After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: The Book of Life and Death

A nagging sensation told Jiang Huaiyi that something was missing, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

By now, the two brawlers had finally stopped their fighting, and Jiang Huaiyi had finished “handling” the ghost runner at the door. The guard bowed them out with a wide grin, his arms full of shimmering gold ingots a rare look of pure joy on his ghostly visage.

Jiang Huaiyi looked at her significantly deflated bag and sighed. She hadn’t brought enough. Next time she went out, she’d have to stuff her bag to the brim; at worst, she could just fold more paper offerings on the spot.

Faced with such greedy ghost runners, she truly felt the sting of “not knowing the value of money until it’s needed.”

Shen Wensi walked leisurely beside her. Her eyes flickered with amusement as she leaned in to offer a quiet compliment. “You’ve learned the ways of the world. You’re much more impressive now than when I first met you.”

Jiang Huaiyi gave her a stiff, mirthless smile. Shen Wensi was being too modest. If Jiang Huaiyi actually had the courage to match her theoretical power, she would have drawn her sword and hacked her way through every ghost here. If it weren’t for her pesky habit of her legs turning to jelly at the sight of ghosts, she’d be more formidable than the Monkey King.

She took a moment to mentally visualize herself wreaking havoc in the Underworld, looking heroic and majestic. Her lips curled up involuntarily, only to droop instantly when she remembered her missing Master. Her facial expression became a twisted mess of conflicting emotions.

The ghost runner led them out and, true to their agreement, unlocked the shackles on the other two. Before doing so, Jiang Huaiyi had made them sign a “Treaty of Three Clauses,” forcing them to promise no more fighting. She mimicked Shen Wensi’s cold, authoritative expression to deliver the warning. Though she lacked true intimidation, the two begrudgingly agreed.

Outside, the scene was still a living hell. They didn’t linger, bypassing the front hall and heading toward the back. The City God’s yamen functioned much like an ancient human magistrate’s office; the administrative work, archives, and the “Life and Death Contracts” were almost certainly kept in the rear.

None of them were experts on ancient architecture. In the modern world, police stations had replaced yamens. However, Jiang Huaiyi noticed that Shen Wensi led them through the maze of corridors with surprising familiarity. Despite being dizzy from the turns, Jiang Huaiyi decided to trust her. Everyone makes mistakes once, she thought, but surely she won’t fail twice.

Shen Wensi did not disappoint. She led them to a small courtyard. Underworld vegetation was sparse; the yard had the layout of a garden but none of the substance. Not a single blade of grass or leaf was in sight. The entire place was bare and desolate, looking like a newly built structure that no one had bothered to decorate. A sense of barren, cold death crept into their hearts.

They crept toward a weathered wooden door. It seemed frequently used, as the area was clean of dust. The door creaked softly as they pushed it open, but it didn’t seem to alert anyone.

They filed in one by one. The moment Jiang Huaiyi stepped inside, she froze.

From the outside, it looked like a small, unremarkable building. Inside, however, was a world of its own. The space seemed to stretch infinitely. The ceiling, which should have been three or four meters high, soared into the darkness, at least seven or eight stories tall. The floor space was roughly the size of a football field.

The room was filled with towering bookshelves and winding wooden stairs. The shelves were packed with scrolls some paper, some bamboo. Each section was illuminated by a single, tiny, bean-sized lamp. This massive library didn’t look like it could have been built by human hands, let alone the sheer volume of records it held.

The other two gasped, their mouths hanging open. Standing in the midst of such a colossal structure made them feel like a lone leaf lost at sea. Beyond the first few levels, the upper reaches were lost in grey shadows, dotted only by the pinpricks of tiny lamps.

Mu Ze, skeptical, stepped back outside to confirm the building’s exterior before walking back in, stunned. She couldn’t believe such a mundane exterior hid such a grand interior.

Chu Lianxue looked at Shen Wensi’s calm face and asked, stuttering slightly, “Junior Sister… how did you know it was here?”

Shen Wensi didn’t answer immediately. She looked at the equally shocked Jiang Huaiyi and gave a quick, subtle wink. Then she replied coolly, “I didn’t, really. I’ve visited some historical ruins before, so I just took a guess based on the layout. It was a lucky find.”

Jiang Huaiyi’s first instinct was disbelief. The coincidence was too convenient. But the other two seemed to accept the explanation readily. She found their blind trust a bit speechless, but then again, Shen Wensi was currently using her identity—it made sense for a “wealthy local” to have visited tourist ruins.

After the initial shock wore off, they discussed how to find the Travel Permit. Jiang Huaiyi pulled a paper scroll from a shelf. It was written in Ghost Script. She handed it to Shen Wensi, who scanned it and shook her head.

“This is just a record of birth and death dates. No other info.”

After checking several more with the same result, their spirits dampened. They thought they had found the prize, but they were seemingly empty-handed. Jiang Huaiyi moped for a bit before rallying. If these were just general records, the Travel Permits—which were personal and specific—probably weren’t kept here. With millions of scrolls, finding a blank permit or a specific one would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

However, Shen Wensi noticed that the shelves were categorized, which gave them a new spark of hope. The sides of the shelves had labels.

Fortunately, all four of them had some knowledge of Ghost Script. Jiang Huaiyi and Chu Lianxue had studied it out of curiosity as children; it was a bit rusty, but they could decipher it with effort. Mu Ze was a ghost cultivator, so she was naturally more adept. Shen Wensi was the most proficient of all.

They split up to search the rows. Jiang Huaiyi found that once she got into the rhythm, it wasn’t that hard. She didn’t need to recite the words, just recognize them. As she familiarized herself, childhood lessons surfaced in her mind.

She grew faster and more efficient. By the end of the first row, a single glance was enough to tell her if a scroll was relevant. She climbed the old wooden stairs to the second level. Despite looking ancient, the wood was surprisingly sturdy, making no creaks as she moved.

On the second floor, about three meters above the ground, she focused. Most scrolls were “The Book of Life and Death”—biographies, birth dates, death dates, and life deeds. She noticed a pattern: the lower the shelf, the more recent the death.

But she noticed something chilling. These records hadn’t been updated in ten years.

The bottom shelf was filled with people who died a decade ago. Furthermore, none of these records contained a note about reincarnation. It was as if every soul that entered this place simply… vanished. There were records for animals too, kept behind the human files.

A sense of unease settled in Jiang Huaiyi’s gut. She stopped just skimming and began to look more closely, her brow furrowing deeper with every scroll. A dark premonition began to take shape.

She looked over at the others. Her Senior Sister was moving much faster, already heading to the fourth level. Jiang Huaiyi forced herself to focus. The priority was still getting out.

She checked two more books and prepared to head higher. Suddenly, her Master’s face flashed in her mind. She looked up at the towering shelves and hurried up the stairs with a new, frantic purpose.

Support