Chapter 46: Arranging a Ghost Marriage

Hearing Yang Meng’s words, Long Teng was startled. “What did you say? Brother Yang, are you telling me we should kill Feng Tao or bury him alive?”

Feng Tao, terrified, tried to escape, but Long Teng seized him at once.

The bodyguards outside heard the commotion and tried to enter, but Long Teng blocked their way and said sternly, “Stay outside and keep watch. No one is allowed in here!” Once everyone had left, he turned to Yang Meng and asked, “Brother Yang, what do you suggest? For my sister’s sake, I’m ready to risk everything!”

Yang Meng, exasperated, smacked him on the head. “Risk everything? Are you out of your mind?”

Long Teng, stunned by the blow, mumbled, “Isn’t a ghost marriage supposed to be between two dead people? Feng Tao is alive and well.”

Long Mingyang explained, “You fool, if you don’t understand, just keep quiet. There are ghost marriages between the living and the dead too.”

A ghost marriage, also known as a spirit marriage, is an ancient custom. Even in the Rites of Zhou, dating back to pre-Qin times, there are records of official bans against such unions, which shows just how long this practice has existed.

Cao Cao had a son named Cao Chong, famous for ‘weighing the elephant,’ who was clever and dearly loved by his father. Sadly, genius is not long for this world—Cao Chong died at only thirteen. After his death, Cao Cao arranged a ghost marriage for him, selecting a girl from Lady Zhen’s family to be his wife in the afterlife.

As the saying goes, “What the upper classes favor, the lower classes pursue with even greater zeal.” Since the Han dynasty, ghost marriages became popular. By the Song dynasty, whenever an unmarried man or woman died, their parents would hire so-called “ghost matchmakers” to arrange spirit marriages. At that time, it was still mostly between two deceased people.

But by the Ming dynasty, marriages between the living and the dead began to occur. If a deceased man was married to a living woman, she was required to remain a widow for life and forbidden to remarry. The government even praised such women’s “chastity” with honorary arches. If, however, a deceased woman was married to a living man, the man was free to marry again—such was the unfairness.

In the Qing dynasty, ghost marriages reached their peak. They were then called “joining the bones.” If you heard drums and gongs at night, you needn’t ask; someone had become a “ghost in-law” through a spirit marriage.

Even in Japan and Korea, similar customs exist. For instance, a few years ago, the Korean actress Jung Da-bin, who committed suicide, had her mother arrange a ghost marriage for her, pairing her in death with a man named Moon Jae-sung, who died of illness. Or, take the famous member of the band Beyond, Yip Sai Wing—after his girlfriend’s death, he also held a ghost marriage ceremony.

Even today, in some parts of the country, people believe that having a solitary grave in the ancestral tomb is unlucky and will hinder the family’s prosperity. Some fear that leaving unmarried dead relatives without a wedding will bring restless spirits to haunt their homes. Thus, the custom of ghost marriages persists.

With rising economic prosperity, the practice has only intensified, spawning a black market. Some criminals, seeking profit, dig up graves and steal corpses of young women to sell. A beautiful young corpse can fetch up to a hundred thousand yuan, sometimes even going to auction! In recent years, police have arrested quite a few people involved in this trade.

Others, flush with cash, simply hire a living person to marry their deceased child: a brief ceremony with the corpse is enough to earn tens of thousands, and those desperate for money are all too happy to oblige.

Well, aside from the part about spending a night in the bridal chamber with a corpse—which is admittedly hard to stomach—the rest is easy enough to accept. (It’s just sleeping next to a dead body, after all.)

Long Mingyang asked out of curiosity, “Young Yang, why arrange a ghost marriage for them?”

Yang Meng pointed to Long Nanyao and explained, “A person has three souls and seven spirits. The three souls are ‘Tai Guang,’ ‘Shuang Ling,’ and ‘You Jing,’ while the seven spirits are ‘Tun Zai,’ ‘Shi Gou,’ ‘Chu Hui,’ ‘Chou Fei,’ ‘Que Yin,’ ‘Fei Du,’ and ‘Fu Shi.’ Right now, ‘Tai Guang’ and ‘Shi Gou’ from Miss Long’s souls and spirits have been taken away by Zhao Yun, which is why Long Nanyao remains unconscious. Zhao Yun insists on marrying Feng Tao—even in death. If we fulfill her wish, she’ll return the souls and spirits, and Miss Long will recover.”

Long Mingyang asked directly, “Brother Yang, what must we do next to complete this ghost marriage?”

He cared little what became of Feng Tao; saving his daughter was all that mattered.

Witnessing this, Feng Tao felt something was wrong. “This is all nonsense! You can’t do this. We can find a real expert—there must be another way!”

Yang Meng glanced at him. “You freeloader, let me be honest with you. Zhao Yun originally planned to take you both on your wedding day—kill you at the same time. She acted early only because I ran into her in the elevator. She meant to kill you, but you were injured and hospitalized, not with Long Nanyao that night, so she took Miss Long’s soul instead to lure you out. If Daoist Yunhe and I hadn’t intervened, you’d already be a corpse.”

