I stood absentmindedly behind the groom as the wedding emcee announced the officiating priest. Nicolas Hugo stepped out in full ceremonial garb. The couple exchanged vows and rings, and Hugo pronounced them husband and wife. After the Western-style rites, it was time for the elders to speak. Since the venue was hosted by the bride's side, they would speak first.
To my surprise, it wasn't Xie Pang who stepped up, but an elderly man in his eighties, trembling as he was helped onto the stage. Only after the emcee's introduction did I understand—the custom here was that, regardless of weddings or funerals, the family's eldest must deliver the speech. This man was one of Xie Mochou's grandfather-generation elders. He was already eighty-four, and had just given a eulogy at a cremation the day before; now, here he was again.
The old man bowed shakily, then, without a script, leaned toward the mic and began: "Today, standing here and witnessing the union of these two young people, my heart is filled with sorrow…" He froze. Clearly, he'd mixed up the occasion. The guests all bowed their heads, their faces flushed red as they struggled to hold in their laughter. But with Xie Pang's influence looming, no one dared to actually laugh aloud.
Still, Xie Pang's face had turned purple with rage, and the elder on stage was equally crimson, flustered and at a loss. His mind was full of solemn funeral phrases—"deep sorrow," "eternal remembrance"—but nothing appropriate for a joyous occasion would come to him. As murmurs spread among the guests and the emcee prepared to intervene, the elder suddenly rolled his eyes and collapsed on stage.
Chaos erupted below. The hotel manager rushed up with his staff. He checked the old man's pulse—his expression changed instantly. When he pried open the elder's eyelids, his hair nearly stood on end. Shuddering, he reflexively fell back on his rear. Forcing himself up, he turned pale and shot Xie Pang a discreet look, then said to the staff, "Quick, get him on a boat to the hospital—"
Before they could act, a man in his fifties rushed in from outside, both hands holding up his pants as if he'd just run from the restroom, possibly not even finished. Upon hearing something had happened to the elder, he had bolted out and was now charging onto the stage. Pushing past the crowd, he cradled the old man. "Dad! What's wrong with you?" He shook him but sensed something was wrong, then checked for breath—suddenly collapsed onto the body, crying loudly, "Dad! How could you leave like this…"
The venue exploded. A joyous wedding had turned into a funeral halfway through.
Xie Pang and the rest of the Xie family rushed onto the stage. My brother and the bride were dumbfounded. Surprisingly, the bridesmaid kept her composure—though pale, she grabbed the bride and dragged both bride and groom to the backstage area, leaving me standing on stage alone, still watching events unfold.
The Xie family was in disarray—some checking the elder's condition, others trying to comfort the wailing son. But the more they consoled him, the louder he cried. Suddenly, someone on stage shouted, "Third Brother, stop crying—your eyes are bleeding!"
The people around him scattered. The guests below finally saw that what was streaming from his eyes wasn't tears, but blood—two thin, red lines. At first, a faint pink, but within seconds, they had turned into deep crimson.
The man realized something was wrong and tried desperately to stop crying, but it was no longer under his control. The blood flowed faster and faster. He suddenly collapsed, convulsing on the floor.
Some courageous guests rushed up to hold him down and pinched his philtrum, but even after drawing blood, there was no improvement. Finally, the man vomited a mouthful of blood, spraying it all over the rescuer's face. After that, he went limp, completely motionless.
No one dared approach him again. In the end, it was still that unlucky hotel manager who forced himself forward. He peeled back the man's eyelid, took one look, then gently closed it again and turned to Xie Pang with a bitter expression. "He… he's gone too."
At that moment, the entire hall fell into utter silence; everyone was dumbfounded. Xie Pang's heart sank in frustration—what was supposed to be a joyful wedding had already turned tragic with two relatives dead right at the start. The celebration had turned into a funeral. The daughter's wedding was effectively called off; better to give them RMB 100,000 (≈ USD 14,000) or 80,000 (≈ USD 11,200) and let them take a trip to Europe or America instead, treating it like a wedding journey.
