Chapter 48

Chapter 47: Jade of a Previous Life

Five days later.

He Zhen returned home and, as usual, received a scolding from his drunken mother.

Expressionless, he went back to his room, completed his calculus homework, prepared the presentation for his business English course, then showered and went to sleep.

While sleeping, he held a round object with a missing corner, like a moon bitten by someone, the material appearing jade-like but not quite jade.

When He Zhen was born, he had no so-called “memories of a past life.”

Only when he was scolded by his parents and raised under strict demands, and whipped with rattan, did he feel a sense of familiarity, as if he had experienced such harsh upbringing in a previous life.

Around the age of eight, one day he suddenly received such a piece of jade.

The first night he fell asleep holding the jade, he saw a world without a sun.

Red flames reflected off red flowers. The flowers spread along the river into an endless distance. There, wandering spirits walked numbly.

Strangely, He Zhen felt that although he had never been to this place, in his dream he clearly knew it was the boundary between life and death, a place where time froze, nearly eternal.

He saw his younger self kneeling, receiving a Yama whip from an elder.

“Yu Qin, this is the mission you are born to bear.

“Remember, the order between life and death must not be disturbed; it concerns all living beings.

“Sitting in this position, not a single step can be taken wrongly!”

…

He Zhen recalled from the dream that even as a small child, Yu Qin had already begun receiving teachings from elders about the world, about responsibility.

He had witnessed the consequences when the order of life and death was disrupted, or when his clan interfered with worldly causality—resulting in hell on earth, suffering, and the people in despair.

Thus, he told himself he was destined to inherit the position of the Third Court Yama King.

He would give everything to protect the order of the human world.

Even if he was born trapped in hell, hardly living among humans.

As a child, He Zhen did not know who Yu Qin in the dream truly was.

He only felt a deep similarity.

Yu Qin was bound by responsibility for the living. He was bound by his parents’ expectations and demands.

Although no one asked if he wanted it or what he wished for, he simply accepted and did what he should do willingly.

He never even asked why.

Just like the elder in his dream who repeated daily:

“You cannot take a single step wrongly.”

He could not make a misstep.

So he held himself to extremely strict standards, even harsh ones.

As he grew, He Zhen encountered strange occurrences.

For instance, he went with his mother to a so-called highly effective “Huang Daxian” fortune teller.

His mother wanted to know if He Zhen could become head of the He family, and if, after controlling the family, he could help her get a film role and an award.

Yet the fortune teller, behind whom He Zhen looked in horror, returned all the money to his mother and ran away.

In middle school, He Zhen was once isolated due to his excellent grades.

The West Experimental Building often saw suicides, and kids believed it was haunted. Anyone who spent a night there would supposedly go mad.

He Zhen was locked in that building for a night as part of a setup.

Yet he was unharmed, and afterward no one ever saw ghosts there again.

After witnessing such events multiple times, He Zhen no longer found them strange.

He once suspected he was merely reading memories of someone named Yu Qin through the jade.

Later, he no longer doubted. He knew that person was himself.

As his mind matured, he could fully resonate with Yu Qin in his dreams, recalling more and more of the past.

Yet many things remained unknown to him.

For example, he did not know why he had transformed from the Third Court Yama King into a human.

He Zhen speculated that receiving the jade was related to Yu Qin’s time.

If, as some Taoist masters said, this “important figure” reincarnated to experience a human life, then perhaps Yu Qin deliberately arranged for the jade to help his future self remember his past.

Yet Yu Qin had lived so long.

His body could not bear such heavy memories all at once, or he might have gone insane. So He Zhen could only recover fragments of his past through dreams.

At sixteen, He Zhen first dreamed of someone named Ming Yue.

In the dream, He Zhen became Yu Qin again.

On the imposing, fearsome hall knelt a person—Ming Yue.

Memories of him came flooding back.

In the dream, that face gradually shifted from unfamiliar to familiar.

He remembered that Ming Yue was a punished sinner in hell.

And he was the one responsible for punishing sinners.

On the hall floor, Ming Yue knelt with bowed eyes, appearing obedient, yet his brows were full of aggression, showing no hint of gentleness.

But why did he appear gentle in front of others? Even if it was an act.

Before He Zhen, he didn’t even bother to act.

He Zhen saw himself holding the Yama whip, circling Ming Yue one and a half times, then stopping at a position to his left.

From this elevated angle, he saw a trace of softness in Ming Yue’s brows, as if he finally obeyed.

He paused, scrutinizing every feature.

After observing long enough, He Zhen raised the whip.

It was time for the routine punishment.

A terrifying mask covered his face.

With the mask on, he was still the stern, meticulous, and merciless Yama King.

Yet no one could see his real expression.

Even Ming Yue, right before him.

The next moment, He Zhen discovered Ming Yue had grasped his wrist.

In a hoarse voice with a trace of severity, he said:

“Third Court, Song Emperor, what—are you thinking about how I could so quickly and accurately grab your wrist?

“You really don’t know how old-fashioned and obsessive-compulsive you are?

“…How many times has this scene played out? Aren’t you tired of it?”

He Zhen, or rather Yu Qin, bent down, staring at Ming Yue kneeling at his feet, seeing a face that always read: “rebellious, uncompromising, reckless, willful.”

Suddenly, he recalled the first time he met Ming Yue.

Having lived so long and seen countless people, he was still surprised by Ming Yue’s “resume.”

Ming Yue’s parents were highly educated; they chose to have a child to pass on their superior genes.

Thus, from birth, Ming Yue was treated as a tool, burdened with high expectations. A single point below his mother’s required score meant immediate ridicule.

