[Quick Transmigration] Black Lotus Upgrade System - Chapter 2

The yellow-haired man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “Then swear an oath.”

Yu Xingliang rolled his eyes internally, but kept his expression earnest as he swore: “I, Zheng Lele, swear to the heavens that everything I promised today will be fulfilled. If I fail, may I suffer a miserable life and a horrific death, be torn to pieces, and never be reincarnated!” What does the oath Zheng Lele took have to do with me, Yu Xingliang?

Hearing Yu Xingliang’s sincere vow, the yellow-haired man stopped pressing him and kept his promise by handing over the fish.

Yu Xingliang eagerly took a bite of the plump fish. The meat was tender, fragrant, crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside, easily rivaling the culinary skills of a five-star hotel chef!

The yellow-haired man quietly watched as Yu Xingliang devoured the entire fish.

When Yu Xingliang wiped his mouth, the yellow-haired man voiced his lingering confusion: “That ravenous way you ate compared to before, when even a single steamed bun took forever to…”

“When a person is starving to extremes, who has time to worry about table manners?” Yu Xingliang cut in with a quick reply. “So this is not strange at all.”

The yellow-haired man lowered his head in thought. That did make sense.

Zheng Lele had just suffered the trauma of losing his father, and for such a delicate flower to endure such a heavy blow, a drastic change in temperament was quite reasonable.

Seeing that the yellow-haired man no longer questioned him, Yu Xingliang clapped his hands together, braced his knees, and stood up. “By the way, what is your name?”

The yellow-haired man stiffened, remaining silent for a long moment before asking: “Why the sudden curiosity about my name?”

Yu Xingliang let out an ah sound and murmured, “Probably because your roasted fish is so delicious, so I wanted to know the name of the master chef who created such a delicacy.”

Yu Xingliang spouted nonsense without blinking an eye, stealing a sidelong glance at the yellow-haired man, who had also stood up and even reached up to push back his hair.

A wave of excitement washed over Yu Xingliang. Driven by curiosity, he turned around just in time to meet a pair of mesmerizing, clear eyes.

Unmatched in elegance and beauty, truly one of a kind in this world.

“Muxing.” The voice sounded even more pleasant now. “My name is Muxing.”

Suddenly, Yu Xingliang felt reluctant to die. He followed closely behind Muxing, his emotions an unexplainable swirl.

Was he excited, or simply bewildered? Did such a breathtaking face really exist in this world?

Or was his vision just playing tricks on him?

Should he take another look?

Thinking this, Yu Xingliang quickened his pace to overtake Muxing.

Just as he turned around to lift the hair obscuring Muxing’s face, Muxing crouched down right before him.

“What on earth are you doing?!” Yu Xingliang wore an expression of shock and disgust.

Muxing was actually smearing roadside mud all over his face!

Although Yu Xingliang did not suffer from extreme mysophobia, roadside dirt could easily contain bird droppings and insect carcasses.

“I like your lively spirit, but once we enter the village, you need to speak less,” Muxing said calmly as he finished applying his mud mask, his tone growing somewhat stern.

Though perplexed, Yu Xingliang followed Muxing forward.

Passing through a tranquil bush path and climbing down a high flight of stone steps, a village came into view.

Yu Xingliang could not help marveling inwardly. That brushwood forest outside the basin served as a natural barrier for the village. Such craftsmanship must have required the painstaking efforts of countless people.

“Do not be afraid,” Muxing said suddenly. “Just keep your head down and walk.”

Obediently lowering his head, Yu Xingliang caught a glimpse of a weathered wooden plaque draped in spiderwebs as they passed through the village gates. Faintly engraved upon it were three large characters: Langya Village.

“Wu ha ha ha ha…” A harsh, mocking laugh suddenly echoed from all directions.

Zheng Lele had entered the village while unconscious, so he had never heard this eerie laughter.

Goosebumps rose on Yu Xingliang’s arms. Though his head remained bowed, he clearly saw a pair of shoes in dark gray cloth darting rapidly in circles around Muxing and himself.

That speed certainly did not belong to a human.

Yu Xingliang even suspected those dark gray shoes were not touching the ground at all.

It was only after stepping inside the house with a trembling heart that Yu Xingliang dared to raise his head.

Faded colorful fabrics hung from dust-covered rafters, and the drafty windows used the wind to playfully toy with the cloth while emitting eerie, cheering sounds.

Zheng Lele’s memories of this house contained only terrifying noises rather than the interior visuals, suggesting he had been too terrified to ever open his eyes.

Finding Yu Xingliang’s wide-eyed, upward gaze amusing, Muxing couldn’t help but chuckle.

Following the sound, Yu Xingliang looked at Muxing and smiled as well: “Your laugh is actually quite nice. It almost makes this haunted house a bit less terrifying.”

Muxing raised an eyebrow. “You call this a haunted house?”

“Mm,” Yu Xingliang nodded, firing back with a question: “Don’t you think it looks like one?”

Muxing replied, “I live here. If this place is a haunted house, wouldn’t that make me a ghost?”

“Aren’t you practically a ghost?” Yu Xingliang pointed to his own face and said, “Where else would you find a normal person who looks this extraordinary, yet smears mud all over his face, walks around disheveled day in and day out, and lacks any sense of vitality?”

Muxing countered, “I am just different from ordinary people. But you are a young man who wears dresses all day long, doesn’t that make you a ghost too?”

Yu Xingliang immediately defended himself: “My kind of ghost carries no derogatory meaning. Down in this pit, surrounded by a dilapidated settlement, if not driven by the harshness of the times, why would a village be built in this desolate depression? Not to mention the inconvenient transportation, if a flood hits, people and property alike could be lost.”

