Chapter 1

In the year of Gengwu, on the twelfth day of the third month of the lunar calendar.

Qingming Festival.

Suitable for sacrifices, trapping, and removing; avoid marriage and burial.

Seated in the Tingtianjian outpost in Fulong Township, Jixiang County, Wang Qilin looked at the old almanac and pondered for a moment, then picked up a brush and added two more characters after "removing":

"Entering officialdom."

My fate is in my hands, not in the almanac!

Today was his first day at the Tingtianjian, and this job was crucial for his survival, so he couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

At that moment, a calico cat passed by his desk, its dim yellow eyes glancing at him as if seeing through his thoughts.

Wang Qilin indeed had ulterior motives for joining the Tingtianjian.

Since he could remember, he often saw a black pill furnace in his deep sleep.

The furnace was called the Creation Furnace, which could draw his soul to a strange place called Earth.

His soul would attach to an Earthling, seeing and hearing everything the person saw and heard.

However, he couldn't control the person's body or influence their thoughts; he only shared their vision and hearing.

He had always been deeply frightened by this.

He heard that children's souls were unstable and could easily be taken to the netherworld by ghosts, so he guessed that the strange Earth was the netherworld.

To avoid being considered evil and eliminated, he never told anyone about his experiences, bearing all the pressure alone.

This made him mature and introverted from a young age, and he was not well-liked.

Later, he learned about the existence of the Tingtianjian, a lifeline.

The Tingtianjian was an official agency established by the court to ward off evil, subdue demons, and protect the people. Its influence spread across the nine provinces, and it specialized in solving mysterious cases. Wasn't his experience a mysterious case?

So he had always wanted to join, and after years of effort, he finally achieved his wish.

As he was reminiscing, a cold wind suddenly blew in.

The spring chill was biting.

Because his soul often went to Earth, he occasionally saw embarrassing scenes through the young man he possessed, which made his body weak. The cold wind made him shiver.

Moreover, whenever he thought of those scenes, he actually wanted to scold them as "vulgar," but his conscience wouldn't allow it. The women's chests were just too big.

Shaking his head to clear the strange memories, Wang Qilin looked around.

The Tingtianjian outpost was built with mud walls and had several windows with paper. The window to the south was open, and the cold wind, mixed with raindrops, blew in, making him shiver again.

Seeing this, he closed the window and took out the Tingtianjian case file given by his superior, Du Cao, to read.

Lost in study, time flew by.

Suddenly, someone approached the door and pushed it open with a creak, shouting in a rough voice, "Old Du said we have a new recruit? Hey, is it you, kid?"

Wang Qilin looked up to see a burly man walk in casually.

The man had a rough voice and a rough appearance, with a large face, large eyes, a large mouth, a large chest, large hands, and large feet, seemingly larger than the average person in every way.

He had worked hard to join the Tingtianjian and knew everyone in Jixiang County's Tingtianjian. Recognizing the man, he stood up and bowed, saying, "I am Wang Qilin, a Youxing. Greetings, Xuli."

The Tingtianjian was divided into seven levels, with the lowest rank being Xiaoyin. His superior, Du Cao, was a Xiaoyin.

Below Xiaoyin were assistants called Youxing and Xuli. Youxing handled administrative tasks, while Xuli handled physical tasks. Wang Qilin had applied for the Youxing position, and this burly man, Xu Da, was his Xuli colleague.

Xu Da also bowed, laughing, "All this 'I am' and 'greetings' sounds so formal. Did you go to the official school?"

Wang Qilin shook his head, "My family was poor, so I didn't go."

Xu Da gave him a funny look, "Then why are you acting like a scholar? I'm the scholar—no, a Youxing needs to be literate. How did you become a Youxing without going to school?"

Wang Qilin simply said, "I learned a bit from a teacher privately."

He had indeed interacted with an old scholar, but his literacy skills were learned intermittently in the netherworld of Earth.

The netherworld's script was similar to the official script of the New Han Dynasty, just simpler.

Xu Da didn't dwell on the topic. He leaned in to look at the open case file and pouted, "So you're reading case files? Which case are you reading now?"

Wang Qilin said, "Qingshan County..."

He had just started speaking when Xu Da interrupted, "I know this case well. If you want to know, I'll tell you. But first, do you know Qingshan County?"

Wang Qilin shook his head, and Xu Da said, "Good, if you knew, I wouldn't have to tell you."

"The story goes like this: one year, a destitute man entered an abandoned house in Qingshan County to avoid his creditors. Inside, he encountered a ragged old man who, upon seeing him, hid under an old bed."

"The destitute man thought the house had been occupied by a beggar and wanted to drive the old beggar away. Do you know what he found when he lifted the bed?"

Wang Qilin said, "There was no one under the bed, only a wooden box. Inside the box was a piece of silver."

Xu Da scratched his nose, displeased, "You said you didn't know Qingshan County, so how do you know this case?"

Wang Qilin pointed to the case file, surprised, "It's written here."

He felt his colleague was a bit dim-witted, or as he had heard in his dreams, "big chest, no brain."

Thinking of this, he glanced at Xu Da's chest.

It was indeed big, well-trained!

Xu Da didn't notice the strange look and said resentfully, "So you've already read this case? I thought you were just starting, and I was about to tell you."

Wang Qilin, seeing that Xu Da was unhappy about not being able to show off, said, "Then tell me again. The case file is unclear, and I'm confused."

Xu Da immediately perked up; sometimes a man's happiness is that simple.

He continued, "The destitute man, finding only a piece of silver, was scared and fled the house. On his way home, he passed through the market and used the silver to buy some mutton and a sheep's head. The sheep's blood soaked through the cloth bag, and a patrolling guard saw it and asked him to open the bag."

"When the bag was opened, guess what?"

"There was no sheep's head, but a human head!" Wang Qilin chimed in.

But Xu Da wasn't pleased and became upset, "Damn! I won't tell you anymore, you know everything!"

Wang Qilin was at a loss, "Tell me, tell me, I won't speak."

Knowing he had already read the file, Xu Da hastily said, "There's nothing more to tell. The destitute man, scared, told the guard what had happened. The guard dug under the old bed and found a ragged dead body, but the body had no head!"

Wang Qilin urged, "Continue."

Xu Da said, "That's it, nothing more."

Wang Qilin looked puzzled, and Xu Da explained, "It's an unsolved case. No one knows who killed the person or the circumstances. The local official is a fool and found nothing."

As he spoke, another cold wind blew in, and Wang Qilin shivered.

Xu Da grinned, "Brother Wang, your body is a bit weak."

Wang Qilin asked, displeased, "Why didn't you close the door?"

Xu Da crossed his arms, "Why didn't I close the door? You didn't close the window!"

Wang Qilin looked sharply at the window to the south.

The window was open again!

The sky was bright, but the room was dark and eerie!

The cold wind felt like a ghostly wind.