He returned to the beginning of the instance, where everything proceeded as it originally had.
He felt as though he had overlooked sothing. As he crossed the square and saw the marketplace, he looked into the distance and saw a palanquin, resplendent in red, wrapped in red silk.
——A wedding palanquin.
Today there was so joyous occasion.
He arrived at the Mayor’s house and stared at the three options that appeared.
"[Go to the ancestral hall]" This option seed to have always been there. Initially in the night, he had also t Moli in the ancestral hall.
But he always felt that going blindly to the place Moli was last could be dangerous.
He chose to accompany the Mayor.
"——Father."
He got up, followed the Mayor, and supported him: "I will join you."
The Mayor looked at him, seemingly hesitant.
But in the end, he nodded.
They walked out together and saw the jubilant people.
The setting sun was thick like blood, tinting the faces of the people as if veiled in blood.
Night fell bit by bit, and the gentle snow started to fall more heavily, its cold watery gleam on their faces.
They arrived at the edge of the square, where there was a feast set up, with an array of fish and at on the long table, and rows of benches where people sat cheering with their cups, seemingly celebrating sothing.
All that t the eye was flushed with a brilliant red, the lanterns of the snowy night as radiant as blood.
"Ming’an, you just returned. Have a al here," the Mayor said as he seated him at a spot and admonished, "Don’t wander off when it starts."
Su Ming’an faintly thought of sothing.
Propped on his cane, the Mayor left, and the options floated up again:
"[——I am the traveler Ming’an returning ho.]"
"[I was brought here to partake in this feast.]"
"[Everyone looks happy, toasting and celebrating, their faces all warm.]"
"[The atmosphere is very festive, and Father also instructed not to leave.]"
"[...But should I stay here? To witness everything that happens?]"
"[...]"
Options appeared:
"[A. Follow the Mayor.]"
"[B. Stay put and finish the feast.]"
"[C. Head to the ancestral hall.]"
...
Su Ming’an was prepared for multiple attempts at the instance, wanting to try going down one path to its end.
He left the feast and followed the Mayor.
Mitchell also noticed him. The old man sighed softly and did not stop him, allowing him to continue following.
——He saw the Mayor’s destination.
A house.
At its front hung blood-red lanterns, standing next to a wedding palanquin. As he pushed open the door, he saw a woman dressed in wedding attire sitting behind a curtain, her head covered with a red bridal veil.
"...Father?"
He heard a crisp female voice, Moli’s voice.
...Was Moli getting married today?
Su Ming’an felt sothing was amiss, for Moli of Terrily Town was clearly single, otherwise she wouldn’t have been always asking Ming’an if he would marry her.
"It’s . Moli, Ming’an has co back today too, just in ti to see you get married," the Mayor called out from afar.
Su Ming’an saw Moli lift her hand as if she wanted to lift her bridal veil, but then she hesitated.
"Does getting married an I can’t just look at others anymore?" Moli said softly.
"The Deity doesn’t want you to keep looking at others either," the Mayor said. "But, Moli, you can talk to Ming’an... haven’t you always told you wanted to talk to soone your own age?"
The Mayor patted Su Ming’an’s shoulder and whispered, "Moli is getting married today... and you haven’t seen her yet, so talk to her first. When the auspicious ti cos, you, as her brother, can carry her to the palanquin."
After that, the Mayor turned and left.
Su Ming’an stood still, looking at Moli through the curtain.
"...Brother Ming’an?"
She asked in a gentle voice.
"Moli, it’s ." Su Ming’an said, just as he was about to ask so questions, the scene before him suddenly froze again.
[——I am Boli, a traveler returning ho.]
[I followed my father here, to the place where Moli is getting married.]
[Moli is my father’s adopted daughter, and she is to be married today.]
[The celebration today... is actually for her.]
[How can I persuade her to leave this place?]
[If I, powerless as I am, cannot change the overall situation, can I at least save one person, let her —— see the dawn?]
Options slowly erged.
[A. "Moli, you look beautiful today."]
[B. "Moli, is getting married your own desire?"]
[C. "Moli, run away with ."]
...
Su Ming’an originally wanted to choose A, a suitable remark to vocalize, a topic to narrow the gap.
But "Moli’s" behavior before entering the instance reminded him that the word "desire" seed very important to her.
He chose option B.
"Moli." He looked up, his gaze fell on the slender figure wrapped in auspicious red, and saw her expression completely covered by the red bridal veil, his tone slightly heavy, "Getting married... is it your own desire?"
Moli’s body trembled slightly.
