Three, the end with the red silk

The surroundings became lively once again, as the wedding matron scattered joyous candies from her basket, and the children, noisy and playful, followed behind to pick them up.

Somehow, Sangmo suddenly recalled her absurd wedding with Shen Yanqing in her previous life.

The ceremony was far grander than today's but lacked the warmth and joviality. She heaved a silent sigh in her heart. Perhaps everything had been predestined.

The guests enthusiastically surrounded Shen Yanqing and escorted him inside.

Sangmo's heart was in suspense, fearing that he would discover the bride was her.

After much thought, she realized that at this time, Shen Yanqing had not yet met Su Jinyi, and she did not know him either.

With this in mind, Sangmo's heart settled down again.

During the wedding ceremony, just as the Ritual Officer announced "bow to Heaven and Earth," a ghastly wind suddenly rose in the hall.

Children's cries and guests' screams filled the air as everyone frantically ran for the exits.

Amidst the chaos, Sangmo spotted that shadowy white figure standing to the side, and her heart skipped a beat.

The next second, the main roof beam suddenly broke with a "crack," and screams echoed once more.

Sangmo was protected and taken into the bridal chamber.

Once the room's door was shut, the wedding matron and maids tried to console the bride, "Lady, be not afraid. This is just passing the future misfortunes ahead of time. From now on, you will surely live peacefully and happily, with husband and wife in harmony, and in three years... maybe even cradling two..."

As the wedding matron spoke, she suddenly fell silent and then "clang" collapsed onto the floor, motionless.

Sangmo was startled and silently gripped the dagger hidden in her sleeve.

Abrupt footstep sounds emerged in the room, slowly approaching Sangmo, step by ponderous step, as if intending to sink her into the mire.

In her line of sight, the pale moon-white figure appeared again—it was Shen Yanqing!!

Sangmo quickly lifted her veil to look at the person approaching.

That face, as stunning as in her previous life, caught her sight. She hesitated for a moment before she could speak, but she was suddenly seized by the shoulders and pushed into the bridal bed.

The red silk canopy glowed seductively under the candlelight, as sparks flickered, just like the twinkling stars emerging from Shen Yanqing's pupils.

His gaze was tumultuous, revealing a hint of ferocity as he quietly observed Sangmo, seemingly trying to see into her heart.

Shen Yanqing's imposing and feverish body pressed tightly against Sangmo's, his hands roving over her body. Suddenly, he grabbed the hand that held the dagger.

Sangmo whispered, "What are you doing, Grandmaster? This is the Gu Residence, and I am the wife of the Gu Family Head!"

Shen Yanqing twisted his mouth into a chilling smile, pressing her dagger-wielding hand above her head, "Are you sure you're today's bride?"

Sangmo was stunned. Shen Yanqing's actions today were bizarre, as if he was on some sort of drug.

Could it be that he had something urgent for her to do?

With this thought, Sangmo questioned him, "What do you want?"

"I want to prevent you from doing what you're supposed to do."

Before Sangmo could ponder the meaning of his words, he suddenly bit onto her lip.

He ravaged her mouth mercilessly, and his burning kiss insatiably spread to her neck.

Almost instantly, Sangmo subconsciously grabbed his hair at the back of his head, forcefully pulling his head out from her neck.

"Have you gone mad?" Sangmo gasped, astonished.

"Whether I'm mad or not, you'll know soon enough," said Shen Yanqing as he made to continue. Sangmo quickly bit her finger, muttered the incantation, and pushed Shen Yanqing away.

She swiftly drew a Teleportation Talisman in the air and vanished from the spot.

Guided by her memories from her last life, Sangmo arrived at a silent forest.

Strangely, she couldn't recall how she saved Gu Chao in her previous life.

She only remembered that Gu Chao suffered from amnesia and forgot his love for Su Jinyi.

And the key to resolving the issue was hidden within this forest.

There was not much time left for her; she had to resolve the matter before everyone discovered the bride had been switched.

Sangmo bit open his already-crusted middle finger again and smeared fresh blood across his eyes, "Heaven clear and Earth bright, yin murky yang open, with my fresh blood as the guide, Heavenly Eye, open!"

When he opened his eyes again, Sangmo's eyes had turned blood red.

He scanned the surroundings and indeed saw a group of guards in the southeast corner.

With his current strength, he could not defeat this group of guards, nor did he have enough vital blood to draw another Teleportation Talisman.

Fortunately, Sangmo spotted a dog hole leading to the dungeon on another hilltop.

Before he could get a clear view inside the dungeon through the dog hole, the Heavenly Eye closed.

He bypassed the group of guards and made his way to the dog hole.

The hole was neither too large nor too small, just big enough to let Sangmo crawl through. He followed the opening and crawled downwards.

The deeper he crawled, the more spacious it became, and when he calmed down, he could faintly hear some movement inside, like the sound of metal colliding.

Sangmo courageously crawled forward and finally heard the noise clearly—it was the sound of iron chains being pulled and slammed.

He crawled a few more steps forward and indeed saw a glimmer of light.

Ahead was a huge stone brick and that beam of light was shining through the cracks of the brick.

Sangmo listened quietly for a while, and once there was no sound inside, he slowly pushed the stone brick open.

He stuck his head out and met eyes with a man who looked exactly like Gu Chao.

The man was in blood-soaked clothing, despairingly half hung by seven or eight iron chains, and he too was shocked to see Sangmo.

Sangmo let out a startled cry and quickly retreated back into the hole.

"What's going on? Why is there a woman's voice?!" A fierce voice suddenly came through.

The man shook his head at her and then extended his foot to kick the stone brick back into place.

"Why was there a woman's voice here just now?" The rough voice said viciously.

"Perhaps you heard wrong," the man replied indifferently.

Footsteps circled around the cell, the jailer found nothing upon inspection, warned the man a few times, and then left.

Sangmo hid in the hole until someone kicked the stone brick three times, and then she pushed the brick open again.

"Ajin, why did you come?" The man asked with concern.

Sangmo understood that the Ajin he was referring to was Su Jinyi.

She almost instantly grasped the key point--the person Su Jinyi wanted her to save was the man before her.

He was the real Gu Chao, the one outside was fake.

What's going on?

Why is everything different from the past life?

Shen Yanqing has changed, and even Gu Chao!

Sangmo was momentarily unable to accept it, she patted her forehead, could it be that she was hallucinating?

She turned her head to look at Gu Chao, who was looking at her with a concerned face.

"What about you, why are you here? What happened? Who is that one outside?" Sangmo asked.

Gu Chao replied regretfully, "You must be worried, the one outside is my twin brother."

Seeing the shock on Sangmo's face, Gu Chao could not help but explain, "The Gu Family has had twins for generations, yet twins are considered ominous. Therefore, there is an unwritten rule in the Gu Family: among the twins, the stronger one is in the light, the weaker one in the shadow, sharing one name, supporting each other."

Which means the one inside is Gu Chao, and the one outside is also Gu Chao.

Then who was the Gu Chao that killed Sangmo in the previous life?

She suddenly remembered Su Jinyi's wish, "Save my beloved Gu Chao."

The "beloved" referred to whose beloved?

Which means, as long as Sangmo was involved, no matter who survived in the end, it would be considered completing the task.