Married to the Grim Reaper Against My Will

Zhang Keke's secret

When Ji Mian returned to the Heavenly Palace, Xiang Shu was already waiting at the boundary marker.

Ji Mian was a little late, and he was somewhat anxious. The moment he saw Ji Mian, he visibly relaxed, but soon noticed something was wrong.

Xiang Shu silently walked with her towards the Zhengyang Hall, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Why are you crying?"

"No, I'm not."

Ji Mian lied guiltily. Xiang Shu, being gentle and considerate, didn't ask any further questions. But anyone with eyes could see the redness around her eyes and know what was going on.

There was a distance from the boundary marker to the Zhengyang Hall. Ji Mian walked silently for a while, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Xiang Shu, are you still handling my aunt's affairs?"

"It's progressing, why?"

"Do you know if anything major has happened to my aunt's family recently? It should be related to Shi Jiancheng."

Ji Mian felt strange. Ever since Jiang Wang questioned her calling Shi Jiancheng her uncle, she couldn't bring herself to call him "uncle" anymore, nor could she call him a "beast."

"I know a little."

There were corridors and pavilions along the roadside. Xiang Shu gestured for her to sit down there and talk slowly.

"About a month ago, Shi Jiancheng, for some unknown reason, ran naked in the commercial center and was arrested and taken to the police station. The next day, Ji Xiuan bailed him out, and since then, his mental state hasn't been quite right..."

According to Xiang Shu, since that day, Shi Jiancheng seemed to be possessed, often shouting about ghosts. However, when they took him to a mental health institution for evaluation, he acted completely normal, and since the evaluation didn't meet the criteria, the hospital couldn't forcibly admit him. But as soon as he got home, he started saying he was seeing ghosts, especially at night, screaming and crying hysterically all night long. Ji Xiuan and Shi Man both had jobs or school during the day, and they simply couldn't endure his behavior anymore. Shi Man had already moved out to stay at a friend's house.

Ji Xiuan and Shi Jiancheng worked at the same company, and worried about gossip, so they didn't dare to move out. They couldn't sleep at night because of the noise, and had to force themselves to go to work during the day. Now they were almost at their breaking point.

Moreover, Shi Jiancheng's condition was getting worse and worse; he was almost unable to take care of himself, and would probably need someone to take care of him full-time in the future.

After hearing this, Ji Mian sat motionless in the small pavilion, feeling completely numb.

No wonder Ji Xiuan came to find her and ask her to come back. When a family has someone who can't take care of themselves, it usually drags down the entire family. Even the most devoted children can't endure caring for a sick parent indefinitely, let alone a spouse? Shi Jiancheng was still young; if he couldn't recover, he might burden Ji Xiuan for decades.

Every day, she was tormented by trivialities and pain, like being trapped in hell, seeing no end and finding no way out.

Ji Xiuan wanted her to come back for no other reason than to have her help take care of Shi Jiancheng, to share her suffering. Even if it meant going to hell in the end, she wanted someone to go with her.

Her face was pale, and she was completely frozen in place. "What's wrong?" Xiang Shu noticed something was amiss. "What happened?"

Ji Mian snapped back to reality. "My aunt wants me to go back."

Xiang Shu's eyes widened suddenly, and he said sharply, "No! That's a quagmire; once you go in, you can't get out."

"I know, I won't go back." Ji Mian lowered her eyes, looking at her pale fingers, and said somewhat dejectedly, "Since I lost my parents and went to live with the Shi family, I've known that no one in this world will ever truly love me again. I never expected my aunt to treat me like her own daughter, as she said she would, but I also didn't expect her to do this."

To shift the disaster onto her, to drag her down to hell with her.

Ji Mian didn't speak for a long time, slowly processing her emotions, and then, as if something occurred to her, she looked at Xiang Shu with a questioning gaze.

"Shi Jiancheng said he saw a ghost?"

She only said this one sentence, but Xiang Shu understood immediately and quickly explained, "It wasn't me. Although we have many abilities beyond those of humans, there are rules we must follow; we can't just do whatever we want. And if it were someone under my command who did it, I would definitely know—"

Xiang Shu stopped speaking abruptly, his expression becoming serious as he looked at Ji Mian.