"You are still very young, don’t force yourself because of your father’s words." Su Ming’an looked at her: "What love is like, what it feels like to like soone, do you really understand? Who the other person is, what he looks like and his temperant, your feelings towards him... do you have any idea about these?"
"I..." Moli’s voice was a bit shaky: "I am pleased... I really love them... I think there’s nothing wrong with this marriage..."
Su Ming’an was taken aback.
He originally thought it was a forced marriage.
But Moli’s attitude, she actually seed willing?
There was no one else here, facing him, did young Moli need to hide anything? Let alone... her voice truly sounded happy.
...Was she bewitched? Or...
"Moli." He stressed his tone, "Sotis people cannot discern their own feelings; you have been shaped by the environnt around you since birth, so much that you might not know what suits you or what is blind love. You need to go out and see to understand what is right for you —— the world is still very big, you are still very young, getting married and settling down is not everything."
Moli’s head raised slightly.
Su Ming’an felt she was looking right at him.
"Boli, brother." Moli seed to laugh softly: "...you’re not very old either."
"I am different," Su Ming’an said. "I’m just asking you."
"...I won’t regret it." Moli’s voice was faint but firm: "I will devote all my love to them, that is my faith. I will forever passionately love them, like every person in this town does —— though all of this was told to by father, I believe it as well —— I won’t have regrets, never."
Su Ming’an looked at Moli, who was obstinate to the point of being eerie.
He suddenly rembered, his task was to expose the wickedness of Moli.
Could this seemingly innocent girl in front of him not be so simple after all?
He hesitated, then heard the sound of a bell coming from outside the door.
"The auspicious ti has arrived ——"
He heard the Mayor’s call, urging him on.
The night grew thicker bit by bit, the red candles in the room flickering.
Moli stood up, her jewelry clinking, the golden bracelets on her wrists reflecting light.
"Boli... brother," Moli approached, "please escort to the bridal sedan."
Her voice was very light, crystal clear like glass:
"——I truly love them."
She said it with a near-devout conviction.
Su Ming’an suddenly found that he couldn’t control his body again, he was moving forward, turning around, picking her up.
Moli’s body was thin and small, her finger peeking out on his shoulder incredibly white as if it had been kept away, rarely experiencing sunlight. When he picked her up, he felt as though he was lifting a skeleton.
[——I am Boli, a traveler returning ho.]
The system’s voice rang beside his ear like a voiceover.
This ti, ti did not stand still.
[I want to take her and run away.]
[But all of this requires her cooperation.]
[Father is waiting outside the door, townfolk wait in the square.]
[Alone, I cannot escape, nor can I help her to flee.]
"It seems there’s no ti left tonight; that’s what I’m thinking."
"Perhaps, I should stay here and look for a way to change the townsfolk’s minds. There might be another chance..."
...
No options erged.
Su Ming’an watched himself carrying the slender, small Moli, step by step walking outward, and then, descending the stairs carpeted with bright red, he approached the bridal sedan awaiting at the door, under the blood-red lantern.
He looked at the bridal sedan with its curtain lifted, its dark interior resembling a fierce beast with its mouth wide open.
He walked on the road, as if carrying the girl to the mouth of that beast.
He placed Moli into the sedan and saw the curtains close.
In the last mont, he saw Moli lifting her veil, her eyes clear and pure as the Heavenly Sea, looking at him.
She was smiling.
Smiling so happily.
She might truly be happy about this marriage, but perhaps she didn’t even know what she was about to face.
"Lift the sedan—!"
The bearers shouldered the bridal sedan, and the red silk-adorned sedan slowly moved away from him in the snowy night; he imdiately wanted to follow, but his body wouldn’t respond.
The Mayor, standing beside him, looked at him, the dragon head cane under the blood-red lantern coated with a deep red glow.
"Ming’an," the Mayor’s eyes were profound, "do not obstruct her happiness."
With the dragon head cane placed in front of him, it seed to be a rule he couldn’t control his own body.
Su Ming’an stood still, his eyes darkened to an extre.
...He had already roughly guessed everything that Moli was about to go through.
"Mitchell," Su Ming’an spoke out, no longer addressing him as "father," not even wanting to mask his tone with any hint of affection:
"—Your town truly makes quite sick."
He waited a mont, but the Mayor did not reply.
Ti seed to pass very slowly until the snow on the ground loosened, and the upright dragon head cane fell to the ground. Finally, he could move again.
He quickly turned his head and indeed saw that the Mayor’s silhouette had long disappeared.
The cold wind of the winter night brushed his face, and he felt the long lost coldness.
He imdiately took a step, facing the harsh winter wind as he ran towards the temple he rembered.
Along the way, he saw fireworks that had all but burned out and the remains of feasts left on tables.
