After Entering a Romance Reality Show Disguised as a Man to Win Over All the Female Leads - Chapter 25.1

Mu Shuiqing was like a large dog, burying herself in Rong Yu’s arms through the quilt, lying on top of her and rubbing back and forth. Her overly long, inward-curled black hair spread over Rong Yu like a smooth, fine net.

The bright red wedding dress covered in embroidery filled the entire bed. The wide and luxurious outer robe was like another layer of quilt, even heavier than the cotton blanket covering Rong Yu, pressing down until Rong Yu could barely breathe.

Mu Shuiqing, however, was completely unaware. She clung to Rong Yu and covered her lips, her movements rough enough to seem like biting.

In the dim room, that smooth white face became even paler, while the tips of her ears and the corners of her eyes were tinged with red. Against her glossy lips, crimson like roses, she looked like a beautiful woman from an old pale painting, brushed with two thick layers of rouge—truly like a stunning ghost.

Rong Yu could even smell the heavy powdery fragrance on her, as well as an indescribable ancient scent of wood and grass.

Mu Shuiqing’s presence was so intense that Rong Yu had no choice but to raise her hand and push her away. The oxygen she needed to breathe had been shut out by Mu Shuiqing’s robe and hair. She was nearly suffocating.

But the girl on top of her misunderstood her meaning.

The originally somewhat restrained biting became even fiercer. Mu Shuiqing lay on top of her, held her face, and deepened the kiss, as if she wanted to plunder every inch of oxygen in her mouth.

In a daze, Rong Yu heard her blood exploding in her veins. Her ears were filled with the buzzing of blood rushing.

For a moment, her mind went blank. Every sensation in her body gathered on the places touched by Mu Shuiqing.

When the kiss finally ended, both of their breaths were chaotic.

Only when Mu Shuiqing slightly lifted herself could Rong Yu barely open her eyes. But her body still could not move.

Rong Yu had no choice but to turn her head away. Her mind was dizzy, but at last she was able to pant.

Yet Mu Shuiqing only stopped for a few seconds before lowering her head to kiss her again.

Her soft lips moved from Rong Yu’s brow to the bridge of her nose, passing the beautifully curved corners of her eyes, her elegant and delicate face, and finally reaching her exquisite, full lips.

She kissed once, then lifted herself slightly and kissed the next place, like a little deer in the forest casually drinking from a stream.

Her thick black hair scattered down beside Rong Yu’s face, like night pouring into a mountain stream, making Rong Yu dizzy as she fell into the darkness of a rushing current.

“Rongrong… mine…”

The girl lying on top of her emphasized word by word. Her voice was usually not loud, but now it was stubborn and serious. Every syllable was clear and proper. It did not sound like she was speaking to Rong Yu, but more like she was deliberately saying it for the people outside the livestream to hear.

The cold air in the room did not warm up because of their heated breathing. It remained damp, gloomy, and cold.

Mu Shuiqing straightened up. The richly colored bridal cape on her body, embroidered with precise and luxurious gold-thread patterns, was lifted with her movement, like the feathers of a golden phoenix.

Fine tassels hung from the gold-and-red filigree crown, disappearing into her waterfall-like black hair. Mu Shuiqing lowered her head and looked down. Those ruby-like eyes stared directly at Rong Yu, who was being controlled into lying flat on the soft bed.

The girl wore only thin short-sleeved sleepwear. There was nothing beneath it. Her graceful body rose and fell with her intense breathing, and the fullness at her chest pushed the fabric into obvious curves.

Her flawlessly delicate features were hidden in the darkness. Only those sapphire-blue eyes, thirteen parts radiant, were misty and unfocused as they gazed into the distance.

The corners of her eyes, the corners of her lips, and the delicate side of her neck were all stained with blooming red, like crimson lotuses. The red marks continued from her neck down beneath her collar.

Her pink lips trembled, already dyed crimson by the lip color from Mu Shuiqing’s mouth. The blush spilled past the corners of her lips, carrying the look of a disordered, broken breath.

Thinking that she was the last person to go through a script with Rong Yu, Mu Shuiqing became even more jealous. She pinched Rong Yu’s chin and turned her head back to look at her. Kissing Rong Yu’s jaw, she traced its beautiful line with her red lips and murmured unclearly, “I want to leave a mark.”

She bent down, pulled open Rong Yu’s collar, and bit down somewhere. Her red lips, covered in rouge, immediately left another red mark.

Rong Yu, lying flat on the bed, was like a small beast forced to roll over and expose its belly. Even when bullied, she could only helplessly clutch Mu Shuiqing’s wrist and endure it, letting Mu Shuiqing tease her most vulnerable place.