Ji Mian wasn't stupid at all; she had already guessed what Xiang Shu hadn't finished saying. He would know if someone under his command did it, but he wouldn't necessarily know if someone above him did it.

He was essentially the head steward of Yunxiu Heavenly Palace, and the only people with higher status than him were the four masters of Yunxiu Heavenly Palace. “Three… the three ancestors?”

Ji Mian was incredibly surprised. The three ancestors were easygoing, but they didn't seem like the type to meddle in such trivial matters.

Xiang Shu frowned and remained silent for a long time, then hesitantly said, "Using ghosts to disrupt human life is against the rules. Since no one died, it's considered a borderline violation. The three ancestors are easygoing, but they're not the kind of people who would test the boundaries of the rules. However, the Divine Lord…”

The Divine Lord was unconventional and disregarded rules. He didn't dare say that part out loud.

Ji Mian had already raised the question: "If it was the Divine Lord, why would he do this?"

Xiang Shu was stumped and remained silent for a long time.

"I need to talk to the ancestors about this. If it wasn't them or the Divine Lord, then there might be a powerful figure we don't know about hiding in the shadows, which isn't a good thing."

Upon returning to the Heavenly Palace, Xiang Shu went directly to the Shouyang Palace, while Ji Mian returned to the Zhengyang Palace where Lord Xuanyang resided.

As soon as she entered the main hall, she saw the large portrait of Lord Xuanyang hanging in the center.

After looking at it for a long time, she seemed to have gotten used to his green face and fangs. When she suddenly saw it again, she didn't feel afraid anymore. She looked at the monstrous figure in the portrait, paused for a moment, and then walked over. "Could it be you?" She unconsciously touched her forehead, muttering, "It shouldn't be. You probably hate me, so how could you help me? But I'm already grateful that you let me live."

Xiao Luo came out of the side hall and happened to see the lady standing in front of the deity's portrait with a look of deep affection, murmuring her feelings to herself.

He hid to the side, watching, his heart softening. He secretly thought that the deity was really young and didn't know how to cherish things. Not only did he not see the lady, but he also ruined the doll she made. How sad the lady must be to see it.

Thinking this, Xiao Luo came back to his senses and quickly walked back to the corridor, wanting to hide the broken weather doll.

But just as he got his hands on the doll, he heard the lady's voice behind him—

"Xiao Luo, why did you take it down?"

Ji Mian asked, her gaze falling on the doll in Xiao Luo's hands, noticing a hole in the round head of the weather doll.

She casually asked, "How did it break?"

Xiao Luo's expression was unnatural. He scratched his head and stammered softly, "The... the deity... he... he did it accidentally..."

Ji Mian: ...

How could he be so careless? The doll was hanging so far away; you couldn't touch it without deliberately going over there. It was clearly done on purpose. Ji Mian's understanding of that fierce deity changed slightly. He never appeared, had a very bad temper, and was very powerful, but he had never truly harmed anyone. He had a temper, and he deliberately broke the doll. She seemed more like a naive child.

She smiled and said to Xiao Luo, "It's alright, give it to me, I'll sew it."

"Madam, you're so kind!" Xiao Luo was genuinely moved by her gentle nature, and said with a determined expression, "Madam, please rest assured, I will work even harder to persuade the Divine Lord to come back and see you!"

Ji Mian, holding the doll, froze: ...Really, there's no need.

Ji Mian was going to spend her May Day holiday in the Heavenly Palace. Fortunately, she didn't have to do anything or worry about anything there, so she could study in peace.

She basically spent all day on the grassy platform. She and Xiao Zhi moved a table and chairs to the platform, and she buried herself in her homework while Xiao Zhi kept her company.

But Xiao Zhi wasn't the quiet type; after a while, she wanted to fly out and play, and cautiously asked her, "Madam, Madam, can I go out and play for a while?"

Ji Mian stopped writing, looked up, and smiled at her, "Of course you can, you can do whatever you want, you don't need to ask me."

"Madam, why are you so kind?" Xiao Zhi's mouth drooped, looking incredibly regretful, and she reached out to touch Ji Mian's long hair that was spread out behind her, "When will the Divine Lord realize how precious you are, and tie up your hair for you?"

