The Bride Was Never A Ghost
4274 Words
The knocking came again.
Three times.
Pause.
Three times.
Pause.
Three times.
Wanning stared at the wall.
Gu didn’t move.
His face had gone completely still.
Not calm.
Still.
There was a difference.
Wanning had started learning that about him.
When Gu was annoyed, his expression barely changed.
When he was angry, his voice became quieter.
When something genuinely frightened him, he became almost motionless.
And right now, he wasn’t moving at all.
“Gu.”
Nothing.
She stepped closer.
“You know that voice.”
His eyes remained fixed on the wall.
“Yes.”
The answer was so quiet that Wanning almost missed it.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know.”
She stared at him.
“You just said you know the voice.”
“I recognize it.”
“That means you know it.”
“No.”
Wanning folded her arms.
“You’re doing that thing again.”
“What thing?”
“Answering a question without actually answering it.”
Gu finally looked at her.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
His eyebrows moved slightly.
“No?”
“I am tired of standing behind you while everyone keeps talking about me.”
“This isn’t about you.”
She pointed at the broken gemstone.
“It literally is.”
Gu looked down.
The piece of gemstone was still in her palm.
The inscription remained visible.
He was never Gu Chenyuan.
Wanning swallowed.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
She stared.
“You better not say that again.”
He ignored her.
The knocking stopped.
For a moment, there was complete silence.
Then the wall whispered.
“Chenyuan.”
Gu’s eyes narrowed.
The voice laughed.
“You forgot.”
Wanning looked at him.
“What did you forget?”
Nothing.
“Gu?”
His jaw tightened.
Then he walked toward the wall.
Wanning grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
“Why?”
“Because whatever is behind that wall wants you to go closer.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t.”
Gu looked down at her hand around his sleeve.
She immediately released him.
“I mean…”
She cleared her throat.
“We should think before doing something stupid.”
“That is reasonable.”
“Thank you.”
He stepped back.
The voice laughed again.
“You’ve always been afraid of remembering.”
Gu’s expression hardened.
“Show yourself.”
The wall remained silent.
Then a single sentence appeared.
Not written in ink.
Not carved.
It simply appeared across the wallpaper.
COME TO THE OLD HOUSE.
Wanning stared.
Gu did too.
“That’s where we’re going,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“And it knows.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
She groaned.
“I’m going to lose my mind.”
⸻
They left before sunrise.
Wanning packed quickly.
She didn’t tell anyone where they were going.
Not her parents.
Not Liliana.
Nobody.
Gu insisted on taking only what was necessary.
Wanning disagreed.
“You don’t know how long we’ll be there.”
“Two days.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that’s how long I need.”
She stuffed another shirt into her bag.
“What if we need three?”
“We won’t.”
“What if we do?”
“We won’t.”
She looked at him.
“You’re very confident.”
“I usually am.”
“That’s annoying.”
“I know.”
She zipped her bag.
“Did you sleep?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I was thinking.”
“About the voice?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember anything?”
Gu paused.
“A little.”
Wanning turned.
“What?”
“Nothing clear.”
“What do you remember?”
“A house.”
“Your old house?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“A woman.”
“Your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
Wanning stared at him.
“You really don’t remember her?”
“No.”
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared.”
“And you were born the same year?”
“Yes.”
“That can’t be a coincidence.”
“I know.”
She studied him.
For the first time, she wondered whether Gu was frightened by his own past.
Not the supernatural.
Not the woman in white.
Not the dead.
His own memories.
Maybe there were things inside his mind he didn’t want to find.
“Let’s go,” he said.
⸻
The journey to the old Gu residence was long.
Longer than Wanning expected.
The road became narrower as they left the city.
Buildings disappeared.
Trees replaced them.
The further they went, the more isolated everything became.
Wanning looked through the window.
“Your family owned this much land?”
“Yes.”
“How rich were you?”
Gu glanced at her.
“Very.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“It wasn’t important.”
“It is to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to understand what kind of family can have an entire estate hidden from the public.”
Gu said nothing.
Wanning continued.
“Everyone knows the Gu name.”
“Yes.”
“They know the hotels.”
“Yes.”
“The real estate.”
