[day 18]
You encountered beggars and commoners during your search for information. You let them work for you and had some of them gather information for you.
[Day 19]
You continued looking for trustworthy people and gathering intel.
[Day 20]
You began executing your plans. You started selling exclusive toothbrushes and soaps, but they didn’t make a strong impact. You decided to wait for the perfect moment to unveil your secret weapon: perfume. A few days later, you revealed your name publicly and decided tomorrow would be the day to introduce your secret weapon.
[Day 21]
You waited for a noble wedding to showcase your perfumes. You arrived at the wedding as a merchant. Initially, the nobles showed no interest in your products. However, after presenting the perfume, their attitudes changed, and they eagerly purchased almost all your stock.
At the wedding, everyone who tried the perfume was satisfied and directed others to you. You felt triumphant, as this was part of your plan. After the wedding, another noble approached you, demanding your formula. When you refused, he threatened you.
Scared, you threatened him with the law.
Angered, the noble warned, "The law means nothing to the nobility." Laughing, he gave you one day to decide. Refusing to give him the formula, you turned to the noble who first supported you.
(Tsk, weakness is a sin, Bao Chen thought to himself.)
Moved by your plea, the noble and her faction protected you.
[Day 22]
The noble declared, "You’ve joined my faction, so you must follow our rules." She revealed the political tensions between the factions. The second prince’s faction, which she supported, aimed to secure his place on the throne. Opposing them were the third prince’s supporters, who were rumored to be orchestrating a rebellion. Meanwhile, the first prince had been poisoned and died.
Caught in this tangled web of politics, you didn’t care. You wanted supernatural power and asked how to become a Taoist scholar or a Buddhist.
Hearing that, the noble burst out laughing, telling you they were not real and were all just fairy tales for children. With a broken heart, you decided to search for more information. "What if it is holder by the nobility, only the nobility could have special powers, and the commoner should not have it"
You decided to focus on your business. You opened shops in both the wealthy and poor districts to gather information and money.
[Day 23]
To align with your faction’s image, you purchased a luxurious mansion, complete with bodyguards, maids, a butler, and a swimming pool. But you knew this lavish life was fleeting—if someone else learned how to make your formula, everyone would stop supporting you, and they might even backstab you.
[Day 24]
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
You focused on your business, brainstorming new ideas. At night, you asked your housekeeper for extra blankets.
[Day 25]
You told your housekeeper to buy some statues because the house didn’t look luxurious enough. You also told him to get other supplies.
[Day 26]
Mistrustful, you took one of the statues and hid it in your bed, covering it with extra blankets and other items to make it look like someone was sleeping there. You always felt something was wrong you can't put your hand on it but something wasn't right
Little at night
You hear something weird next door. You go out to check. You open your door and see that two bodyguards are dead. You freak out and run. You say, "ASSASSIN! SOMEONE HAS DIED." You try to escape, but you see a black-robed assassin coming out of your room. He says, "Smart trick, but that will not help you," running toward you.
[The assassin flashes over to you. You see the assassin getting too close to you with the hidden blades in his hand. You know you will die, but there's only one way you can escape: jump through the second floor.]
[You jump to save your life; the fall may take your life, but the assassin would definitely take it. You land on the ground, and your legs break.]
[You look at the second floor at the stunned assassin. At what you have done, he comes back to his senses and starts sprinting toward you. He is sprinting down the stairs, skipping five steps at a time.]
[You are scared; your legs are broken, but your hands are not. You start clawing over to a safe place.]
[If anyone came and saw this scene, they would laugh: an assassin skipping five steps at a time and a person with broken legs clawing to safety. Many people did see it—it was the bodyguards with stiff faces.]
[The bodyguards are shocked; their client almost got assassinated. They know he is a rich merchant but not rich enough to have assassins after him.]
[The bodyguards are running over to save Bao Chen. The head of the bodyguards is stopping the assassin. The others are helping to defeat the assassin.]
[Bao Chen has one bodyguard on the left and one on the right; they pick him up and leave the mansion.]
[Bao Chen says, "Let's go to the Yamen guard."]
[He looks at the sky, the bright moon shining on his face, laughing with joy. You escape death. You feel more alive than ever, but not for long. You see another assassin on the rooftop.]
[He is so far away, but you can still hear, "He is still too young." You don't know what happened next.]
But your head has been cut off from your shoulder, and the two bodyguards suffered the same fate.
You have died.
After Bao Chen read that, he said, "**** that assassin He killed me!" After that, he started cursing all his ancestors and female relatives.
But something wasn’t right—the simulation didn’t end.
Your soul left your body, along with the other two bodyguards. You see the assassin who killed you going to support the first assassin. You feel the resentment rising inside you.
Suddenly, a golden light appears on the ground, dragging you underground. Your soul passes through rocks, stones, and many other things until it reaches a grand hall full of ghosts like you. Some have more resentment; others have less.
Then you hear some Buddhist chants. You feel your resentment starting to disappear. But you don’t want to let go. You haven’t avenged yourself. You are a noble time traveler—how can you die here? You haven’t reached the stars; you haven’t achieved your goals. There are so many things in life you haven’t yet experienced.
But it’s not about what you want. You are too weak. Slowly but surely, your resentment begins to fade. In the end, you let it go.
There is a giant ghostly gate before you. Inside are the White and Black Impermanence. A soul-hooking chain binds you, pulling you toward the gate of the underworld.
You walk the Huangquan road and reached the underworld
[You are waiting for one of the Yama kings to put your life’s deeds on trial.]
(Damn, there’s an underworld.)
You are waiting.
You are waiting..
You are waiting...
[An unknown amount of time passes.]
Finally, you find yourself before the King of Hell, who will judge your life. He removes looks surprised.
He says, "You have slightly changed your destiny. It’s rare but not unheard of for mortals to do this."
But he doesn’t seem to care. He has lived for thousands of years and has seen others like Bao Chen.
[Because of the tooth splash and the soap, you have gained merit and will be reincarnated into a good family.]
You quickly ask, "What about the perfume? Don’t I get merit for that?"
He replies, "It’s just a luxury item, It’s not medicine or something that helps people. so you don’t get any merit for it."
You wanted to ask who killed you and what happened, but the judge didn’t let you.
It is decided: you will be reincarnated as a human for your good deeds.
[you go and drink the Meng po Soup, you lose all your memories, and are successfully reincarnated.]
[Detecting the host is being reincarnated. Please spend 1,000 system points to simulate your second life.]
(Bao Chen’s heart jumps. He is terrified, thinking, This is my future. This is destiny.)
(What is going to happen to me? I will die.)
He starts taking deep breaths, breathing in and out.
He calms down and looks at the system screen.
[Detecting the host doesn’t have 1,000 system points. Ending simulation and distributing rewards.]
[End of simulation.]
[Finished the simulation rewarding the host]