Hearing her mention her hair, Ji Mian's face flushed. Her long hair was inconvenient in many situations, for example, now, when she lowered her head to write, her hair would slide down her shoulders and cover her homework.

But no matter how inconvenient it was, she insisted on wearing her hair down. Because in the Heavenly Palace, having her hair tied up meant she had slept with the Divine Lord...

What kind of strange rule was that!

The thought of it made her feel uneasy; she wished she could never tie her hair up again.

Ji Mian awkwardly tucked her long hair behind her ears, blushing, and said, "Go play, you don't need to stay with me. I have to do my homework."

Xiao Zhi happily transformed into a bird and flew away.

Ji Mian sat in the meadow all day, doing her homework. When she got tired, she would walk around in the grass or lie on the ground and stare at the sky.

Xiao Zhi flew back and forth, bringing her fruits and wildflowers each time, and once even brought a bug, which made Ji Mian scream in fright.

Xiao Zhi even deliberately teased her, transforming into human form and pretending to eat the bug, making Ji Mian quickly try to stop her.

The two laughed and played, spending day after day in the meadow.

Xiang Shu was really busy; Ji Mian didn't see him for several days. When she finally saw him again, the May Day holiday was almost over.

When Xiang Shu came to the meadow, he was dressed the same as last time, with his hair in a bun and wearing a long robe, but carrying a laptop. Ji Mian was about to laugh, but then she realized she was no different, wearing a silk dress while doing math and science homework.

The two exchanged glances, as if they had a tacit understanding, and both burst into laughter. “Sorry, I said I’d teach you teleportation, but it’s been so long.” Xiang Shu said, conjuring a table and chairs opposite Ji Mian, setting down his things, and sitting down. “I’ve been so busy, I only have this half-day free, and I’m still tied to my laptop. I’ll probably end up marrying a sentient laptop in this lifetime.”

Ji Mian rested her chin on her hand, listening to his nonsense, and chuckled.

Xiang Shu also laughed, shaking his head as he did so. “Living a long time isn’t so great either. Others work for a few decades, but I have to work for hundreds of years.”

Ji Mian was silent for a moment, then looked at him and asked seriously, “Isn’t this kind of life rather meaningless?”

Xiang Shu’s smile froze for a moment, then he smiled again, fiddling with his computer as he said, “For thousands of years, companion spirits have spent their lives like this. There’s no such thing as meaningful or meaningless.” He finished setting up his computer and looked up at Ji Mian. “Do you want to learn teleportation?”

Seeing Ji Mian nod, Xiang Shu opened his palm, and a small red bead, about the size of a mung bean, appeared in mid-air.

The bead floated in the air for a moment, then slowly flew over and landed on Ji Mian’s table. Ji Mian’s eyes widened in surprise, and she carefully observed the bead, but didn’t dare to reach out and touch it.

Xiang Shu couldn’t help but laugh at her surprised expression. “This is very easy. You just need to use this bead. If you have a place you want to go, just think of that place in your mind, and then crush the bead. Don’t worry, the bead will teleport you to the nearest unoccupied location to where you want to go; you won’t be exposed.”

“That’s so amazing?” Ji Mian carefully touched the bead with her index finger, then looked up at Xiang Shu. Xiang Shu's smile deepened, and he retorted, "In your eyes, what in the Heavenly Palace isn't magical?"

Ji Mian thought about it and felt a little embarrassed for her overreaction, giving a faint smile.

Xiang Shu raised his chin, gesturing towards the beads on the table, "Want to try it?"

Ji Mian quickly shook her head, "No need, I don't have anywhere I want to go."

Actually, she was still a little scared. For someone who had lived a normal life for seventeen years, it was still difficult to immediately process these fantastical things.

"Okay, then when you have a place you want to go, you can try it."

Ji Mian understood the implication in his words and asked in surprise, "You mean, this can be given to me?"

Xiang Shu was amused by her reaction and began to speak in a playful tone, "Madam, everything in the Heavenly Palace belongs to you and the Divine Lord. It's not a gift; it's already yours."

Ji Mian: ...

