CHAPTER 2 -
Situation
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Zhou Mingrui reeled back in fear at the sight that greeted him. It
was as though the person in the dressing mirror was not
himself, but a dessicated corpse.
How could a person with such grievous wounds be still alive!?
He turned his head in disbelief again and checked the other side.
Even though he was a distance away and the lighting was poor,
he could still see the penetrating wound and dark red blood
stains.
“This...”
Zhou Mingrui drew a deep breath as he tried hard to calm
himself.
He reached out to press his left chest and sensed his racing heart
that exuded immense vitality.
He then touched his exposed skin. Beneath the slight coldness
was flowing warmth.
When he squatted down and after verifying that his knees could
bend, Zhou Mingrui stood up again and calmed down.
“What’s happening?” he muttered with a frown. He planned to
inspect his head injury seriously once more.
He took two steps forward and suddenly paused. The moonlight
of the sanguine moon was relatively dark, so it was insufficient
for his ‘serious inspection.’
A memory fragment triggered as Zhou Mingrui turned his head
to look at the grayish-white pipes and the metallic-gridded lamp
on the wall right beside the study desk.
This was the most common gas lamp of the times. Its flame was
stable and its illumination capabilities were excellent.
With Klein Moretti’s family situation, even a kerosene lamp was
a dream, much less a gas lamp. Using candles was most apt for
their standing and stature. However, back when he burned the
midnight oil four years ago to be admitted into Khoy University,
his elder brother, Benson, felt that it was an important matter
which their familys future depended upon. Therefore, he
insisted on creating conducive studying conditions for Klein
even if it meant taking on debt.
Of course, Benson, who was literate and had worked for several
years, was not a rash person who did not think of the
consequences. He had quite some tricks up his sleeve. He
reasoned with the landlord to ‘raise the apartment’s standards
by installing gas pipes to improve the likelihood of rentals in the
future.’ The landlord was convinced and provided the money to
complete the basic modifications. Then, using the convenience
of working at an import and export company, he purchased a
brand new gas lamp which was nearly at cost price. In the end,
all he needed was to use his savings and did not need to borrow
money.
After the memory fragment flashed past his mind, Zhou Mingrui
came to the desk where he turned the pipe’s valve and began
twisting the gas lamp’s switch.
With a sputtering sound, a spark sounded from friction. Light
did not descend upon Zhou Mingrui as he had expected.
He twisted the switch a few more times, but all the gas lamp did
was sputter and remain dark.
“Hmm...” Retracting his hand and pressing on his left temple,
Zhou Mingrui sought for the reason by rummaging through his
memory fragments.
A few seconds later, he turned around and walked toward the
door. He arrived at the machine installation which was similarly
inset into the wall and had grayish-white pipes connected to it.
This was a gas meter!
After seeing the exposed gears and bearings, Zhou Mingrui took
out a coin from his trousers’ pocket.
It was dark yellow in color and had a bronze shimmer to it. The
front of the coin was engraved with a portrait of a crown-
wearing man, and there was a ‘l on a clump of wheat on the
back.
Zhou Mingrui knew that this was the most basic currency of the
Loen Kingdom. It was called a copper penny. One penny’s
purchasing power was roughly three to four yuan before his
transmigration. Such coins had other denominations such as
the five pence, a halfpence and a quarter-pence. Despite the
three types, the denominations were not in small-enough units.
In everyday life, one had to buy several different things just to
spend a single coin from time to time.
After flipping the coin—which was only minted and circulated
after King George III ascended to the throne—a few times, Zhou
Mingrui inserted it into the gas meter’s thin vertical ‘mouth.’
Clink! Clang!
After the penny fell to the bottom of the meter, the sound of
grinding gears sounded immediately, producing a short but
melodious mechanical rhythm.
Zhou Mingrui stared at the meter for a few seconds before
returning to the burly wood desk. He then reached out to twist
the gas lamp’s switch.
After some sputtering, there was a sharp sound!
A fire plume ignited and rapidly grew. Bright light first occupied
the internals of the wall lamp before penetrating the
transparent glass, blanketing the room with a warm glow.
The darkness quickly receded as the crimson retreated out the
window. Zhou Mingrui felt at ease for a baffling reason as he
quickly came in front of the dressing mirror.
This time, he seriously inspected his temple and did not miss a
single detail.
After a few rounds of inspection, he realized that apart from the
original blood stain, liquid was no longer flowing out of the
grotesque wound. It appeared like it had received the best
hemostasis and bandaging. As for the slowly squirming grayish-
white brain and the discernible growth of flesh and blood
around the wound, it meant that the wound might take thirty to
forty minutes, or maybe even two to three hours before it would
only leave a light scar.
“The restorative effects that transmigration brings?” Zhou
Mingrui curled up the right corner of his mouth as he muttered
silently.
Following that, he let out a long sigh. Regardless, he was still
alive!
After settling his mind, he pulled open a drawer and took out a
tiny piece of soap. He took one of the old and tattered towels
hanging by the side of the cupboard and opened the door. He
then walked to the public bathroom which was shared by the
tenants on the second floor.
Yes, I should clean up the blood stains on my head, or I'll keep
looking like a crime scene. It’s fine scaring myself, but if I were to
scare my sister, Melissa, when she gets up early in the morning
tomorrow, it would be quite problematic!
The corridor outside was pitch black. Silhouettes were barely
accentuated by the crimson moonlight from the window at the
end of the corridor. They looked like a pair of monster eyes that
silently observed the living late into the night.
Zhou Mingrui lightened his footsteps as he walked towards the
communal bathroom with a shuddering fear.
When he entered, there was even more moonlight, allowing him
to see everything clearly. Zhou Mingrui stood in front of a wash
basin and turned the tap’s knob.