“Yes.”
“The companies.”
“Yes.”
“But almost nobody has seen you.”
“That was intentional.”
“Why?”
“Privacy.”
“Or hiding?”
He looked at her.
“Maybe both.”
She smiled.
“You finally said it.”
He returned his attention to the road.
They continued in silence.
After another hour, the road became strange.
The trees were too close.
Branches reached over the car.
The sky seemed darker.
Wanning checked her phone.
No signal.
She looked at Gu.
“Do you have reception?”
“No.”
“Wonderful.”
She leaned back.
“Why do all your family properties have terrible roads?”
“They were built a long time ago.”
“Your family had cars.”
“Not like now.”
“True.”
She looked out again.
Then she saw something.
A woman standing beside the road.
White dress.
Bare feet.
Wanning’s heart dropped.
“Stop.”
Gu immediately slowed.
“What?”
She pointed.
“There.”
The woman was gone.
Gu stopped the car.
He looked around.
Nothing.
Wanning opened the door.
“No.”
Gu caught her arm.
“Stay inside.”
“I saw her.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t.”
“I saw you react.”
Wanning stared.
“You don’t believe me.”
“I believe you saw something.”
She looked through the window.
The road was empty.
“Maybe I’m imagining things.”
“Maybe.”
She glared.
“Careful.”
He looked ahead.
“Let’s go.”
⸻
The old residence stood behind an enormous iron gate.
Wanning stared.
“This is a house?”
Gu parked.
“Yes.”
“It looks like a castle.”
“It used to be.”
She looked at the structure.
Unlike the mansion where she had stayed, this building looked older.
Darker.
The walls were covered with vines.
Several windows were broken.
The roof was partly collapsed.
Yet the front doors were intact.
Wanning got out.
The moment her feet touched the ground, the gemstone around her neck became warm.
She stopped.
“Gu.”
He turned.
“What?”
She touched it.
“It’s happening again.”
His eyes dropped to the gemstone.
“Don’t touch it.”
“Why?”
“It reacts to this place.”
“How do you know?”
“I remember.”
Wanning stared.
“You remember?”
“A little.”
She stepped closer.
“What do you remember?”
Gu looked at the house.
“I came here as a child.”
“You remember that?”
“Yes.”
“With your mother?”
He hesitated.
“I think so.”
Wanning noticed the uncertainty.
“You think?”
“I remember her hand.”
She looked at him.
“Her hand?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“She was running.”
“From what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Were you scared?”
“Yes.”
Gu rarely admitted fear.
That answer made Wanning uncomfortable.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go inside.”
“We have to.”
“Why?”
“Because the answers are there.”
Wanning sighed.
“Fine.”
They approached the door.
It opened before Gu touched it.
Wanning stopped.
“No.”
Gu looked at her.
“What?”
“Absolutely not.”
He glanced at the open door.
“It was locked.”
“Exactly.”
“Someone opened it.”
“Or something.”
Gu stepped inside.
Wanning remained outside.
He turned.
“You coming?”
“No.”
He waited.
She looked at the dark interior.
Then at him.
“You go first.”
He nodded.
“I expected that.”
⸻
The entrance hall was covered in dust.
Old paintings lined the walls.
Wanning recognized several faces from the photographs.
Gu family members.
Men.
Women.
Children.
Generations.
She stopped at one painting.
A young woman stood beside a man.
The woman wore the half-heart necklace.
Wanning moved closer.
“Is that Shen Yuexin?”
Gu looked.
“No.”
“Who?”
“My grandmother.”
Wanning turned.
“Your grandmother?”
“Yes.”
“She looks like the woman in the photograph.”
“She was.”
Wanning looked back at the painting.
“How old was she?”
“Twenty-three.”
“Do you know what happened to her?”
“She died here.”
Wanning’s eyes widened.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked at him.
“Again?”
“Yes.”
“Gu.”
He sighed.
“You’re right.”
“About what?”
“We need to find records.”
They moved deeper into the house.
A long corridor led toward several rooms.
Most were empty.
One door was locked.
Gu tried the handle.
Nothing.
Wanning looked at the lock.
“Can you open it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He pulled a key from his pocket.
She stared.
