Chapter 2: Upon receiving the decree from the Emperor of Xuandu, oversee Xuandu.

Just as Cheng Xi said, an abnormal fog was swirling in the forest.

There are indeed strange and supernatural things in this world.

Jiang Geyun had not witnessed it firsthand, and therefore maintained her status as a staunch materialist.

However, she had heard some strange rumors from Su Guang and other people in the temple.

She thought it was fake.

After all, there were all sorts of supernatural tales in the ancient world, and they all eventually turned into science!

Looking back now, I realize she time-traveled.

As an honorary monk of Yunshui Temple—meaning a lodger without official status—Jiang Geyun felt more reliable than the guests in the temple.

She calmly replied, "It's alright, the abbot will handle it."

Cheng Xi, who should have been somewhat flustered in her expectations, was just as calm as her, and could even laugh.

He said with a smile, "That would be perfect."

“However,” he looked at Jiang Geyun with concern and asked, “Are you going up the mountain alone, young lady?”

Jiang Geyun calmly replied, "Of course I will take responsibility for protecting you, my lord. I will travel with you."

Cheng Xi nodded and said okay.

Perhaps it was because of that unintentional contact that had just occurred that he became somewhat self-destructive?

In short, after Cheng Xi finished speaking, he stepped forward and extended his arm to Jiang Geyun, indicating that she should help him.

Jiang Geyun didn't stand on ceremony and helped him up nimbly, as if he had just twisted his ankle.

...It actually hurt a little, but she didn't say anything.

Meeting Cheng Xi's gaze, Jiang Geyun smiled calmly and said, "Let's go."

*

The two walked in the mountains for a while.

The mutated monsters that Jiang Geyun was worried about did not appear. On the contrary, as she walked, the fog gradually dissipated.

Could it be that it wasn't a fog at all, but just ordinary morning mist that disappeared as the temperature rose?

"Miss Jiang?"

Cheng Xi's inquiry came at just the right time.

Cheng Xi left a very good impression on Jiang Geyun. He was as gentle as water and never touched her along the way, letting her use him as a crutch. He also took care of her pace.

Otherwise, the two of them wouldn't have only come up now.

Jiang Geyun briefly considered whether or not to reveal the fact that "you might be my fiancé," but after thinking it over, she still felt it was presumptuous.

Ultimately, she decided to wait until she met Su Guang, and after they recognized each other and dispelled any other reasonable doubts, before trying to reveal the news.

*

When we returned to Yunshui Temple, it was already midday.

After entering the mountain gate, Jiang Geyun wanted to take Cheng Xi straight to the dining hall to find Su Guang, but the atmosphere along the way was inexplicably gloomy.

This should have been a leisurely time before the fast, but the people in the temple were in a hurry, rushing towards a certain direction, each with a very serious expression.

A closer look at the direction reveals that everyone's destination is the dormitory where the lodgers live.

She briefly considered the situation and realized that given Su Guang's personality, there was probably no one in the dining hall now. So she turned to Cheng Xi and said, "Young master, shall we follow the crowd and take a look?"

Cheng Xi naturally nodded.

After being supported by Jiang Geyun for so long, this person was still able to maintain his posture without much change, which made Jiang Geyun, who had thought he was weak, sigh in amazement for a moment.

It's so good to be healthy!

The remaining distance was not far, and the flat terrain made it much easier to walk. The two arrived at a gathering place.

However, someone noticed Jiang Geyun first, and the hushed conversations ceased, replaced by an ominous silence.

Countless eyes were focused on her.

The middle-aged man she had seen that morning was also there, and as everyone looked at her, their gazes were filled with scrutiny and suspicion.

Jiang Geyun seemed oblivious, her face ashen, only tightening her grip on Cheng Xi's hand slightly.

She looked toward the center of the crowd.

The outer circle was crowded with people, the middle was a vacuum zone, and at the very center was a dormitory with four people standing at the door.

One of them was the abbess of Yunshui Temple, her eyes filled with compassion and pity, and everyone in the temple carefully watched her expression.

The other three were dressed in identical dark blue robes embroidered with gold thread, and wore similar jade pendants at their waists, the contents of which were not yet clearly visible.

The three of them exuded a chilling aura that kept strangers at bay, a stark contrast to the usual peaceful atmosphere of Yunshui Temple.

[Sizzle—!]

The moment Jiang Geyun saw the three people, as if there was a bad signal, intermittent sounds appeared in her mind:

[Detection detected...]

