Chapter 001: The Eight Trigrams of the Underworld

The words were so amusing that the several laundry women could hardly contain their laughter, and even Wen Zhao couldn't help but smirk. She was also aware of the matters concerning Liu Pozi and Chen Laotai; it was said that these two old women had never committed any wrongdoing in their lives, thus they owed neither debts to the living nor to the dead, and should have been reincarnated long ago. Yet, due to their lifelong habit of comparison, they could not find peace after death. It was said that they refused to be reincarnated as humans unless there was a distinction made between high and low status, which greatly troubled the ghostly officials in charge of Changchun Fang. Whenever they came to drink, they would pull Wan Qing aside to vent their frustrations.

A woman, in her impatience, did not wait for the object to float over and hurried upstream to retrieve it. Little did she know that as she reached out her hand, the flower basket, which had been drifting slowly, suddenly darted forward several zhang.

The malevolent marriage system of the feudal society

Oh dear, what on earth is this, there are even fish...

That man is Wan Qing. In the mortal realm, he is the young master of the Wan family. In the underworld, he is merely a minor ghost official overseeing a territory of ten miles. Oh, to add a note, this insignificant official was actually purchased with ghost money.

Wen Zhao washed the last piece of clothing clean, then collected the basin and prepared to leave. It was not that she did not want to fish it out, but rather that her position was at the very bottom among the laundresses. By the time that item floated down, it would not be her turn to reach for it. Since she could not catch it anyway, there was no need to watch others fish it out. What if it turned out to be something truly valuable, like a book? She would only feel envious for no reason. Why should she feel envy for something that was never hers to begin with?

A group of women is washing clothes by the river, without beating or rubbing, as the water flows gently. The clothes are dipped and stirred in the river, then lifted out, coming out clean and bright, as if they were freshly cut.

This ghostly place is the underworld, truly a place that lives up to its name. The initial fear and anxiety, after being tempered by time, have transformed into the ordinary. It is merely a change of living environment; there is not much difference otherwise. Life continues as usual—eating, drinking, and sleeping. While doing laundry, one can still listen to gossip. Women inherently possess a nature that loves to chatter; this remains true in life and does not change after death. To put it simply, it is a stubborn nature that does not alter.

My family is in need of a basket for sewing supplies, and this flower basket is just right. Let me try to fish it out again... The impatient woman, unwilling to give up, took a few steps forward and reached out once more. Suddenly, a fish tail was flung out from the flower basket, striking her face.

Wen Zhao was also taken aback. The Yellow Springs are fine in every aspect, except that they do not sustain any living creatures. Not to mention fish, there isn't even a single strand of aquatic grass... Wait a minute, this is the underworld; what living creature could possibly come to the underworld?

It looks like a large item, could it be a cabinet...

Does the old lady Chen, who lives across from Liu Pozi, know about the library? She has been neighbors with Liu Pozi since childhood, and by coincidence, her husband's family also lives across the street. The two have always enjoyed comparing themselves, first competing over who had better-tailored clothes as children, and later comparing their husbands' successes after marriage. Eventually, they each had sons, and even in old age, they still lived across from each other. Liu Pozi, having fished out a jade cup from the underworld to celebrate longevity, would flaunt it in front of old lady Chen every day, which made Chen's eyes turn red with anger. She shut herself in for several months without coming out. However, yesterday she suddenly opened the door, dressed in formal attire, looking quite dignified. It turned out that the Chen family had achieved success, with her son becoming a high-ranking official and bestowing a title upon her. At that moment, neighbors came out to congratulate her. Seeing old lady Chen in her splendid outfit, Liu Pozi's eyes turned green with envy. She then smashed the jade cup and locked herself in, wailing and cursing Liu's son for being unworthy, lamenting that Chen Dalan had outshone them, bringing shame to her in the afterlife. She wished her son would die early so she could slap him a few times with the door bolt.