Rong Yu felt so embarrassed that she closed her eyes.

Mu Shuiqing was cold all over. Even her red lips were icy to the bone, while Rong Yu’s body was burning hot.

Mu Shuiqing’s touch made her unable to help sighing, as if she were a traveler crossing a desert who had finally found the oasis in her heart.

Something crawled out from beneath Mu Shuiqing’s robe and jumped onto Rong Yu’s shoulder, pressing against the side of her face and rubbing affectionately back and forth.

Rong Yu turned her gaze and saw several palm-sized little paper figures.

The paper figures did not carry the same chill as Mu Shuiqing. The plateau-red blush on their faces was bright and eye-catching. Several paper figures excitedly pressed themselves against Rong Yu and bounced around. Mu Shuiqing flicked them away in two or three motions.

“Move.”

Mu Shuiqing pulled Rong Yu into her arms, lowered her head, and said in a muffled voice, “Rongrong is mine.”

Mu Shuiqing was icy cold all over, but with the quilt between them, Rong Yu felt it was still fine.

The heated atmosphere from earlier gradually returned to normal under Mu Shuiqing’s cool body temperature. Rong Yu let out a breath of relief and, without realizing it, slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Mu Shuiqing rubbed Rong Yu’s wrist and tightened the red cord tied around it a little more.

·

At night, Rong Yu was awakened by a rocking motion like the rise and fall of ocean waves.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself sitting in a narrow space. Everywhere she looked was a deep, brilliant red.

A cold silver porcelain jar lay quietly in her arms, its mouth sealed with white hemp rope.

At some point, she had changed into a bright red phoenix crown and bridal cape embroidered with gold hidden patterns of phoenixes flying together. The bead curtain hanging from her head half-covered her face, full of the crisp sound of jade beads striking one another as it swayed.

The outer garment had complicated embroidery, making it extremely stiff on her body. Rong Yu felt as if she had been imprisoned inside the clothes, even her movements somewhat sluggish.

Holding the porcelain jar tightly became the only thing she could do.

Only, this porcelain jar did not feel as smooth as it looked. The back felt somewhat rough against her hand.

Rong Yu lowered her head, turned the jar around, and saw three black characters engraved in the center of the back—

Mu Shuiqing.

Rong Yu: “……”

They had really gone all the way with the performance.

She seemed to be sitting inside a sedan chair, swaying up and down as if on a small boat.

At the very front of the square space was a bright red door curtain. Rong Yu barely managed to reach out and hook it up. She immediately saw two lines of red humanoid paper figures ahead, stiffly carrying the sedan chair forward.

They were not real people after all. When they carried the sedan chair, their upper bodies did not move at all. Only their feet dragged along the ground.

The bright red clothes painted on their bodies creased with their movements, looking like twisted, ferocious human faces.

Farther ahead, those rows of white paper figures shook the bronze bells in their hands while scattering paper money into the air.

There was not much wind in the sky, yet the paper money did not fall. It seemed to be swept into the air by an invisible hand, scattering across the sky like flying flowers.

It was already almost midnight. The sky was pitch-black, and even the stars had disappeared.

The land ahead was muddy and uneven. The forest was gloomy and dark.

Through the two rows of paper figures, Rong Yu clearly saw ghosts standing everywhere. They were tall and short, fat and thin, some beautiful, some hideously terrifying, some with complete bodies, others incomplete.

Some floated in the air, while others had red ropes around their necks and were hanging from the surrounding trees.

Wherever the paper figures carried the sedan chair, the ghosts respectfully bowed.

These ghosts had clearly been carefully dressed up. Each of them had a bit of red on their bodies. Under the dim, desolate night sky, they looked like countless dried corpses wrapped in red silk.

The program team’s camera was attached to the chair beside Rong Yu, exactly level with Rong Yu’s point of view.

When Rong Yu lifted the curtain and looked outside, the livestream viewers could also see the scene outside. For a moment, they screamed, and the entire screen was filled with comments crying for help.

Those with timid hearts in the livestream could no longer watch. Only the bold ones continued enthusiastically sending comments.

[Wow, is this holographic projection? This is too exciting.]

[So amazing!!! Did Qingqing become a ghost king?!]

[Ghost king wedding?! By the way… why is Little Brother Rongrong wearing women’s clothing… But it really does look better than men’s clothing, awoo!]

Rong Yu had never seen this place before. They might have already left the city.

