Chapter One: Fellow Villager, Welcome to the World of Cultivation

“Clatter—Bang—”

At seven-thirty in the morning, the rolling shutter of the funeral parlor, which offered all-in-one services for funerals on West Yue Street in the Fifth District outside the capital, was pulled up. Ying Shu, dressed in the uniform of Swift Legs Delivery Company, stepped out and greeted the passing Grandpa Su and Grandma Su with a bright smile. “Good morning, Grandpa Su, Grandma Su.”

Grandpa Su couldn’t help but smile kindly, infected by her radiant grin. “Shu, heading to work?”

Beside him, Grandma Su pulled him away in exasperation.

“Why even greet her? It’s bad luck.”

Grandpa Su shook off her hand in displeasure. “I just said hello, how is that unlucky?”

Grandma Su raised her voice, furious. “How is it not unlucky to profit from the dead? Look at their family—three people have died in just a few years, and the rest are seriously ill. Look at those who associate with them: either they fall ill or meet with accidents. If you don’t want trouble at home, stay away from the Ying family.”

Ever since Ying Shu’s grandmother died in a car accident five years ago, the family had been plagued by misfortune.

First, her father and uncle died in a lake while retrieving a corpse for someone. Her grandfather fainted upon hearing the news; though rushed to the hospital and saved, he was left paralyzed on one side by a stroke.

Two years later, her younger brother and sister were diagnosed with skin cancer and leukemia, plunging their once comfortable family into dire straits. The monthly medical expenses weighed heavily, suffocating them.

“Old Su, your wife’s right. You’d better listen to her and not get too close to the Ying family,” advised Grandpa Peng, riding past on his bicycle.

Grandpa Su was furious. “Peng, even you’re saying this?”

“I’m just being honest. Their family is truly unlucky. If you don’t believe me, look up the Ying family’s ancestry—dozens of generations as executioners, coroners, and tanners. They took advantage of their professions and did plenty of things that hurt their karma, cursing their descendants with misfortune. Anyone who gets too close ends up suffering.”

Grandpa Su retorted, “Those are things their ancestors did. What does that have to do with Ying Shu and her family?”

“Even if you don’t blame their ancestors, look at recent years: her grandfather, father, and uncle extorted people during corpse retrievals, demanding high prices before returning bodies. Isn't that lacking in virtue? No wonder one’s paralyzed and the other two drowned in the lake.”

Grandpa Su fell silent. He remembered that incident and had scolded the Ying family for their lack of decency.

Grandpa Peng snorted coldly and pedaled away.

Grandma Su shot Ying Shu a fierce glare. “Making money from the dead will never bring great fortune.”

Grandpa Su felt embarrassed and walked off with hands behind his back.

Others passing by treated Ying Shu as if she were an epidemic, hurriedly keeping their distance.

Ying Shu was used to the neighbors’ attitudes and paid them no mind. What puzzled her was not the outsiders’ prejudice, but the fact that even her grandfather and mother believed their fate was cursed by their ancestors’ misdeeds.

She herself, never superstitious, felt her siblings’ illnesses were the result of genetic mutations, and her grandmother’s death nothing but an accident. As for those who suffered after associating with them, it was all psychological—the belief that unlucky people brought bad luck led everyone to blame misfortune on her family.

After all, who in this world doesn’t occasionally suffer minor ailments or run into a little trouble?

Should all such things be pinned on her family?

【Ding——】

【You have a new delivery order. Please check and accept.】

Hearing the sound from her pocket, Ying Shu took out her phone and saw that Swift Legs had automatically assigned her a task.

After three months working for the delivery platform, this was the first time she’d encountered such a thing.

【Pickup address: 999 Ginkgo Alley, Galaxy Street, Fifth District outside the capital, Lockyang Palace. Item: A Restoration Pill. Delivery address: 3rd Building, Room 701, Tianbin Mansion, 73 Xiangyang Street, Third District below the capital, Cheng Jia】

“999 Ginkgo Alley, Lockyang Palace?”

Ying Shu had once gotten lost and wandered into Ginkgo Alley while making a delivery. The alley was only four feet wide and a hundred meters long, ending in a dead end with just one household. The peculiar layout made a strong impression.

If there was only one household, how could there possibly be a 999 address? And she’d never heard of Lockyang Palace.

Ying Shu didn’t dwell on it and set off on her electric scooter to pick up the item.

On the way, she greeted many familiar faces with warmth and enthusiasm.

She didn’t care whether they responded or not; her manners were impeccable.

Some responded out of embarrassment, while others cast sympathetic looks her way.

They pitied her—a sports college graduate who could have found a job as a PE teacher after graduation.

But her family’s misfortunes changed everything.

To care for her loved ones, she chose to work as a courier. It let her accompany her siblings during hospital stays, and when her mother was busy, she could help out at the family shop.

Fifteen minutes later, Ying Shu arrived outside Ginkgo Alley.

From the outside, the alley’s walls rose to twenty-five meters, casting the lane into gloomy darkness.

Her scooter’s engine echoed through the empty passage, making the atmosphere unsettling.

Strangely, though the alley was barely over a hundred meters, she’d been driving for five minutes and still hadn’t reached the end.

Just as Ying Shu was about to give up on the delivery, she suddenly felt dizzy.

Her vision opened up, and a biting wind struck her. Dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, she nearly froze.

“Achoo, achoo, achoo——”

After sneezing, Ying Shu slammed on the brakes. The next second, she was stunned, forgetting even to sneeze.

She found herself at the edge of a cliff, snow falling thick and white from the sky. The world was blanketed in silver, a testament to deep winter. Overhead, people soared on swords—men and women, young and old—like immortals descended to earth, stately and ethereal.

Ying Shu murmured, “Oh my god, did I cross over? Or stumble into someone’s film set?”

Ginkgo Alley had only one household. Could she have wandered into their home, which was actually a movie studio?

But everything, both near and far, was too real, nothing like a fabricated set. Besides, the government would never allow a cliff to be dug out for filming in the city; it would have been reported long ago.

Ying Shu craned her neck to peer down. The abyss was so deep she couldn’t see the bottom, and she swallowed nervously.

“Hey there—”

“Hey—”

“Hey, you really came.”

A man’s excited voice called from behind.

Ying Shu turned to see a figure waving at her from the roof of a palace fifty meters away.

The figure vanished, reappeared before her in the blink of an eye, and a handsome face met her gaze.

She stared, wide-eyed in shock.

How had he managed to appear before her instantly?

Was he an immortal?

“Wow, wow, wow! It’s been ages since I’ve seen an electric scooter, a license plate, English letters…”

The young man looked at the helmet on her head. “And your outfit—so familiar! It makes me feel at home.”

If Ying Shu weren’t a girl, he would have given her a big hug.

After his excitement faded, he saw her staring at him blankly and waved his hand in front of her. “Hey, beauty, did you hear me?”

Ying Shu came back to herself and quickly asked, “Where exactly is this place?”

The young man’s excitement shifted to surprise. “You don’t know where this is?”

Ying Shu shook her head.

“So how did you get here?”

She pointed to her scooter. “I rode it to pick up an item and ended up here for no reason.”

“Well, alright, we’ll figure that out later. For now…” The young man spread his arms wide and smiled. “Welcome, fellow traveler, to the Realm of Cultivation.”

Ying Shu: “!!!!!!”