Heavenly Book of Merit! (Please bookmark! Please vote monthly tickets! All kinds of support wanted!)

Spring, second month, Thirteenth Year of Chengping, Martial Dynasty.

Spirit Prefecture, Yiling Commandery, Shanxi Town.

In Shanxi Town's second month, spring's chill still bit to the bone. The cold wind howled mournfully, while the sky hung dark and heavy beneath dense black clouds, as though foretelling an approaching storm.

Chen Yan looked up at the sky, which seemed ready to collapse. The cold wind poured down his collar, and he instinctively pulled his tattered cotton-padded coat tighter before turning back to advise, "Granny, don't see me off any farther. Your legs aren't good; go rest early."

Behind him stood a gaunt old woman leaning on a cane.

Her face was covered in deep wrinkles, her eye sockets sunken, her old eyes cloudy. Her pale hair was dry as weeds, and her expression was steeped in sorrow.

What drew the eye most was her right leg—a completely withered, shrunken limb. A layer of murky, pus-stained dead skin clung to the bone, making it look like the leg of a dried corpse.

Hiding beside the old woman's leg was a little girl of five or six. She was small and frail, seemingly undernourished, dressed in a shabby mandarin-duck padded jacket full of holes and patches. The coat was far too large for her, clearly altered from an adult's garment.

When she saw Chen Yan looking over, the little girl hurriedly lowered her head and hid behind the old woman. After a while, she secretly poked her head back out, stealing timid glances at him.

Following behind Chen Yan, the old woman kept murmuring in gratitude, her aged face full of emotion.

"Good child, good child..."

"Child, take this. Eat it while it's hot on the road."

As she spoke, the old woman seized Chen Yan's hand without allowing refusal and pressed a warm egg into it.

Chen Yan opened his mouth to decline, but feeling the strength in the old woman's grip, the words reached his lips and could only become a difficult "All right." A sour ache rose in his heart.

"Granny, hurry inside. The wind is strong out here; don't catch a chill."

The old woman merely nodded, but her lips never stopped moving. "All right, all right. Slow down... take it slow on the road..."

Chen Yan knew that unless he left, the grandmother and granddaughter would not go inside. He nodded, holding the warm egg she had given him in one hand and raising the other in farewell before turning and walking into the cold wind.

The old woman was not originally from Spirit Prefecture. Years ago, famine had struck the north, and she had fled here with the refugees. Her son and daughter-in-law had both died on the road, leaving only the old woman alone with her young granddaughter to settle in Shanxi Town.

Her legs had never been strong, and with her advanced age, she could not do heavy farm work. She could only weave straw sandals and bamboo baskets to barely scrape by, often going hungry one meal and full the next.

Yet even so, when the original owner of this body had collapsed sick by the roadside, the old woman had limped over and carried him home. She had then boiled her last remaining grain into thin porridge and fed it to him, barely preserving his life.

Unfortunately, the original owner still passed on, and Chen Yan's soul crossed over into this body.

But in a sense, the old woman had saved Chen Yan's life as well.

There was not much Chen Yan could actually do to help. He merely did hard labor such as chopping firewood and carrying water, but he was persistent. Since crossing over three months ago, he had not missed a day or night.

The reason he came to help every day, besides repaying the debt of saving his life, was an even deeper one...

Walking down the road, Chen Yan took a deep breath and sank his consciousness inward.

The next instant, he found himself in a pitch-black, chaotic void.

There was nothing else in the entire void, only an enormous, mysterious, ancient scroll floating up and down.

The scroll was pure white like jade, giving off a faint golden glow, with seven-colored luminescence circling around it. It possessed an ancient, weathered air without losing its majestic splendor.

On its cover were two large Cloud Seal Script characters, carved with dragons soaring and phoenixes dancing:

"Merit!"

Heavenly Book of Merit!

A mysterious treasure that had crossed over with Chen Yan!

As Chen Yan "arrived," the Heavenly Book of Merit slowly opened.

A line of small Cloud Seal Script characters automatically surfaced.

"Spring, Thirteenth Year of Chengping. Aided a lonely widow, accumulated virtue and performed good deeds. Fortune has found its rightful home. Received one point of merit."

Below that line of Cloud Seal Script was Chen Yan's panel.

