Yu Yang, age eighteen. This was her twelfth year since transmigrating to the Da Li Dynasty.
In her previous life, she was born in 2004 and died in 2018, at the age of fourteen.
Therefore, the “bewilderment” on her face was quite genuine as she looked at the black words on the white paper in her hand.
In black ink on white paper, seven large characters were written in a neat hand—
Love you for walking the dark alleys alone.
Yu Yang slowly raised her head.
She was born with delicate features, and her pair of black eyes were like ancient wells, seemingly capable of peering into a person’s heart. Yet, her skin had a sickly pallor, and even her lips were devoid of color, giving her the appearance of someone whose days were numbered.
At this moment, her gaze fell upon the tall man across from her.
There was a suspicious flush on the man’s face.
Yu Yang frowned slightly and said, “General Lu, as the wealthiest family in Yu County, my Yu family ensures that I am accompanied by at least one expert and ten hidden guards whenever I go out. I would never act alone. If you are declaring your love, I’m afraid you have the wrong person.”
General Lu Huaice’s face instantly turned completely red.
“What declaration of love? This is a question from the Talent Recruitment Board. I was just using it to test you.”
He said with a straight face, “This is a Celestial Song from the Celestial Child’s world. The lyrics are, Love you for walking the dark alleys alone, love your unkneeling appearance, love that you’ve faced down despair, and refused to shed a tear…”
As Lu Huaice recited, he stared at Yu Yang, as if lost in a self-indulgent memory, his eyes filled with deep affection.
A trace of coldness flashed in the depths of Yu Yang’s eyes; she was clearly disgusted by Lu Huaice’s performance.
She silently picked up the wine pot, shook it, and poured a cup for Lu Huaice.
“General Lu, please.”
Lu Huaice took the cup and drained the wine in one gulp.
After finishing the wine, he cleared his throat and said, “Since you don’t know this, you are not the Celestial Child.”
Yu Yang couldn’t be bothered to respond, turning instead to look out the window.
A large crowd of commoners had gathered around the notice board opposite the restaurant.
“What are all these questions? What’s ‘series, parallel, voltage division, next line’? Which book is that from?”
“And this one, ‘Under the big bridge in front of the gate, a flock of ducks swims by.’ What’s the next line? Hahahaha, what is this nonsense?”
“‘Odd functions change, even functions don’t…’ ‘What are the three colors of a traffic light…’ To think I’ve studied hard for half my life, yet I can’t answer a single one of these questions!”
“So what if you can’t answer them? These are questions that only those enlightened by the celestials can answer…”
…
For the past two days, news of the “Talent Recruitment Board” had been spreading like wildfire through Nanpu County.
On every street and in every alley, people could be heard discussing the “Celestial Child.”
It was said that the current emperor had a dream in which he met a celestial being.
The celestial gave the emperor a set of questions and said that anyone who could answer them was a person of talent.
Upon waking, the emperor was overjoyed. He wrote down all the questions and had his subordinates post them in every county and prefecture.
Anyone who could answer the board’s questions, regardless of age or gender, would be escorted to the newly built Hall of Education in the capital to study, their status equivalent to that of a provincial graduate.
Yu Yang’s first reaction was that this old emperor had been possessed by a transmigrator and was now casting a wide net to find fellow countrymen who had also crossed over.
A commotion suddenly erupted from downstairs.
“Where is this? Who are you people? Why am I here? Where’s my driver? Old Chen! Old Chen!!!”
Yu Yang’s guard pushed the door open and entered. “Miss, there’s a drunkard causing a scene downstairs.”
Hearing this, Lu Huaice was the first to stand up.
“I’ll go take a look.”
Yu Yang also sensed something and slowly rose to follow him.
In the noisy main hall of the restaurant, a red-faced middle-aged man was waving his arms and shouting at the top of his lungs.
The surrounding diners all turned to look, their faces filled with astonishment.
“Chen Laosan, what kind of madness are you spouting here!”
“Don’t touch me! My name is Wang Zhi! I’m telling you, let me go back, or I won’t let you off! Where are the police? I want to call the police! Call the police!”
“What is this nonsense he’s talking about?”
