Chapter 1 The Beginning

The dungeons of the Ministry of Justice of Daheng, third level underground, Sector B.

Ye Chuxiao held a red slip tightly in his hand, lost in a daze, his eyes unfocused, as if his soul had left his body.

The already spoiled wine and dishes, mixed with the smell of vomit, combined with the damp and dark environment of the dungeon, formed a continuous negative assault in the not-so-spacious space.

He twisted his stiff neck.

Ye Chuxiao had not yet fully recovered.

After all, the shared basement, in a sense, after a night of heavy drinking, had the same effect as the current dungeon.

"That bastard Dawei, threw me on the toilet again, letting me throw up all night?" At this time, Ye Chuxiao didn't even dare to touch his cheeks with his hands. In this somewhat embarrassing situation, although avoidance can't solve the problem, at least it won't cause him secondary mental damage.

Finally, he began to shake his head slightly numbly, and even half of his body followed suit.

The body after a hangover gradually regained its keen sense of touch during this slow and stiff movement.

His eyes searched for the first sip of reviving wine in the morning after the hangover.

At the same time, he took in the entire layout of the space.

Dim light, a table full of messy cups and plates, iron hooks, nooses, branding irons, and other objects hanging on the rock walls. In the corner of the wall, there were some torture instruments that made people shudder at first glance.

Slap!

Ye Chuxiao slapped himself in the face.

"Damn it, I'll never eat the snacks given by the Yun Dian people again. Now it's good! I'm hallucinating." Ye Chuxiao muttered to himself, then shook the wine pot on the table, listening to the sound inside that was emptier than his wallet, and then sighed again.

Then, a memory mixed with the alcohol, rushed up unexpectedly.

Ugh…!

The strong dizziness and stirring from soul to body was like someone stuffing a size forty-three smelly foot into his mouth and then giving it a powerful roundhouse kick.

Looking at the mess on the ground, Ye Chuxiao struggled to keep himself from fainting.

After a long while, Ye Chuxiao finally confirmed that he had transmigrated.

Ye Chuxiao, a third-class prison guard in the dungeons of the Ministry of Justice of the Daheng Dynasty, was responsible for delivering food to prisoners in Sector B on the third level underground. This could barely be considered a lucrative job. In addition to a salary of one tael and two qian of silver and a small amount of rice and grain each month, the soup money he scraped from the prisoners amounted to seventeen or eighteen taels. After handing over most of it, he could still keep three or four taels for himself, which was almost equal to double his monthly salary.

There was a water tank in the corner.

Ye Chuxiao held up the candle, walked to the water tank, and leaned his head in to look.

The blurry figure reflected in the water looked more like a ghost soldier from the underworld.

He wore a light cyan jailer uniform, a lacquered cloth crown that didn't quite fit on his head, and a red cloth woven belt around his waist with enough room to expand, obviously capable of accommodating a larger belly. Looking directly at his feet, he wore black high-bottomed boots that barely fit. As for the specific facial features, in this dim environment, using only a little bit of candlelight near the water tank, they were not clear.

Putting down the candlestick, Ye Chuxiao plunged his entire head into the water tank to make himself more awake.

The next moment, he saw half an ear, nailed to the bottom of the water tank, already pale from being soaked.

Ye Chuxiao shuddered, and the remaining alcohol completely wore off.

After retreating two steps, he stabilized his figure. At this time, he had a direct and clear feeling about the transmigration.

Looking at the red slip still clutched in his hand, the originally vague memory became more specific and real.

"Little Ye! This time you're out of luck. A serious criminal has escaped from the prison. In one more day, Lord Zhao from the Ministry of Justice will come to inspect the prison. Since you drew the red slip, you have to take the blame. In the future, if we brothers have something to eat, we won't forget your younger siblings."

"When your younger brother turns fifteen, we'll help smooth things over and let him take your place." The words of the head guard, Li Xin, echoed in Ye Chuxiao's mind.

"Bah!"

"The missing person is a heretical demon, engaged in the business of rebellion. If I admit that I secretly helped him and let the prisoner escape, then my whole family will be punished. Li Xin sees that I'm young and thinks I'm easy to manipulate, and even uses my younger siblings to threaten me." Ye Chuxiao smoothed the water droplets from his hair and gradually calmed down.

Before transmigrating, he was a member of the variety show writing team at Yancheng TV, mainly responsible for writing the scripts for 'Cute Star Detective Cases.'

However, to be honest, this kind of script doesn't require much in the way of reasoning or suspense.

On the contrary, it requires satisfying the stars' desire for performance and their established personas as much as possible.

Although he was an unprofessional reasoning scriptwriter, Ye Chuxiao was still thinking about using his knowledge to try to resolve the current predicament.

"This is a world with cultivation, spells, and supernatural abilities."

"The original owner was a small martial artist who had cultivated to the second level of the Yu realm. About seven or eight hours ago, the Dharma Protector of the Yuanzhi Sect, who was originally imprisoned in Sector B on the third level of the dungeon, disappeared into thin air, leaving behind only a shed dead skin. Some old prison guards speculated that the heretical demon used the Molting Illusion Body Technique of the Yuanzhi Sect to turn into an insect and escape from the dungeon."

"However, the dungeon has the Daheng Divine Artifact suppressing it, and ordinary people, without a special seal, cannot use any extraordinary means in this dungeon."

Thinking of this, Ye Chuxiao prepared to go to the cell where the heretical demon was originally imprisoned to look for clues.

Although the head guard said in his memory that Lord Zhao from the Ministry of Justice would come to inspect the prison in 'one day.'

But in reality, 'one day' had already passed.

