Chapter One: Transmigrated?

Late spring had come, and the locust trees at the entrance of Sweetwater Alley had already shed their blossoms; the first light of morning shone upon scraps of red paper scattered across the ground.

A lavish bridal sedan stood at the Li family’s door, yet there was not a hint of joy to be found, only the sounds of weeping and curses.

“I won’t go, I won’t go—let me go, I won’t go!” Li Yunwan clung to the doorframe, wailing and screaming.

“Won’t go?” The scar-faced brute grabbed Li Yunwan by her hair and wrenched her to the ground, kicking her hard. “Your father and brother owe the gambling house so much silver that even selling you to Cloud Ease Tower won’t settle the debt!”

Clutching her belly, Li Yunwan moaned in pain.

“Let go! You animal! Let go of my fourth sister!” Li Xuzhang, dragging his injured leg, clung to the scar-faced man with all his might, shielding Li Yunwan.

The brute gave a cold laugh and savagely kicked Li Xuzhang’s wounded leg.

Blood seeped through his hem as Li Xuzhang writhed on the ground, howling in agony.

The people of Sweetwater Alley had already surrounded the Li family’s courtyard, blocking it completely.

“Hey, you want your gambling debts paid, that’s one thing, but why are you being so ruthless with mere children?”

“Stop! Any more and you’ll kill someone!”

“That’s right! Yunwan is only nine, and you’re selling her to Cloud Ease Tower? It’s simply inhuman!”

At last, the scar-faced man stopped and, casting a cold, fierce gaze upon the crowd, sneered, “Inhuman, am I? If you pay the debt, I’ll let the girl go.”

At his words, the crowd exchanged nervous glances, all retreating for fear of implication.

What a joke! That debt had already cost the Li family two lives and now a daughter; it could ruin every household in Sweetwater Alley!

Seeing no one respond, the man threw his head back and laughed. “People only feel pain when it’s their own silver!”

Of course—who’s going to use their hard-earned money to pay off someone else’s gambling debt?

No longer interested in arguing with these powerless do-gooders, the brute barked to his men, “Come on, get the fourth girl into the sedan!”

Several thugs swarmed forward, twisted Li Yunwan’s arms behind her, and dragged her out, shoving her into the bridal sedan.

This sedan was custom-made to prevent escape, the curtains replaced with wooden doors, secured from outside with a lock.

A feeble infant’s cry sounded from the dilapidated courtyard.

“A-Wei!” Li Yunwan pounded the wooden door, screaming in despair.

Amidst the onlookers’ sighs and the baby’s weak cries, the bridal sedan receded into the dawn.

The Li family’s house, once among the finest in Sweetwater Alley, had fallen into ruin these past two months. Dust coated everything, the courtyard neglected, even the window paper torn.

A morning breeze drifted through the tattered paper of the west room, stirring the dust.

Li Xubai slowly opened his eyes, a trace of clarity piercing his confusion as he lifted the stiff, thin quilt from his body.

Given the chaos outside, he could hardly justify lying here pretending to be dead.

Li Xubai came from Blue Star, a well-known entertainment journalist—so notorious that anyone he wrote about would be blacklisted. That day, while tailing a minor celebrity in his car, he collided head-on with a heavy truck and watched himself be decapitated.

He should have died, but instead, he awoke in this unfamiliar era.

It had been half an hour since Li Xubai transmigrated, and in his haste, he had absorbed all this body’s memories—but had no time to sort out what year or dynasty it was. He felt no true attachment to the people outside.

Yet, having taken over this body, escaping death by car accident, he felt it wrong to ignore its family. If he stood by and did nothing, he doubted he’d be able to continue living in this flesh.

“Stop!” Li Xubai ran to the bridal sedan, set a tightly sealed wooden bucket on the ground, and smashed open the locked door with his stick.

The people of Sweetwater Alley stared in surprise; who would have expected the usually silent, frail scholar to have such strength?

Li Yunwan tumbled out of the sedan and threw herself into his arms. “Second Brother!”

The thugs quickly surrounded Li Xubai.

The scar-faced man strode over, empty-handed, grinning viciously. “Well, well. You were so badly hurt and still didn’t die. You’re tougher than I thought.”

Li Xubai pointed his stick at the brute. He didn’t know which dynasty he’d landed in, but he did know that abducting women was illegal in any era.

Outnumbered as he was, fighting wasn’t an option, so he could only gamble on his wits.

“You’re kidnapping a young girl—aren’t you afraid I’ll report you?” Li Xubai forced himself to shout.

At this, the brute and his men burst into laughter, doubling over as if they’d heard the most ridiculous thing.

“Kidnapping?” the man sneered, glancing at a companion. “Show him—the contract his own father signed and sealed.”

A slip of paper covered in writing was thrust before Li Xubai’s eyes. He could only twitch at its sight.

He had a college degree, yet not a single character on that page was recognizable to him.

He was now utterly illiterate.

He tried to make sense of it but soon gave up and turned to Li Yunwan. “What day is it today?”

She shook her head blankly.

She didn’t understand.

“Never mind, doesn’t matter if it’s real or fake.” Li Xubai gave up, snatched the paper, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

He dusted off his hands, looking as shameless as a street ruffian. “There, the contract’s gone.”

Everyone stared, speechless.

Who would have thought someone would out-scoundrel the thugs?

“Beat him to death!” The scar-faced man never expected anyone could be more shameless than himself, nor that anyone would dare play such tricks before him. Enraged, he stomped and roared.

Whether the contract existed or not, it wouldn’t stop them from taking the girl. But to be made a fool of in front of everyone, that was a slap in the face!

It didn’t hurt, but it was humiliating.

The thugs rolled up their sleeves, eyes red with fury, and came at Li Xubai with fists, sticks, and spiked clubs—every weapon imaginable, raining down upon him.

Never in their careers as hired muscle had they been humiliated like this.

Li Xubai gripped his stick and fought back desperately, cursing under his breath.

Judging by their ferocity, that contract must have been real.

In the chaos, Li Xubai shoved Li Yunwan aside, swung his stick to knock open the lid of the bucket—instantly, a stench rose, choking the air.

He stirred the contents and swung his stick around.

The stench was so overwhelming it made people’s eyes water.

“My face! My face!” a thug suddenly dropped his knife and clutched his face, screaming as blood trickled between his fingers.

Li Xubai stood wielding his stick—reeking, with faint traces of blood—filthy water dripping everywhere.

Blood emboldens the timid.

At that moment, Li Xubai felt invincible, like Lu Zhishen thrashing the butcher in the old tales.

He’d worked out for years and practiced martial arts—not that he’d fought a gang before, but in one-on-one fights, he’d always dominated.

This body might lack his former strength, but his skills were intact; with his secret weapon, his stick whistled through the air.

Not a single thug dared approach.

The stench wafted from one end of Sweetwater Alley to the other, so foul it made the heavens rage and the people despair.

The neighbors clamped their noses and fled in all directions.

“So stinky!”

“What is that smell?”

“Second Son Li smashed open a chamber pot!”

“That rotten scoundrel!”

One after another, the thugs who were struck by the reeking stick were left reeling, both in pain and nausea, unable even to stand.

Within moments, six out of eight thugs had collapsed, overcome by the stench.

The two that remained were filthy, trembling from head to toe.