Chapter One: Awakening from the Dream, Realizing I Am but a Guest
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It was July…
The sun blazed overhead, perhaps even the cicadas in the trees sensed the heat, their drum-like abdomens trembling incessantly. Waves of their song rose and fell through the forest, adding yet more stifling intensity to the already sweltering month.
Suddenly, birds and beasts scattered in fright, as the squeak of wooden axles echoed from the path below…
“This damned weather—hot and foul. It’s enough to kill a man.”
“We’re almost at the burial grounds. Just hold on a little longer.”
“Of all places, why did they have to die right on the main road? We didn’t see a scrap of benefit, but now we have to clean up their bodies. What rotten luck.”
“The world’s in chaos. All of us are just miserable souls.”
On the forested path walked two petty officers, one portly and one thin, both wearing black headbands and short tunics, with sabers strapped to their waists, idly chatting as they went.
Beside them was an old donkey, dragging a two-wheeled cart behind it. Upon the cart lay several bodies, still faintly warm.
Not long ago…
Someone had reported to the magistrate’s office in Hongyang County, claiming bandits had robbed travelers on the main road outside the town.
By the time officials arrived…
The bandits were long gone, leaving behind two shattered carriages and several stripped corpses.
Investigation revealed the victims were a family from out of town, heading to the capital to seek refuge with relatives. The master’s name was Xu Boqing; the rest were his household and servants…
In these turbulent times, such deaths were all too common. Human life was cheap.
Moreover, the bandits were either linked to some mountain stronghold or were itinerant criminals—impossible to trace.
The official overseeing the case simply waved his hand, stamped the report, and dispatched two petty officers to haul the bodies to the burial ground. And so the matter was closed…
The portly officer wielded a palm fan, but even as he walked and fanned himself, sweat poured down his brow.
Seeing the burial ground ahead, he seemed to remember something. He yanked off his black headband and said, “Old Liu, have you heard about that incident at Old Li’s house in the south of town?”
“Old Li, the sesame bun vendor?”
“That’s the one…”
The thin officer called Old Liu furrowed his brow in surprise. “Wasn’t he dead ages ago? What happened?”
“He’s dead, all right.”
The portly officer fanned himself as he explained, “Old Li had no children. When he died, his nephew took care of the body, but that nephew was no good. To save trouble, he just tossed Old Li’s corpse in the burial ground.
Later, I heard the nephew got lost in the burial ground for three days, wandering in circles as if haunted. By the time he emerged, he was skin and bones, and soon after, he went mad. The neighbors all say there’s something unclean about the burial grounds.”
“……”
The two officers exchanged glances, fear mirrored in their eyes.
Stories of ghosts and spirits always unsettled the heart, especially now that they stood at the edge of the burial ground. A breeze stirred, and even in July’s heat, a chill crept through the air.
Old Liu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed dryly. Shaking his saber at his waist, he said, “People fear ghosts a bit, but ghosts fear people more. Besides, in broad daylight, what ghost would dare appear?”
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“That’s true.”
The portly officer nodded, then glanced at the bodies piled on the cart, and at the burial ground ahead, with its forest of graves. For some reason, he felt a chill at his back.
“Old Liu, let’s leave them here, shall we?”
“Fine. We’ve done our duty retrieving the bodies—more than enough.”
They halted the old donkey, and the two of them clambered onto the cart, heaving the corpses into the burial ground.
As they worked, they muttered under their breath—“Every grievance finds its head, every debt its master,” “The times are too chaotic, nothing we can do,” “Next life, don’t come suffer in the human world”—and the like.
Soon, only one corpse remained—a young man pale as death, with hardly a mark on him. The coroner had said he died of fright.
“This young man was a handsome one. What a waste.”
Old Liu grumbled, wiped the sweat from his brow, and together with the portly officer, hauled the body by the feet and arms, tossing it out…
‘Who am I!?’
‘Where am I!?’
‘Why can’t I move!?’
Xu Boqing, half-awake and half-dreaming, came to his senses, only to find his body as paralyzed as if pressed by a ghost. His mind was clear enough, yet he couldn’t move a muscle…
Worse yet, a rank stench assaulted his nose, making him sick.
‘Maybe I’m still dreaming?’
His body was immobilized, his consciousness hazy, but he could distinctly sense himself being lifted, as if flying through the air…
That fleeting weightlessness seemed to restore some feeling to his limbs…
But before he could rejoice, his body slammed heavily to the ground, leaving him dizzy and winded, as if his organs had shifted, and he reflexively muttered, “Damn…”
“……”
The two officers, having finished their grisly task and turned the donkey to head back, suddenly froze, glancing at each other as a strange chill swept through…
“Old Liu, did you hear that?”
“I think… maybe…”
Recalling the burial ground’s rumors, they both swallowed hard, curiosity gnawing at them…
After exchanging a look, they turned to glance behind, just in time to see one of the corpses twitching and convulsing…
A corpse come to life!!
Something unclean!!
All the strange tales they’d heard, the folk stories and rumors, flooded their minds. Despite the scorching July sun, cold sweat prickled their backs.
“Ah~~~”
Xu Boqing, lucky not to have been killed by the fall, caught his breath and groaned, panting hoarsely.
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But to the ears of the two terrified officers, the sound was nothing less than the most dreadful demonic cry.
“Ghost!!!”
Howling in terror, they abandoned the donkey and scrambled out of the burial ground, tumbling and crawling, wishing desperately their parents had given them more legs.
The commotion sent the nearby birds and beasts fleeing.
“Caw~~ caw~~”
After a while, a flock of black-feathered carrion crows settled back onto the branches, their reddened eyes fixed below, cawing harshly.
Meanwhile, Xu Boqing summoned all his strength to roll over, shading his eyes as he slowly opened them. Through his fingers, he glimpsed the blinding sunlight and a sky of pure blue.
He thought to lie there and rest, to recall what had happened, but to his astonishment, found his fingers long and well-defined, his sleeves wide…
Something was wrong!
He jolted upright, only then noticing that he wore an old-fashioned robe stained with blood and mud. Touching his face, turning his hands over—
These hands weren’t right…
Or rather, nothing about him was right!
He wasn’t himself!?
He had transmigrated!?
Xu Boqing shivered, unable to fathom how he’d crossed over. In his previous life—no, he supposed he should now say his former life—he had few hobbies, just played games to pass the time. If his memory served, before transmigrating he’d bought a cultivation game, but received a pirated adult game from some shady studio…
The in-game dungeons—Spider Cave, Kingdom of Women, Sect of Joy—were scandalous beyond words, with all kinds of rewards.
For example, the “Heavenly Eye” reward from the Kingdom of Women dungeon granted “clairvoyance,” a most wondrous effect;
The “Wheel Technique” from the Sect of Joy not only let characters literally spin on their axis, but enabled yin-yang balance when “fighting monsters” in the dungeons;
The “Pure Yang Body” from Spider Cave gave “limitless stamina,” “body like a furnace, warding off all evil,” and other special effects…
To strike back against piracy and the crooked studios selling dog meat under a sheep’s head, he played for a few days with the intention to critique…
But the game’s content was so depraved, he couldn’t stop (critiquing).
He powered through three dungeons, collecting several active and passive skills, and was preparing to tackle the Jade Pool Sanctuary dungeon when his body gave out and he fell asleep.
‘So, I died gaming and transmigrated?’
Xu Boqing, having sorted out the cause, felt a chill in his heart, and his pupils shrank.
Oh no…
He hadn’t had time to clear his browser history!