New Account, Don't Mess Up

"Dog thief, prepare to die!"

A crisp, sharp cry exploded in his ears, jolting Li Nuo awake from his slumber.

Dazed with sleep, he saw a figure standing before him.

The young girl wore a long, white ancient-style dress. She looked to be sixteen or seventeen, with a slender, graceful figure and skin as fair as snow. Her features were exquisite and delicate, rivaling any celebrity in the entertainment industry, though her expression was far from pleasant.

"Far from pleasant" was an understatement; her angry eyes burned with bone-deep hatred, and she gripped a gleaming dagger as if Li Nuo had committed some unforgivable atrocity against her.

What is this, cosplay?

The court session was due to start in two hours. As a Judge Assistant, Li Nuo had pulled an all-nighter finishing the litigation materials. He had just laid down on a cramped folding bed in the corner of the office to catch a quick nap, only to be woken up the moment he drifted off.

No, this wasn't the assistant's office. Li Nuo looked around and realized he was lying on a magnificent bed. The room's furnishings were antique and appeared incredibly luxurious.

So, this is a dream?

What a chaotic mess of a dream. He'd been too busy lately to even watch any historical dramas...

Whoosh!

Before Li Nuo could react in the dream, the young girl struck.

The dagger sliced through the air, aiming for Li Nuo's throat.

Even knowing it was a dream, Li Nuo instinctively dodged.

He managed to dodge, but not entirely.

The dagger had been aimed at his throat, but because of his evasive movement, the trajectory shifted slightly, carving a gash into his shoulder.

The shoulder of his silk pajamas, embroidered with delicate patterns, was instantly stained red with blood.

Pain!

It was excruciating!

Li Nuo's handsome face twisted violently from the agony, and beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He hadn't expected such realistic pain to manifest in a dream!

Having missed the vital spot, the young girl thrust the dagger toward his heart once more.

Two strikes, and both were meant to take his life!

Having handled many cases, Li Nuo knew well that one should not fight a knife-wielding assailant head-on. He scrambled toward the corner of the bed, but the young girl leaped up, the dagger in her hand following closely behind.

This time, backed into the corner, Li Nuo had nowhere left to run.

Li Nuo leaned against the corner of the bed and completely gave up on resisting.

Generally speaking, if you die in a dream, the dream ends.

The sooner he died, the sooner he'd wake up; he still had to go to work later.

Li Nuo had accepted his fate, yet the dagger in the girl's hand did not pierce his heart.

The sharp blade stopped less than half an inch from his chest.

Li Nuo thought she had regained her conscience and decided not to harm an innocent, but when he looked up, he realized the young girl looked quite strange.

Her face was flushed red and her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat. She seemed to be using all her strength to drive the dagger into Li Nuo's heart, but her body appeared to be restrained by some invisible force, unable to move an inch.

Li Nuo seized the opportunity to scramble off the bed. At the same moment, the room door was kicked open with tremendous force. An old man with graying hair rushed in, and upon seeing that Li Nuo had only sustained a minor injury, he visibly exhaled in relief. He hurried to Li Nuo, cupped his hands, and said, "This Old Servant is late. I beg the Young Master for forgiveness!"

Li Nuo had no idea what was going on, but he knew his dream should be ending soon.

He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but if he missed the court session, his pay would be docked.

How was one supposed to wake up from a dream again?

Death, falling, or a violent impact...

That seemed to be what Inception said. Suicide was out of the question—even in a dream, the pain was real. As for falling... he couldn't find a high place at the moment. Finally, Li Nuo set his sights on a thick pillar in the room.

Ignoring the old man and the young girl, Li Nuo took a running start and, amidst the confused and shocked gazes of everyone present, slammed his head into the pillar.

Bang!

Before he could even process the searing pain in his forehead, Li Nuo's consciousness began to sink into an endless abyss.

"Ha..."

The sky was bright. Li Nuo yawned and climbed out of bed.

"Hiss..."

