Chapter 8 (1/2)

Sister, Why Are You Staring?

Li Ru was the first to break the silence—her voice cracked as she called out, “Little Nian…”

The couple rushed to their son and pleaded for him to come down. The woman pulled her son into her embrace as sobs wrecked through her body. The man stood aside, sighing deeply.

Xu Qian studied the blank expression on his cousin’s face and felt a pang of sympathy.

There were a variety of humiliating scenarios a teen could go through: being caught dancing to the latest viral boyband music by your parents, speaking too loud when commenting about a teacher’s behind, having your unrealistic self-insert story exposed. Any scenario could make a teenage boy die of embarrassment.

If an actual suicide failed, a social suicide would do the job.

‘I’m a trained officer of the law, I have to control myself…’ Xu Qian stood at a corner and giggled silently.

Xu Lingyue scowled at her

eldest brother’s

inconsiderate behavior while Xu Lingyin took stock of the situation and decided against asking for candy.

Being a quick-thinking scholar, Xu Xinnian decided the best course of action was to faint on the spot.

…

Xu Qian’s room was located in the inner courtyard. He took off his clothes and got into the wooden tub. The water was cool against his skin.

His body was at maximum refinement, giving him exceptional cold tolerance.

The life and death ordeal was over—he could finally sit down and think about this world and his odd situation.

“Why can’t I remember how the host died? I don’t have the memories prior to passing out.”

Xu Qian knew how his life in the modern world ended—alcohol poisoning. He had just been promoted and, amidst the fanfare, lost track of the number of drinks he had.

After leaving the force, he had opened up his own business. Sadly, the business did not last the second year and he had had to restart from scratch.

Hence, he played his part as a diligent worker of society.

Xu Qian had invited a few buddies to celebrate the good news. His life was on track—his new pay meant he could afford a housing loan, a betrothal gift… The next stage was marriage and family life. As long as his neighbor was not a

Wang

, all was good.

Xu Qian made a splash in the tub. “What bad luck! All that effort to get into the middle-class bracket and now I’m stuck here in a feudal society.

“The 600,000 bucks in my bank account waiting to be used for the down payment. What a waste! I’m alive but my money is a universe away. I guess my parents could make use of the money but the inheritance tax… And I almost reached Legendary rank in League of Legends. I haven’t watched the latest season of Attack on Titan, the National Football Team hasn’t won the World Cup. What a way to die…

“Sh*t! The 120GB of porn on my hard drive!”

If his parents found out, it was social suicide for Xu Qian as well.

Gradually, Xu Qian succumbed to his tired mind. When he woke up, the sky was dark.

He had been soaking in the bath for more than the recommended time and his skin was pale and pruney. He got out of the water and put on some clothes. With the help of a copper mirror, he did some basic grooming.

The face reflected on the mirror was young. Thick, bushy eyebrows were paired with an intense gaze. Years of martial arts practice gave him a lean physique.

Xu Qian gave himself an approving nod. “Nowhere as handsome as Tony Leung or Louis Koo but it’s acceptable.”

His new body was better in many ways—he was stronger and faster.

Befitting of a martial artist.

“Of course, I’d rather be in a proper ancient setting where everyone was on a level playing field. In this setting, I might just get my head lopped off without noticing.”

This world had monsters and all sorts of cultivation disciplines. Martial artists were considered less fortunate as opposed to cultivators who could practice sorcery, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, wizardry and witchcraft.

600 years ago when Dafeng was formed, the founding Principal Imperial Astronomer drew up a broad classification system for the population.

Xu Qian was a ninth-class focused on refinement, his uncle was an eight-class with elevated Qi, the seventh-class had access to divinity.

The rest were unknown to him.