I Became the Most Popular Character by Acting as a Villain in the Manga

Chapter 25

Bai Xuechao cooperatively walked onto the stage, standing in the empty spot in the first row.

“Good, good!” The Ghost King picked up the red veil from the sedan chair Bai Xuechao had sat in, shook off the dust, and scurried onto the stage to cover Bai Xuechao again. As he walked away, Bai Xuechao could still hear his "hehehe" perverted laughter.

Bai Xuechao: “…”

Festive music began, and the Ghost Brides changed positions at a dizzying speed, causing the tourists to gasp in shock.

Bai Xuechao felt the Ghost Bride next to him pushing him, so he moved a few steps.

Perhaps his movements were too slow for the Ghost Brides, as one Ghost Bride directly lifted him and moved him quickly. Just as she put him down, another Ghost Bride continued to move him quickly.

Bai Xuechao barely touched the ground, being moved several times, but ultimately remained at the very edge of the first row, just like his initial position.

…He changed for nothing.

However, his clothes were different from what the other Ghost Brides wore anyway. He was just there to make up the numbers, so it didn't really matter.

A gender-neutral voice rang out, loudly announcing the rules: “The groom may observe the brides up close, but must not touch them with his hands. Lifting the veil counts as selecting!”

You can observe up close, but are they that afraid he won't choose correctly?

“Continue the music!” the gender-neutral voice continued, “Please, groom, go find your bride!”

Zhou Chenhao, under everyone's gaze, swayed his body to the joyous folk music and walked onto the stage like one of the Four Great Scholars of Jiangnan. He rhythmically walked a circle in front of the Ghost Brides and finally stopped in front of Bai Xuechao.

Bai Xuechao saw a pair of sneakers appear under the veil, and a row of ellipses appeared in his mind.

What was the male lead up to now?

Zhou Chenhao leaned in and whispered to him, “Should we break off the engagement?”

Good heavens, openly plotting “loudly” in front of everyone.

Xiao 6 excitedly hugged a red code heart, letting out an ape-like howl: “Awoooowowoh ho ho!”

Darn it, it shipped them!

Bai Xuechao made a sound from his nasal cavity: “Hmm?”

Zhou Chenhao's tone was incredibly serious, giving a speechless reason: “I don't want to be getting a second marriage later. Let's just run.”

Bai Xuechao: “?”

Seriously? You actually have some male virtues?

Xiao 6 was already scattering red hearts everywhere, nearly fainting from shipping, and began narrating some nonsensical exposition: “He, a first-rank official, held immense power in court; he, the newly appointed top scholar, was full of youthful vigor! That year, amidst a light apricot rain, he caught a glimpse of her, and from then on—”

Bai Xuechao said to Xiao 6 expressionlessly, “Don't worry, I will definitely not let you ship us.”

Xiao 6 slammed on the brakes: “What?”

Bai Xuechao asked Zhou Chenhao, “How do you want to run?”

Zhou Chenhao turned his head to glance at the Ghost King, whose face (?) might not have been very good, then looked at Xia Xiaoxi and Ling Feng, who had "what are you up to now" expressions. He cupped his hand to his mouth, leaned in closer, and whispered, “You cause a flood and wash us all out!”

“Do you think I'm the Dragon King?” Bai Xuechao flatly rejected Zhou Chenhao, “The water I create would disappear as soon as it touches you, so how would it carry so many people out?”

Zhou Chenhao whined, “Then you can just pick me out separately, Xiao Bai~”

Xiao 6 gasped. It seemed to have shipped them again.

Bai Xuechao: “…”

Good heavens, was the male lead flirting?

Also, who was he calling Xiao Bai??

Bai Xuechao said, “Don't call me Xiao Bai, it sounds like you're calling a dog.”

Zhou Chenhao's expression looked wronged, but Bai Xuechao couldn't see it. He said, “I didn't mean that at all, I just thought it sounded cute.”