When he deliberately spoke like that, Ji Mian was speechless. Xiang Shu was even more amused by her speechless expression. He took out a porcelain bottle and handed it to Ji Mian, "There are probably over a hundred more in here..."

"No need, I probably won't ever need them. This one is enough as a souvenir."

Xiang Shu didn't say much more, and put the porcelain bottle away. Seeing Ji Mian looking at the little bead, unsure what to do with it, he held up his phone and showed it to her, "Put it here, it's very convenient."

Ji Mian looked up and saw a small red bead attached to the edge of the speaker hole on his phone case.

"This way it won't get lost, and it's very convenient when you need to use it."

Ji Mian imitated him and also attached the small red bead to the edge of the speaker hole on her phone case.

Ji Mian liked to do everything steadily, step by step, so she thought she would never use this teleportation tool; she just kept it there as a souvenir. She still preferred to take the express train back to her neighborhood and the bus to school.

But she didn't expect that she would use this bead in just one week.

It was the weekend, and like every weekend, she was studying at Tiangong Grassland, planning to go down the mountain back to the city at five o'clock, when her phone rang.

It was a video from Zhang Keke.

Since Zhang Keke started living with her, Zhang Keke knew that Ji Mian went back to "her own home" every week. Although Zhang Keke sometimes found it strange that Ji Mian, such a well-behaved girl, would leave home and live on her own, she never asked, just as Ji Mian never asked about her past. Ji Mian respected her past, and she wouldn't pry into Ji Mian's secrets either.

Ji Mian had almost finished her homework and was preparing to pack up and head back to the city. Without thinking much, she put down her pen and answered the video call.

Zhang Keke's heavily made-up face appeared on the screen, and Ji Mian immediately asked, "Keke, are you going to a bar?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way to Tianhe. Aren't you coming back soon? Contact me when you're near the bar. If I'm done, we can have a late-night snack together before going back, okay?"

On the screen, Zhang Keke was carrying a guitar and chatting with her while walking. From the image, she seemed to be walking in a narrow alley, the environment was quite messy, and the walls on both sides were piled with old furniture.

"Let me tell you, yesterday after we finished, Old Geng took us to have a late-night snack, and the seafood porridge there was absolutely amazing, you'll definitely like it. I'll be done earlier today... Holy crap!"

Before Zhang Keke could finish speaking, a sudden commotion erupted, and then the camera started shaking wildly.

Ji Mian's heart skipped a beat, and she vaguely felt that something had happened. She tried to take a deep breath...

Ji Mian took a deep breath to calm herself down, lest she act impulsively and make things worse. Something must have happened suddenly to Zhang Keke; she didn't even have time to hang up the video call. Judging from the shaking of the video, she was probably running with her phone in her hand.

The phone continuously transmitted noisy and chaotic sounds, but the sounds were too jumbled for Ji Mian to make out what was being said.

Ji Mian forced herself to calm down and seriously think of a solution. Zhang Keke and Jiang Wang were close, and their group often got into fights, making many enemies. This incident was probably related to those conflicts.

Find Jiang Wang! Yes, call Jiang Wang and tell him to go to the alley near the bar to find Zhang Keke!

Ji Mian's hands trembled as she prepared to hang up the video call and call Jiang Wang, but then she saw the video screen change rapidly, and with a clatter, the image froze.

The phone must have been thrown during the conflict.

Then, she saw a terrifying scene in the frozen image. The phone had fallen to the ground, the camera facing upwards, and she could clearly see a figure on the top floor of a building next to the alley, holding a brick and peering out.

It seemed they were waiting for Zhang Keke to pass by so they could throw the brick down at her.

Ji Mian broke out in a cold sweat. Even the worst school fights wouldn't escalate to this life-threatening level. What kind of grudge was this?

She didn't have time to think further, and shouted loudly at the screen, "Keke, don't come over, don't come over!"

But Zhang Keke was being chased; how could she not run in that direction? The phone must have been thrown quite far away, as Ji Mian shouted for a long time without any response. It was probably only half a minute, and Jiang Wang was definitely not someone she could rely on.

Ji Mian didn't hesitate any longer and crushed the bead hidden in her phone case. Almost in the blink of an eye, the scene before her changed; she was now standing at the entrance of an empty alley.

