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After respectfully taking a seat, Master Wu calmly asked, "What do you mean by saying that if the Yin Marriage is not done properly, it could harm people? Do you think I am harming others?"
Seeing his slight displeasure, I quickly stood up and said, "Master Wu, I mean no offense. Please forgive me. It's just that I truly feel this situation is very unfair to Xiao Wu. The times have changed; ordinary girls with slightly fragile hearts simply cannot accept such things. If forced into it, it might leave an indelible shadow for a lifetime. She is a good friend of mine, which is why I dared to speak out. I ask for your forgiveness."
"Alas..." To my surprise, Master Wu sighed and continued, "You think I don't know this is wrong? It's just that I have my own difficulties. A Yin Marriage requires assistance. I used to have a partner, but he is no longer here. I cannot host a Yin Marriage alone, and Xiao Xiao's spirit truly lingers on. So, I am left with no choice." After saying this, he shook his head in apparent helplessness.
Hearing him say this, I couldn't help but feel surprised. Could it be that hosting a Yin Marriage requires two people? Although I had never truly engaged with a Yin Marriage before, I still had some understanding of it. Noticing my confusion, he chuckled and explained, "Actually, as time goes by, the traditional Yin Marriage has become less suitable. While it's still acceptable for two corpses to wed, it's becoming increasingly rare for the living to participate in such ceremonies. My former partner didn't assist me in hosting the Yin Marriage; he specialized in communicating with spirits through Feng Shui methods. The reason for needing such a partner was that sometimes the living are too afraid to participate, so he would impersonate the living person during the ceremony with the deceased and later perform some soul-soothing work until the spirit's obsession was completely resolved."
I nodded and replied, "That's true; very few living people can accept participating in a Yin Marriage. Not to mention directly marrying a corpse; even seeing photos can feel ominous."
"Ominous it may be; however, it doesn't really affect one's fortune. It's just that many people cannot accept it and feel something is amiss. Then when something unfortunate happens, they tend to blame it on that. Over time, this creates a vicious cycle where their fortune genuinely worsens. Therefore, it's essential to find someone with strong psychological resilience and acceptance for this role. My former partner fit that description perfectly; unfortunately, he is no longer here. Moreover, this time Xiao Xiao has a marriage contract with Xiao Wu; her grandfather has been very supportive and insists there are no issues. Since her grandfather said so, I thought she must be an accepting girl; that's why I decided to proceed with this Yin Marriage. Could it be that the young lady is completely unwilling?" Master Wu continued to smile, though his smile seemed somewhat strained as he realized that Xiao Wu was not as compliant as her grandfather claimed.
Upon hearing Master Wu's question, I felt speechless. I've heard of arranged marriages before; but arranging a Yin Marriage? That seemed rather domineering. Not to mention that elders should consider how such matters might be seen as ominous; at the very least, they should take into account the feelings of those involved. It was clear that Xiao Wu had been coerced by her grandfather's insistence and was being forced against her will. I truly couldn't understand what motivated her grandfather to act this way—was it really for the benefit of the Xiao Family? No matter how great the benefit might be, could it outweigh the lifelong happiness of his granddaughter? To be honest, I strongly disapproved of Xiao Wu's grandfather's actions and felt quite angry about it. At one point, I even had an impulse to confront him directly about it. But then again, if Master Wu knew that Little Wu was resistant to this arrangement, would he reconsider and seek another solution?
I said, "Master Wu, the reality is that Miss Wu is very unwilling to go through with this Yin Marriage; she has no psychological support whatsoever. To be honest, my chance encounter with her happened just yesterday on the train. This is also a kind of fate; I'm involved in cultivation and you are an elder who should understand my feelings." After saying this, I recounted Xiao Wu's behavior on the train and her inner feelings to Master Wu.
Master Wu fell silent; it was unclear whether he was contemplating a solution or feeling frustrated about Xiao Wu's grandfather's unilateral decision. In any case, he did not speak or express his stance on what to do next. After quite some time passed and realizing I was waiting for him to respond, he finally spoke slowly: "Given the circumstances and since the time has already been chosen, if we do not hold the Yin Marriage in the evening, we will have to wait a long time again. In this hot weather, corpses can easily decay and smell bad. Xiao Liu, I'm out of options here; do you have any good ideas?"
I thought for a moment and said: "Master Wu, you mentioned your partner could impersonate the living side during the ceremony with the corpse—how does that work?"