Bai Xuechao said coldly, “No, go get married.”

“Alright,” Zhou Chenhao didn't try to convince Bai Xuechao any further, sighed, and honestly walked towards the Ghost Bride in the second row, under whose skirt Xia Xiaoxi had created a small leaf.

Xiao 6 slowly collapsed holding a red heart, serenely closing its non-existent code eyes, shedding cybernetic tears: “My elopement plot, just like that, gone.”

Bai Xuechao: “Hehe.”

Xiao 6: “Ying ying, a system life without shipping is meaningless.”

Zhou Chenhao lifted the Ghost Bride's red veil, and the Ghost Bride linked her arm through his: “You found me~”

Hearing the Ghost Bride's shy voice, Bai Xuechao lifted his own veil, slightly tilted his chin towards Zhou Chenhao, and said to Xiao 6, “See, isn't your beloved ship here?”

Xiao 6 gasped: “Shipping can be down-to-earth, but not to the underworld.”

Translation: Underworld ship? Not even a dog would ship it!

The Ghost King laughed heartily several times: “Congratulations, you've married such a beautiful woman, as delicate as a flower!”

The tourists were all speechless, secretly glancing at the Ghost Bride's rotting face.

Hmm, truly a delicate and beautiful woman.

Xia Xiaoxi, enjoying the spectacle, clapped like a seal and jeered, “Congratulations, groom! You've married such a beauty! Hurry up and get married!”

The interaction would end once the wedding was over, and then they could leave.

Hearing this, the Ghost Bride swayed back and forth, holding Zhou Chenhao's arm. Her voice became even shyer, and coupled with that face, it sent chills down one's spine: “Oh, I'm not as beautiful as you say…”

Zhou Chenhao flashed a radiant, sun-like smile and looked at the Ghost King, who was rubbing his hands, ready for the wedding: “Your Majesty Ghost King, my friend mentioned earlier that they would dance to celebrate my wedding.”

He smiled and looked at Xia Xiaoxi.

Xia Xiaoxi's expression instantly stiffened.

Xia Xiaoxi: Zhou Chenhao, you're really ruthless, ahhh!

Xiao 6 revived on the spot: “Love-hate relationship, I shipped it!”

The Ghost King asked, “Who is your friend?”

Just as Zhou Chenhao was about to say Xia Xiaoxi's name—

Xia Xiaoxi grabbed Ling Feng's hand next to her, and as Ling Feng's blue eyes widened at her, she loudly proclaimed, “Him! The groom's good brother!”

Ling Feng: “…”

I didn't provoke anyone.

Ling Feng's expression was so funny that Bai Xuechao almost burst out laughing.

Xiao 6 shipped them again, frantically shaking a red heart, letting out a cackling, strange laugh: “The trio's interaction is so delicious!”

Just then, a booming sound came from the direction of the Underwater Park.

The Underwater restaurant's lights instantly went out, plunging it into complete darkness.

Just as the tourists couldn't help but scream, the lights came back on. The Ghost King, the Ghost Bride, and all the red-clad ghosts had vanished. Before the tourists could even be happy, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble slightly. The trembling grew stronger and more noticeable.

Ling Feng shouted loudly, “Everyone, please evacuate in an orderly fashion! Don't step on anyone!”

The tourists seemed to just wake up then and started to push their way out of the exit in a frenzy, no longer caring about stepping on people.

Xia Xiaoxi had to use vines to pull back some of the frantic tourists pushing their way out.

Zhou Chenhao and Ling Feng also stepped in to try and maintain order. Just when the situation began to improve, everyone heard the gurgling sound of water coming from the direction of the Underwater Park.

Seawater flowed along the ground!

A tourist shouted in horror, “It's leaking! The seawater is going to flood us, run!”

His shout caused everyone to push frantically outwards again, causing a lot of trouble for the protagonist group. Fortunately, the Underwater restaurant wasn't particularly crowded, and people were evacuated quickly.

