The scythe of code and bone tore through fabric, then flesh, with a wet, tearing sound that echoed in the vast, still air of the opera house. Jinxi sucked in air through clenched teeth, his stare locked onto Liuli's. Spasms racked his spine, jarring every tendon. It was as if his very essence was being ripped from its moorings. His body sagged, the embrace loosening. A numbing freeze sank into his breastbone, stiffening the marrow like frost across circuitry. His skin fractured into flickers of blue gridlines. The edges of his vision blurred into static, the vibrant colors of Liuli’s gaze flickering to grayscale. A low hum resonated in his bones, the sound of his spirit being parsed, categorized, prepared for upload. [NetherDash: Groom's Soul Signature Detected. Commencement of Data Extraction: 10%...] Liuli shrieked, the shriek shaking the timber beams and ripping the lingering funeral flutes to shreds. Her hands, still clasped with Jinxi’s, squeezed with desperate strength. Her pupils flared black, hollowed out by pure hatred. Dong Rui, his monstrous arm still impaled in Jinxi, laughed, a triumphant, rattling sound like a bag of broken glass. “Too slow, groom! Your witty banter can’t outrun my code. Now, Liuli, watch your beloved become fuel for my ascension!” Liuli ignored him, her focus pinned on the blue light shredding Jinxi's collarbones. This wasn’t how it ended. Not after everything. “No,” she snarled, a guttural sound that vibrated with raw power. “You don’t get to take him.” Dong Rui paused, a flicker of irritation crossing his glitching features. “Foolish phantom. He’s already mine.” But Liuli ignored him. She hauled Jinxi inward, disregarding the split flesh of his chest as his knuckles began shedding faint static. She brought her lips to his, not a gentle kiss, but a fierce, desperate joining. It was an unyielding graft, forcing spirit into meat. Her translucent skin hardened to porcelain as heavy crimson radiance poured between their lips. Jinxi inhaled against her mouth; the pixelated haze cleared, replaced by an inferno of red light scouring his marrow. It burned, searing away the cold numbness of digitization, knitting together the torn flesh of his chest. It wasn’t just healing; it was *life*, potent and overwhelming, flooding every cell. He felt the ghost-vitality, millennia of accumulated power, rushing into him, lashing his fraying soul back into its physical frame. The two prior bows snapped shut like iron brackets, binding living pulse to ancient ghosthood. The kiss deepened, sealing not just their lips but their very beings, forging a bond that transcended mortal understanding, a paradox born of love and desperation. [NetherDash: ERROR. Unforeseen Soul Merging Detected. Groom's Soul Signature... Incompatible. Recalibrating...] The scythe embedded in Jinxi began to hiss, its runic glow sputtering against the encroaching crimson tide. Dong Rui’s triumphant sneer twisted into a snarl of confusion, then outright panic. “What have you *done*?!” he shrieked, struggling to pull his arm free, but it was stuck, fused to the paradoxical energy radiating from the embrace. "This isn't possible! His signature is gone! Replaced!" [NetherDash: ERROR: Irreconcilable Soul-Bind. Core Protocol Violation. Application Stability Critical. Initiating Emergency Server Purge...] Red alert banners strobed across the decaying theater walls, bathing the peeling gilt in crimson. The floorboards groaned and buckled. Dong Rui's silhouette fractured, tearing apart in deafening bursts of feedback. His server-wire tendrils withered, snapping like dry twigs. The paper-ghost hide tore loose, exposing ragged syntax that unraveled into gray ash. “No! This is *my* ascension! I *built* this!” Dong Rui roared, his voice distorting into a cacophony of screeching feedback as his form disintegrated. He clawed at the air, at the dissolving theater, but it was useless. The purge was absolute. [NetherDash: Failed Harvest. Administrator Override Protocol Engaged. User Dong Rui Purged from Server. Termination Status: Permanent.] With a screech like tearing sheet metal, Dong Rui collapsed into a vortex of dark light that caved into the center stage boards. Then, silence. An absolute, terrifying silence. The Liyuan Grand Opera House shuddered one last time, a final, weary sigh. The crimson drapes shriveled, their vibrant hue draining to a dull, faded red. The paper figures, musicians and bridesmaids alike, crumbled into heaps of dust and brittle parchment. The shrieking suona horns cut dead, and the layered dimensions peeled away, leaving only rotting lath and plaster. The stage lights flickered, died, and then the first weak rays of dawn filtered through the broken skylight, painting the dust-filled air in hues of soft grey and pale gold. The grand hall was just a dilapidated, forgotten ruin again, still and quiet. The red wedding lanterns lay shattered, just trash. The gilded ornaments were merely tarnished. The app on his phone remained completely, blessedly silent. Liuli drew back, blood-warmth flushing her jaw. Jinxi gasped, a deep, shuddering breath of air that smelled of dust and old wood, not blood or fear. His chest was whole, no wound, only a faint, phantom warmth where the scythe had struck. His pulse thumped steady beneath whole skin. Liuli, however, was different. Her red bridal gown was still there, but it no longer shimmered with spectral energy. It hung naturally, a heavy, embroidered silk. Her hair, once flowing like smoke, was now a glossy black, soft and real against her shoulders. Her eyes, bright with mockery, held tangible, living depth. She reached out, her fingers warm and firm, brushing a stray strand of hair from his face. “Well, groom,” she whispered, a playful glint returning to her gaze, “we finally finished the last bow. What do you say, five-star rating for that matrimony?” Jinxi stared at her, then down at his miraculously healed chest, then back at her beautiful, solid face. A slow, incredulous grin stretched across his lips. “Five stars?” he scoffed, his voice thick with emotion. “Baby, that was off the charts. That was like, infinite stars. Are you… are you real?” He reached out, hesitantly touching her cheek. Her skin was warm, soft. “As real as you make me, husband,” she murmured, leaning into his touch. Her eyes twinkled. “Though I might still haunt your fridge for midnight snacks.” Jinxi laughed, a genuine, joyful sound that echoed strangely in the quiet ruin. He pulled her into a tight hug, inhaling the scent of her, which was now faint jasmine and old silk, not ozone and fear. “Good. Because I'm starving. And I think I’m going to need a bigger scooter for this kind of ride.” He stepped back, surveying the hollow hall. His battered delivery scooter, miraculously intact, lay propped against a crumbling pillar. The sun, a brilliant orange, was now fully visible, painting the world outside the broken windows with the promise of a new day. “Come on, trickster bride,” Jinxi grinned, already moving towards his ride, a swagger back in his step. “Let’s get out of here. I think I’ve earned a vacation from my delivery route. And you, my five-star wife, deserve a world where you don’t have to play hostess to a bunch of paper creeps.” Liuli laughed, a melodious sound that chased away the lingering shadows. She twirled, her red gown flaring, then ran to him, hopping onto the pillion seat with an ease that suggested she’d ridden countless times before. Jinxi revved the engine, the familiar growl a comforting sound in the silence. He glanced back, catching her mischievous gaze in his rearview mirror. She looped her arms around his waist, holding on tight. “Where to, husband?” she asked, her voice a warm whisper against his ear. “Anywhere but here, I hope.” “Anywhere you want to go,” Jinxi promised, his voice brimming with a newfound freedom. He twisted the throttle, and the scooter, a symbol of his mundane life now transformed into a chariot of triumphant escape, roared to life. They shot out of the Liyuan Grand Opera House, leaving the crumbling ruins behind, riding towards the rising sun, towards whatever waited past the city limits.

Five-Star Matrimony