The branches full of leaves along the road were reflected by the moonlight into desolate swaying shadows on the ground. The tree trunks lined both sides like human figures hidden in the dark.

Cold winds gusted around them. Ahead, the paper figures shook bells. Fine rain was still falling. Sticky drops of water rolled down the door of the bridal sedan.

Mu Shuiqing, who had appeared earlier, was nowhere to be seen.

Rong Yu did not understand what they were trying to do, so she quietly sat inside the sedan chair and waited in silence for Mu Shuiqing to appear.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, at the end of the road ahead, an open graveyard slowly appeared.

This place should once have been a mass burial ground.

With one sweeping glance, Rong Yu saw no fewer than a hundred randomly placed stone tablets, each recording different names.

The paper figures carried the sedan chair holding Rong Yu all the way through graves large and small, finally stopping at the largest mound.

There was no tombstone erected on the mound, but from the reactions of the paper figures around them, it was not difficult to guess whose grave this was.

Rong Yu’s eyelid twitched, and she immediately released the curtain she had lifted.

In the next moment, a pale jade-like hand hooked the curtain from outside and gently lifted it, setting it against the sedan door. Then the palm turned upward and extended toward Rong Yu.

“Please, Madam, step out of the sedan.”

A familiar, wooden voice drifted into the sedan with the cold wind.

Rong Yu stared at that hand for a moment, then raised her hand and placed it in the other girl’s palm.

Mu Shuiqing steadily held her hand and pulled her up from the sedan.

Rong Yu stepped out of the bridal sedan. Her feet, wearing red embroidered shoes, landed on the damp, muddy ground.

When she raised her head, she finally used the moonlight to clearly see Mu Shuiqing’s full appearance.

The red-eyed girl with crimson lips and pearly teeth wore a gold crown and a wedding dress embroidered with phoenixes playing among parasol trees. The patterns matched the ones on Rong Yu’s outfit perfectly as a pair.

Mu Shuiqing held Rong Yu’s hand with one hand, while the other held a red silk ribbon. Her deathly pale skin against that extremely dazzling red created an eerie beauty.

She handed the other end of the red silk ribbon to Rong Yu.

Clearly, it was raining at this moment, but there was not the slightest dampness on Mu Shuiqing’s clothes.

Rong Yu withdrew her gaze from Mu Shuiqing and reached out to take the red silk ribbon.

Seeing her obedient and well-behaved action, Mu Shuiqing was extremely happy. Her round, ruby-red eyes shimmered with clear light, and an obvious blush bloomed at the corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose.

Mu Shuiqing said nothing, but tightened her grip on Rong Yu’s hand.

Behind them, the grave mound made of piled earth suddenly split open in the middle with a rumble.

The crack widened more and more, finally revealing several steps wide enough for two people. Beneath the steps were earthen rooms hollowed out one after another, looking somewhat similar to the cave dwellings of China’s northwest.

Rong Yu was pulled down the stairs by Mu Shuiqing. Looking up, she saw a wooden table placed in front of the earthen wall at the center of the room. On the table were three memorial tablets, three wedding candles, and three eternal lamps.

The first two tablets bore two unfamiliar names.

Rong Yu recognized the third tablet. Written on it was precisely Mu Shuiqing’s name.

Mu Shuiqing’s bright red eyes faced the strange purple flames burning beside them in the wedding candles, making Rong Yu’s reflection in her eyes shimmer with a hazy firelight.

She brought Rong Yu before the wooden table, light shining in her eyes. The corners of her lips carried a gentle smile. The bright red wedding dress made that beautiful, moon-like face utterly radiant, like crabapple flowers drunk beneath the sun or hibiscus on distant mountains.

“The people on here are my parents. After we bow to heaven and earth, you will be my wife.”

She blinked and added with a smile, “And I will be yours too.”

Inside the earthen room, candlelight flickered. Cold wind poured in through the cave entrance, the gloomy chill howling sharply.

The firelight outlined Mu Shuiqing’s figure with a chilly, sharp edge, yet it did not cast a shadow behind her.

Rong Yu lowered her eyes and glanced at the floor, where only her own shadow appeared. She blinked, said nothing, and nodded according to Mu Shuiqing’s wishes.

The livestream viewers howled with excitement.

[Finally!!! Ah, who understands? The CP I ship has come true!]

[Male O wife and female A husband are real! Ahhhhhhh!]

[Ghost king wedding. I directly go sss!]

The two rows of paper figures standing outside the cave immediately began playing wedding music. The sound rang through the clouds, cheerful and lively. It was completely out of place in the dark, gloomy night, and paired with the fine rain and empty graveyard around them, it sounded even more eerie and strange.

