Chen Qingqing hummed a cheerful tune to herself; she was in an exceptionally good mood. Because her work was excellent, she had been promoted to chief physician.
Having witnessed the enormous suffering her grandmother endured before she died, she had studied medicine and sworn to become a competent doctor.
As usual she rode her electric bike to the hospital. Just as she reached a big bridge, a black car came barreling toward her like a runaway horse.
Ahead, a little girl with a schoolbag was crossing. Without thinking, Chen Qingqing shoved the girl out of the way—and everything went black.
She felt her soul separate from her body and drift up, woozily.
Chen Qingqing was furious.
What kind of driver was that—did he not have eyes?
Peering down in fear, she saw utter chaos. Her electric bike had been smashed to pieces, and her body lay on the ground, face down and bleeding from a cracked skull.
“Could I be…dead?”
Just as she was gnashing her teeth and about to curse, a voice came from behind, “Sister, come on, we’ve come for you.”
“Who’s calling me?”
She turned and saw two underworld attendants—one dressed in white, one in black. The white one stuck out a long tongue and held a mourning staff; the black one had a soul-hooking chain.
She nearly peed herself from fright and immediately let out a string of curses.
“Holy—Black and White Impermanence! Seeing ghosts in broad daylight now, huh?”
Her scalp prickled and she tried to run, but her body felt glued in place.
“Stop fussing. You’re a ghost now—what are you scared of? Come along with us.” the pair said.
“Hey, nice gentlemen of the underworld, can you tell me where you’re taking me?” Chen Qingqing trembled all over, shaking her head so hard her voice quivered with tears.
“Cut the crap. We’ll take you where you belong.”
With that they hoisted her and flew toward the end of the sky.
Ahead the world turned gray and cold wind blew. After who knew how long, there was a sudden bright flash, and they stopped at an enormous circular disc.
The black-robed attendant pointed to a button near her feet. “Come on—spin the wheel of rebirth. We’ll send you on your way.”
Chen Qingqing was puzzled. “But aren’t dead people supposed to report to the underworld? Why are you letting me reincarnate right away?”
“You dead ghost sure talk a lot,” said the black attendant. “But I’ll tell you: Lord Yan (the King of Hell) took account of your medical deeds in life and the merit you built from saving people. He’s specially allowed you to be reborn.”
“Is that for real?” Chen Qingqing’s heart leapt—she hadn’t expected such treatment. Maybe good deeds do get rewarded!
She suddenly remembered she still had a major surgery scheduled later that day and hurriedly smiled, “Two good sirs, can I ask a favor? I still have an important job unfinished. Since Lord Yan grants me rebirth, can you send me back so I can keep being a white-robed angel and save lives? No wheel-spinning for me.”
The white attendant shook his head. “Your head’s smashed. If we send you back, you’ll be a vegetable. Do you want to lie in bed forever?”
Chen Qingqing froze. Lying in a bed for the rest of her life—that would be worse than death.
She shook her head hard.
“No, I don’t.”
“Then hurry up and spin the wheel!”
Chen Qingqing gave up.
Since fate had brought her here, she might as well accept it and be reborn.
Maybe she’d be born into a good family and wouldn’t have to work overtime all the time.
“What can I be reborn as?” she asked.
“If your luck’s great, you’ll be born into a household of generals, ministers, or nobles. If not…well, you could be a beast—cow, horse, pig, dog. It all depends on your fate.”
“Are you kidding me? Animals too? I’d rather stay a ghost!”
“Don’t regret it later. You get only one chance. If you refuse, you’ll be dust and never reborn.”
Chen Qingqing shuddered. “Okay—then I’ll spin it.”
She inhaled deeply and, lifting her right foot, stomped down on the button.
The big disc began to turn slowly.
She could see the disc divided into two halves: one side showing human figures, the other painted with livestock and animal images.
Her heart slammed so hard she thought it would burst; she dared not look.
In her mind she prayed, “Heaven, I don’t ask for much—rich or poor, I just want to be reborn human. Please don’t let me be a pig or a dog!”
Not long after, the voice of the Black-and-White attendants said, “Okay—open your ghost-eye and look!”
Chen Qingqing kept her eyes tightly shut and shook her head. “I can’t look. Tell me—did I draw a human?”
“You did. Congratulations—you drew ‘possession-rebirth’: a body to return to, reborn into the household of generals and high nobles. Enjoy your fortune.”
Chen Qingqing opened her eyes and, sure enough, she saw a great minister’s mansion.
She grinned so wide her face hurt—she almost wanted to hug and kiss the attendants, but seeing their faces quickly killed the urge.
Impatient, she wanted to check out her future family’s wealth.
“Thanks to you two ghost brothers—my luck today is off the charts. Hurry up and send me off!”
White Impermanence waved a hand. “Not so fast. There’s one more procedure.”
“What else?”
“Lord Yan, seeing you amassed merit in life, specially ordered us to give you a gift.”
Chen Qingqing clapped in delight. “Lord Yan’s so generous! A death-day gift—bring it out, let me see!”
“Hold on. Officially: you may choose only one item.”
“All right—one it is. Bring it!”
White Impermanence reached under his robes and pulled out a large wine gourd. “This is one option. It’s called the ‘Bala Ghost Lantern.’ It can help you escape danger when you’re in trouble.”
‘Bala Ghost Lantern’—what a name. She thought of Aladdin’s lamp for a second and then, imagining what the attendants presented, made a face. “No thanks. It looks like a chamber pot! That’s a little…tasteless. Anything else?”
“Wait, let me see.” Black Impermanence tucked his soul-chain under his arm and groped in his cloak for a while. Finally he produced a book. “How about this?”
“A book? What use is a book?”
“This book is called the Sunflower Dictionary.”
“The Sunflower Dictionary? I’ve only heard of the Sunflower Manual—the martial-arts classic from wuxia novels that says, ‘To practice this skill, one must first castrate oneself.’ Even if you did that, success isn’t guaranteed. That sort of thing isn’t for me—I’m not doing that.”
Black Impermanence shook his head with a smile. “You’re wrong. That manual was a scam. This book, however, is a real underworld skill. With it you can calculate and divinate, foresee the future.”
“Even Sun Wukong knew: asking the gods for fate is less reliable than taking your fate into your own hands. I don’t want it. Anything else?”
“You dead ghost are picky.” Black Impermanence’s face soured a bit. He glanced at White and lowered his voice, “Brother, why not just give her the thing in your hand so we can get back to reporting?”
“No way—that item is a rare treasure among the three realms. We can’t just give it away.”
“You’re stingy. Our item’s way better than your lousy ring—she can pick one and leave the other behind.”
“Alright, alright, you’re right.” White Impermanence casually pulled out a ring and handed it over. “Here—want this?”
“A ring? What use is that?” Chen Qingqing took it without thinking and slipped it on. “Feels okay—fits nicely.”
“That’s your choice then. You can be on your way.”
“Wait—what does this thing do?” she asked.
“Not much—just a common ring.” White rolled his eyes, clearly impatient.
“I don’t want it—give me something else!” she demanded.
“You’re a troublesome little ghost,” Black and White grumbled. Then they raised a foot and kicked her. “Down you go. Figure out what it does on your own!”