Feng Tao’s eyes widened. “I don’t believe you! You’re doing this for revenge—you must be jealous of me!”

Yang Meng grinned. “Jealous of you? Jealous of a freeloader? Sorry, I’ve got good teeth—soft rice isn’t to my taste. Just accept your fate; there’s really no other way. Think about how much Zhao Yun hates you—she’s willing to become a vengeful spirit just to get back at you. I can’t recover Long Nanyao’s soul. The only solution is for you to marry Zhao Yun in a ghost marriage. Fulfill her wish, and Miss Long gets her soul back.”

Surprisingly, Feng Tao seemed to calm down after hearing this. With a look of resolve, he said, “Fine. As long as Yao Yao recovers, I’ll do anything! I love her—if anything happens to her, I wouldn’t want to live alone anyway. So be it—let’s do the ghost marriage. So what if it’s not a good reputation? For her, I’d do anything!”

He’d come to terms with it. If it’s fate, it can’t be avoided. With the whole Long family present, he couldn’t resist even if he wanted to; he might as well show his loyalty.

Yang Meng was surprised. “You’ve really accepted this so easily?”

Feng Tao looked at him. “This is love. You wouldn’t understand my feelings for Yao Yao!”

Yang Meng curled his lip. “Honestly, I thought you’d use this as leverage to demand money or favors from the Long family. Didn’t expect you’d ask for nothing.”

He’d touched on Feng Tao’s real thoughts.

In truth, when he learned this was the only solution, his first instinct was exactly as Yang Meng guessed—to use the opportunity to extort the Long family. But he also feared that pushing them too far would backfire, so he decided to play the devoted lover instead. He was confident that Long Nanyao was already head over heels for him; as long as he kept her heart, he had nothing to fear.

After all, she was the Long family’s beloved princess.

He imagined that when Long Nanyao woke up and learned he’d saved her, she’d be even more attached to him—and the thought excited him.

He remembered, too, that in a past conversation with Zhao Yun, she’d mentioned that the Long family’s young lady was studying in the same city as him. He’d kept that in mind, asked Zhao Yun for her photo—ostensibly to make friends while abroad, but really to get close to her for Zhao Yun’s sake.

From the very start, his approach to Long Nanyao had a clear purpose. Becoming the Long family’s son-in-law meant never having to struggle again.

Winning her over was no challenge, either: a young woman studying alone in a foreign land was bound to be lonely and vulnerable—her heart would be easy to win.

He tracked down Long Nanyao abroad, orchestrated a chance encounter, and began his pursuit. She soon fell in love and brought him home to meet her family. Everything unfolded according to his plan; the Long family’s initial suspicion gave way to acceptance, and they began letting him manage part of their business.

But just as he glimpsed the dawn of success, he collided with Yang Meng. Years of careful planning were suddenly at risk. He didn’t want his efforts to go to waste. Though he knew this situation would hurt his standing with the Long family, he believed he could still redeem himself.

Brave and devoted—he was almost moved by his own performance.

Yang Meng patted him on the shoulder. “Alright, I admit I misjudged you. You’re very enlightened.”

Feng Tao was secretly pleased. If only Long Mingyang had said that instead. But he kept his face blank. “For Yao Yao, this is all I should do. So, what’s next? Do we need to match birth dates or something?”

Yang Meng shook his head. “No need. Since you’ve agreed, things are much simpler. I was going to knock you out, but now I won’t have to.”

“Knock me out?” Feng Tao sensed something was wrong. It felt like he’d overlooked something important. “Isn’t this dangerous?”

Yang Meng didn’t answer him. Instead, he turned to the black mist that had coalesced into Zhao Yun. “Alright, he’s yours now.”

No sooner had he spoken than the black mist swirled and engulfed Feng Tao.

Feng Tao cried out in terror, “What’s happening?”

Long Mingyang and the others shrank back in fear. Long Teng asked, “Brother Yang, what’s going on?”

Yang Meng tossed Long Teng’s wallet back to him. “What do you think is happening? Zhao Yun has taken him down to live with her.”

Everyone gasped in shock.

Feng Tao felt a cold dread wash over him. He struggled but found he couldn’t move. He shouted at Yang Meng, “Yang, I won’t forgive you—not even in death!”

Yang Meng lit a cigarette and looked at him. “You think I’m afraid of ghosts? Safe travels, my friend.”

The black mist wrapped tightly around Feng Tao until his voice was silenced. Soon the mist dispersed, leaving Feng Tao collapsed on the floor.

Yang Meng glanced at him. “Tsk, tsk. Zhao Yun is a considerate ghost; she left him his ‘Tai Guang.’ Well, a brand-new vegetable has been born. Hurry and call a doctor.”