The drizzling rain gathered like curtains, still enveloping Seeking Immortal County.
The daylight was bustling with excitent; however, as each head fell to the ground and was placed on the wood post known as "Soul Summoning Pole" at the center of Vegetable Market Street under everyone's gaze, the curtain eventually fell.
Except for the few people obsessed with dicine, most held a grievance for the death of those several heroes and sighed incessantly.
Regrettably, with the chaos of troubled tis already apparent, everyone was too preoccupied with their own problems to concern themselves with others.
After night fell, Vegetable Market Street beca very peaceful.
Only a young night watchman wearing a magua, carrying a lantern, and holding a copper gong, with heavy dark circles, walked along the street, striking his gong and calling out the watch.
Having completed the watch, the night watchman glanced at the nearly thirty-feet tall Soul Summoning Pole in front of him.
According to the court's law, those qualified to be hanged there were either mbers of the rebellion or notorious bandits.
Currently, a series of heads hung there, precisely those of the young n who were executed at dusk.
A gust of night wind blew by, causing the heads to sway.
The sound of flesh and bone rubbing against the pole sounded especially eerie.
The night watchman sighed softly and quickened his pace, soon leaving the pitch-dark Vegetable Market Street.
Just as he left, in a shop at the end of the street.
In the darkness, a corpse that had been lying on the ground with eyes closed suddenly snapped its eyes open.
Having just "resurrected."
Tao Qian seed to be in so sort of rigid state, his mind bombarded with a delayed torrent of information forcefully infusing into his thoughts.
Initially, these pieces of information were disorganized and obscure.
They appeared to be ancient words, so incomprehensible nonsense, and even so ghostly symbolic talismans.
But gradually, they organized themselves.
Eventually, they ford a special format that Tao Qian could understand.
[Na: Tao Qian.]
[Record Type: Abnormality.]
[Record: Gained the "Undying" characteristic due to chanting an unknown fragnted formula during decapitation, entering a state of neither living nor dying, with Source Qi intact remaining immortal until death cos again where chanting the fragnted formula to congeal the Source Qi is required, failure resulting in true death.]
[Note 1: Each recitation of the fragnted formula will incur the following price: Permanent decay of the body, soul daze, after possession transforms into a deceitful creature called "Soul corpse".]
[Note 2: Soul corpse, existing between life and death, dazed, craves human flesh, prefers dark and damp environnts, on nights of the blood moon runs a mad three thousand miles without knowing exhaustion.]
[Note 3: Price is waived!]
…
After digesting the stream of information, Tao Qian was stunned.
Many questions were now answered.
Why was he not dead despite being decapitated due to that fragnted formula?
And there were the sensations relating to "decay" and "corpse" he felt during the execution.
Clearly, those were the price required for immortality.
But inexplicably, his soul seed different, and at the crucial mont, it dispersed that sensation, allowing him to waive the price.
"So, this is likely my "Golden Finger" hack, with a strong perception of transcendent abnormal information, and price waiver?"
"But validation is needed, as solitary evidence cannot establish the truth."
With that thought, Tao Qian ca to his senses.
He slowly got up and fumbled around the shop.
After a while, he lit an oil lamp.
The dim yellow light gradually spread, barely filling the small bookstore.
Using the light, he found a well-polished copper mirror in the corner.
The next second, Tao Qian clearly saw what he looked like now.
Unexpectedly, he was a young man.
About twenty-five or twenty-six years old, tall and lean with pale skin, he also looked rather handso, with smile lines around his mouth, overall exuding a sunny, warm aura.
How did such a person die?
Just as this question arose in Tao Qian's mind, naturally, a flood of mories surfaced.
Along with the life profile of this body, there was also an included "tragically beautiful" love story.
This person also bore the surna Tao, nad Zhiming.
A twenty-five-year-old scholar who had repeatedly failed examinations and, burdened by the death of his parents and resentnt towards the court's incompetence, decided not to continue studying.
Recently having exhausted his savings, he moved to the county town and rented the corner shop on Vegetable Market Street to open a bookstore.
Naming it "Chengyou Bookstore," he sold all kinds of books.
New books, ancient books, and calligraphy models, it had everything.
In theory, selling books wasn't a lucrative business, but earning a living should have been easy.
However, the scholar was naive and stubborn, utterly lacking cunning, which naturally didn't bring in much money, resulting in rapid losses.
Fortunately, the bookstore had one female regular who often ca by to offer gentle consolation.
Gradually, the two took a liking to each other.
But unexpectedly, a maid ca with a ssage a few days ago saying her lady had been arranged by her mother to marry into a wealthy family in the city as a concubine.
Their love affair would have to wait for another lifeti, and she asked the scholar to forget about her.
Seeing this, Tao Qian's gaze shifted towards the counter top.
Indeed, there lay an empty wine glass and a paper packet still containing so suspicious powder.
Clearly, the scholar's understanding of the situation and those words about "another lifeti" was probably… to die for love?
"Zhiming, Zhiming, why not try resisting fate."
Tao Qian sighed and then continued.
With a sigh, Tao Qian thought no further.
This scholar had taken his own life and left behind the body, which for Tao Qian was a great gift.
Tao Qian stood in place for a few minutes, waiting for his soul to fully rge with the new body without any barriers, and then began to move around within the bookstore.
It took him less than ten seconds to walk there and back.
This little store was truly pitifully small and simply laid out.
The front held three rows of wooden bookshelves with a short wooden stand for piling books in the middle, and then there was the checkout counter.
Beyond that was a small partition used for sleeping.
Before long, Tao Qian had completely familiarized himself with his new identity and new ho.