Everyone ran outside, shocked speechless by the scene they saw. They could only stare blankly—

All the ghosts that had previously been circling around the park had vanished. In their place was a surging sea, as if a tsunami was about to occur. Illuminated by the red lanterns, the seawater resembled a gigantic black beast, writhing on the surface.

Then, they personally saw a huge, round object emerge from the sea!

After the round object surfaced, its soft tentacles followed, clinging to the buildings constructed on the sea, pulling its entire body out of the water, and began to climb into the park.

The light of the red lanterns faintly revealed its appearance.

A tourist stared at it, his eyes vacant, and said, “Holy crap… what a huge octopus…”

It was a colossal octopus, its body color continuously shifting between black and blue, dazzling the eyes. What was most terrifying and unsettling was that its entire body, including its eight tentacles, was covered in dense eyes that glowed with a faint blue light, making anyone who stared at them dizzy.

Zhou Chenhao mumbled, “Don't you guys think it looks a bit… Cthulhu-like?”

Xia Xiaoxi felt a bit dizzy and, holding Ling Feng's arm, replied to him, “That's more than 'a bit Cthulhu-like.' If you told me it was an Eldritch horror, I'd believe you.”

Ling Feng suddenly looked serious: “Look!”

All the tourists seemed to have lost their souls, their eyes blank, but with eerie smiles on their faces, walking towards the giant octopus.

Bai Xuechao said, “It seems to be able to control people's minds. Don't look at its eyes.”

“The problem is its body is covered in eyes!” Zhou Chenhao complained, rushing forward to try and stop the tourists.

Xia Xiaoxi created a vine wall between the tourists and the octopus, blocking the continuously advancing tourists. Ling Feng controlled strong winds to blow the tourists back, trying to impede their progress.

Just then, the octopus frantically wriggled its tentacles, and the blue light emanating from its eyes intensified.

Its tentacles slammed onto the park buildings, and with deafening roars, the incomparably sturdy modern structures were damaged and collapsed. Broken walls mixed with debris fell to the ground, and the parts closest to the sea directly dropped into the ocean, splashing high waves.

A dark shadow climbed onto the octopus's head.

“There's someone on top!” Ling Feng said.

The octopus kept wriggling. At one point, the lights swept across its head.

A black-haired boy in a wizard's robe was clinging to the soft flesh of the octopus, his feet on one of its eyes, his face buried in the crevices between the eyes on the octopus's head. It was unclear what he was doing.

Bai Xuechao recognized him as Qiao Jing.

Tsk, he really seemed to have lost his mind.

Xiao 6 was stunned and exclaimed, “Isn't that Qiao Jing! Oh my goodness, how did he get involved with this octopus?!”

Bai Xuechao calmly looked at Qiao Jing and the octopus: “Do we still need to guess? Qiao Jing must have lost his sanity and wanted to eat this octopus. The octopus resisted and brought him ashore with it.”

The park's ghosts reappeared. This time, they didn't even look at the tourists. Like ants, they swarmed onto the giant octopus's body, climbing onto it and scratching it.

“We need to save that person!” Zhou Chenhao instinctively said, but then felt something was wrong. After seeing the vague outline above the giant octopus, he realized, “Right, right, is the hot air balloon above that person? He's the special ability user with the park's special ability!”

The night sky was still dark. No tourists had completed a ride, so the hot air balloon remained unlit, but a faint outline could be seen.

Eek, mutated creatures and special ability users attacking tourists are getting involved.

“Clickety-clackety-clack…”

A chaotic, dense sound echoed, like teeth constantly gnashing and colliding together.

Bai Xuechao pointed to the edge of the park near the sea: “Look over there.”

In the sea, a pile of dark shadows jumped onto the shore, floundering forward on the ground, wave after wave, like a locust plague.

As they passed the streetlights, the protagonist group clearly saw their appearance.

They were the mutated fish they had seen before!