Black and White Impermanence

"A g-ghost!" Li Yichen instantly freaked out and bolted blindly ahead.

Although he now technically counted as a ghost cultivator, his mindset had yet to catch up. Anyone would freak out at the sight of a severed head talking to them.

Meanwhile, on another road leading to the university, a brand-new red sports car sped toward the area.

"Continue straight at the traffic lights ahead. Your destination is 2.5 kilometers away," the navigation system announced inside the car.

"Ha! I'm a genius." The girl in the driver's seat curled her lips into a smile. "How dare they underestimate me? I have a driver's license, you know."

Just then, the phone screen on the center console suddenly lit up. She glanced at it and frowned, but still swiped to answer.

"Ouyang Xuanxuan!" The moment the call connected, a high-pitched female voice, anxious and angry, exploded through the car. "You've really outdone yourself! Think you're all grown up now, do you? How dare you sneak off in the car and run away from home?"

"Mom, stop... hold it..." The girl hurriedly interrupted her mother's tirade and said helplessly, "I'm going to register at university, not running away from home. Be precise, okay? Precise! Besides, didn't you agree to let me study in Jinling when I submitted my applications?"

"I agreed to let you go to university, not drive there yourself. What's wrong with studying in Magic City? Why did you have to go to Jinling?" Her mother sounded increasingly aggrieved, her voice finally thickening with tears. "You ungrateful little thing! I nearly died giving birth to you, and now that you're all grown up, you've learned to avoid me?"

By the end, she had actually talked herself into crying. "Sob... You only got your license a few days ago! If anything happened to you on the road, how would I go on living? If I'd known, I never would have bought you a car."

"Mom, I'm almost at the university now. I'm perfectly safe, so don't worry." The girl's heart ached, and she hurried to reassure her.

Just then, a calm, resonant male voice came over the phone. "Honey, stop worrying about her. Xuanxuan's grown up. Let her spread her wings."

"Did I ask you?" The woman immediately turned on him. "I carried her in my own body. You might not worry, but I do."

Despite her words, her tone softened. "Xuanxuan, I won't nag anymore. Make sure you stay safe on the road. Remember to call me often, or I'll come to Jinling to find you."

"I know, Mom. I promise I'll check in every day." The girl hurriedly assured her, stopping just short of swearing an oath.

After hanging up, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "Woo-hoo! I'm free! Jinling University, here I come!"

Seeing the green light ahead already counting down, she floored the accelerator. The engine roared, and the car streaked toward the intersection in a red blur.

Just as the car was about to enter the intersection, a panicked figure dashed across it from the side.

"Ah!" The girl slammed on the brakes, then instinctively wrenched the steering wheel. With a piercing screech, the tires left long skid marks across the road, white smoke rising from them.

"Fuck!" A harsh glare flashed across Li Yichen's vision. He instinctively narrowed his eyes as a red sports car hurtled toward him.

His body had been modified, after all, so his reflexes were naturally sharp. In desperation, he pushed off hard enough to stamp a crater into the solid road and shot diagonally backward.

He was just about to sigh in relief when the car's nose swung around and came straight at him again.

Li Yichen's face went green. Am I doomed to die today? The next instant, with a bang, he made intimate contact with the sports car and landed sprawled across its hood.

"Ah!" Ouyang Xuanxuan nearly wet herself with fright. In the end, she was just a girl who had recently graduated from high school. When had she ever experienced anything like this?

Ouyang Xuanxuan's whole body went weak, her mind completely blank. It took several tugs before she managed to open the door, then she climbed out of the car, trembling.

Seeing Li Yichen lying motionless on her car as though he were dead, her legs buckled, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Supporting herself against the car, she slowly shuffled toward Li Yichen, then reached out and gave him a push. "Hey... hey... are you okay?"

Li Yichen, who had been lying motionless on the car, seemed to hear her. His body stirred slightly, and he struggled to turn his head toward Ouyang Xuanxuan.

"Y-you... you're not dead!" Seeing that Li Yichen could still move, Ouyang Xuanxuan immediately wiped away her tears and broke into a smile, much of her fear easing. As far as she was concerned, everything else could be sorted out as long as he wasn't dead.

Just then, a sharp pain tore through Li Yichen's chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his newly raised head dropped back onto the car with a thud. He never moved again.

Then a translucent figure floated out of his body and slowly rose into the air.

Ouyang Xuanxuan was terrified. Li Yichen's last movements made it obvious that he had died. That was exactly how it always happened on TV.

With a trembling hand, she reached beneath Li Yichen's nose to check his breathing. "He's not breathing. I killed someone..." Tears streamed down her face again despite her efforts to stop them.

Floating in midair, Li Yichen watched Ouyang Xuanxuan endlessly wiping away her tears below, growing anxious himself.

With a thought, he drifted down from the sky and circled her anxiously, muttering impatiently, "Lady, crying won't solve anything. Could you save me first?"

Just then, two figures suddenly appeared out of thin air. One was tall and thin, with a deathly pale face and a mourning staff in his hand. On his head sat a tall official's hat bearing the words "Prosperity at first sight."

The other was short and stout, with a pitch-black face and a chain in his hand. He wore an equally tall official's hat bearing the words "Peace throughout the world."

"Brother Xie, what are we doing here?" Black Impermanence asked in confusion.

"Heh, Brother Fan, this is where you don't get it." White Impermanence smiled. "I already had Judge Cui check. The Ghost Emperor Haoran's descendant is at Jinling University. We'll keep watch here. There's bound to be an opportunity."

"That's my big brother for you. Brilliant as ever!" Black Impermanence immediately gave him a thumbs-up in praise, then asked, "What's the Ghost Emperor Haoran's descendant called?"

"Li Yichen, I think?" White Impermanence said, looking a little embarrassed. "I drank too much earlier. That Cui fellow was so tight-lipped that I couldn't get anything out of him until I drank him under the table."

Then his eyes narrowed, and he pointed ahead. "Brother, looks like there's been a car accident up ahead. Someone's dead—a pretty boy."

Black Impermanence shook the chain in his hand and sneered. "Work's come right to us, hasn't it? I hate pretty boys who are better-looking than me. Let's go take him in and lock him up with those perverted rapists for a couple of days."

"Ha! You and your twisted sense of fun. You never change." White Impermanence laughed, then said, "What are we waiting for? Let's go grab him now."