Upon hearing the gushing sound of water, he suddenly recalled
his landlord, Mr. Franky.
As water was included in the rent, this short and thin gentleman
who wore a top hat, a vest, and a black suit, always inspected
the bathroom actively to take note of any sounds of flowing
water.
If the water gushed too loudly, Mr. Franky would ignore all of his
gentlemanly traits by flailing his walking stick and striking the
bathroom’s door, shouting things like ‘Darn thief,’ “‘Wastage is a
shameless matter,’ ‘ll remember you,’ ‘If I see this happen
another time, scram along with your filthy luggage,’ ‘Mark my
words, this is the most value-for-money apartment in Tingen
City. You will not find a more kindly landlord anywhere else!’
Putting away those thoughts, Zhou Mingrui used a moist towel
to clean the blood stains from his face again and again.
After checking himself using the rundown mirror in the
bathroom and verifying that all that was left was a hideous
wound and a pale face, Zhou Mingrui relaxed. Then, he took off
his linen shirt and used a bar of soap to wash away the
bloodstains.
At that moment, he knitted his brows and recalled a possible
problem.
The wound was too exaggerated and there was too much blood.
Apart from his body, his room likely still had signs of his injury!
After Zhou Mingrui was done with his linen shirt a few minutes
later, he briskly returned to his apartment with a moist towel.
He first wiped the blood handprint on the desk and then, using
the gas lamp’s illumination, sought out spots which he missed
out.
He immediately discovered that quite a substantial amount of
blood had splattered onto the floor beneath the desk. And there
was a yellow bullet to the left side of the wall.
“Releasing a round with a revolver pointed at the temple?” After
mixing and matching the clues from before, Zhou Mingrui had a
rough idea how Klein had died.
He was in no hurry to verify his guess. Instead, he seriously
wiped away the blood stains and cleaned up the ‘scene.’
Following that, he took the bullet and returned to the side of his
desk. He opened the revolver’s cylinder and poured out the
rounds inside.
A total of five rounds and a cartridge shell all had a brass luster
to them.
“Indeed...” Zhou Mingrui looked at the empty cartridge shell in
front of him and stuffed the rounds back into the cylinder while
nodding.
He shifted his gaze to the left and it landed on the notebook’s
words: ‘Everyone will die, including me.’ Following that, even
more questions arose in him.
Where did the gun come from?
Was it suicide or a faked suicide?
What kind of trouble could a history graduate of humble origins
get himself into?
Why would such a suicide method only leave behind so little
blood? Was it because I transmigrated in a timely manner and it
came with healing benefits?
After pondering for a moment, Zhou Mingrui changed into
another linen shirt. He sat on the chair and began pondering
over more important matters.
Klein’s experience was still not something he needed to concern
himself with. The true problem was to figure out the reason for
his transmigration and if he could return!
His parents, relatives, best buddies, and friends. The fascinating
world of the Internet and all sorts of delicious delicacies... These
were reasons that prompted his desire to return!
Click. Click. Click... Zhou Mingrui’s right hand was
subconsciously pulling out the revolver’s cylinder and slamming
it back into place, again and again.
Yea, there has not been much difference for me between this period
of time and the past. I was just a little unlucky, but why would I
transmigrate for no baffling reason?
Bad luck... Yes, I tried a luck enhancement ritual before dinner
today!
A thought flashed in Zhou Mingrui’s mind, illuminating the
memories which were concealed by a fog of confusion.
As a qualified keyboard politician, keyboard historian, keyboard
economist, keyboard biologist, and keyboard folklorist, he had
always deemed himself as ‘knowing something of everything.’
Of course, his best buddy would often mock him as ‘only
knowing a little of everything.’
And one of them was Chinese Divination.
When he visited his hometown last year, he had discovered a
thread-bound book titled ‘Quintessential Divination and Arcane
Arts of the Qin and Han Dynasty’ at an old bookstore. It looked
pretty interesting and could aid him in posturing on the
Internet, so he bought it. Unfortunately, his interest was short-
lived. The vertical script it used made the reading experience
horrible. All he did was flip through the beginning pages before
he threw it into a corner.
He had experienced a spate of bad luck in the past month—
losing his cell phone, customers running away after cheating
him, and mistakes at work. Only then did he suddenly recall the
luck enhancement ritual written at the beginning of
‘Quintessential Divination and Arcane Arts.’ Furthermore, the
requirements were extremely simple, without any basic
foundation requirements.
All he needed was to get four portions of the staple food in his
area and place them in the four corners of his room. They could
be placed on furniture such as tables and cupboards. Then,
standing in the middle of the room, he had to take four steps in
a counter-clockwise fashion to make a square. The first step
required him to sincerely chant ‘The Immortal Lord of Heaven
and Earth for Blessings.’ The second step was to silently chant,
‘The Sky Lord of Heaven and Earth for Blessings.’ The third step
was ‘The Exalted Thearch of Heaven and Earth for Blessings,’ and
the fourth step was ‘The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth
for Blessings.’ After the four steps were taken, he needed to close
his eyes and wait five minutes in his original spot. Only then
would the ritual be considered complete.
Since it did not cost him any money, he found the book, followed
what was stipulated, and did it before dinner. However... nothing
happened back then.
Who would have guessed that he would actually transmigrate in
the middle of the night!
Transmigration!
“There is a distinct possibility that it’s due to that luck
enhancement ritual... Yes, I should give it a try here tomorrow. If
it's really because of that, I stand a chance of transmigrating
back!” Zhou Mingrui stopped flicking the revolver’s cylinder and
suddenly sat straight up.
Regardless, he had to give it a try!
He had to attempt a Hail Mary!