Yin Yan didn't directly answer his question, but reiterated, "Our fates are connected. We live and die together."

"...So?"

"The Soul-Calming Pearl is now shattered, and we've lost our only connection. Before you can step onto the path of Cultivation and break free from this world's Heavenly Dao's constraints on mortals, we must form a new connection. Otherwise, after the Gift of the Mountain God is exhausted, you will still suffer from Soul Loss Disorder until you die."

"..." Cul-Cultivation?

"Not only that, because your soul is incomplete, you won't be able to enter the normal cycle of reincarnation after death. In your next life, you might..."

"Be reborn as a pig." Yu Zhen interrupted him with a bitter laugh. He subconsciously touched the wrist where he used to wear the Peace Bead. The thought, 'Being human is so tiring, maybe it's not so bad to just follow Grandpa,' briefly surfaced in his mind before he quickly came back to his senses and asked, "Then if, I mean if, if I die, you..."

Yin Yan's expression remained calm. He looked at him quietly and replied, "Soul shattered and scattered."

Soul shattered and scattered, does this mean he won't even have the chance to be a pig in his next life?

Yu Zhen stared at him blankly, his gaze sweeping from Yin Yan's calm eyes to his pale fingertips. After a long silence, as if compromising or having made a momentous decision, he let out a long breath, looked up at him, and said seriously, "Then let's live. The two of us together, let's strive to live."

Perhaps it was the warm breath from his mouth distorting his vision, but the moment he said those words, Yu Zhen vaguely saw Yin Yan's expression suddenly change, revealing a slightly stunned look on his face.

Stunned? Why? Did he say something strange?

Shouldn't he be happy to find out his soul won't be shattered and scattered?

The warm breath quickly dissipated and his vision cleared. Yin Yan's expression was still calm; there was no sign of being stunned. Yu Zhen shook his head, pushing the trace of doubt to the back of his mind, and returned to the topic, asking, "So, how do we re-establish our connection?"

Yin Yan raised the household registration booklet.

Yu Zhen smiled. "Hmm???"

"Among all relationships in the mortal realm, there are only two that are intimate enough to mutually affect one's fate: blood relations and spousal relations," Yin Yan explained, putting down the household registration booklet. "You and the body I am currently using have no blood relation. Therefore, there is only one way for us to re-establish our connection: become spouses."

The forced smile on Yu Zhen's face vanished. He raised a hand to rub his ears and waited for a few seconds. Seeing that Yin Yan had no intention of adding something like "I was just kidding," he finally couldn't help but widen his eyes and ask in shock, "Get married? Me? With you? Us?"

As the old saying goes, there are three moments in a person's life that determine their destiny: birth, choice of profession, and marriage.

The kind of family you're born into and the kind of parents you have determine the life you'll lead before adulthood and how much freedom you have in life's choices; the profession you choose determines what you'll make a living from and how high you can climb; and marriage... there's another old saying that marriage is practically a person's second reincarnation.

Yu Zhen had lived for twenty-two years. Birth was a passive skill he had no choice in. When choosing a profession, he accepted the university's major reassignment and went with the flow, which was fine. Now, his only remaining active chance at "reincarnation" was about to be buried at Yin Yan's hands because of this damned Soul Loss Disorder.

As a child without parents, he had many beautiful expectations for marriage and family. But now... it was better not to mention it.

The black sedan was once again driving on the dirt road, and the atmosphere inside the car was a bit strange.

"Today is a good day, auspicious for marriage."

"..."

"I heard that here... getting the certificate here requires taking a photo. Your hair is a bit messy."

Yu Zhen turned his head to look at him, his expression blank.

"...I didn't mean to sound disdainful."

Yu Zhen pulled up the corners of his mouth and forced a smile at him.

Brothers in misfortune, who were they to look down on each other?

The car fell silent. It drove over a large pothole, jolting once. The GPS timely announced, "In five hundred meters, turn left to get on the provincial highway."

Weng Xiping silently turned the steering wheel. Yin Le swallowed and secretly took out his phone.

Insanely Happy: Mom! Big Bro has tricked Brother Yu into his hands, we're on our way to the Civil Affairs Bureau!!!

Your Mother Majesty: What nonsense are you talking about? Who is Brother Yu?

Insanely Happy: The little florist! Big Bro is going to get a marriage certificate with him! Mom, come quick, I suspect Big Bro used force to make him marry him. Brother Yu's face was pale when he came out with the household registration booklet!!!

...

...

Your Mother Majesty: What did you say?!!!

Yu Zhen's household registration was in Lotus Gully Village, Anyang Town, Dawu City, H Province, so they had to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau in Dawu City to get the certificate.

When he learned that the two of them had to rely on getting a marriage certificate to establish a connection, Yu Zhen had cowardly thought about delaying it for a while. He wanted to take advantage of the Gift of the Mountain God's effects, start cultivating immediately, and strive to enter the path of Cultivation Yin Yan mentioned before the gift disappeared, thereby breaking free from the Heavenly Dao's constraints and no longer being troubled by Soul Loss Disorder.

