The Blood-Stained Bride
While chasing a lost sheep, villager Li Shuai trespasses into an abandoned mansion. There hangs an oil painting of a bride in crimson robes — so vivid it seems to bleed. Believing it valuable, he takes it home. The moment his Third Uncle sees it, he faints in convulsions. That night, Li Shuai and his wife begin sharing the same nightmare: the painted bride steps out of the frame, sitting at their bedside, watching them with hollow eyes. Death follows. Three chickens are ripped apart at dawn. Their guard dog howls madly each night they dream — only to be found dead with its neck twisted backward. Terrified, Li Shuai returns the painting to the ruins. But as thunder cracks that evening, a crimson shadow materializes on their window. ""Look!"" his wife shrieks. The window bursts open with supernatural force. The painting slams onto the floor — the shadow was its reflection. His wife faints. Third Uncle arrives, whispering: ""She’s claimed you. Marry the dead bride... or perish."" Panicked, Li Shuai finds dozens of identical paintings hidden in walls. A groom’s funeral robe hangs in their wardrobe. He burns everything. That midnight, as he tends his feverish wife, a woman in dripping red silk glides into their room. Blinded by rage, Li Shuai charges outside — but finds only moonlit silence. When he returns, his wife lies dressed in the bridal gown, its sleeves stained with fresh chicken blood. The truth unravels: Third Uncle and Aunt orchestrated every horror. The ""priceless"" painting was trash they’d discarded. The nightmares? Hallucinogens in their dinner. The shadow? A puppet on fishing line. The gown? Slipped on while Li Shuai chased empty darkness. All to steal their land — using the dead as a weapon.