He saw the snow scattered across the sky... The snowflakes, like goose feathers, fell upon him, almost covering his entire being with ice.
He even saw the red silk cloth discarded in front of a door; the girls who wove the fabric had disappeared, the chattering like magpies had vanished, leaving only the sound of his footsteps crunching in the snow in the night.
In the square, only the red lanterns in front of each household remained lit, flickering like pairs of wolf’s eyes.
"—First bow to heaven and earth!"
Sowhere, such a shout rose along with a series of prayers.
Like when he first arrived in Terrily Town and heard the townspeople’s prayers during the exile. Those sounds had a dark cadence to them. As he ran through the snowy night, he heard contiguous prayers from both sides weaving together, emanating from house to house.
The entire Terrily was enveloped in this chorus of prayers.
"—Second bow, to the parents!"
The voice still continued.
The sunset had completely faded.
The night, like a pot lid, had covered the town.
Suddenly, he heard a suona, its high and lodious tune piercing, carrying across half the town, stirring the mottled past buried in this town into lody, as if playing joyful music, yet also sounding like sharp and piercing wails.
—It was like joy mixed with sorrow.
"—The couple, bow to each other!"
The voice still continued.
He ran all the way, charging towards the temple in his mory, and the mont he stepped onto that street corner, he heard the strained voices of the townspeople:
...
"—May Terrily be reborn anew!"
...
Su Ming’an rushed to the front of the temple, seeing so burly townfolk gathered outside, seemingly trying to stop him.
He imdiately teleported into the temple and saw the scene before him—
The vivid, big red dress of the bride, completely lifted and swaying, the ribbons at the hem of the skirt like a phoenix dragging fiery tail feathers, seed to shake off sparks from the entire dress.
The murmurs of the villagers seed to penetrate the damp, cold walls, and the snowflakes slapped his face like the palms of hands from outside the window.
—He saw Moli.
——Moli was lying in the coffin.
Her bridal gown was like fire, her jewelry exquisitely golden, a golden ring around her neck casting a beautiful ring of gold light.
Four wooden spikes pierced through her limbs, and her face still bore a smile.
This smile, under the flickering red candles, seed sowhat bitter.
Next to her hand, there were words written, penned with her own blood, a vermilion expanse, especially stark against the dark wood of the coffin:
[Is this truly what I believed in?]
Below, there was another line of smaller characters, the bloodstains growing fainter, as if she no longer had the strength:
...
[Terry.]
[I regret it.]
...
Su Ming’an stood still, looking at those words, as the door behind him was kicked open.
"Terry, kid! Co out! Don’t disturb the Bride—of our Deity—" The townfolk ca to pull him away.
Su Ming’an didn’t speak, he turned his head, looking at the crazed townfolk.
——Moli was dead.
She died completely, weightless.
She was nailed to death on her wedding night because she was to marry the so-called "Deity" of Terrily Town.
Moli regretted it, she had so looked forward to marrying the Deity she loved most, but only realized just before her death that this might not be love.
But this ridiculous Deity... He hadn’t been seen even once till now.
Is He truly a God? A God who protects the world, saves the people from disasters, omnipotent and benevolent. Or... an Evil God who tempts the townfolk, leading them to slaughter each other, to exile themselves, taking the lives of innocent girls one by one?
Su Ming’an stood still, facing the mad townfolk.
He heard Terry’s voiceover-like voice once again:
[——I am Terry, a traveler who has returned ho.]
[She’s dead.]
[Still, I couldn’t save her.]
[Her death was absurd... so heavy, yet so light.]
[The townfolk keep repeating this ritual, thinking that the werewolves will stay away.]
[——O Deity, what are You really thinking?]
[Your blessed people are killing each other.]
[The girls blindly loving You, their lives wither like flowers.]
[Your Terrily Town, living like a tomb. Your believers, like a group of blindly struggling Tomb Guardians.]
...
[I shouldn’t have co back, I can’t save anyone, I can’t change anything.]
[We are not Believers with staunch faith.]
[We are just Ghosts reluctant to leave our holand.]
[We burn ourselves like fire, incinerating our lives and emotions, all for that little bit of warmth bestowed by the Deity.]
[...yet in this land surrounded by Faith, the warmth cos from us who are afla.]
[But among those ashes.]
...
[——Is there really the light we seek?]
...
The system notification sounded:
[You have completed the S-grade quest · Before the Dawn, achieving BE · Ashes]
[Quest Evaluation: B ]
[...]
...
Su Ming’an looked at the girl who died in the coffin, her wedding gown as red as blood, and he sighed faintly.
——A step too late, again.
He raised his hand,
Rewind.
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