Muxing looked at Yu Xingliang with newfound respect.

Yu Xingliang continued, “Actually, following that logic, I am a ghost too. It is all a disguise just to survive in this world.”

Muxing felt a hint of surprise. “I originally thought you dressed like this simply because you enjoyed wearing skirts.”

Yu Xingliang let out a scoff. “Are you kidding?!”

On second thought, Zheng Lele genuinely loved this style and dressed this way on purpose.

“There is nothing shameful about a man wearing a skirt,” Yu Xingliang brushed past the debate over his personal clothing preferences and added, “There is no rule saying men can only wear trousers, just like women are not limited to skirts. In my my hometown, men and women are equal, and everyone decides their own attire. People are born free.”

Hearing this, Muxing fell silent.

Yu Xingliang patted himself on the back mentally: I really nailed that speech!

“Zheng Lele.”

“Hmm?” Yu Xingliang smiled, having passively accepted the identity of Zheng Lele.

“You are the son of the tailor named Zheng. Isn’t your hometown right here?” Muxing asked with a hint of confusion.

I almost gave myself away, Yu Xingliang thought, taking in a sharp breath before breaking into an awkward laugh to change the subject: “I am so hungry. Is there anything to eat?”

With that, he flopped unceremoniously onto the only rickety wooden bed in the room.

Not pursuing the matter further, Muxing asked helplessly, “Didn’t you just finish eating?”

“How could a single fish possibly be enough?” Yu Xingliang stretched out comfortably on the bed and waved a hand dismissively. “You are the one who wants me alive, so you need to take care of my meals! Go on, I want meat.”

Muxing paused. “Fish meat?”

“Whatever, as long as it is meat!” Lying down like this actually made him quite sleepy.

Hearing the sound of Muxing shutting the door behind him, Yu Xingliang drifted off into a deep slumber.

He had no idea how long he slept before a blinding glare woke him up. Outside the window, the bright illumination made it look like midday.

Yu Xingliang remained dazed for a moment until he spotted the faded fabric fluttering from the rafters, confirming that he had indeed jumped into the sea and transmigrated.

After shaking off his grogginess, he pushed the door open, only to realize it was not bright sunlight outside at all. Instead, two large spotlights from the night had been brought right up to his doorstep, aimed squarely at the window.

“Turn those lights off,” a voice directly opposite him commanded. The tone was raspy and grating, sounding somewhat like an old witch from a fairy tale.

Squinting hard against the irritation in his eyes, Yu Xingliang made out the figure standing between the two large spotlights. It was the village head from Zheng Lele’s memories.

Unlike the benevolent image in his daytime memories, the village head now looked devoid of kindness and brimming with hostility.

With a solemn expression, the village head stared straight at Yu Xingliang and demanded, “Why did you come back?”

Yu Xingliang rubbed his eyes forcefully, his vision still plagued by dark spots left behind by the harsh glare.

Clearly, this village head had intentionally leaked news about Zheng Lele’s father earlier to trick Zheng Lele into leaving Langya Village voluntarily.

“Ha, your village has a very unique way of waking people up,” Yu Xingliang squinted as he looked around. Quite a crowd had gathered; this was definitely more than a simple intimidation tactic.

“You…” The village head was startled for half a second before his anger flared up. “So you are a man, and not a mute either.”

Remembering Muxing’s second condition, pretending to be his wife, and glancing down at his inconvenient skirt, Yu Xingliang gave the matter serious thought and nodded to himself. Well, a male wife still counts as a wife.

“What are you muttering about!” Annoyed by Yu Xingliang’s distraction, the village head strode forward and grabbed Yu Xingliang by the jaw. “Do you take me for a joke!”

Yu Xingliang winced in pain, stepping back and swatting frantically at the hand gripping his face as he felt his jaw nearly dislocate.

“Village head, watch out!” As a villager shouted a warning, Yu Xingliang’s back collided squarely with the wooden pillar of the house.

A sound resembling an automatic umbrella snapping open echoed from above, immediately followed by the quick release of the hand clamping down on Yu Xingliang’s face.

Yu Xingliang opened his eyes and looked up to see a barrage of cold arrows shooting out from the rafters, forcing the village head and the surrounding villagers to scramble backward in retreat.

Only then did Yu Xingliang realize why these hostile villagers had gone to such lengths to wake him up with spotlights instead of just breaking down the door.

This place was a safe zone!

“Zheng Lele, do not get cocky,” the village head sneered viciously. “The yellow-haired brat’s poisoned arrows will eventually run out. The moment they do, I will strangle you myself.”

Terrified, Yu Xingliang wanted to retreat inside the safety of the house, but then he heard the village head jeer: “Do you dare step inside?”

Yu Xingliang froze in his tracks.

The village head chuckled insidiously. “Even I wouldn’t dare walk straight into that yellow-haired brat’s house. Being strangled at least leaves an intact corpse. If you walk back inside that room right now, heh heh heh… This house only protects the people inside it; anyone trying to enter is fair game.”

He had to pull back the foot he was about to put across the threshold. Clenching his fists in fury, Yu Xingliang pointed at the village head and cursed: “You rotten old man, you are truly evil!”

The village head maintained his sinister smile. “I gave you a chance to leave.”

With a crisp snap, the last of the cold arrows in the rafters depleted completely.

“Hmph…” The village head let out a cold laugh.

Yu Xingliang’s legs began to tremble uncontrollably. The sight of the village head walking straight toward him looked far too much like a horror movie!