【Hello...hello hello...】

[Have you heard me, Su...?]

The sound suddenly rang out, like metal scraping against metal, very impactful!

Jiang Geyun frowned uncontrollably, suppressing a muffled groan, which disappeared before reaching the exit.

Then, as if pushed by an invisible hand, she let go of Cheng Xi's hand and moved forward unconsciously.

The closer I got to the room, the clearer the voice in my head became, and the less jarring and torturous it became.

Behind her, Cheng Xi paused for a moment before withdrawing his arm. He stood with his hands behind his back, looking ahead with an undiminished smile on his face, but his eyes were cold and indifferent.

More and more people are discovering Jiang Geyun.

The crowd spontaneously made way for her.

When she stopped, she had already reached the door of the dormitory.

The four people at the door all looked at her in unison, their movements so synchronized that it was almost comical.

However, Jiang Geyun had no interest in investigating the changes in these people.

She looked toward the dormitory.

The door was ajar, and the light was dim.

The fine gauze curtains fluttered in the breeze, revealing the interior of the room.

A buzzing sound suddenly rose in Jiang Geyun's ears, and her heart felt as if it had been struck several times.

A lifeless blue figure was hanging from the roof beam, swaying incessantly.

It is plain light.

*

"So that's how it is. The deceased was Miss Su Guang."

“The Jinghu County Prison of Lianzhou has come to handle this matter after hearing about it.”

The leading youth bowed slightly to the abbot of Yunshui Temple and gave an explanation in front of everyone.

No one believed the "county prison" thing. The blue official robes worn by the three men were obviously not ordinary. The young man in the lead had an air of arrogance and nobility.

It would be more convincing to say that the arrival of people from the Dali Temple would be more trustworthy.

However, the organization they belonged to was indeed special, so it was normal not to say so. Abbot Yunshui nodded, ostensibly accepting the explanation.

Facing the corpse, the old abbess, whose face was usually kind and gentle, seemed somewhat reluctant. She closed her eyes briefly, then quickly opened them and replied, "Thank you all for your trouble."

Although she is the abbot and should step in to resolve this matter, precisely because she is the abbot, in this matter, she must prioritize protecting everyone in the abbot's community. Let those three handle the corpse.

Jiang Geyun appeared at that very moment.

Standing at the bottom of the steps, the girl's dark eyes flashed with a mix of emotions, but they eventually subsided, and she quietly looked around the room.

The leader of the three men in blue seemed to have sensed something. He narrowed his eyes, turned to a colleague, and said a few words.

The colleague nodded repeatedly.

He seemed to be listening very attentively.

*

Are you really listening attentively?

When she was subdued, Jiang Geyun glanced at the man indifferently, and the man immediately gave her a somewhat forced smile.

She suddenly understood the fisherman's mentality; he was quite amused.

The system's voice transmission ended in an instant, and Jiang Geyun already knew the identities of the people in front of her. The person who felt very uncomfortable under her gaze was none other than Xie Jiming, the protagonist of the book she had transmigrated into.

Xie Jiming froze for a moment under her gaze, but after a while, as if he had taken some reassuring pill, he became calm again.

It seems the system was right; the protagonist is probably talking to his personal old man.

Jiang Geyun looked away.

According to the system, the book she was reading was called "Xuan Du Zhao Ye," and the plot was very classic.

The protagonist, Xie Jiming, is an ordinary orphan; he isn't even called Xie Jiming.

One day, he found a jade pendant and wanted to pawn it. However, as soon as he went out, he encountered various misfortunes. He either ran into his enemies and got beaten up, or broke his leg and had to go back to recuperate.

The protagonist realizes that his misfortune began when he found the jade pendant, and he decides to dig up the grave where the jade pendant was found!

Fortunately, he heard the old man's voice before he could take any action.

It turns out that this old man was a Night Watcher in his previous life!

The protagonist was utterly shocked.

He had always thought that the Night God was just a legendary figure, and he was nothing special in the past!

According to rumors circulating among the villagers, in addition to the Central Nine Supervisory Offices, there is also a Mysterious Supervisory Office, which is in charge of matters of supernatural powers and strange phenomena. The people working there are called Night Watchers, and each of them has mysterious abilities.

"By order of the Emperor, the Xuandu (Mysterious Capital) shall be inspected."

It sounds unreal, like the ramblings of a failed scholar with nothing to do, using such fanciful ideas to find a special, imaginary path to officialdom for his unsuccessful self.