“You had that?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you use it earlier?”
“We didn’t need it.”
She rolled her eyes.
He unlocked the door.
Inside was a study.
Bookshelves.
A desk.
Old papers.
And a portrait.
Wanning stopped.
The man in the portrait looked like Gu.
Exactly like him.
She stared.
“That’s you.”
Gu looked at the painting.
“No.”
Wanning stepped closer.
“He looks exactly like you.”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Gu didn’t answer.
She looked at the plaque.
There was a name.
Gu Zhenyuan.
Wanning frowned.
“Gu Zhenyuan.”
Gu’s expression changed.
“What?”
“That’s almost your name.”
He stared at the portrait.
“Almost.”
Wanning looked between them.
“Maybe that’s who you were.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“I remember this man.”
“Who was he?”
“My father.”
Wanning stared.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“But I thought your father’s name was Gu Mingyuan.”
“It was.”
She frowned.
“Then who is Gu Zhenyuan?”
Gu remained silent.
“Gu?”
“I don’t know.”
Wanning threw her hands up.
“I’m going to scream.”
⸻
They searched the study.
The desk contained letters.
Most were damaged.
One document was dated one hundred and twenty-seven years ago.
Wanning looked at Gu.
“That is your birth year.”
“Yes.”
She read.
The child will carry the father’s name.
She continued.
But the name must change when the bride returns.
Wanning’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Gu took the paper.
His face became unreadable.
Another line was written underneath.
The child must never know his first name.
Wanning looked at him.
“You were given another name.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked around.
“There has to be something here.”
They searched further.
Then Wanning found a wooden drawer.
Inside were letters.
One had been addressed to:
My son, Chenyuan.
She opened it.
The handwriting was a woman’s.
If you ever read this, forgive me.
Wanning’s eyes widened.
She handed it to Gu.
He read.
His expression changed.
The letter continued.
You were never meant to grow up in this house.
Your father wanted to keep you here.
I wanted to take you away.
But the bride came.
Wanning whispered,
“What bride?”
Gu continued reading.
She said she would take you instead.
His fingers tightened around the paper.
I refused.
She became angry.
Your father chose her.
Wanning felt a chill.
“What happened next?”
Gu kept reading.
I hid you.
I made a deal.
If I gave myself to the dead, they would leave you alone.
Wanning covered her mouth.
Gu stopped reading.
“Continue,” she said.
He looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He read the final lines.
If you ever meet a woman wearing half the heart, don’t trust the face.
The face belongs to the dead.
The heart belongs to the living.
Then:
And whatever happens, never let her complete the heart.
The letter ended.
Wanning slowly touched the gemstone.
“What does completing it do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who has the other half?”
Gu looked at her.
“The man who was outside the village.”
“And the woman?”
“She may have another piece.”
Wanning stared.
“Another piece?”
“Yes.”
She remembered the c***k in the gemstone.
Her eyes widened.
“What if this isn’t two halves?”
Gu looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“What if there are more?”
⸻
A noise came from upstairs.
Both turned.
Footsteps.
Wanning whispered,
“Someone is here.”
Gu nodded.
“Stay behind me.”
She sighed.
“Fine.”
They climbed the staircase.
The footsteps stopped.
A door creaked.
Gu pushed it open.
Empty.
Wanning looked around.
“This house is huge.”
“Yes.”
“Could someone be hiding here?”
“Yes.”
“Could it be the old man?”
“Possibly.”
She glared.
He almost smiled.
“Sorry.”
“Good.”
They continued down the corridor.
Then Wanning noticed a room with a child’s drawing pinned to the wall.
She entered.
There were old toys.
A wooden horse.
A broken doll.
A small bed.
She looked at Gu.
“This was your room?”
“Yes.”
He stood in the doorway.
“I remember this.”
“What?”
“My mother.”
“What about her?”
“She used to sing here.”
Wanning waited.
“What song?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Do you remember her face?”
He looked at the old photograph on the wall.
“No.”
Wanning frowned.
“How can you remember her hand but not her face?”
Gu didn’t answer.
She walked closer.
“Maybe someone erased your memory.”
“Yes.”
“Can you remember anything about the night she disappeared?”