Yet the dozen or so paper figures played with extreme dedication, shaking their heads and bodies as they did. Along with a high final note, the paper figure playing the suona suddenly exerted too much force, and its head fell off. It rolled down the steps with a rustle and landed by Rong Yu’s feet.

The strange smiling face with two blotches of plateau-red blush and those pure black eyes met Rong Yu’s gaze directly.

Rong Yu lowered her head and met its eyes.

Before she could take a few more looks, Mu Shuiqing kicked the paper figure’s head away.

Comments:

[Hahahahaha, Qingqing, don’t be too outrageous!!!]

[Sister Shuiqing: I already endured three female guests, and now I have to tolerate you, some broken paper figure too?! Hhhhh.]

“Shall we bow to heaven and earth?” Mu Shuiqing suggested.

She began excitedly reciting the wedding rites she had seen before.

“First bow to heaven and earth.”

Mu Shuiqing held the red silk ribbon and said this.

Countless ghosts poked their heads in from the cave entrance to look at the two of them. The corners of Mu Shuiqing’s bright red lips lifted slightly as she turned to face the cave entrance.

Rong Yu imitated her movements, turned around, and knelt with her while holding the red silk ribbon to bow.

Mu Shuiqing said again, “Second bow to the high hall.”

She guided Rong Yu to turn and face the memorial tablets on the wooden table, bowing again.

Mu Shuiqing continued in a raised voice, “Husband and wife bow to each other.”

Her crimson eyes stared closely at Rong Yu. Meeting Rong Yu’s gaze, she bent respectfully and bowed.

The moment the ceremony was completed, flames suddenly leapt all around them. The ghosts outside the cave cried out in unison. Inside the cave, candlelight flickered, illuminating the only shadow Rong Yu had in the earthen room until it split into fragments, swaying back and forth on the ground.

Mu Shuiqing walked forward gracefully, following the red silk ribbon until she touched Rong Yu’s hand. A shy smile appeared on her wooden, stiff, pale face, but her eyes were burning hot.

“Shouldn’t we enter the bridal chamber now?”

She said.

In the livestream comments, the viewers who had always supported Mu Shuiqing and Rong Yu began crazily sending gifts.

[Ahhhhh, my wedding money!!]

[Take it, take it. Hurry and enter the bridal chamber for me! My CP must be real!!!]

[Okay, okay. Rounding up, Rongrong has already married Qingqing. When the show ends, you must go to the Civil Affairs Bureau and get the certificate~!]

[This is enough. They already bowed and got married. Can Little Brother Rongrong not choose Qingqing this round?! Nothing is impossible! Qingrong, Qingrong!]

The flickering candlelight made Mu Shuiqing’s face look a little more alive. Her originally slightly wooden, beautiful face grew more vivid and bright.

Facing that face, Rong Yu seemed to return to childhood in a daze.

She had found the lonely Lian Langsheng sitting alone in her deceased parents’ room in that dark, closed-off space. When the other girl had slowly risen while looking at her, her eyes had been just as clear and bright as now.

For a moment, Rong Yu stared into her eyes, entranced. She opened her mouth, about to speak.

But the magnificent and eerie scene around them suddenly seemed to glitch like faulty code. Other scenes began flashing violently.

There was the situation in the outside livestream room, the clean and tidy inn room, various chaotic angles, and finally even the faces of Lin Mengxing and the others.

The surroundings seemed like brain memories with confused roles. Clearly, there was no noise at all, yet the entire space began shaking.

Rong Yu opened her mouth, wanting to say something. But the moment her voice came out, her eyes suddenly opened.

Before her eyes was once again that bright and clean hospital room.

The instruments around her made regular operating sounds: beep—beep—

The pale, pure room was completely different from the gloomy, strange scene just now.

For a moment, Rong Yu had not yet reacted. Only when Doctor Lin beside her walked over, bent down, and looked at her did she finally hear, “You did very well.”

Thinking of the scene she had seen just now, Rong Yu still felt lingering fear.

“I wasn’t really forced out by her defensive consciousness, was I?”

Doctor Lin raised the test results in her hand and waved them at Rong Yu. She helped Rong Yu remove the device from her head and sit up, then handed her the data chart.

“This is the result we detected. Just now, when you and the Mu Shuiqing consciousness body were getting married, the other consciousness bodies showed extremely large fluctuations. The human brain cannot run too many consciousnesses at the same time. When the brain becomes overloaded, different consciousness bodies begin to overlap and merge. The scene you saw just now was a precursor to a small portion of fusion.”