“Chen Laosan, stop making a scene! Young Master Yu has come out!”
…
Yu Yang stepped out of the Tian Class Room and stood by the railing.
In her eyes, the middle-aged man had the shadow of another person superimposed on him—the shadow of a pot-bellied, balding man in a Western-style suit.
In addition to that, behind the middle-aged man was a sheet of yellow paper with words written in blood.
【Taiyin Black Ledger】
【Wang Zhi, born October 12, 1999 A.D., currently 31 years old, remaining lifespan unexhausted. Evil deeds recorded in the Black Ledger: 9】
【Evil Deed 1: Secretly filmed women’s restrooms and uploaded for profit online】
【Evil Deed 2: Beat his wife and child, causing his wife’s right eyeball to rupture】
…
【Do no evil, perform all good. Amending one’s ways and accumulating merit can extend one’s years. By judgment, Wang Zhi is condemned to the ghost path.】
Yu Yang’s expression did not change.
Half a month ago, she had suddenly fainted.
Logically, she should have died, as her fated time was up.
But unexpectedly, she had woken up, and upon waking again, she could see some strange things.
One of them was transmigrators.
She had looked it up.
The Taiyin Black Ledger referred to the black book in the underworld used to record information about ghosts, on which a person’s evil deeds would be recorded.
This transmigrator before her was clearly not a good person.
Come to think of it, the last transmigrator she saw, who had possessed a prostitute, was also a bad person involved in drug trafficking and human abduction.
So, from a probabilistic standpoint, did it seem that more evil people were transmigrating?
What did “condemned to the ghost path” mean?
Surely it couldn’t be that this world she had transmigrated into was the ghost realm…
Upon seeing Yu Yang, the diners in the restaurant all quieted down.
Downstairs.
Lu Huaice grabbed the drunkard, Chen Laosan, by the collar from behind.
Chen Laosan said angrily, “Who are you? You want to start something…”
Lu Huaice’s voice boomed as he asked, “The Yellow River’s waters come from heaven, what is the next line?”
Perhaps intimidated by the murderous aura emanating from Lu Huaice, Chen Laosan froze for a moment. “The Yellow River’s waters come from heaven… the next line… the next line is, is rush-rushing to the sea not something… Rushing to the sea, never to return! That’s right, rushing to the sea and not coming back! Not coming back, damn it, not coming back, where the hell is this, I want to go home, go home!!!”
The man broke down and started screaming again.
Lu Huaice, however, cracked a smile.
“Close enough.”
He raised his voice and called out, “Wu Wu, come in and escort the Celestial Child back to camp!”
“Yes, sir!”
A young soldier entered the restaurant from outside, walked straight to Chen Laosan, and said, “Lord Celestial Child, this way please.”
Chen Laosan was stunned.
“What Celestial Child? What are you talking about?”
The surrounding crowd also exploded into an uproar.
“He’s a Celestial Child!”
“My heavens, a gambler like Chen Laosan, who sold his daughter for drinking money, has actually become a Celestial Child?”
No matter how lively the commotion outside became, Chen Laosan was dragged away.
Outside the restaurant, a squad of waiting soldiers tossed the “lucky” middle-aged man into a carriage and galloped off in a great hurry.
Having witnessed this farce, Yu Yang was lost in thought.
The imperial court’s attitude towards transmigrators was somewhat peculiar.
Lu Huaice quickly came back upstairs, about to continue his conversation with Yu Yang.
Suddenly, Yu Yang asked, “General Lu, you invited me out for a drink today. Does this count as meeting a friend?”
Lu Huaice was taken aback for a moment.
“Of course it does. Meeting a friend.”
The moment he finished speaking, the yellow paper behind Lu Huaice in Yu Yang’s vision flickered.
Black characters were written on that yellow paper.
【Auspicious: Travel, Assume Office, Job Interview】
【Inauspicious: Marriage, Betrothal, Meet a Friend】
Right then, the words “Inauspicious: Meet a Friend” turned red, as if Lu Huaice had violated some taboo.
With a “gurgle,” the sound of a stomach rumbling could be heard. The laxative Yu Yang had put in the wine had taken effect ahead of schedule…