He closed his eyes.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then his breathing changed.
Wanning noticed.
“Gu?”
He opened his eyes.
“I remember fire.”
“Fire?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“This house.”
“What happened?”
“My mother was screaming.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who was she screaming at?”
Gu’s face tightened.
“A man.”
“Who?”
He looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
“Was it your father?”
“I can’t tell.”
Wanning stepped closer.
“Try.”
Gu closed his eyes again.
The room seemed to become colder.
Then a voice whispered behind them.
“Don’t.”
Wanning spun around.
The woman in white stood beside the door.
Gu immediately stepped in front of Wanning.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“You still don’t remember me.”
Gu’s voice became cold.
“Tell me your name.”
“You know it.”
“No.”
She looked at Wanning.
“He doesn’t.”
Wanning stared.
“Who are you?”
The woman walked closer.
“My name is Shen Yuexin.”
Wanning froze.
“You’re the first bride.”
“Yes.”
“You’re dead.”
The woman smiled.
“Yes.”
Gu’s eyes narrowed.
“Why are you here?”
“To take back what was stolen.”
“What was stolen?”
The woman looked at Wanning.
“The heart.”
Wanning touched her necklace.
“This?”
“Yes.”
“Why was it given to me?”
“Because your grandmother wanted to protect you.”
“From you?”
Shen Yuexin shook her head.
“No.”
“Then from whom?”
Her expression changed.
“The man who wears his face.”
Wanning looked at Gu.
“What does that mean?”
Shen Yuexin pointed at him.
“That is not your husband.”
Gu’s face hardened.
“Enough.”
The woman laughed.
“You don’t even know who you are.”
“Tell me.”
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“Then what should I ask?”
“Ask who died that night.”
Gu stepped toward her.
She disappeared.
Wanning grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
He stopped.
The room was empty.
She looked at him.
“She knew you.”
“Yes.”
“She said you’re not my husband.”
“I heard her.”
“She said someone wears your face.”
“I heard her.”
“Do you believe her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t believe dead people.”
Wanning stared.
“She is standing in front of us.”
“She may not be dead.”
“What?”
Gu looked toward the empty doorway.
“She may be something else.”
⸻
They spent the next hour searching the room.
Wanning found another box.
Inside were old documents.
One had the name Shen Yuexin.
She opened it.
It wasn’t a death certificate.
It was a marriage contract.
But the groom’s name had been scratched out.
Wanning showed Gu.
“Someone removed his name.”
“Yes.”
“Can we recover it?”
“Maybe.”
He held the paper beneath a lamp.
The faded ink became visible.
Wanning leaned closer.
The first letters appeared.
G… C…
She looked at Gu.
“Gu Chenyuan.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
The next letters became clearer.
Gu Zhenyuan.
Wanning’s blood ran cold.
“Your father?”
“No.”
“But that’s the man in the portrait.”
Gu stared at the document.
Then he said,
“That’s my name.”
Wanning looked at him.
“What?”
“My original name.”
Silence.
“Gu Zhenyuan.”
“Yes.”
“You were called that?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before Chenyuan.”
Wanning stared.
“Why did your name change?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t remember?”
“No.”
She sat down.
“This is too much.”
Gu remained standing.
Then he found another document.
It was a birth record.
He read it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
“Gu?”
He handed it to her.
Wanning read.
Name: Gu Zhenyuan.
Mother: Gu Meilin.
Father: Unknown.
Wanning looked up.
“Unknown?”
“Yes.”
“Your father wasn’t listed.”
“No.”
“But you said Gu Mingyuan was your father.”
“He raised me.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
Wanning looked at the date.
One hundred and twenty-seven years ago.
Then another line.
Cause of death: Not applicable.
She frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Gu stared at the document.
“It means I was never recorded as dying.”
Wanning’s mouth went dry.
“You were born…”
She looked at him.
“…but there is no record that you died.”
“No.”
“Then how were you alive one hundred and twenty-seven years later?”
Gu didn’t answer.
Wanning whispered,
“Maybe you didn’t stay alive.”
He looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe you died too.”
The room became silent.
Gu stared at her.
Wanning continued.
