Luo Daoqing looked at the figures in the light screen, feeling an inexplicable sense of shame, as if he were being publicly executed.
He opened his mouth to say something, but the light screen above his head vanished without a trace.
The surroundings fell into a heavy silence.
The maid’s quarters were narrow and cramped, with no air circulation. After staying in the room for only a few minutes, he couldn't stand it anymore and pushed the door open to step outside.
However, just as he reached a rockery, he saw a familiar figure walking toward him.
Luo Daoqing’s pupils shrank.
The person had the exact same face as his own.
It was “Luo Daoqing.”
To be precise, it was the “Luo Daoqing” who had just transmigrated into this world. His wide Daoist robes billowed in the wind, and a trace of white powder was visible on his sleeves—likely white phosphorus.
Luo Daoqing instinctively wanted to hide, but his feet felt as if they were nailed to the ground, unable to move at all.
“Xiaodie?”
“Luo Daoqing” stopped in his tracks, looked up, and fixed him with a gaze full of wariness.
Luo Daoqing froze.
He was not at all unfamiliar with that look.
It was the same look he had used on others a year ago—cautious, constantly on guard, like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.
“Why are you here?”
“Luo Daoqing’s” voice was kept very low, carrying an indescribable gloominess and a faint, underlying killing intent.
Fine beads of cold sweat broke out on Luo Daoqing’s forehead.
Imitating Xiaodie’s tone, he replied, “In response to Lord Luo... this... this servant was just passing by...”
Though it felt incredibly strange, his life was on the line, leaving him no room for hesitation. He knelt before his past self with fear and trepidation. “Please forgive me, Lord Luo...”
“Luo Daoqing” stared at him for a long while, his gaze scanning his face as if searching for something.
After a moment, that gaze suddenly softened, and he even forced a smile.
“It’s fine. You may go.”
Luo Daoqing felt as if he had been granted a grand amnesty. He turned to leave immediately.
But after only a few steps.
The voice behind him spoke again. “Xiaodie, don’t you think I’ve been a bit different lately?”
Luo Daoqing’s footsteps faltered.
He heard the testing and suspicion hidden beneath those words.
This was exactly what he had done to Xiaodie back then.
“Not at all.” He tried his best to make his tone sound less nervous. “You have always been very kind to me, My Lord.”
“Luo Daoqing” remained silent for a long time.
Only then did he give a soft grunt of acknowledgment and truly let him leave.
On the first day, Luo Daoqing managed to keep his life.
Watching the Sky Curtain, the citizens of Xindu were somewhat indignant to see Luo Daoqing survive.
A young scholar sighed. “I heard from the guards that Xiaodie was a young girl who hadn't even reached her hair-pinning ceremony. It’s a pity she died at the hands of this evil State Preceptor a year ago. If he isn't made to pay in blood, I fear she will never rest in peace.”
An older woman sitting next to the scholar chimed in, “Exactly. My nephew serves under Commandant Zhou. He was guarding the city with General Shen and the others today, and he saw with his own eyes the Divine Lady bringing Xiaodie back from the Netherworld to claim the State Preceptor’s life. She looked so tragic; it was hard to even look at her.”
“These high-ranking officials are all the same. They never value the lives of us commoners!”
“Fortunately, the Divine Lady is here to seek justice for Xiaodie.”
“Just watch. The Divine Lady will certainly not let a wicked person off. He’s going to get what’s coming to him!”
The owner of a gambling den in the city saw what was happening on the Sky Curtain and suddenly had a brilliant idea, opening a betting pool on the spot.
The wager was whether Luo Daoqing could escape this ordeal.
Yun Shu found it amusing. In the midst of her busy work, she took a moment to use her Li Qinghe identity to bet twenty taels of silver.
The system was like a bottomless pit when it came to energy consumption; her already meager wallet was under even more strain.
Next came the second day.
Luo Daoqing began to experience Xiaodie’s daily life.