He had been decapitated not too long ago, and had just been reincarnated.
Such life and death experiences were enough to see through the red dust of the world.
For Tao Qian, it left him without a hint of sleepiness.
He washed up by lamp light and tidied up all the books scattered on the floor. Finally, Tao Qian, following the mories in his mind, took out a book from the drawer of the counter. It wasn't very thick nor very thin, similar to a ledger, but it sowhat resembled a diary as well.
Although Tao Qian could peruse the body's mories without barriers, they were, after all, not experiences he had lived personally, and many details like prices were vague.
Having a journal ledger was more than convenient to deepen the learning.
Speaking of which, if his new identity had belonged to a person without credentials, Tao Qian would have definitely fled to hide himself imdiately.
But now, fortunate to have a body that could be exposed to the public, naturally, he should first adapt and settle down.
"This world is a lot like the last years of so dynasty in my forr life, but many more aspects are completely different."
"Not to ntion the social structure, historical customs, and such, just the absolutely real demons and ghosts, mysterious phenona are enough to show how deep and perilous this world is."
"Being new here, I must first survive by cautiously scrapping by with this cover."
He murmured a few words.
Then, Tao Qian casually opened the ledger.
"Ninth year of Tianming, June 3, clear, no wind."
"Although I, Tao Zhiming, have not established a family, I have established a career. Today, Chengyou Bookstore officially opens, attracting friends from all quarters, all generously contributing, with a good sale on miscellaneous books."
"One friend, Mr. Ge, took a liking to the 'Yue Man Hall Notes' I had specifically procured for the store—this book, written by the great scholar I most revere, reached an imposing twenty yuan. Mr. Ge ntioned he was a bit strapped for cash and asked to borrow it, promising to settle the account in a few days."
"Between scholars, how could I refuse such a cultured gesture—I gladly consented."
"In the evening, I gathered with friends at De Shun Residence; we intertwined cups and laughter, thoroughly enjoying ourselves, with two dishes nad 'bamboo mushroom and abalone' and 'Dragon Beard Fish Fin,' both delicious. To my surprise, they were ordered by Mr. Ge, truly the descendant of a wealthy family, knowing good food, although the prices of the dishes were indeed steep—just these two made up two yuan, truly lavish dishes."
"Today's inco: ten yuan six jiao four."
"Today's expenditure: twelve yuan."
...
"June 4, slight breeze, so rain."
"Fewer custors today, but with the continuous light rain, . perfect leisurely ti for a half-day's leisure."
"Fortunately, I also sold a volu of 'Shenyuan Pen Talk,' total inco: one yuan two jiao."
"Main expenditures were for als and paying to listen to stories, totaling: three jiao ten copper coins."
...
"June 5, heavy rain."
"Just as I opened the doors early in the morning, terrible news was delivered. A friend ca by to inform that Mr. Ge's family had vacated their house, apparently having decided to move to the provincial city to settle down long ago. The day before yesterday, hearing that I had opened a new bookstore, he purposely ca here to borrow the most expensive great book from my store, intending to default on his debt."
"To borrow and not return is to be a thief; this guy is utterly despicable. If I ever run into him again, I'll definitely smash his dog's head."
"Too angry to continue, I only opened the shop for half the day."
"Sold a word poster, inco: eight copper coins."
"Today's main expenditure was on als; I ate a bit more, totaling: two jiao."
...
"June 6, no wind, no rain."
"A tofu shop just opened at the street corner. The owner is a lady with decent looks and an extraordinary figure, truly a Diao Chan among tofu sellers."
"There were really too many custors; it was hard to squeeze in, but I managed to buy a few pieces of broken tofu, still sweet."
"Today I sold a few handwritten volus, inco: two jiao, two copper coins."
"Main expenditures on als and theater tickets, totaling: seven jiao."
...
"June 7, clear skies, the sun harshly blazing."
"Few people ca to buy books today; only the neighbor selling strange stones ca here to pick up the 'Night Talk' they had reserved yesterday. I quickly flipped through a few pages, all full of bizarre and secret affairs of human-demon-ghost love, still worth a look."
"Not long after that shop owner left, another shopkeeper from the neighboring street's dicine store ca over, asking to go to the book market to purchase 'Yulou Spring,' 'Nine-tailed Turtle,' and other books, and to advance a dozen or so yuan."
"I never expected such vulgar books to not only be pricy but also have so many enthusiasts."
"If I purchased so more and sold them, wouldn't it be... No, no, I am a scholar and must not disgrace myself."
"Though today's inco was substantial, tomorrow I still have to spend it to buy books, totaling: fifteen yuan seven jiao six."
"I was in a good mood and ate a bit more, the mutton at Taian Inn was too delicious, expenditure: six jiao."
...
"June 9, clear."
"Today there were slightly more custors, sold many children's books and word posters, which greatly comforted my heart."
"I heard that a new Western restaurant had opened at the street corner, the proprietor originally an apprentice in a major restaurant of the provincial city, trained by a golden-haired, blue-eyed old barbarian. The neighboring strange stone shop owner had just gone to eat there, highly praising the butter bread and fried pork cutlets; just hearing these crude and vulgar dish nas, I didn't believe him, tomorrow I'll also try these uncivilized Western dishes."
"Today's inco: one yuan two jiao, six copper coins."
"Today's expenditure: three jiao."
...
Tao Qian held the ledger in his hands, which, though seemingly an account book, was actually more akin to a diary.
Possibly because it was originally "written by oneself"
At first, he felt unfamiliar, but as he read on, Tao Qian beca completely imrsed.
During this process, his sense of strangeness to this world rapidly dissipated, and a sense of reality and integration gradually erged.
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