While Xie Pang was brooding in distress, I stood beside the two corpses, examining them carefully again and again but found nothing abnormal. It seemed just an unlucky coincidence—my brother had a streak of bad luck; their married life was off to such a start, who knew how the days ahead would go. As I thought this, I looked up toward the groom's main table, just catching sight of Xiao Heshang squinting at Hao Zhengyi, while Chairman Hao frowned, staring at the two corpses at my feet. Seeing his expression, a thought crossed my mind—had I missed something?
Following Hao Zhengyi's gaze, I scrutinized the two corpses once more but still detected nothing unusual. Chairman Hao seemed puzzled by something, his brows furrowed tightly like a tangled ball of thread. At that moment, Hugo stepped back onto the stage, crouched beside the two bodies, and took off his crucifix to place it on the forehead of each corpse in turn, murmuring prayers in Latin. Except for Sun Fatty, no one else present understood what he was saying. Everyone assumed he was praying for the deceased, and since Hugo was a foreigner, no one questioned him.
After completing his ritual, Hugo found nothing suspicious either. Putting his crucifix back on, he glanced at Xiao Heshang and gently shook his head. Compared to the two corpses, Xiao Heshang was clearly more interested in Hao Zhengyi. After confirming that the father and son on stage had died from an accident, he kept watching Chairman Hao. Sitting at the same table, Yang Jun's expression mirrored Hao Zhengyi's almost exactly, his brows also knitted in a frown as he stared at the corpses. Occasionally, Sun Fatty whispered something in his ear, but Yang Jun just shook his head, unable to offer any explanation.
At that moment, internal strife erupted among the Xie family. A man roughly the same age as Xie Pang suddenly started shouting aggressively: "Big Brother Xie, I told you not to let Second Father suffer like this! He's already eighty-four, nearly at death's door. At this age, you're still tormenting him? If it weren't for you, Second Father and Old Three—father and son—wouldn't have died!" Pointing his finger at Xie Pang's nose, he yelled loudly. Xie Pang was already distraught, venting his anger nowhere; this reckless young man had just become the perfect scapegoat.
Ignoring whether the Deputy Mayor at the head table was watching, Xie Pang rushed over and slapped the man twice, one on each cheek: "Shut your damn mouth! Xie Fifth, when Second Father was invited here, why didn't I hear you spout this crap?" Then he punched the man named Old Five a few times. Old Five flew into a rage too, and the two old men started fighting fiercely. These two were the most influential in the Xie family, and many depended on them for their livelihood. Seeing them brawl, nearly all the Xies rushed over to pull them apart.
While the stage descended into chaos like a boiling pot of porridge, the Deputy Mayor at the head table slammed his hand on the desk with a loud "bang." Instantly, everyone on stage quieted down. The Deputy Mayor's face was dark as iron as he glared at Xie Pang and Old Five: "Don't break it up. Let them fight!" At his command, Xie Pang and Old Five stopped struggling and stood sulking in place. The Deputy Mayor then snorted and summoned his secretary, ignoring the crowd. He called over the Deputy Director of the Public Security Sub-bureau who was there, saying, "You watch over them here. If anyone else fights, arrest them on the spot!" Then he left with his secretary. Seeing the Deputy Mayor leave, several people from his entourage followed, exiting the hall toward the dock.
With the stage in turmoil and no place for me to step, and my brother and others nowhere to be found, I sat down beside Xiao Heshang at the groom's table. My Second Uncle was still trying to break up fights on stage; my Second Aunt looked worried, while my parents tried their best to calm her down. Grandfather sighed repeatedly, muttering, "What kind of nonsense is this? A perfectly good wedding... sigh!" Taking advantage of the distraction, I quietly asked Xiao Heshang in a low voice, "Is this related to us?" Xiao Heshang pondered for a moment, withdrawing his gaze from Hao Zhengyi, then said, "It's not clear right now. Maybe your in-laws just have bad luck—bad karma from a previous life is catching up in this one."