Name: Chen Yan

Realm: Mortal

Merit: 100

As his merit reached one hundred, another line of Cloud Seal Script slowly appeared.

"Upon merit reaching one hundred, Minor Fortune of Great Luck may be obtained."

Immediately afterward, a realization arose in his heart. As long as Chen Yan wished it, he could activate this Minor Fortune of Great Luck right now.

I guessed right after all!

A blazing heat surged through his heart. Chen Yan forcibly suppressed his excitement and chose not to activate it for now.

Then his consciousness withdrew from the void, though the joy in his eyes could not be restrained.

It had been more than three months since he crossed over. Every day, rain or shine, he had helped the old woman chop firewood and carry water. What had it all been for?

Aside from repaying the debt of saving his life, the more important reason was this Heavenly Book of Merit!

The origins of the Heavenly Book of Merit were unknown. In any case, Chen Yan had discovered this thing in his mind on the very first day after crossing over. Later, when he helped the old woman chop firewood and fetch water for the first time, he gained merit.

From then on, without pause for three months, Chen Yan officially began his road of merit.

It was not as though Chen Yan had never considered cutting corners, wondering whether he could "farm" merit quickly, but that was clearly impossible.

No matter how many people Chen Yan helped or how many things he did, minor good deeds such as doing one good deed a day seemed to grant, at most, a single point of merit.

After discovering there was no way to take shortcuts, Chen Yan honestly did one good deed a day and accumulated merit. Today, the merit he had amassed finally reached one hundred, and at last, a change had occurred.

If the circumstances had been different, Chen Yan would have been desperate to see what this Minor Fortune of Great Luck could bring.

Carrying his excitement in his heart, Chen Yan unconsciously quickened his pace, striding as swiftly as if he had wings on his feet.

Rumble!

Deafening thunder rang out. Fine raindrops joined into lines and fell through the air from above, while the pedestrians on the streets grew fewer and fewer.

The cold deepened, yet Chen Yan did not feel the slightest chill. His heart was ablaze.

Chen Yan's home was not far from the old woman's house. Even jogging all the way, it took no more than a quarter of an hour.

Having just passed several streets and arrived at an open lot, Chen Yan suddenly heard a whimpering cry by his ear, like the wails of fierce ghosts.

"Woooo..."

Chen Yan stopped and looked closely.

Through the hazy curtain of drizzle, he saw a large crowd kneeling in the open lot. There were old and young, men and women, yet not one of them made a sound. The sight was deeply strange.

At the very front of the crowd, an old Daoist dressed in white hemp mourning clothes held a square cloth banner and chanted loudly, "The Merciful Old Mother takes pity on the people. So long as we believe in the Old Mother, we may be reborn in paradise."

The next moment, the crowd that had been silent and eerie just moments ago immediately became frenzied. These men, women, old folk, and children, no matter their age, all wore fanatical expressions as they shouted like madmen:

"Merciful Old Mother, True Void Homeland; take pity on the people, Filthy Land Rebirth!"

At that bizarre and frenzied sight, an icy chill shot from Chen Yan's soles straight to the crown of his head. His entire body felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar, and he shuddered instinctively.

At that very moment, a voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Are you willing to join the faith?"

Ah!

Chen Yan jolted in fright and immediately turned around.

Behind him, at some unknown time, stood a tall, thin man dressed in white hemp clothes.

Seeing Chen Yan look at him warily, the thin man showed no unusual expression. Instead, he smiled and asked again, "Would this young layman be willing to join my Rebirth Cult and worship the Old Mother? You must know that all people suffer. Only the Old Mother is merciful, taking pity on the people and allowing us to be reborn in paradise."

How could Chen Yan possibly agree?

He shook his head repeatedly in refusal. Without waiting to see the thin man's reaction, he hurried past him and left.

The thin man did not stop Chen Yan. He simply remained where he was, quietly watching Chen Yan depart.

Feeling the man's gaze on his back, Chen Yan's heart tightened, and his pace unconsciously quickened. He gave the crowd a wide berth, then turned into seven or eight more alleys in succession. Only after the thin man had completely vanished from sight behind him did Chen Yan finally let out a long breath.

Returning to the main street, Chen Yan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and could not help cursing, "What rotten luck!"

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