Striving for Science C37

"Please wait a moment, young master, I'll check." The City God pressed a handprint on his tablet, and Shen Chang'an saw golden characters swirling around him, far more captivating than any 3D special effects movie.

After a while, the golden characters surrounding the City God disappeared, and everything returned to calm. However, Shen Chang'an noticed that the City God's face was very grim.

"Someone has changed this young friend's fate." The City God secretly rejoiced. This unjustly deceased Chen Yuan had a special fate. Not only was his life of glory stolen, but he also died prematurely and inexplicably, which could lead to resentment and turn him into a malevolent ghost that could wreak havoc. The consequences would be far-reaching.

He secretly glanced at Shen Chang'an. Thankfully, this unjustly deceased ghost had encountered this noble person and hadn't transformed into a malevolent ghost. Even when he heard that his fate had been altered, he didn't react too strongly.

Noble people are truly noble. Any misfortune they encounter can potentially turn into good fortune.

"May I ask, City God, who changed Chen Yuan's fate?" Shen Chang'an saw that Uncle Zhang and Dharma Master Yan Yin were still in a daze, so he knew he couldn't rely on them to ask. "What is his current situation? Can he be reincarnated?"

"Please rest assured, young master. We will investigate this matter thoroughly."

Oh, that means they don't know yet.

"According to the Underworld's rules, living people cannot enter the Underworld before their natural lifespan is up." The City God looked at the otaku ghost with difficulty. "If this young friend doesn't mind, he can stay in the Underworld temporarily. After the matter is clarified, he can be reincarnated. Please rest assured, young friend, we will ensure you a prosperous and blessed afterlife."

"The Underworld... does it have delicious food?"

"There's soup."

"What kind of soup?"

"The Forgetfulness Soup of Meng Po."

"I think the human world is pretty good." The otaku ghost was a little afraid of the City God's imposing presence, and his voice trembled as he spoke. But for the sake of human delicacies, he still bravely spoke up. "May I ask, City God, can I stay in the human realm until the matter is clarified?"

He timidly looked at the City God: "Please rest assured, I won't run around."

"This..." According to Underworld regulations, in such cases, the unjustly deceased ghost should be taken back to the Underworld to prevent resentment. But in front of the noble person with merit, he couldn't refuse such an unfortunate unjustly deceased ghost.

"My Lord, if you're not at ease, you can place a tracking spell on him and let him stay at my house." Uncle Zhang, who had been in shock, finally spoke up. He bowed deeply to the City God. "Without your permission, I will absolutely not let him go out."

Hearing Uncle Zhang's words, the City God finally noticed the three other people in the room. He looked at Uncle Zhang, Yan Yin, and Zhang Gu, and asked Shen Chang'an: "Who are these three...?"

"They are all friends of mine." Shen Chang'an introduced the three.

"Cultivators?" The City God finally understood why this noble person with merit knew the summoning spell. It was because they taught him. The City God felt a little uneasy, suspecting that these three people were deliberately using the noble person's identity to make him manifest his divine form.

But thinking that gods and humans had almost completely lost contact, these cultivators must be very scared, the City God felt relieved. He nodded to Uncle Zhang, placed a tracking mark on Chen Yuan's soul: "Since that's the case, I'll let him stay with you."

The otaku ghost wanted to say that he didn't want to stay here and wanted to go with the big shot. But he was too scared to speak, so he could only look at Shen Chang'an with a pitiful expression, shrinking into a ball.

Shen Chang'an didn't know what Chen Yuan was thinking. His mind was a little chaotic at the moment, and a question that had been buried deep in his heart for a long time, he wanted to ask it tonight.

"May I ask, City God, is it true that... all deceased people will go to the Underworld to be reincarnated?" Shen Chang'an stared at the City God, "May this junior inquire about the fate of two deceased people?"

Shen Chang'an's expression didn't show any sadness or excitement, but everyone present could see that his emotions were a little off.

"Amitabha." Yan Yin sighed, his eyes filled with compassion.