Wen Zhao had cursed countless times in her heart. It would have been one thing to be married off in a blind and mute manner, but numerous facts have proven that women who traverse to another world rarely have autonomy in marriage. No matter how capable or fortunate they are, they can only choose a husband within a limited scope. However, is there anyone more unfortunate than her? Her body remained in the world of the living, while her soul fell into the underworld. To make matters worse, she had no idea which heartless bastard had dragged her body to perform a ghost marriage with a man who had just died, leaving her no room for choice at all. Is there any sense in this?

Oh, oh, oh... Look, hasn't something happened up there? It's drifting down...

"Is that the jade cup offered by the immortal Mazu? My goodness, how could she part with it? This is a treasure that was fished out from the underworld. Old Shen from Shili Pu offered ten pounds of incense candles for it, and even Liu Pozi couldn't bear to sell it. Why on earth would she smash this precious item?" The gossiping woman chimed in.

She immediately became curious, carrying a basin in her hand, intending to watch the commotion

Wen Zhao is also one of them. Since she opened her eyes, it has been nearly six months since she arrived in this dreadful place. She wears cold clothes, eats cold food, lives in a cold house, and sleeps on a cold bed. The only thing that makes her feel fortunate is that this river is more convenient than the washing machine in her previous life; washing clothes is truly easy here. However, the name of this river is somewhat alarming; it is called the Yellow Springs.

Well, in fact, Wan Qing does not really want to admit that she is his wife. Although he has never stated it explicitly, Wen Zhao has always believed that this is an unspoken truth.

Thinking of Wanqing, the smile on Wen Zhao's face gradually faded. Wanqing is her name and the name of her husband in the context of literature, though in reality, she does not acknowledge it. However, there is no other choice; if she does not want to be a wandering soul, she can only prefix her surname with the character 'Wan.' Here, she is known as Wan Wenshi.

In the past, someone retrieved a cabinet from the underworld. Whatever was placed inside would vanish without a trace. At that time, the person locked a bundle of ghost money inside the cabinet, but before he could close the door, the money disappeared right before his eyes. In a panic, he crouched down to search for it, but he too vanished. Ultimately, the cabinet was thrown back into the underworld.

Oh, it's a bamboo-woven flower basket... Oh dear, it can even run...

"Zhang Jia girl, forget it, don't bother, this thing is sinister." A timid woman turned pale, recalling the cabinet that could swallow people

A sudden exclamation brought Wen Zhao's thoughts back. He gazed upstream towards the Yellow Springs, and faintly, it seemed that something was drifting over, rising and falling.

Have you heard? Yesterday, the old woman Liu from the neighboring Changchun Lane broke her precious tea cup. This is how the gossip began to spread.

In other words, this Young Master Wan cannot carry burdens or make choices; although he does not possess a mind as empty as a sack, he is not a remarkable talent capable of articulating grand visions. He is just an ordinary person. Wen Zhao has not held high expectations for him; from the day she recognized reality, she established three rules with him: he makes the decisions outside, she makes the decisions at home, he handles major matters, she handles minor matters, he manages public affairs, and she manages private matters. So far, there have been no major issues outside, and only minor matters at home. She has already established her authority as the head of the household, to which Wan Qing has raised no objections. This is directly reflected in their living arrangements: she has always slept in the east room, while he has always slept in the west room. To this day, they coexist harmoniously and peacefully.

It does not resemble a fruit

The Yellow Springs is a mystical river; it can cleanse garments without the need for beating or rubbing, and it occasionally produces peculiar items, such as a beautifully crafted and precious jade cup offered by the goddess of longevity, or an iron rod that can bloom into flowers, or a lantern that illuminates without the need for oil. However, such occurrences are rare; more often, it yields items of no practical use, like a ball of fire. In the underworld, fire is useless; souls can only consume cold food or incense. Items that have been burned by fire are highly toxic, or there may be some fruits, yet they cannot be eaten, as they are the fruits of the other shore flower. Consuming them would cause one to forget everything, with effects even stronger than Meng Po soup. The souls lingering in the underworld are those who harbor unfulfilled wishes; eating such fruits is more distressing than dying again.