I never imagined it was true!

There are indeed ghosts, gods, and monsters in the world, and the emperor does have an agency to monitor mysterious events!

The old man claimed he wanted to repay the protagonist, so he created a false identity for him and helped him pass the entrance test of Xuandu Bureau, making him a low-level "Sparrow" Night Watcher.

Once inside the Xuandu Prison, the protagonist knew that possessing a strange and mysterious soul was extremely dangerous, so he was extra careful about it.

It should be noted that Xie Jiming is definitely not the most eye-catching of the three. The other two Pei siblings are dazzling in terms of family background, appearance, and talent.

I wonder how Jiang Geyun's extra glances at him will make him feel.

What she didn't expect was that the old man's reply reassured Xie Jiming, and once he relaxed, his thoughts began to wander.

He thought to himself, "This suspect is quite handsome."

To use the words of those scholars, it's like glass hidden in the rain and mist, sometimes near, sometimes far, silent yet bright.

...

It turns out that Su Guang's name is Cheng Jiao.

The Cheng family of Lianzhou, whose emblem is green bamboo, reveres the noble character of bamboo. Cheng Jiao is also... detached and sorrowful, just like green bamboo under the moon.

Jiang Geyun's lapse in concentration made both sides somewhat impatient.

Pei Xuexiao, the "Night Messenger" in front of her, tapped the table with her finger.

The young man had delicate features and an air of nobility; his extraordinary family background could be glimpsed from his every move.

Although the boy had a polite smile on his lips, anyone could see the impatience in his eyes.

The voices in one's head are equally impressive.

After explaining Jiang Geyun's current situation after transmigrating into the book and providing an overview of the original novel "Xuan Du Zhao Ye," he began urging Jiang Geyun to review her mission and complete it promptly.

Communicating with the "system" is a truly wonderful experience.

Before it appeared, Jiang Geyun could hardly imagine how it existed, just as a human without a tail could hardly imagine how he would move if he had a tail.

But after it appeared, she naturally accepted its existence, and even figured out how to communicate with it without any instruction, which was really strange.

The only thing that gave her some peace of mind was that as long as she didn't deliberately "think" about it for the system to hear, her true inner thoughts wouldn't be detected by the system.

The system was clearly extremely dissatisfied with her passive behavior of delaying the "confirmation" of the task:

[Hello, host, can you hear me?]

[Please check the mission details as soon as possible!]

There seems to be some underlying logic at play; it appears that unless Jiang Geyun explicitly tells the system her requirements, the system cannot proceed without authorization.

After downloading an app, you'll see a bunch of documents like "Privacy Policy," "Personal Information Collection List," and "App Permissions Instructions," which you have to manually click to agree to.

In a flash, Jiang Geyun decided to put the system aside for now.

Looking up, she said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I was distracted just now and didn't pay attention to my questions..."

Before she could finish speaking, Pei Xuexiao flipped through the papers in her hand with a rustling sound and asked casually, "Jiang Geyun, seventeen years old, from Fulong in Yingzhou, orphaned, came to Lianzhou alone to find relatives, and is staying at Yunshui Temple, is that right?"

Jiang Geyun nodded in agreement.

Pei Xuexiao asked casually, "I've heard that the peach blossom pastry from Fulong in Yingzhou is exceptional?"

Jiang Geyun replied, "Fulong is famous for its lotus flower pastry."

Upon hearing this, Pei Xuexiao showed no embarrassment at having said something wrong. She maintained her nonchalant attitude and nodded perfunctorily, "Right?"

Upon hearing Pei Xuexiao's seemingly absent-minded reply, Jiang Geyun became certain that her feeling earlier was correct; the other party was indeed testing her!

Thinking of this, she relaxed her furrowed brows and her expression became peaceful.

A stress interview, huh? She's very familiar with that.

Pei Xuexiao made a few notes on the case file in her hand and asked:

"The journey from Yingzhou to Lianzhou is long and arduous. It must be inconvenient for Miss Jiang to come here alone. Did you encounter any special people or events on the road or at the temple?"

The room was dimly lit by candlelight, and the air inside was thick with the damp, musty smell of wood due to poor ventilation.

As Pei Xuexiao was questioning him, several cries of agony came from somewhere outside the room.

Jiang Geyun replied, "...I met Miss Suguang at Yunshui Temple, and she took good care of me."

"Miss Su Guang."

Pei Xuexiao repeated herself in a subtle tone, and continued to ask, "Temporary care won't last long. If the search for relatives is unsuccessful, have you had any worries about what will happen next?"