I thought that would settle it, but unexpectedly Yang Jun, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, "That's not necessarily true…" His words were cryptic. Xiao Heshang and I both turned to look at Yang Jun. Xiao Heshang asked, "What did you notice?" Yang Jun shook his head: "I don't see any flaws either, but I just feel something's wrong here."
By the time we spoke, things on stage had quieted down considerably. A group of Xie family members, along with my Third Uncle and some hangers-on, had isolated Xie Pang and Old Five in opposite corners of the stage. Though they no longer fought, the two old men still grumbled at each other endlessly. Old Five went to a row of chairs in the corner—these chairs were single-pillar swivel seats meant for the later wedding ceremony, but now they would never be used. Old Five yanked one out and, as if it were Xie Pang himself, sat down on it hard… and the third tragedy of the wedding unfolded.
There was a sudden "bang." The cushion of the swivel chair beneath Old Five exploded, and a steel pipe about the thickness of an arm shot upward, striking Old Five directly in the anus. With the force from his sit-down, the half-meter-long pipe had almost completely penetrated his abdomen. Old Five reflexively jumped up, clutching the chair base, taking a step forward, but then collapsed to the ground convulsing. Fresh blood mixed with black and yellow liquid poured from his backside along the pipe.
At this moment, not only the Xies but also the Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau who had stayed behind was stunned. Though the Deputy Director was experienced, he had never seen such a gruesome scene. Finally, he shouted, "Stop gawking! Get him on the boat and send him to the hospital!" Only then did everyone realize what had happened and hurriedly dragged a carpet over to carry Old Five. He had already lost consciousness, but no one dared to remove the pipe, so they laid him on top of it. Seven or eight young men gripped the edges of the carpet and carried him out of the hall. Now, they could only hope there was still a ferry at the dock to take Old Five ashore.
Just as they were about to leave the hall, another large group of people entered—the same ones who had gone out with the Deputy Mayor earlier. The two groups froze upon meeting. Before any questions could be asked, the Deputy Mayor separated the crowd and approached. Whether due to the sea breeze or exhaustion, the Deputy Mayor's face was pale. His secretary relayed bad news: "No way out. All the boats outside have sunk." The hall instantly erupted into chaos again. Suddenly, one of the young men holding the carpet pointed at Old Five in horror: "Old Five is dead…"
When the crowd reached the dock, most of the ferries had already sunk beneath the sea. Several ships were half submerged, with only their bows visible above the water. Within moments, the remaining vessels sank as well. The dock had staff on duty, but because it was the boss's daughter's wedding, Xie Pang had been generous to employees—he arranged for someone to distribute red envelopes at the hotel lobby for the island's workers. Everyone had rushed to the hotel to join the celebration. When they followed the Deputy Mayor's group back to the dock, they realized the disaster had struck—they had forgotten to leave anyone guarding the dock, and no one could explain how the boats had sunk.
After the initial chaos, the Deputy Mayor's people started making calls to arrange rescue ships. But once phones were out, everyone found their signals dead, as if blocked by some kind of signal jammer. Panic spread. It no longer looked like an accident in the hotel lobby; it seemed as if someone had meticulously planned each step, laying trap after trap to wipe out everyone on the island. Returning from the dock to the hotel and seeing Old Five's condition only confirmed this suspicion.
Three similar incidents could no longer be considered coincidences. The hall had turned into utter chaos. The hotel general manager sent someone to investigate the phone signal problem. Soon the news came back—not a jammer, but the island's cell tower had been deliberately sabotaged. The damage was severe, making repair impossible. The Deputy Director of the Public Security Sub-bureau had come alone to attend the wedding; he trusted no one on the island and had no way to contact outside. He had to select a trusted few among the guests as assistants. After choosing about ten reliable people, the Deputy Director and Deputy Mayor began working on the investigation.