The dialogue in Ye Chuxiao's memory was from last night.

As for appealing to that Lord Zhao, Ye Chuxiao didn't think much of that possibility.

The escape of a serious criminal was a big deal in itself. Since the head guard Li Xin dared to push Ye Chuxiao out to take the blame, he must have already had some assurance and received tacit approval.

Turning big problems into small problems, and small problems into nothing, was standard operating procedure in officialdom.

It's just that the person being sacrificed didn't necessarily have to be Ye Chuxiao; it could be any of the implicated prison guards.

Ye Chuxiao just 'happened' to draw the red slip for taking the blame.

He pulled on the iron door at the exit of the room, and the iron door rattled.

Obviously, someone had already locked it from the other side.

He punched the iron door hard, and the cold, bone-piercing force instantly forced Ye Chuxiao back several steps, and he fell to the ground on his buttocks.

A chill ran straight from his tailbone to the top of his head.

"Not only did they lock the door, but they also took away my seal, preventing me from using my power in this dungeon. They're not even giving me a last chance!" Ye Chuxiao thought.

Since things had come to this, Ye Chuxiao could only hope that the golden finger, a standard feature for transmigrators, would descend.

Sitting numbly on the stool, he silently recited the names of all the immortals he could think of, and even tried to summon those famous golden finger templates.

However, half an hour passed, and there was no response.

"No way? A bare transmigration?"

"This is unreasonable!" Ye Chuxiao tasted bitterness in his mouth.

Since things had come to this, Ye Chuxiao could only rack his brains, looking for any possible way to try.

Just as he was pondering, he heard a sound at the door lock.

With a creak, the iron door was pulled open.

A middle-aged man dressed the same as Ye Chuxiao walked in, carrying wine and dishes.

"Little Ye! Think clearly, don't be stubborn, this is your fate!" the middle-aged man said in as calm a tone as possible.

Ye Chuxiao opened his eyes and looked at the head guard who had always taken good care of him.

"I heard that Head Guard Li's youngest son is almost fifteen, right!" There was no joy or anger in Ye Chuxiao's voice.

"I don't believe you'll leave my position to my younger brother. I want to go to the cell where that heretical demon stayed and take another look." Ye Chuxiao continued.

The originally amiable Head Guard Li instantly changed his face.

"Ye Chuxiao! You're already a convict. Letting you stay in the guardroom with good food and drink instead of directly locking you in a cell is already an extraordinary favor."

"Don't be muddleheaded, otherwise not only you, but your whole family won't be able to escape." Head Guard Li said fiercely.

Looking at the exasperated Head Guard Li, Ye Chuxiao became even more confident: "I know that after the demon escaped, the higher-ups need someone to take the blame, and since I've been pushed out by you, I can't avoid it. But how could a small third-class prison guard commit such a serious crime? There should at least be a head guard to support it."

"Would handing over a prison guard and a head guard be more secure for those big shots in the Ministry of Justice?"

"Anyway, there's no difference for them."

Head Guard Li's face turned green.

He knew more detailed information than Ye Chuxiao, and he knew better how big of a mistake it was for that heretical demon to escape.

Because of this, even after he colluded with others to get Ye Chuxiao drunk last night and had Ye Chuxiao put his handprint on the confession, he still couldn't rest easy.

That's why there was another 'warning.'

He just didn't expect that after only one night, the originally honest and easily bullied Ye Chuxiao seemed to have changed into a different person and actually started threatening him in return.

"The matter is very big. A third-class prison guard can't settle it."

"If the higher-ups are determined to investigate, it's not out of the question to interrogate all the prison guards in Sector B."

"Head Guard Li, if I were you, I wouldn't choose to cover my head and be content with luck at this time. Instead, I would find a way to find the real mastermind." Ye Chuxiao relentlessly pressured Head Guard Li's emotions.

After saying that, Ye Chuxiao bypassed Head Guard Li and pushed the door open and went out.

Leaving the guardroom full of the stench of decay, the smell in the corridor wasn't pleasant either.

The mildew smell caused by the dark and damp environment was still the mainstream aura of the entire dungeon.

The soles of the prison guards' shoes were particularly high in order to avoid getting muddy and letting their toes soak in the mud.

Following the direction in his memory, Ye Chuxiao arrived in front of the prison cell where the heretical demon had stayed before.

Through the iron bars, he could clearly see the layout of the cell.

A human skin, pierced and locked with iron chains, hung in mid-air.

What should have been hanging there wasn't just a piece of skin, but the entire person.

"Open the door!" Ye Chuxiao said to Head Guard Li, who was closely following behind him.

Head Guard Li looked unhappy and was about to say a few sarcastic words, but then he heard Ye Chuxiao say, "Cooperate with me properly. If I really can't find any clues, then the higher-ups will still need someone to take the blame, and I won't mention you."

Hearing this, Head Guard Li was greatly relieved and hurriedly opened the prison door.

Ye Chuxiao walked in and looked around, but he didn't find any suspicious traces.

After all, he was just a variety show scriptwriter, not a real detective novelist, let alone a detective.

After hesitating again and again, Ye Chuxiao still reached out and touched the strange-looking human skin.

If there was really any possibility of a clue, this strange human skin was obviously the most worthy of investigation.

The moment Ye Chuxiao's finger touched the human skin, a strange energy suddenly surged from his fingertip.

At the same time, it was as if a large clock suddenly rang in Ye Chuxiao's mind.

Clang!

A virtual golden clock turned counterclockwise in Ye Chuxiao's mind.

As the pointer moved, Ye Chuxiao discovered that everything in front of him, from the perspective of his soul, seemed to be experiencing a reversal of time.