Chapter 001 Ascension Failed

At midnight, a drizzle fell and a strange noise was heard in the cemetery.

"Damn, an orphan's coffin is nailed so tightly that it can't be pried open." The grave robber used a homemade coffin rake to pry the edge of the coffin with great effort.

"Keep your voice down, or you'll attract the police," another grave robber warned him. "The buyer said that he must use a female corpse born at this time, so that the horoscope matches that of his son. There's only one like this in the whole county. If you put in a little more effort, look, you've already pried open a crack."

The coffin lid was a little loose, and a faint crack appeared on the edge. The two grave robbers smiled at each other.

"Hey, 70,000 yuan, right in front of you!"

"We agreed in advance that this time it's your turn to carry the corpse. Last time you asked me to carry the one with green water coming out of it. I was so disgusted that I didn't eat for three days!"

"I'll carry her on my back. Anyway, this woman just died not long ago, and her body is still fresh. Hey, damn, why is the rain getting heavier?"

"It seems, it seems... I heard from the older generation that the coffin should not be opened on rainy days, as it is easy to exhume the body!"

"Fuck you, if you believe that, why are you doing this? Hurry up and pry it open!"

The two grave robbers worked together, and the coffin lid opened with a creaking sound, and a finger-wide gap was pried open at the edge of the coffin.

Heavy rain poured down, dark clouds covered the pitch-black night, and several rolling thunders were hidden in the dark clouds, which could explode at any time.

The leading grave robber raised his head and looked at the sky anxiously, then looked at the coffin that was about to be pried open, and made up his mind. He called out to his companions: "Don't be a shrinking turtle. I'll count to one, two, three, and smash it together!"

The two grave robbers replaced the tools in their hands with large iron hammers and picked them up together. At the moment when the iron hammers hit the coffin, thunder rumbled and a huge lightning bolt struck from the sky and hit the coffin directly.

The leading grave robber was struck by lightning and died on the spot. The other grave robber was so scared that he let go of the hammer in his hand, and the hammer hit his foot, causing him to scream.

Suddenly, a laugh like a silver bell came from the charred coffin, which scared the surviving grave robber out of his wits. Then, a white light flashed between heaven and earth, and a thin white hand stretched out from the crack in the coffin and grabbed the edge of the coffin lid.

The surviving grave robber was so scared that he peed his pants. He turned around and ran out of the cemetery, running faster than a rabbit, regardless of his injured feet.

The coffin lid creaked twice again, and the hand inside the coffin easily lifted the lid that had long been broken, and a pale-faced woman in funeral clothes sat up from the coffin.

The thunder gradually faded away, and the woman rubbed her forehead in distress. She felt that she did not belong to this world, but she could not think of anything.

[Host, your ascension failed this time and you have been demoted to the mortal world! ]

A crisp sound rang in her ears.

[I am your system, you can call me Lingdi, I will accompany you to complete this earthly experience]

Ascension... System...

These words flashed through the woman's mind in confusion. She couldn't remember anything, but she was not panicked at all. She asked calmly:

"What is my current situation?"

[Reporting to the host, after the ascension failed, your immortal body was sealed in the heavens, leaving only a remnant of your soul. Currently, your soul is staying in a female corpse that has just been buried in the human world. It happens that this female corpse is a virgin, and can perfectly accommodate your soul. ]

"Why can't I remember anything?"

[Host, the failure of this ascension has caused your soul to be damaged and your internal energy to be lost. You have forgotten all your past and have lost all your cultivation. Except for the special skills reserved for you by the heaven, you are now no different from a mortal.]

"What is the special skill that the heavens have reserved for me?"

[Pulse Diagnosis - You only need to use two fingers to take the pulse of the previous person to see the fate of that person]

"What is my goal in coming to the human world to gain experience?"

[Accumulate good karma. The reason you failed to ascend this time is because you don’t have enough good karma. The heavens used thunder to demote you to the mortal world so that you can make more good karma in the human world. Using pulse diagnosis, I can help those who are destined to be with you avoid disasters and seek blessings.]

[Every time you successfully make a connection, the system will increase the corresponding good karma value. As the good karma value increases, your lost spells will be returned one by one, and your memory will be restored. Only when you have accumulated enough good karma can you repair your soul, unlock your immortal body, and ascend again.]

"knew."

The woman stepped out of the coffin and stepped onto the muddy ground of the cemetery. The paper shoes on her feet immediately rotted when they came into contact with the mud and water, but she didn't notice it at all.

