Nan Mo had been killed by the King of Hell’s pet spirit beast.
That foolish dog would sneak off whenever it had the chance to follow the Black and White Impermanence to the human world, always hoping to pick out a female dog to bring back as a wife. It never stopped to consider its own pig like size or whether any dog would want it. No one knew what the King of Hell had been feeding it.
(T/N: The Black and White Impermanence are paired underworld officials from Chinese folklore, known as Hei Wuchang and Bai Wuchang. They are tasked with escorting souls of the dead to the afterlife. Their title refers to the Buddhist concept of impermanence, meaning that life is temporary and death is inevitable.)
In her previous life, Nan Mo had grown up in an orphanage. She had been clever, quick witted, sweet tongued, and delicate like a porcelain doll, making her very lovable.
Who would not like a smart and charming child with a sweet mouth? Because of that, the director had shown her special care and always prioritized her when good opportunities appeared.
Her name had also been given by the director.
When she had been found at the orphanage gate, she had been wrapped in a small quilt embroidered with jasmine flowers. There had been a tiny character “Nan” stitched onto it, so she was named Nan Mo.
Although she had grown up in an orphanage, she had not suffered much. Kindhearted sponsors had supported her education all the way through graduation from a top tier university. Everything had gone smoothly.
Despite her warm and friendly appearance, she had actually feared trouble the most. She had grown used to independence, and her life motto had always been, If I do not trouble you, do not trouble me.
So after graduating, she had turned down offers from top one hundred companies and instead taken the civil service exam.
She had done it to avoid the constant office politics of big corporations and the trouble of pleasing superiors and clients.
Now she worked a nine to five job that was dull but stable. After two or three years, she had used her salary plus extra income from writing novels to buy a small, old apartment near her workplace.
She could support herself comfortably and even had spare money to donate to the orphanage that had raised her.
Every Saturday was the day she returned to volunteer teach at the orphanage.
On that particular day, while she was riding her electric scooter home, a massive creature that looked half pig and half dog suddenly darted out. She had no time to brake and crashed straight into it.
Everyone had thought the pig dog would be sent flying, yet it had not moved at all. Instead, Nan Mo and her scooter had flown seven or eight meters.
The Black and White Impermanence had been nearby. Hearing the noise, they had assumed it was time for work. With a flick of the chain, they had simply dragged Nan Mo away.
The pig dog had not had time to stop them, and since it feared being discovered, it could only sneak behind them and follow back to the Underworld.
Still dazed, Nan Mo followed the black robed and white robed figures for a few steps, disbelief filling her mind.
She did not know whether she should be more shocked that she had died or that she was actually seeing the Black and White Impermanence.
Once she came to her senses, she grabbed the chain and refused to move.
“Where are you taking me? Can I still be saved? You are claiming my life the moment I arrive?”
Black Impermanence glanced at her. “Cooperate a little. That way we can get off work sooner. I can tell your forehead is full and bright. You must have accumulated a lot of merit in life. I will put in a good word with the King of Hell and get you a good reincarnation, how about that?”
The moment she heard that her next life might be negotiable, Nan Mo became interested.
Even though she had not suffered much growing up, what orphan would not wish to live in a complete family?
Besides, the only person close to her, the director who had raised her, had passed away the year before.
Maybe she could reincarnate again?
And so, she allowed herself to be coaxed along for a while.
This place looked nothing like the Yellow Springs Road described in novels.
Everything around her was pitch black and silent. The only sound was the faint conversation between the two figures ahead. It was strangely quiet.
“Um…” Nan Mo broke the silence.
“Ah!” Black Impermanence jumped in fright. “What are you doing? Why are you suddenly talking?”
“Sorry… I just wanted to ask, since I died, what about the thing that hit me? Is that… um… that animal okay?”
She did not even know what to call it. The silence had been too boring, and she had not clearly seen what had struck her. It had seemed like some kind of animal.
Startled by her sudden question, Black Impermanence felt even more guilty.
White Impermanence had just told him that the day’s assignment list had not included this person at all. Now this girl was asking about the thing that killed her…
He nudged White Impermanence with his elbow, signaling him to answer.
“What animal? I did not see anything,” White Impermanence said, pretending ignorance. The soul had not been captured by him anyway, so he did not intend to deal with it.
“You did not see it? That cannot be right. It was huge. It looked like a dog, but maybe not. No dog could be that round. Its whole body was black, and it had a little patch of white fur right here on its head.”