Ji Mian didn't have time to be surprised. In the alley, Zhang Keke was already running towards her, with several shabbily dressed men chasing after her.

"Ji Mian?!"

Seeing Ji Mian at the alley entrance, she widened her eyes in surprise.

Ji Mian ignored her, not even pausing for a moment. She rushed forward like a cannonball, directly tackling her, and the two of them fell to the ground together.

"What are you doing—"

"Bang!" A brick smashed near them, shattering into several pieces.

It was only a matter of seconds.

If Ji Mian hadn't tackled her, if she had run to that spot...

Zhang Keke broke out in a cold sweat, even forgetting to consider why Ji Mian was there. The shock of narrowly escaping death left her speechless. She hugged Ji Mian tightly, venting her emotions with a low growl, but tears streamed down her face, falling onto Ji Mian's thin shoulders.

Ji Mian had anticipated this scene and had already planned her response, remaining much calmer than her. Just as Zhang Keke hugged her, she quickly pressed a shortcut key on her phone, then reached out and hid the phone under an old TV cabinet.

The people chasing them had caught up, and people from the apartment building also came running down. They were surrounded, trapped in a deserted alley.

"Keke, where are we now? Any landmarks?" Ji Mian quickly asked before the others surrounded them.

Zhang Keke was still emotionally agitated, and subconsciously replied, "The alley across the street from Tianhe, there's the Jinhe Hotel nearby."

As soon as she finished speaking, shouts and curses erupted—

"Damn it, where did these girls come from?"

Several men walked up to them. They were all dressed in an exaggerated manner, clearly looking like trouble.

The man who came down from the apartment building was dressed normally, but his eyes, as he looked at Zhang Keke, held a chilling malice.

He rushed over in a fit of rage, snatched a stick from one of the men, and raised it to strike Zhang Keke.

Ji Mian instinctively turned her back, shielding Zhang Keke with her body, but the expected pain didn't come. The man was stopped by a burly man.

"Zhao Huan, are you crazy? If you hit her, that's attempted murder!"

The burly man snatched the stick from his hand. Zhang Keke had recovered from the shock of the near-miss with the falling object. She pulled Ji Mian to her feet, shielding her behind her, and looked up at the man named Zhao Huan.

“Zhao Huan, if you have a problem, come at me, don’t trouble my friend.”

Zhao Huan gritted his teeth and slapped her across the face. “Don’t trouble her? If it weren’t for her, I would have accidentally killed you with that ‘falling object’! I wouldn’t mind going to jail for a few years for ‘manslaughter’ if it meant you were dead!”

As Zhao Huan spoke, he turned to look at Ji Mian behind her. His eyes were burning red with anger and hatred, and Ji Mian trembled in fear.

“You don’t want me to touch your friend? I’ll let you experience the despair of watching your friend get beaten because of you, and you being powerless to do anything about it.” Zhao Huan was extremely agitated, pointing at Zhang Keke and shouting hoarsely, his face flushed red, and veins bulging in his neck. “I’m ten times more desperate than that!”

After roaring, he grabbed Ji Mian’s arm and dragged her over. Zhang Keke lunged at him, trying to fight him off, but several burly men grabbed her and pinned her against the wall, forcing her to watch Ji Mian being beaten.

A young girl’s strength was no match for a man’s. No matter how much Zhang Keke struggled, it was useless, and Ji Mian couldn’t break free from Zhao Huan’s grip either.

Zhao Huan grabbed her hair and pulled hard, forcing her face upwards.

Every move he made was filled with intense hatred, his actions rough, causing Ji Mian’s scalp to ache, and she couldn’t help but let out a gasp. "She's quite pretty, the kind of delicate and vulnerable type that men like," Zhao Huan said with a sarcastic laugh. "But I can only go to jail for Zhang Keke, so you won't get to experience how strong I am. But you can enjoy a slap from me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand to strike, but before it could land, a piece of broken brick hit him directly in the lower back. He let out a muffled groan, his features contorted in pain.

"Try moving one more time, you bastard."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice. At the entrance of the alley, Jiang Wang walked towards them against the light, dragging a baseball bat that scraped against the ground, making a chilling hissing sound.

"Every single one of you will have to kneel down before me today."