There was a bright puddle of water by the roadside. The woman stopped and looked into the puddle. She saw her reflection in the water was bright white, with thin eyebrows and lips, a pair of cold and long eyes, and a temperament that was unacceptable to the world.

"What a nice appearance," the woman murmured, touching her face.

The heart in the chest that had stopped beating started beating again because of the arrival of the new soul.

At midnight, the rain stopped, the dark clouds parted, revealing a ray of moonlight. In the cemetery, a thin woman walked barefoot down the mountain, stepping on the mud and bathed in the moonlight.

————

An asphalt road appeared at the foot of the mountain. The lights in the shops on both sides of the road were off. This was the edge of the county town. As the weather was bad tonight, all the shops closed early.

Only one shabby white shop had its lights on. The warm yellow light shone through the window onto the street. The woman was attracted by the light and walked to the window involuntarily. Through the window, she saw many small clay pots heating on the fire, emitting white steam and making gurgling sounds.

After all, she was staying in a mortal body. The woman who hadn't eaten for a long time felt very hungry. She rubbed her abdomen gently and moved closer to the window.

In the white shop, the old Chinese medicine practitioner Weng Xuhua was sorting out the day's prescriptions, while his wife Gao Jin was sewing an old coat. After sewing a few stitches, she remembered that there was Chinese medicine stewing on the stove for the patients, so she put down the needle and thread in her hands and went to the pharmacy to check the fire.

As soon as she pushed open the door of the pharmacy, Gao Jin screamed. Weng Xuhua immediately rushed over and asked her what happened. Gao Jin pointed out the window tremblingly and could not even utter a complete sentence.

"She, she——"

Weng Xuhua looked in the direction his wife pointed, and saw a girl standing outside the window. She was soaking wet, her face was pale, her hair was disheveled, her fingers were slender, and she was wearing shrouds for the dead. Anyone who saw her would think she was a female ghost.

After all, Weng Xuhua had been practicing medicine for many years and had some experience. He looked at the girl's face carefully, then opened the door of the pharmacy and invited the girl in.

Gao Jin grabbed his wife's hand anxiously: "Is this okay? What if it's a..."

Weng Xuhua held Gao Jin's hand and said, "Don't be afraid. When our Yinyin got into trouble, she was about this age. Now that this child is in trouble, how can we not save her?"

These words convinced Gao Jin.

The girl stepped onto the stairs carefully. Before entering the store, she looked up at the sign hanging above. On the sign were three large characters written in an antique style - Ci Xin Tang.

It is a Chinese medicine clinic.

Weng Xuhua led the girl to the pulse desk, placed two fingers on her left pulse, and took her pulse.

"The pulse is steady and strong, and there is no abnormality." Weng Xuhua raised his head in surprise, "Child, are you here to see a doctor?"

The girl said nothing and just shook her head quietly.

Gao Jin also noticed that something was wrong with the girl, so he stepped forward and asked with concern, "What's your name?"

"Bai Mian." The name immediately popped up in the girl's mind. It was her last memory before her failed ascension.

"Where do you live? Do you know your family's contact information?" Gao Jin asked again.

Bai Mian shook her head again. The original owner of her current body was an orphan and had no one to rely on in this world.

Weng Xuhua and Gao Jin looked at each other in surprise. Gao Jin whispered in Weng Xuhua's ear, "Whose lost child is this? Or...what went wrong here?"

As she spoke, Gao Jin pointed to her head. She knew that some brain diseases could cause people to lose their memory.

Weng Xuhua thought about it and sighed helplessly: "Who knows, it's raining so hard, maybe the road is slippery, the child fell and hit her head, anyway, it's so late now, I definitely can't chase her away, let's take her in for one night, and send her to the police station tomorrow morning."

After the old couple made their decision, Gao Jin stepped forward and eagerly took Bai Mian's hand, "Child, come on, follow grandma. Go take a bath first, and then change your clothes. These tattered clothes are so unlucky!"

Bai Mian instinctively felt that the old man in front of her could be trusted. She followed Gao Jin up to the second floor. When she came down, she had already taken a shower and changed her clothes.

She walked down the stairs slowly, wearing an ivory-white short-sleeved cheongsam with a pipa collar. Her long hair, which had just been blown dry, was scattered behind her, hanging down like a waterfall.

The moment he saw her back, Weng Xuhua was stunned. He shouted excitedly, "Yin Yin!"

Bai Mian didn't turn around, and Weng Xuhua realized something was wrong. He smiled bitterly, lowered his eyes, and changed the topic: "It's you, Bai Mian. I'm sorry, I think I missed Yinyin too much."

