Lifespan

The courtyard gate had just opened when a biting gust of wind whistled from within. A broom was the first thing to be hurled through the gap, landing outside the threshold. Old Lady Zhao's fierce voice rang out from inside: "Zhao the Second, if you don't bring your wife back today, don't you ever step foot in this house again!"

Immediately after, Zheng Que saw a cowering figure being driven out in a disheveled state.

The figure was wearing a worn-in blue tunic, head bowed, stepping quickly over the threshold. It was indeed Zhao the Second.

The two crossed paths in the narrow alley. Zheng Que nodded at Zhao the Second as a greeting, but Zhao the Second's eyes were glazed over, his face filled with distraction. He didn't seem to notice Zheng Que at all, walking past him in a daze with unsteady footsteps.

Watching the man's retreating back, Zheng Que shook his head slightly. He had enough trouble of his own; the problem with the Call-Sound Ghost remained unresolved, and he had no heart to concern himself with the affairs of others.

Lost in thought, Zheng Que quickened his pace toward his own residence.

Soon, he opened his door, stepped inside, pulled the door shut behind him, and swept a quick glance around.

The room was in shambles. Furniture and household items were overturned everywhere, leaving almost no clear space to walk. It was just as chaotic as it had been when he left that morning.

He kicked aside some obstructive items and tidied up slightly, though he had no heart for a thorough cleaning. After eating some stored dry rations, he immediately went into the inner chamber and approached the bed.

Just as before, he placed his shoes in an inverted position, then sat cross-legged on the bed and began to cultivate.

As his mind sank into the circulation of his technique, he once again entered that void of chaos. From all directions, cold currents surged, drifting wantonly like dandelion seeds filling the sky.

Zheng Que continuously intercepted strands of spiritual energy wrapped in yin energy, drawing them into his body and refining them into his dantian.

Time flowed slowly. The more spiritual and yin energy he absorbed, the heavier the chill on his body became. His body temperature dropped rapidly, and his complexion gradually turned a bloodless, ghastly pale.

After cultivating for half an hour like this, Zheng Que suddenly sensed something and snapped his eyes open.

He was now sitting on that wobbly armchair. He was surrounded by broken walls and ruins that roughly outlined the silhouette of a vast hall. Through the gaps, he could hear the howling of the external yin wind, shrill and eerie. Before him sat a mottled long table, upon which rested the ancient Life and Death Book.

Looking at this dilapidated, vast space, Zheng Que's expression remained unchanged. He vaguely understood in his heart that it seemed as long as he absorbed enough yin energy, he could enter this place.

Back when he hadn't yet entered the path of cultivation, the reason he would occasionally dream of this place must have been because he had been tainted by yin energy in reality.

As he was thinking, wisps of smoke-like black energy surged from between his brows, then quickly submerged into the Life and Death Book before him.

Zheng Que regained his focus. Wasting no more time, he immediately reached out and grabbed for the Life and Death Book.

The moment his fingertips touched the cover, an overwhelming, bone-chilling cold struck him. In an instant, a deathly aura, thick as substance and mixed with immense unknown and terror, cascaded down like a collapsed celestial river, nearly drowning him completely!

Zheng Que's mind was shaken to its core. In the darkness, the ancient booklet before him seemed to transform into a freezing, bottomless black abyss—majestic, heavy, and chilling. It was as if it were the final destination for all living things, radiating boundless death and silence, as if it intended to swallow the heavens and all things within them.

From that mere fleeting glimpse, Zheng Que nearly lost his composure. He hurriedly pulled his hand back. In that split second, his entire body was drenched in cold sweat, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for air.

After steadying his nerves, he looked at the Life and Death Book again. The yellowed booklet lay quietly on the table, appearing to have nothing special about it.

But Zheng Que's expression had become incredibly solemn.

Life and Death Book...

His current cultivation level seemed unable to withstand even a touch of the cover!

At this moment, Zheng Que noticed that the yin energy surging from between his brows had begun to gradually diminish. He immediately understood that he could not remain in this dilapidated, vast hall space for much longer.

Thinking of this, he took a deep breath and reached out once more, grabbing toward the cover of the Life and Death Book.

The instant his fingers touched the Life and Death Book, that sense of world-destroying, inescapable annihilation surged over him like a tidal wave once again, as if it intended to completely extinguish him. In that moment, Zheng Que felt like a lone skiff on a vast ocean, facing towering, monstrous waves.

The intent of death roared toward him. Zheng Que gritted his teeth; this time, he did not let go. Instead, he used every ounce of his strength, desperately trying to flip the cover.

The next moment, almost all thought in his mind ground to a halt, leaving behind only endless death and despair.

In a daze, he did not know how much time had passed before Zheng Que gradually regained consciousness. The yin energy flowing from his brow was now extremely thin, and the Life and Death Book before him had been flipped open by a corner.

Beneath this corner, a similarly yellowed page was revealed, covered in rows of strange characters. Those characters were archaic and weathered, resembling insects or birds; he had never seen them before.

But the strange thing was, Zheng Que could perfectly understand the meaning of those words:

Species: Human.

Name: Zheng Que.

Native Place: A resident of Changfu Town, Taiping County, Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty.

Lifespan: Sixteen years, seven months, and three days; to perish at the Hour of the Bo.

This...

Zheng Que was shocked. This was his own name!

The native place matched perfectly as well!

However, he was exactly sixteen years old this year!

To be precise, from his birth in this life until now, it was exactly sixteen years, seven months, and three days...

In other words, he could only live until the Hour of the Bo tonight?

Thinking of this, Zheng Que reached out again and grabbed the corner of the Life and Death Book that had been lifted.

This time, when his fingers touched the Life and Death Book, apart from a bone-chilling cold, the feeling of death and despair that had roared at him earlier did not appear.

He immediately exerted force, flipping the lifted page completely open.

A yellowed page was immediately presented before him.

The handwriting on the paper was clear and neat, yet it contained a record of only one person: Zheng Que. All other parts were completely blank.

At this very moment, the last bit of black energy from his brow submerged into the Life and Death Book. The surrounding scene immediately twisted and shook, all colors rapidly fading away, transforming into a bizarre and surreal blur. In the blink of an eye, he was back in his own room.

At this moment, the daylight outside the window had long since vanished. Twilight had descended, and under the pitch-black veil of night, the bleak starlight revealed the flickering, shadowy outlines of distant houses and nearby trees. The entire small town was terrifyingly silent.

Creak!

At this moment, the deadbolted front door was suddenly pushed open by something.

A familiar voice immediately reached the ears of Zheng Que: "Disciple, your master did not get his fill last night!"

[Note] "Wulei" (categories of things) comes from the phrase "The rise of categories of things must have a beginning" in Xunzi: Exhortation to Learning, and generally refers to the classifications of all things. A more accurate term would be "species," but that is a modern scientific term, which would be jarring in the pseudo-ancient setting of this book.

PS: For the convenience of those listening to the audiobook, all notes for this book will be placed in the author's comments and will not count toward the word count of the main text.

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