Chapter 1: The Eccentric Young Man

Great Chu Dynasty, Dongjiang City.

On a winter morning, the frost had frozen thick. Even wearing thick cotton-padded shoes, the bluestone path on the Central Avenue still felt freezing to the feet.

Yet a young man walked across it barefoot, dressed in white. The biting winter cold seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever. Step by step, his body was upright, possessing a certain kingly dignity.

People exhaled white mist, cupping their hands, and stopped to the side to scrutinize this strange young man. The giant "Longevity" character on the front of the young man's clothes quickly caught their attention.

"Why is this person wearing a burial shroud?"

Someone exclaimed.

Others noticed it too. Coupled with the young man's pale complexion, he looked exactly like a fierce ghost that had crawled out of a grave.

"I know him. He is Li Xianzhi, the father of Li Hongyu, a Captain of the Profound Garment Guard. The burial shroud he's wearing was custom-made at my shop."

The owner of the burial shroud shop quickly recognized the garment on the young man. "That girl Li Hongyu is very filial. After her father died, she even asked me to come over and custom-make the shroud. I measured the size myself; he is definitely Li Hongyu's father." The shop owner was very certain of his judgment.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Li Hongyu's father has been dead for nearly a month! Could he have crawled out of the grave as a corpse?"

Someone didn't believe it. Although the eccentric young man's face was pale, he was still exhaling mist from his mouth, so how could he be a ghost? Furthermore, the sun was rising, and it was the time when Yang energy was at its peak; what ghost would dare to be so reckless as to wander about?

However, this person was soon proven wrong.

Li Xianzhi slowly turned his head to look at him. Perhaps because he hadn't possessed a human body for too long, Li Xianzhi was a bit unaccustomed to it, so his head turned stiffly, accompanied by a *crack-crack-crack* sound. Added to that, Li Xianzhi bared his teeth, his white fangs looking particularly ghastly in the winter.

That person was startled by Li Xianzhi, his legs beginning to tremble.

Seeing the eccentric young man's expression, combined with the words of the burial shroud shopkeeper, the people began to feel a chill in their hearts.

Someone shouted out.

"Run! Li Hongyu's father has become a reanimated corpse!"

The crowd began to flee frantically.

Li Xianzhi was a bit bewildered; he had just wanted to ask for directions. He hadn't expected to scare the crowd away. At this moment, Li Xianzhi stood in the cold wind, feeling a bit dejected.

On such a cold day, could he not be cold?

If he weren't cold, could he walk straight ahead without bending his joints at all?

Having crawled out of the grave, he had walked for an entire night to reach Dongjiang City. Right now, his whole body was frozen stiff; how could he walk any further?

This body was incredibly frail, its meridians destroyed and dantian shattered, unable to bear even a shred of Li Xianzhi's power. Otherwise, Li Xianzhi wouldn't have had to walk here step by step.

"Suddenly, I miss the days of being a Tablet Spirit. Being a Tablet Spirit never required suffering like this," Li Xianzhi sighed.

People are just cheap, aren't they?

Over endless years, every few hundred years, Li Xianzhi would change his identity, appearing in the form of a memorial tablet in various times, planes, and ancestral halls of various families.

Among them were commoner families, noble families, and even cultivator families. In one lifetime, Li Xianzhi had even been the supreme god of a religion, worshipped in temples.

Li Xianzhi not only represented the true names of those people after death but also carried the endless glory they had in life.

Over billions of years, Li Xianzhi just slept and woke, woke and slept, receiving the memories and true names of countless identities, only to be worshipped or cursed by their descendants.

Until this lifetime.

The daughter of this identity buried his tablet and corpse together. Li Xianzhi was resurrected.

Li Xianzhi felt this was a bug.

Where was the setting that one could only resurrect if the tablet and corpse were placed together? Wasn't this forcing a Tablet Spirit to death?

Was there no sense of public morality left?

Li Xianzhi decided to reward this lifetime's daughter well. If it weren't for this filial daughter, he wouldn't have had the chance to be human again. Being a Tablet Spirit for too long was very boring.

You can't die, and you can't move; how could it be as fun as being human?

A gust of cold wind blew, and Li Xianzhi subconsciously rubbed his two feet together. The bone-chilling cold made him very uncomfortable.

"Perhaps this is the price of being human!" Li Xianzhi sighed inwardly.

"You, you, you..."

By the time Li Hongyu stood beside Li Xianzhi, Li Xianzhi was still playing with his feet, seemingly enjoying it immensely. His red feet rubbed together, providing a trace of warmth.

Li Hongyu looked at Li Xianzhi in shock.

Li Xianzhi slowly raised his head, and Li Hongyu's familiar face pierced into Li Xianzhi's memory.

"Nier, is it you?"

Tears welled up in Li Xianzhi's eyes instantly. The journey had been too hard. Seeing his daughter now, a surge of sorrow welled up in his heart.

"Nier, Daddy was so scared, scared that I would never see you again. My Nier." Li Xianzhi subconsciously hugged Li Hongyu's waist, wiping all his bitter tears onto the new leather armor Li Hongyu had put on today.

