of the room, perhaps searching for a disheveled and distressed man, but he was disappointed.

When Jiang Chen noticed our table, our former classmates vigorously applauded and feigned emotional expressions of wishing him happiness. However, two people were an exception. They ignored Jiang Chen entirely and whispered intimately to each other, almost as if they were biting each other’s ears.

“That’s…” his smug expression suddenly faded by eight points. Jiang Chen’s gaze lingered on me for a split second before freezing entirely on Tien Ningxiang.

Compared to the elegantly dressed Tien Ningxiang, Ye Bing by his side paled in comparison, not just in appearance, but also in temperament.

You should know that Tien Ningxiang was currently the branch leader of the Criminal Investigation Division, and her success was achieved through her own hard work and dedication rather than through family connections.

Such a strong, independent, and beautiful woman could easily arouse a man’s desire to conquer.

After consulting with Tie Ningxiang, I finally noticed Jiang Chen’s fiery gaze. However, I wasn’t interested in this wealthy second-generation, so I lit another cigarette and leisurely took a puff.

“Gao Jian, why is the groom constantly staring at you?” Tie Ningxiang nudged me with her elbow.

“His current mindset is like that of a child who just got a new toy, showing it off everywhere, and then suddenly realizing that everyone has already grown tired of that toy and moved on to better ones.”

“Why does that sound weird coming from you?”

“Really? Here, don’t move; there’s a bug on your shoulder.” My hand naturally rested on Tie Ningxiang’s shoulder. “Sorry, I must have been mistaken.”

The wedding continued—an important day for the two newlyweds. The entire process should have been rehearsed, and the two of them calmly approached the host.

I anticipated that there would be a lot of nonsense, so I simply took out my phone and didn’t bother to watch.

The oversized screen cell phone in my hand came from the underworld show, and I have been carrying it with me since the day of the interview.

When I checked my mailbox, all the information and call records would be automatically deleted every midnight. Sometimes, I wondered if there was a ghost living inside this phone.

Two out of three applications were just for show, and out of boredom, I clicked on the Underworld show icon.

“Congratulations to the host for completing the first live broadcast. You have now unlocked a brand new feature—the camera. You can now confidently use your phone to live stream.”

“New feature unlocked?” I never thought that the underworld show could keep up with the new technology. The last time I entered the tight tunnel during my live stream, I disappeared from the broadcast room for a while because the camera was too bulky to carry around. I thought I would be punished for it, but to my surprise, I accidentally unlocked a new feature.

After leaving the Underworld Show app, I noticed that there was indeed a new application on the phone’s screen—the camera.

While most regular phone sellers boasted about clear images and good 3D effects, the only feature of the underworld show cell phone was its ability to see things that ordinary people could not.

Out of curiosity, I opened the camera app and shot a video of my classmates sitting on the table for about ten seconds, but nothing scary happened.

“Tch, I thought maybe if I keep filming, another figure would suddenly appear in the video.” I scanned the crowd but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It made sense after all. It was the height of the day, with the sun shining bright, and so many people were gathered together for a joyous occasion like a wedding. Any typical ghost or spirit wouldn’t dare to come out under such circumstances.

“It looks like I’ll have to wait until it’s quiet at night to test out this feature,” I thought to myself. Suddenly, an image flashed in my mind of me lying in bed filming a video, only to discover a female ghost lying next to me. “Nevermind, I think I’ll avoid using this feature too much. Out of sight, out of mind…”

I shook my phone and was about to put it away when something caught my eye, “Huh?”

As the screen turned towards the newlyweds on stage, I noticed something on the back of the groom, Jiang Chen.

Normally, if there was anything unusual about his pure white suit, the people at the wedding should have noticed it already.

“What is that?” I pointed my screen at Jiang Chen, zoomed in, and my eyes widened!

“Friends, at this grand wedding ceremony, the bride and groom will face all the guests present and make a vow to their beloved partner, making a lifelong commitment! Bride and groom, please stand facing each other now!”

When Jiang Chen turned around, I clearly saw that there was a bone-thin, month-old baby lying on his back!

“How is that possible?” I thought maybe I was seeing things, so I put down my phone and looked at Jiang Chen on the stage with my own eyes. He was full of vitality, like a fairy tale prince, and his back was straight as an arrow. Where was the baby?

“No!” I aimed my phone at him again, and on the screen of the underworld show phone screen, that emaciated baby really existed!

It was even moving!

One hand tightly gripped Jiang Chen’s neck, while the other dried-up arm slowly reached towards Ye Bing.

“Friends, let us calm down and feel the sincere confession coming from the bride and groom from the bottom of their hearts.”

“The groom, please place your right hand on your chest and look into the bride’s eyes—please answer: do you take the lady beside you as your lawful wedded wife?”

“I do.”

In the hall, hundreds of people held their breath, focused on witnessing this grand moment, while I was the only one staring wide-eyed, fixed on my phone screen.

The baby on Jiang Chen’s back had climbed onto his shoulder, its deformed little hand getting closer and closer to Ye Bing, with its pinky finger embedded in its own flesh and the other four fingers touching Ye Bing’s hair.

“Will you love and cherish each other for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“Yes, we will.”

The ceremony proceeded as usual, and as soon as these words were spoken, the baby on Jiang Chen’s back had already reached into Ye Bing’s long hair.

The scene on the screen was incredibly eerie. The bond between the two newlyweds didn’t seem to be the result of the ongoing pledge, but rather the twisted and ugly baby that surfaced between them.

“I remember now, this thing is called… Kuman Thong!” I had seen something similar on the redemption table of the underworld show, where a Thai Kuman Thong required five points. However, this type of ghost child that could manifest in public was undoubtedly even more expensive and rare.

Ghost childs were usually made by the black clothed Kazan using the corpses of abandoned infants. The entire process was terrifying, but once successful, it could bring good luck in wealth, gambling, and career, and it was considered very effective.

However, this didn’t mean that you would definitely get a return on your investment by worshiping it. Raising a ghost child could be detrimental to your lifespan, and sometimes it might even backfire, leading to the destruction of your home and family.

At that moment, I noticed the ghost child drawing closer to Ye Bing, as if preparing to attach itself to her. This would allow the ghost child to take possession of the unborn baby’s body once Ye Bing was six months pregnant.

“Alright, now the groom, please lower your right hand,” said the host, turning to Ye Bing, who was lost in bliss, clad in her wedding dress. “Bride, please place your right hand on your chest and gaze into the groom’s eyes.”

On the screen, the ghost child had latched onto Ye Bing’s hair and was already beginning to detach itself from Jiang Chen.

“Please answer this question: Do you take this man to be your lawful wedded husband?”

“I…”

“I don’t agree!” The chair toppled over and crashed to the ground, leaving the entire hall in complete silence. Hundreds of eyes were fixated on that somewhat lonesome yet rebellious figure.

After taking one last drag of my cigarette, I put away my large-screened phone and silently stubbed out the cigarette’s butt. “I’m sorry, but I don’t agree.”

***********

TN: I have no idea who this black clothed Kazan is, I searched thoroughly, so I don’t think it’s real world knowledge but knowledge from the novel, though I might be wrong. Also, this knowledge isn’t mentioned where it came from… Feel free to correct me If I translated wrongly