While the previous questions had been somewhat probing, they had at least been restrained. But this question, in Jiang Geyun's eyes, was rather blunt.

He was implying that Jiang Geyun might commit murder for money due to financial difficulties.

...

Jiang Geyun appeared to have no reaction.

Taking a few deep breaths to compose herself, she was about to answer when the door suddenly opened—"Brother, was this really necessary?"

You hear his voice before you see him.

The newcomer's voice was clear and melodious, exuding the lively vitality of a young girl. She first uttered this complaint before entering the room from outside.

It was immediately obvious that the newcomer and Pei Xuexiao were twins; the two looked extremely similar, only their styles differed—one was active and the other was still.

Furthermore, they all had black hair and black eyes, and skin as white as snow. The extreme colors collided with each other, just like red plum branches in the snow, the black became blacker, the white became whiter, and the red became redder.

Jiang Geyun looked up at Pei Xueyi.

And Xie Jiming behind her.

In addition to the main characters, there must be villains in the book.

Because of Xie Jiming's personal master, his obsession with certain old injustices angered the ultimate villain.

The true identity of the main villain is the crown prince of the current dynasty. He is a man of great integrity, reputation, and extraordinary talent. No adjectives can be used to describe him. He is a true prodigy. No one had ever imagined that he would intend to kill everyone in the world and turn them into ghosts.

A complete madman, not a normal person at all.

Thinking about Cheng Xi, the normal person she had just met today, Jiang Geyun sighed inwardly, "Why can't there be more people like him?"

Upon learning of her sister's tragic death, Cheng Xi quickly composed herself, looking at the stunned Jiang Geyun and the four people in front of the door, seemingly without a trace of sadness.

It was assumed that he would wait in the temple, waiting for the truth to come out.

The three Night Watchers seemed to think that Jiang Geyun was the mastermind behind everything. Even so, Cheng Xi did not easily change her attitude towards Jiang Geyun. Instead, she gently told her not to worry before she was taken away.

The main villain certainly wouldn't be this gentle.

Who's some good person who's heading towards the end of the world?

As for the reason for doing so?

The author symbolically designed a tragic past for the main villain, but the main text emphasizes that the main villain is a genius of the demonic path who wants to become the number one person to rule all realms, which is why he has such a dark scheme.

You must not get involved with this kind of person.

The original story pauses at the point where the protagonist has gathered all the evidence and is preparing to expose the main villain; a storm is brewing. The system's fate remains undisclosed.

Jiang Geyun accepted the tea from Pei Xueyi. The tea was at the perfect temperature, and the warmth of the tea transferred from the cup to her palm, which calmed her down.

She thought for a moment, then gave Pei Xueyi a grateful smile.

Pei Xueyi, one of the female protagonists of "Xuan Du Zhao Ye", is of noble status, outstanding ability, and excellent appearance. The marriage between Xie Jiming and Pei Xueyi is one of the biggest boosts to Xie Jiming's social class... Every "one of" here is not an empty boast.

Sigh, harem novels.

Jiang Geyun wanted to use tea to clear her mind.

The moment the tea touched his lips, the system's voice and punishment arrived—

A cold, stabbing sensation shot through my stomach, followed by a rush of pain, nausea, and dizziness, making my temples throb!

The system uses inorganic sound channels:

[Host's negative attitude towards the task has been detected. Punishment mode activated.]

Jiang Geyun's hand trembled slightly, and some tea spilled from the cup.

Pei Xueyi seemed to have expected this, and glared at Pei Xuexiao reproachfully, saying, "Look..."

The girl turned her gaze back to Jiang Geyun and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

This is the second time I've heard that phrase today.

Her thoughts stalled, and Jiang Geyun unconsciously curled up due to the pain.

Hidden beneath her clothes, her right hand pressed tightly against her stomach, her knuckles turning white from the force, as if trying to force the excruciating pain back down.

The system's voice persisted in my ears:

[Please check the mission details as soon as possible!]

[Please check the mission details as soon as possible!]

[Please check the mission details as soon as possible!]

A note from the author:

----------------------

*cough* Although the next chapter will mention the mission, I'm sure you adults can guess that I'm going to be trying to win over the crazy guy you mentioned!

Also: First published on 20250614, slightly revised on 20250627. Just like the first chapter, I came back to adjust the pacing of the earlier chapters as I got into the writing style. The plot changes are minor.