"There was no suitable clothing at home, so I put the clothes Yinyin wore when she was here on her," Gao Jin came down from the upstairs and shouted to Weng Xuhua, then turned to explain to Bai Mian, "Yinyin is our daughter, and she has been dead for many years."

Bai Mian nodded to show her understanding. Gao Jin wiped the thing in his hand again and again and handed it to her: "This is a hairpin I wore when I was young. Anyway, I don't need it now, so I'm giving it to you. Put your hair up and have dinner later. Ah, the fish should be cooked soon, I'll go and serve it!"

As she said this, she hurried towards the kitchen.

Bai Mian's gaze lingered on the hairpin for a moment. It was a crescent-shaped silver hairpin decorated with burnt blue. It had become a little dull over time, but this dullness just added a charm to the hairpin that did not belong to this era.

Bai Mian casually held her long hair, twisted it around her head a few times, and pinned it with a hairpin, revealing her fair and slender neck.

After putting on the hairpin, she lowered her brows, her eyes were deep, like a Bodhisattva in a temple, and her whole body exuded an air of compassion for all living beings.

Weng Xuhua brought Bai Mian to the restaurant. The small restaurant was furnished with carved yellow wooden tables and chairs, which looked like they had not been replaced in more than a decade. After the two took their seats, Gao Jin came out of the kitchen holding a casserole.

"Fish head tofu casserole, come on, eat it while it's hot!"

The casserole was placed on the table with a thick towel on it. As soon as the lid was opened, hot steam came out immediately. The fish soup had turned into a milky white color, with fresh green onions floating on it. The tender tofu chopped into small pieces was trembling, and a big, plump fish head was lying at the bottom of the soup.

Weng Xuhua stood up and took out a plate of cold vegetables from the refrigerator: "There are only two of us living here, so we don't cook too many dishes. These are the leftover cold wild vegetables from lunch. They are still fresh. Don't reject them."

Bai Mian picked up a piece with chopsticks. He didn't know what kind of wild vegetable it was. It was crispy and mixed with a little vinegar and sesame oil. It was sour and cool and tasted very good.

The rice was also cooked at this time. Weng Xuhua stood up and served Bai Mian a bowl of the rice. He also specially gave her the fish head in the soup. With the fish head tofu stew and cold wild vegetables, Bai Mian had her first meal in the world.

————

At midnight, in the Qingshui Town Police Station, Director Li Shoucheng was on duty in the office.

It rained tonight and the roads were slippery, resulting in a series of traffic accidents. He and his colleagues worked most of the night to deal with them. As daybreak was approaching, the short and fat man finally had time to sit down and drink some tea.

He had just opened the lid of the cup and hadn't even taken a sip of the tea when there was a knock on the office door. The knocking was very rapid, and it seemed that something had happened again.

Li Shoucheng's heart sank. He put down the teacup helplessly and said, "Come in!"

The door was pushed open, and the person who came in was his capable subordinate Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen went straight to the point as soon as he entered the door: "Chief, there has been another grave robbery in the cemetery on the West Mountain. Judging from the modus operandi, it should be the same gang of habitual criminals who did it!"

Li Shoucheng was encouraged. Recently, a grave-robbing gang had come to the town. They specialized in digging out female corpses from cemeteries and then selling them to families on the black market for ghost marriages. The town had received several reports of stolen female corpses, but the grave-robbing gang was too cunning and they had not been caught.

Originally, the police station had arranged for people to stake out in the cemetery for a long period of time, but an accident occurred tonight and all police officers were dispatched. The people on stakeout also evacuated. It seems that this group of grave robbers took advantage of the perfect opportunity to strike.

"How is it? Has the person been caught?" Li Shoucheng asked quickly.

"A male corpse was found at the scene. The man was killed by lightning. He was holding grave-robbing tools in his hands. It was initially determined that he was a member of a grave-robbing gang," Chen Hui reported. "Another grave-robbing thief was found not far away. He was crazy and talking nonsense, as if he was frightened by something. He has now been sent to a mental hospital for treatment."

Li Shoucheng knocked on the table and said, "What a pity! We could have reviewed a lot of things!"

"Also, Director, there is one more thing..." Xiao Chen hesitated.

"Don't hesitate, just say what you want to say!" Li Shoucheng urged impatiently.

"The female corpse in the coffin disappeared, but we did not find the female corpse around the scene. According to the traces at the scene, the female corpse walked away on its own..."