A sharp pain radiated from his forehead and shoulder. Li Nuo frowned, reached up to touch his forehead, and then froze.

Why was there such a large bump?

He looked down at his shoulder, where a blood-stained bandage stood out starkly.

Li Nuo finally realized something. He looked around and discovered he was still in the room from his dream: the magnificent bed, the antique furniture, and the intricate, exquisite carvings on the bed frame—all of it was still there, filled with an air of luxury.

Why hadn't he woken up yet?

This won't do, this won't do. The court session was about to start; if he didn't wake up soon, it would be a disaster.

Banging his head against a pillar didn't seem to be working. Li Nuo climbed off the bed, walked out into the courtyard, and immediately spotted a ladder leaning against the wall.

An old man with graying hair had just stepped through the courtyard gate when he saw his Young Master standing on the roof, expression solemn, arms spread wide, before leaping off.

With no time to react, he instinctively reached out and pointed a finger toward Li Nuo from afar.

As Li Nuo jumped from the roof, he watched in stunned silence as he drifted down at the speed of a falling leaf. The Old Servant had already sprinted to his side, grabbing his arm and crying out in distress, "Young Master, whatever is troubling you, just say it! This Old Servant will help you find a way, but please, do not seek death!"

Great Xia.

Chang'an.

Dali Temple Minister's Mansion.

"Young Master, do you truly remember nothing at all?"

"You don't remember who this Old Servant is?"

"Surely you at least remember who you are?"

Li Nuo sat on the bed, facing the man who called himself "this Old Servant" with such concern and worry, and shook his head blankly.

The Old Man looked at Li Nuo's vacant expression and sighed, "It's over. It seems his brain was damaged in the impact..."

Li Nuo gazed out the window, his heart churning with waves of emotion.

He certainly remembered who he was.

Li Nuo, male, Han ethnicity, 21 years old, a graduate of the Xijing University Law Department, who had just passed the Bar Exam and the Civil Service Exam to become a glorious People's Judge... assistant.

Although he was only an assistant, he had secured an Iron Rice Bowl at a young age, making him the brightest star among his peers.

The local court was swamped with work, and after two consecutive all-nighters finishing all the pre-trial preparations, he had intended to lie down for a rest. But the moment he closed his eyes and opened them again, he had appeared in another place.

A pretty young girl had been holding a knife, wanting his life.

And this old man he had never met kept referring to himself as "this Old Servant."

If this were a dream, everything he had experienced felt far too clear and real.

Li Nuo had already realized what was happening.

No way. I just pulled two all-nighters—did I actually die?

Fine. As a modern man baptized by countless novels and films, Li Nuo wasn't entirely unable to accept the concept of transmigration.

But fine, he had transmigrated, but what was the deal with this book floating right in front of his eyes?

The book seemed neither fully solid nor fully ethereal, hovering about half a meter in front of Li Nuo.

Li Nuo reached out and waved his hand in front of him; his palm passed through the center of the book without any resistance, proving it had no physical form.

Soon, Li Nuo realized the book looked familiar.

Half a year ago, he had picked up an ancient book at a second-hand market. The contents were written in Small Seal script. As a law student, Li Nuo happened to recognize the two characters on the cover: "Code" and "Law."

After some haggling, Li Nuo bought the book from the vendor for eighty yuan, intending to use it as a reference for his research into ancient legal history.

Although he never ended up using the book for his research, it made a decent pillow for his afternoon naps. He had been using it as a pillow right before he transmigrated. He never expected that this book would cross two worlds to follow him here, appearing before him in this form.

Li Nuo glanced at the worried Old Man; the other party clearly couldn't see the object.

He shifted his gaze back to the cover, where the Seal script characters for "Code of Law" looked familiar and dear.

Unlike before, however, two lines of small text had appeared at the bottom of the cover.

"Name: Li Nuo."

"Lifespan: Three days."

Staring at the two new lines on the cover of the Code of Law, Li Nuo froze completely.

What was going on? He had just transmigrated, and he only had three days left to live?

Hey, new account, don't do this to me...