But Yin Yan mercilessly shattered his fantasy. The mountain behind the Taoist Temple was too small, the Mountain God's power was not strong, and his soul was too incomplete. That little Gift of the Mountain God wouldn't last long at all.

In short, getting the certificate had to be done as soon as possible.

...And so they ended up in this car heading to the Dawu City Civil Affairs Bureau.

Lotus Gully Village wasn't large, and neither was Anyang Town. Since the car took the provincial highway, it took less than half an hour for it to stop at the entrance of the Dawu City Civil Affairs Bureau.

Contrary to Yin Yan's "auspicious for marriage today," the Civil Affairs Bureau was deserted. There wasn't a single couple there to get married, only a couple getting a divorce, who were arguing at the main entrance.

Yu Zhen felt this was not a good omen, and his expression became even more blank.

When Yin Yan led Yu Zhen to the service window and stated with utmost calm that they wanted to register their marriage, the staff member, who had been watching the divorce drama for a while, was a bit slow to react.

"As quickly as possible, please. Thank you," Yin Yan urged politely.

The staff member snapped back to reality, his gaze involuntarily circling Yin Yan's handsome face and expensive-looking clothes. He muttered inwardly about which heartthrob had been snatched up now, and while responding, he shifted his expectant gaze to the figure standing behind him.

Such a high-quality man, his partner must also be very out...stan...ding...

With his hair sticking up and a chunk of his bangs missing, dressed in a simple padded cotton jacket, Yu Zhen stood there numbly. When he noticed the staff member looking over, he politely twitched the corners of his mouth, giving him a smile that wasn't much better than a crying face.

"..." Could it be that the love story of a prince and Cinder... no, a poor boy, is back in fashion?

Yin Yan subtly shifted to the side, blocking the staff member's view, and lightly tapped the counter.

"Well... please have a seat over here, you two. First, fill out the basic information," the staff member said, coming to his senses. His smile was mechanical, his tone hesitant.

Hearing this, Yu Zhen walked over first and sat in the inner chair.

Yin Yan followed a step behind. After sitting down next to him, he looked up at the staff member who was still secretly sizing them up, urging him silently.

The staff member: "...Here are the forms."

Filling out forms, photocopying documents, taking photos, the staff member verified the information, printed the marriage certificates, attached the photos, and finally stamped them with the official seal. Two bright red marriage certificates were freshly produced.

The moment the seal was stamped, Yu Zhen felt his body become light, then warm, and a faint sense of joy and satisfaction rose in his heart.

The feeling was very mysterious. He raised a hand to his chest, certain that this trace of satisfaction and joy was not his own. He turned his head to see Yin Yan calmly stuffing the marriage certificate into his pocket, shook his head, and classified the feeling as an illusion.

The two walked out of the Civil Affairs Bureau side-by-side, maintaining a polite arm's length distance. Yin Le, who was waiting outside, immediately rushed over eagerly. He looked back and forth at their expressions and asked cautiously, "Did you get it?"

Yin Yan nodded and took out the certificates.

Yin Le silently mouthed 'holy crap', then looked up at him with wide eyes. After holding it in for a long while, he finally couldn't help but say, "Big Bro, you're for real?"

In fact, from the moment Yin Yan and Yu Zhen came out of the room together saying they were going to the Civil Affairs Bureau immediately, his mind had been in a daze, as if he were daydreaming.

He didn't have the guts to stop them, so he had been clinging to the self-deceiving thought that 'This is a dream, maybe Big Bro is just joking.' But now that the red booklets were right in front of him, he couldn't deceive himself anymore!

This is only their second meeting! Getting married on the second meeting! Even shotgun weddings aren't this fast!

Faced with his rather frantic questioning, Yin Yan's face finally showed an expression other than calmness. He frowned slightly and said, "Marriage is a serious matter and not to be trifled with."

So you do know that marriage is not to be trifled with!

Yin Le roared crazily in his heart. He turned his head, wanting to ask Yu Zhen how he could have actually married his big brother, but when he saw Yu Zhen's expression—lips pressed together, eyes downcast, looking like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams—a sense of guilt and shame, as if he'd abducted an innocent man, suddenly welled up. He decisively shut his mouth, gestured with his eyes for Weng Xiping to comfort Yu Zhen, and then boldly reached out and dragged his big brother to the side.

"Big Bro, tell me the truth, how on earth did you trick Brother Yu into this? He was clearly afraid of you before!"

"He is not afraid of me," Yin Yan corrected his misstatement.

"...Mom is already on her way. She'll be here soon." 'So stop changing the subject and fess up!'

Recalling his respectable mother, Yin Yan thought for a few seconds and answered frankly, "I told Yu Zhen..."

Yin Le stared at him with a sharp gaze.

"If he doesn't marry me," Yin Yan lowered his eyes to meet his gaze, tucked the little red booklet back into his pocket, and said, "I will die."

"..."

Yin Le stared at him in disbelief, taking a step back, then another, clutching his head as if on the verge of a breakdown.

Oh my god, his big brother actually used death as a threat to force his life-saving benefactor to marry him. You beast!