Chapter 102: Witnessing the Vows

"Come, my dear children. I am sorry you have had to endure such a simple wedding today." Granny Wan reached out, pulling Bai Xiaoli and me aside to begin officiating the ceremony.

The proceedings were brief. As our witness, Granny Wan guided us to face the spirit tablets placed on the main table. "I, Wan Jinhua, have served as a medium for the underworld countless times, accumulating vast karmic merit," she declared. "Today, I pledge these years of merit to witness this union. Let the underworld bear witness that these two souls are joined in true love, balancing Yin and Yang like the bond of swans, to remain together for a lifetime."

As she finished, she chanted a short incantation. I clearly saw several dark silhouettes flicker before the table. They emanated such a powerful pressure that the potted plants in the room wilted and bowed as if in fear. When I blinked and looked again, the shadows were gone.

"Come, bow to Heaven and Earth," Granny Wan said, glancing at the table before turning to us.

Bai Xiaoli and I exchanged a look and bowed toward the east. When it came time to pay respects to our elders, we knelt before Granny Wan. I saw her eyes well up with tears; she was truly happy for us. After the final bow between husband and wife, she brought over two bowls of rice wine. She had us each add a drop of our blood to the bowls, and as we drank, our blood became one.

At that very moment, a thunderclap erupted from the clear sky outside, striking our threshold and shattering it.

It was an ominous sign.

As we stared at the smoking wood, both Bai Xiaoli and I were startled. Granny Wan merely gave a cold snort. "Do not be afraid. Someone does not wish for you to be together, but it matters not. Your marriage is witnessed by Heaven and Earth and recorded in the underworld. No one can change that."

Bai Xiaoli nodded firmly, her grip on my hand tightening.

I recalled the words of the thousand-year-old specter: "A woman shall not marry two husbands." But now that we were wed, no one could tear us apart. I stared coldly at the smoking threshold, my eyes filled with resolve.

"Thump!" Pi Lin'er, who had fetched a basin of water from somewhere, doused the smoldering threshold. She wiped her brow and smiled at us. "Don't take it to heart, Brother and Sister-in-law. I’ve studied physics; thunder from a clear sky is just a scientific coincidence."

Her words made us laugh, and the lingering unease vanished. My gaze then fell upon the red-wrapped spirit tablets Granny Bai had given me.

After Granny Wan nodded, I eagerly unwrapped them. As I had suspected, they were two tablets, but when I saw the names inscribed upon them, I was stunned. I had expected the names of deities, or perhaps the ancestors of Granny Wan, or even my grandfather and brother. Instead, they bore the names of Bai Xiaoli and me.

Furthermore, two stacks of yellow spirit money—the kind without denomination—had appeared before the tablets, adorned with two bundles of white flowers, as if they were wedding gifts left for us.

"What... what is this?" I asked, turning to Granny Wan in confusion.

She looked at the money and smiled. "This is my wedding gift to you both. Not only have I witnessed this union, but the underworld has also recorded it. These are the gifts sent by the underworld."

I was dumbfounded. To have the underworld witness a wedding requires an immense amount of karmic merit. Once they acknowledge a marriage, unless the couple chooses to divorce, anyone attempting to break them up will be seen as defying the underworld and will face its retribution.

I finally understood why Granny Wan had used our names on the tablets; they signified that our marriage had been registered in the underworld. It explained the sensation of spiritual nourishment I had felt moments ago—our souls had been joined in the afterlife as well.

Granny Wan had gone to great lengths and made a profound sacrifice for us. Since the merit one accumulates in life determines one's standing in the next reincarnation, she had effectively forfeited her own priority in the cycle of rebirth to ensure our union.

With this blessing, I no longer feared the specter's curse. Our marriage was sealed and recognized by the underworld; even a thousand-year-old ghost would have to think twice before interfering.

That evening, our family enjoyed a grand meal, awaiting the formal ceremony to come. According to the customs of Hehe City, the true wedding celebration would be held the following night. Bai Xiaoli returned to the Bai residence to prepare, telling me that a motorcade would come to fetch me for the uxorilocal marriage the next afternoon. She would be waiting.