He had to wake up before dawn to boil water and prepare tea. He didn't miss a single heavy or menial chore. If there was even a slight mistake, he would be scolded by the steward.
At night, lying on the shared platform in the maid’s quarters and listening to the snoring of the other girls, his body ached so much he couldn't sleep.
But fortunately, everything remained peaceful.
The citizens of Xindu watching the Sky Curtain were disappointed once again.
The third day arrived.
Luo Daoqing was carrying a food box to deliver a meal.
When he pushed the door open, “Luo Daoqing” was standing with his back to him at a table, fiddling with something, his posture stiff and tense.
“Lord Luo, it is time for your meal.”
“Set it down.”
Luo Daoqing placed the food box on the table, and his gaze inadvertently swept over the desk.
He saw a sheet of yellow paper spread out, with talismans drawn in cinnabar in a crooked, messy fashion. Beside it sat a porcelain bowl.
Some white powder was settled at the bottom of the bowl.
White phosphorus.
His heart rate suddenly accelerated.
“Xiaodie.”
A voice suddenly rang out, impossibly close.
Luo Daoqing turned his head.
The next second, he met “Luo Daoqing’s” gaze.
He didn't know when the man had walked over, but he was now standing half a step away, looking down at him.
“Xiaodie, why are you trembling?”
“Did you discover something?”
“No... I didn't...”
Luo Daoqing’s voice began to shake. “You have been as kind as a mountain to me, My Lord. I don’t know anything...”
The “Luo Daoqing” before him stared at him for a long time.
Long enough that he thought he might be able to fool him.
Then, he saw “Luo Daoqing’s” right hand silently reach into his sleeve and grasp something.
He couldn't see what it was, but his intuition told him.
It was a knife.
No, he didn't want to die!
“Odd changes, even...” He wanted to shout the popular transmigrator code, but before he could finish, a dagger was thrust violently into his heart.
Pain. It was so painful.
So this was how much it hurt to be stabbed...
If Yun Shu could hear his thoughts, she would have remarked once again that system products were truly top-tier.
When it said the perception of pain would be tripled, it meant exactly that.
There was no exaggeration.
Luo Daoqing wanted to cry out for help. He opened his mouth, but only a large mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out.
His vision began to blur.
He looked at the familiar face before him and, for the first time, felt that his own face was utterly hideous.
As Luo Daoqing collapsed to the ground.
The citizens beneath the Sky Curtain clapped and cheered.
Yun Shu also collected her winnings from the bet. She and the system now had enough money for food for the next year.
Meanwhile.
Inside the Domain of Retribution, the Luo Daoqing who should have been dead opened his eyes again. He sat up in a panic, first touching his chest and then his face.
“I’m back to normal?” he muttered to himself.
“Luo Daoqing.”
The white-haired Divine Lady descended from the sky once more.
“You previously claimed that you killed Xiaodie by mistake. The truth, however, is that Xiaodie begged you for mercy in every way possible, even offering to cut out her own tongue to prove she would remain silent. Yet, out of paranoia, you still murdered her. Luo Daoqing, you dare to deceive a deity?”
She slowly raised her hand, her fingertip poised to tap the air.
Luo Daoqing’s face turned deathly pale with terror.
He hurriedly cried out, “Divine Lady, have mercy!”
“Please, give me another chance...”
The punishment game had only just begun; Yun Shu would naturally give Luo Daoqing more chances. With a wave of her sleeve, a light screen appeared.
“If you can convince the people of Xindu, I shall grant you three more opportunities to seek survival in certain-death situations.”
Luo Daoqing’s eyes lit up, having no idea that the three chances the Divine Lady spoke of would be his nightmare.
Suppressing the joy in his heart, he looked toward the light screen.
“Xiaodie isn't the only person I killed. Don’t you all want to see me pay for their lives one by one?”
The citizens of Xindu might not necessarily pity him, but they would certainly want to see this villain receive his retribution.
That was what he was betting on.
Three chances.
There was bound to be one where he could escape death!
Rate on N.U.