His mother, a researcher in artificial intelligence, once said: “I see you still can’t compare to the AI I made. Perhaps they are my true children. They obey me, Hela meets all my requirements, never disappointing me.”

The parents’ intentions were different from Yu Qin’s, but the pressure faced in childhood was similar.

As a child, Ming Yue didn’t know he was just an experiment. He couldn’t understand why his parents were so strict. Even achieving first in the grade did not earn his mother’s praise.

Yu Qin was the same.

As a small child, the world, justice, and responsibility were far away. He could not understand why merely glancing at a butterfly outside the window while studying led to thirty lashes from the elders.

Later, Yu Qin chose compliance, naturally assuming his responsibilities.

He never thought of escaping.

But Ming Yue was different. He always resisted, never intended to obey anyone.

His mother was a programmer; he sought to surpass her in the same field, leaving her with a lifelong nightmare. He chose absolute revenge on his biological parents.

“Third Court, this person… his merit points have plummeted, barely any chance of reincarnation. But the problem now is, he performs well in tests, very smart, a moldable talent. Yet no one wants such a dangerously moldable talent.

“According to regulations, he must undergo routine punishment. But as for his future…”

Hearing this, Yu Qin took a tablet from a subordinate, seeing Ming Yue’s face for the first time.

He stood by the River of Forgetfulness, with groups of spirits guided forward. Yet on his face, no fear, only excitement, curiosity, even eagerness.

This “hell” dimension really existed, perhaps he could understand the secrets of the universe here.

Yu Qin, speculating Ming Yue’s thoughts, found a faint smile on his own face.

He then told his subordinate: “Bring him here. I will personally discipline him.”

At that time, Yu Qin was only curious about Ming Yue.

Ming Yue had a willful, reckless, unrestrained, flamboyant, free-spirited nature Yu Qin had never had.

He seemed entirely rebellious, the way Yu Qin never could live.

Thus Yu Qin wanted to understand him, to see what such a person thought.

One day, after punishment, Ming Yue’s body was crushed by a split mountain and reassembled.

Seeing Yu Qin, he was furious, daringly lifted the Yama King’s collar, and said: “Watch out. One day, I’ll

At that time, Yu Qin’s reaction was much like hearing a child make wild threats.

But later, when Ming Yue staged a brilliant “Infernal Spy” act, outsmarting everyone in hell and opening a wormhole to escape to a new universe, Yu Qin was shocked and enraged. He could never have imagined that Ming Yue would do something that disregarded not just the Tenth Court Yama King… no, that disregarded all of hell.

Ming Yue utterly ignored all the rules and laws of heaven and earth, disregarded all causality, and was wildly lawless.

Yet deep down, Yu Qin admired Ming Yue.

It just took him a long time to realize it.

At that time, Yu Qin was eager to locate the coordinates of the new universe.

He expended countless energies and time to do so.

But one day he suddenly realized—

Let Ming Yue chase the freedom he desires, what harm could it do?

Whatever he wants, let him go for it.

Yu Qin could never have freedom in his own life.

Experiencing it through Ming Yue might be a kind of substitute.

At this moment, lying in bed, He Zhen stared at the piece of jade in his hand.

As he grew closer to He Zhen, he remembered more and more things, though much remained unknown.

For example, what exactly his past self felt toward Ming Yue. He had forgotten too many details.

And how did they arrive in this world?

The new universe Ming Yue went to should have been in a primordial state, with no civilization at all.

So how did this world come about? Why did it resemble the human world of his original world so closely?

Moreover, the influence of this “game” on reality seemed strange. What kind of person could have such power?

With these questions in mind, He Zhen fell asleep.

Before sleeping, he somehow thought of Sunday morning, when Shi Zong had grabbed his wrist and whispered in his ear, “What do you want from me?”

Even after several days, thinking of that moment made He Zhen’s ears burn, as if Shi Zong’s breath still lingered there.

Whether it was the influence of that incident, the jade in his hand, or the combination, He Zhen had an unexpected dream—

In the solemn and fearsome hall of hell, extremely ambiguous sounds rang out.

An incredible sensation spread from his palms; he realized he was pressing firmly on the back of someone’s head, their long, dense black hair spilling through his fingers.

Pleasure he had never experienced climbed from his tailbone up his spine, spreading to his limbs.

He vaguely heard muffled groans from the person, probably from pain.

His confused mind cleared for a moment, and he saw the person’s body already covered with bruises.

He was almost stunned, as if he were a Taoist cultivator practicing for a thousand years, maintaining purity, who broke his precepts one day, forgetting what restraint even was.

Yet despite his shock, He Zhen found he could not stop.

Time passed unknown, until the person’s fingers clenched the bedsheet almost convulsively. He Zhen lifted his chin and turned his face to see the expected face.

—It was Ming Yue.

Only, his eyes were covered by a strip of cloth.

The cloth was wet, whether from tears or sweat, He Zhen could not tell.

He moved fiercely from above, yet his actions to loosen the cloth were gentle, as if afraid to disturb something.

The white satin fell, and the person opened his eyes, a thousand ripples of spring water in them.

“Thump”

“Thump! Thump thump!”

He Zhen felt his own heart racing uncontrollably.

Opening his mouth, his voice extremely hoarse, he called out a single word: “You…”

But Ming Yue, slightly panting, lifted his arm and pushed He Zhen’s hand away.

His voice was hoarse and exceptionally cold, yet carried an elusive trace of amusement.

“Don’t get too into character, Song Emperor. What, do you like me?”