Seeing my inquiry sparked his understanding immediately: "Could it be you want to take his place? However, doing this requires another method as well. My previous partner would first call upon souls to communicate with them and then find ways to erase their memories of people while retaining their memories of events before impersonating the living person during the ceremony with the deceased in order to achieve our goal. Without that initial step completed first, accomplishing the latter becomes very difficult."
I understood what Master Wu meant by erasing memories of people—the process of a soul forgetting its memories from life occurs in stages: first forgetting specific details about individuals before gradually forgetting broader aspects related to them. It’s a gradual process where a soul might first forget someone's facial features before forgetting who they are entirely—eventually leading them to forget all relationships they had with anyone until they forget everything altogether; at which point they lose all consciousness entirely. It’s similar to dreaming—often encountering strangers in dreams where upon waking one remembers events but cannot recall their appearance at all; given more time passes after waking up one may even forget what happened in that dream entirely until eventually forgetting they ever had that dream at all.
Master Wu mentioned that his partner could erase a soul's memories of a person, which likely meant making the deceased Xiao Xiao completely forget about Xiao Wu, retaining only the memory of their marriage. After death, Xiao Xiao's consciousness was gradually fading, and the marriage became an obsession for him. Even if the Yin Marriage wasn't held, finding a skilled practitioner to properly guide Xiao Xiao's soul or sending it away would yield similar results. However, the current situation was that Xiao Xiao had communicated with his father in a dream, expressing his desire to marry Xiao Wu. As a father, he would undoubtedly fulfill his deceased son's request. Even if I told Little Xiao's Father that I could help his son move on peacefully, he probably wouldn't believe me. Additionally, my involvement in this matter would inadvertently undermine Master Wu's business, which is a significant taboo in our field.
I respectfully asked Master Wu, "Do you know how to erase a soul's memories of a person? If you do, I might be able to become your temporary partner to help you accomplish this task, which would also assist Xiao Wu."
Master Wu looked at me in surprise and said, "You are quite bold for someone so young. Even if you are involved in cultivation, I doubt you would want to participate directly in such matters. Your master must be an impressive person to have taught you such a diligent disciple."
I smiled slightly and replied, "Thank you for your acknowledgment, Master Wu. But please tell me how to erase a soul's memories; this is knowledge I have never encountered before. If I learn it, it might benefit my future endeavors."
Master Wu nodded and said, "It's actually not difficult. It's normal that you haven't encountered this before because this method specifically pertains to our work with Yin Marriages. However, there is a prerequisite: you must be able to Call of Souls. Moreover, it must be a physical soul that the person who needs to forget can see. First, tell me if you can do that."
I nodded vigorously without speaking. His question clearly indicated that he himself could not Call of Souls, which was understandable—every practitioner has their specialties. Master Wu continued, "If you can Call of Souls, then it's manageable. I have two talismans here that my partner left behind last time. These talismans are auxiliary; they function similarly to those used for guiding souls and can accelerate the dissipation of a soul's consciousness. More importantly, they can alter the soul's perception—similar to hallucinogens in our reality—allowing us to forcibly change how a soul perceives certain things."
Upon hearing this, I was astonished again; I had never heard of such talismans before. Perhaps as Master Wu said, this was part of their specialized knowledge. Although we both deal with Underworld Cuisine, there are still many aspects we don't encounter together. "So you're saying that using this talisman can interfere with Xiao Xiao's consciousness so that he forgets what Xiao Wu looks like? Then we just need someone to impersonate Xiao Wu during the wedding ceremony?" I tentatively asked; this was merely my guess.
Master Wu patted the blanket on the bed and casually replied, "It's not just anyone; this person must not harbor any grudges and should treat this as a job. Another necessary condition is that this person must also be able to Call of Souls. If you're going to get involved in this matter, then there's no one else but you."
"Let me think about it, Master Wu; this is my first time doing something like this, and I'm afraid I won't do it well." It would be dishonest to say I wasn't feeling uneasy; after all, it was my first time participating in such an event involving a male corpse—something inherently uncomfortable for anyone. Even though I practiced cultivation, this wasn't my area of expertise. It was entirely normal for me to feel conflicted.
Master Wu chuckled and said, "Actually, Xiao Liu, just treat this as work. This is part of your job requirement. By the way, consider it your work reward; we're all somewhat colleagues in this field—you should understand what I mean." As he spoke, he handed me a red envelope. After a long day of work and feeling somewhat tired, I decided to leave it at that for now. Good night everyone.
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