“Maybe the man standing here isn’t the same person who was born one hundred and twenty-seven years ago.”
Gu’s expression changed.
The woman in white’s words returned.
The man who wears his face.
Wanning suddenly understood why the inscription frightened her.
He was never Gu Chenyuan.
Maybe Gu Chenyuan wasn’t a person.
Maybe it was a name.
A name passed from one body to another.
A role.
A curse.
A promise.
She looked at Gu.
“Who are you?”
He didn’t answer.
Not because he refused.
Because he genuinely didn’t know.
⸻
Meanwhile, Liliana sat in her room staring at her phone.
The mysterious number had sent another message.
Did you find out?
Liliana typed:
Find out what?
What Gu Chenyuan is.
She hesitated.
Then typed:
Not yet.
The reply came immediately.
Then go to the old residence.
Liliana’s eyes widened.
How do you know about that?
No response.
She called the number.
Nothing.
A new message appeared.
Wanning is there.
Liliana stood.
“How?”
Another message.
If you want to save your sister, go now.
Liliana stared at the words.
She didn’t trust the sender.
But she trusted even less the feeling growing inside her.
Something was wrong.
She grabbed her bag.
⸻
At the old residence, Wanning and Gu finally left the bedroom.
The house seemed different now.
The corridors looked longer.
The shadows deeper.
Wanning held the birth record.
“We need to leave.”
Gu nodded.
“Yes.”
They reached the staircase.
Then the front door slammed shut.
Wanning jumped.
Gu looked toward it.
“Don’t move.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
The house went dark.
Wanning reached for her phone.
No signal.
Then a woman’s voice echoed from upstairs.
“Gu Zhenyuan.”
Gu looked up.
The voice continued.
“You remember now.”
He said nothing.
“Come upstairs.”
“No.”
“You want to know who you are.”
“Yes.”
“Then come.”
Wanning looked at him.
“Don’t.”
Gu looked at her.
“You’re right.”
He turned away from the stairs.
“We’re leaving.”
The voice laughed.
“You cannot leave.”
The doors locked.
Windows slammed shut.
Wanning’s gemstone became burning hot.
She cried out.
Gu immediately turned.
“What happened?”
“It hurts.”
He reached toward the necklace.
The moment his fingers touched it, the heat disappeared.
Wanning stared.
Gu stared too.
Then the gemstone began glowing.
Not brightly.
Just enough to reveal something on the wall.
A hidden doorway.
Wanning pointed.
“Look.”
Gu moved toward it.
There was a carving above the door.
Two names.
Gu Zhenyuan
and
Shen Yuexin
Underneath them was one sentence.
THE FIRST MARRIAGE CREATED THE SECOND LIFE.
Wanning stared.
“What does that mean?”
Gu touched the carving.
The door opened.
Inside was a narrow room.
A single chair stood in the middle.
And sitting on it was an old woman.
Wanning stopped.
The woman slowly lifted her head.
She looked exactly like the woman from the photograph.
Shen Yuexin.
But older.
Human.
Alive.
Wanning whispered,
“You’re not dead.”
The woman smiled.
“No.”
Gu stared at her.
“Who are you?”
She looked at him.
Then smiled sadly.
“My son.”
Gu froze.
Wanning’s eyes widened.
The woman stood.
“You finally came home, Zhenyuan.”
Gu took a step backward.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My mother disappeared.”
“I did.”
“You died.”
“I did not.”
“Then where have you been?”
The woman’s eyes filled with tears.
“Hiding.”
“From who?”
She looked toward Wanning.
“From her.”
Wanning’s face changed.
“Me?”
The woman nodded.
“Not you.”
She pointed to the gemstone.
“The woman inside it.”
Wanning stared.
“What?”
The woman whispered,
“The bride was never a ghost.”
She looked at Gu.
“She was trapped in the heart.”
Then she looked at Wanning.
“And now she has found a new body.”
Wanning stepped backward.
“No.”
The woman smiled sadly.
“She has been waiting for you.”
Gu moved between them.
“What is her name?”
The old woman looked frightened.
Then she whispered the name.
A name Wanning had never heard before.
A name that made the gemstone around her neck c***k a second time.
And somewhere inside the walls, a woman began laughing.
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