"Get off, who is your Nier?" Li Hongyu pushed Li Xianzhi away, glaring at the man who looked like her father.

"Speak, what kind of monster are you, daring to cause trouble in Dongjiang City? Don't you know your own weight?" Li Hongyu pointed her Embroidered Spring Blade directly at Li Xianzhi's chest.

Li Hongyu didn't believe for a second that this monster was her father. She had never heard of someone coming back to life after being dead for a month, and she knew exactly what kind of person her father was.

Her father would never be so coy and sentimental. His first reaction upon seeing her would definitely be to curse her for being unfilial, then demand money to go eat and drink.

Li Xianzhi's expression changed slightly as he looked at the sword tip at his chest, instantly turning gloomy. He was already freezing and uncomfortable, and now this daughter wouldn't even recognize him.

Aggrieved, angry!!! Hmph...

"Li Big-Mouth, am I giving you too much face? Daring to treat your father like this? Tomorrow I'll go to your Profound Garment Guard and have your Commander punish you for the crime of being unfilial." Li Xianzhi grumbled. He had wanted to be a model father-daughter pair, but she insisted on being ungrateful.

Then this seat will have to reveal its true nature.

Sure enough, when Li Hongyu heard the nickname "Li Big-Mouth," her expression changed instantly.

"Eh? Li Big-Mouth?" Could this person really be her father? Because only her father knew that nickname. And Li Hongyu was particularly sensitive to it. Whenever she heard it, she would tremble all over.

When Li Hongyu was eight, because the family was poor and they hadn't eaten meat for a long time, her useless father had somehow gotten a fish. Li Hongyu had eaten the whole thing in a few bites without even spitting out the bones.

That was why Li Xianzhi had given her that nickname.

Over the years, whenever Li Xianzhi asked her for money to go out and eat, he would use this incident to threaten her. So whenever Li Hongyu heard this nickname, she felt terrible.

"Eh? I observe Captain Hongyu has a cherry mouth, exquisite and clear, with the bearing of a heroine. Why would her father call her Li Big-Mouth?"

The onlookers seemed full of curiosity about the nickname "Li Big-Mouth." It seemed they had even forgotten their fear of Li Xianzhi.

"Yeah, yeah. Could it be that Captain Li is a big-mouthed gossip who likes to stir up trouble, and her father wants to use this to admonish her?" A scholar who had read a few storybooks thought of a reason.

Li Hongyu had black lines on her forehead.

Listening to the neighbors' discussions, she was furious. What big-mouthed gossip? You're the big-mouthed gossip, your whole family is! Li Hongyu wanted to curse, but that didn't fit her usual demeanor, so she suppressed her inner anger.

"Father!"

"Eh! That's my good Nier!"

Li Xianzhi was very satisfied with Li Hongyu's change. Looking at the suddenly obedient Li Hongyu, Li Xianzhi added, "Nier, help your father home. Your father is about to freeze to death. Next time you build a grave, don't build it so far away and so sturdy. Your father spent a lot of effort to crawl out and walked over ten miles to get back."

"Look, I broke several fingers and froze off three toes." Li Xianzhi aggrievedly showed his hands and feet to Li Hongyu, as if recounting the hardships of the journey.

"Father, daughter understands. Next time I'll build it closer, right in the backyard, okay?" Li Hongyu tried her best to calm down.

There were too many people here. Once she got home, she would deal with this monster that had popped out of nowhere.

She had used ten wild oxen to pack the grave solid; if this guy really crawled out, what was he if not a monster? Her father was a total waste, without the strength to truss a chicken; even if he had faked his death, he couldn't have opened a high-quality nanmu coffin wrapped in iron.

"What are you looking at? Don't you have breakfast to eat at home?" Li Hongyu supported Li Xianzhi and scolded the surrounding commoners.

Seeing there was no more excitement to watch, the crowd grumbled and dispersed. However, this strange event soon spread throughout the streets and alleys.

"Nier, it's still better to be an official; being an official is impressive. Look at those dogs, they're all afraid of you. Father feels proud." Li Xianzhi seemed to really like Li Hongyu's imposing manner, looking exactly like an old father hoping his daughter would become a dragon.

"It's all thanks to your upbringing."

Li Hongyu forced a smile.

Li Hongyu didn't take Li Xianzhi home but brought him directly to the Profound Garment Guard prison.

"Come, tie this monster up for me."

As soon as they entered the prison, Li Hongyu ordered several old men to tie Li Xianzhi up tightly.

Li Xianzhi looked panicked, his face still showing anger, and he said to Li Hongyu, "Nier, didn't you say you were bringing Father to eat something good? What are you doing?"

"Pretend, keep pretending. Once I use torture on you later, let's see if you still pretend."

"Come, give him a severe interrogation."

Li Hongyu waved her hand, and the old men, though confused, followed her orders, putting Li Xianzhi on the torture rack and bringing out all sorts of torture instruments.

"Nier, what are you doing?"

"I am your father!"

……… ===== CHAPTER 2 =====