As she spoke, Nan Mo gestured with her hands to show the creature’s size. When she mentioned the white fur, she scratched her own forehead and pointed to the spot.
Black Impermanence’s eyes lit up instantly. “You hit Xiao Dezi?”
“Who?”
“It must be, it must be. I knew I could not have sensed wrong. There had to be an earth soul in that place. So it was Xiao Dezi.”
Before Nan Mo could figure out what he meant, a force suddenly shoved her forward and sent her straight into the Hall of the King of Hell.
She looked around and immediately spotted a giant meatball shape curled up in a corner.
“It is that one. It died too?” she asked in shock, pointing at Xiao Dezi on the floor for Black Impermanence to see.
Black Impermanence became even more pleased. Now there was no mistake.
He immediately seized the chance to complain to the figure seated above.
“Boss, what should we do? Xiao Dezi has caused trouble this time. Not only did it sneak out, it made me capture the wrong soul. You have raised it for so long, how could it be so troublesome…”
As he spoke, he secretly glanced at the stern faced man.
The King of Hell had already known Xiao Dezi had caused trouble before they even arrived.
Now that he heard the full story, he felt like strangling the beast. The year end performance review was almost here. If this blunder of capturing the wrong soul came out, would this year’s bonus vanish again?
No. He had to settle this girl no matter what.
With that thought, he put on an air of calm authority and lightly glanced at Nan Mo. “What do you say?”
Nan Mo finally understood what was going on.
So she had died by mistake. That counted as a major workplace accident, right?
She had originally wanted to curry favor with the King of Hell for a good reincarnation. Now she was thinking that she could demand compensation.
She straightened her back, placed her hands on her hips like a teapot, and pointed at Xiao Dezi.
“That is your dog? Under heaven’s light, where is justice? I was a model student every year, an outstanding class officer. I never cheated or broke the law. I was only twenty five. My youth was just beginning, and now it is gone. I never had parents or family, and I have not even been in love yet.
“Your pet got greedy for fun and now I lost my life because of it. Then what was the point of all my hard studying? What was the point of all my savings? What did all my years of effort amount to? I only wanted to live properly. Send me back.”
At first she had not felt wronged, but as she spoke she made herself cry.
She had not dared cry before death, afraid people would dislike her if she cried too much. Now that she was already dead, she stopped holding back and burst into loud sobs right there in the hall.
“Hey, hey, do not cry, do not cry. You should not be this loud.”
The King of Hell felt his scalp go numb when he heard her wailing. He did not even dare keep up his imposing posture. If she kept this up, she might attract inspectors.
“Girl, the situation is what it is. We did not want this either. Look at Xiao Dezi, it is just stupid. I pitied it because no one wanted it, so I kept it. How about this, we will arrange things for you properly and try our best to satisfy you. Does that sound alright?” He rubbed his hands together as he spoke, carefully watching her expression.
What he really thought was that he needed to send her away quickly. If she kept making a scene, losing his bonus would be the least of his worries. He might even get a formal reprimand.
While Nan Mo sniffled softly, her mind raced. Hearing his words, she quickly calculated the most beneficial condition she could demand.
She would only have this one chance to extort compensation, so she had to be careful and maximize her gains.
No one spoke in the hall as they waited for her to talk. She cried softly for more than ten minutes, but in truth she had already rehearsed what she would say several times in her mind.
She wiped away nonexistent tears, looked up at the King of Hell, cleared her throat, and prepared to speak. He immediately cut her off.
“Girl, no emotional speeches. Heh, it is getting late. As long as your requests are not excessive, we will do our best to satisfy them. How about that?”
He was honestly afraid she would cry again.
“….” She glanced at him, then began counting on her fingers one by one.
“I want my next life to have both parents, a harmonious family, a wealthy background, stunning looks, no illness or disasters, a loving marriage, outstanding abilities, well behaved children, and many descendants…”
“Stop, stop, girl. You are reincarnating, not making wishes!” the King of Hell interrupted when she had already reached the part about descendants.
Nan Mo had only been testing his limits. Seeing his constipated expression, she knew she had pushed far enough and decided to stop while she was ahead.
“Can you do it?”
“I agree to what you just said,” the King of Hell replied, watching to see if she would add more demands.
“Alright then.”
“Alright what?”
“Send me to reincarnate,” Nan Mo said as if it were obvious. “You are not going to fail to do what you promised, right?”
“…Do not worry. I will not shortchange you on what I promised.” As soon as he finished speaking, he summoned White Impermanence and ordered him to escort Nan Mo away.