If Shen Chang'an was truly the reincarnation of a ten-life merit body, then from birth, he was destined to be lonely. Those with great virtue must endure great suffering, never forgetting their good deeds, helping the world, and going through ten lifetimes in a row before they can achieve a merit body.

"Please speak, young master."

"Seventeen years ago, was there a police officer named Shen Kang who was reincarnated? And sixteen years ago, was there a female doctor named Zhang Ru who was reincarnated?"

"Were Shen Kang and Zhang Ru husband and wife?" Yan Yin once again unsealed the seal on his tablet and began to check their life stories.

"Shen Kang and Zhang Ru were husband and wife for three lifetimes, and they did many good deeds in their previous lives, but..." The City God looked at Shen Chang'an, "Before they were reincarnated in their previous life, they had prayed to the King of Hell for ten lifetimes as husband and wife. The King of Hell agreed to their request, but deprived them of the ability to have children in this life, and they were destined to die young in this life."

Shen Chang'an's face changed. His parents shouldn't have had children, so how did he come to be?

"But according to their life records in this life, they adopted a son after their marriage and treated him like their own. This son was inherently kind, and even after their death, he unintentionally passed the test of the God of Wealth." The City God saw that Shen Chang'an's face was a mixture of sadness and joy, and suddenly understood, "Young master, are you the child adopted by these two kind people?"

Shen Chang'an opened his mouth, but his throat felt choked.

"Please don't worry, young master. Although their lifespan was short in this life, they will live long and prosper in the next nine lifetimes, and they will continue to be a loving couple." The City God put away his tablet and comforted Shen Chang'an, "The dead cannot be brought back to life, reincarnation is another person, young master, you can let go."

"Did they leave any words for me before they were reincarnated?" Dad said he would buy him a big cap before he left, but he didn't get to. Mom said she would make him pork ribs that morning before she went to the hospital, but she didn't get to either.

He never understood why, as his father's son, his grandmother treated him that way, using his life to bring his father back. It turned out that in his grandmother's heart, he wasn't considered a member of the Shen family at all.

"Sorry." The City God was silent for a moment, "Before your parents arrived in the underworld, their souls seemed to have been attacked and became muddled. Fortunately, a... divine messenger from a certain Lord discovered them, opened the gate to the underworld, and sent them to the underworld."

"Will they be affected in their next life?" Shen Chang'an asked anxiously, "Will their fate be changed secretly, like Chen Yuan's?"

Although many of his childhood memories had become blurry, he clearly remembered that his parents' relationship was very good, so good that other children in kindergarten envied him.

"Don't worry, the souls of these two kind people have been nurtured well and were reincarnated as humans five years ago. Their families are now warm and harmonious. If you are worried, I can borrow a viewing mirror for you to take a look."

"No need." Shen Chang'an shook his head in a daze and bowed to the City God, "Thank you, City God."

The karma of the past life is cut off in the past life. What kind of identity does he have now to disturb their present life? He was afraid that once he knew who they were in this life, he would be unable to resist secretly watching them, or even appearing in their lives.

Such interference would be unfair to them in this life.

"Young master, you're welcome." The City God returned the bow, "I will report this matter to the King of Hell. Once the matter is investigated, I will inform you immediately."

"Thank you." Shen Chang'an's mind was in a jumbled mess, and he didn't even notice how the City God left.

The three people and one ghost present did not expect that the first successful case of summoning a god in decades would end like this. The otaku ghost looked at Shen Chang'an with worry, then turned to glare at Old Zhang and the others. Couldn't they say something comforting at this time?

His parents died when he was young, and he only found out when he grew up that he wasn't their biological son. If this happened to him, he would definitely sit on the ground and cry.

Although... he was also very unlucky, but compared to this big shot, he felt that his bad luck wasn't so lonely.

"Donor Shen…"

"Sorry." Shen Chang'an interrupted Yan Yin's words and forced a smile, "Master, I want to be alone for a while."

After saying this, Shen Chang'an quickly left Uncle Zhang's house.

On the quiet street, Brother Shan, with his green hair dyed orange, swayed as he walked with his younger brothers. Seeing a figure across the street, his knees went weak, and he quickly explained, "We didn't do anything bad, we were just out drinking, really!"

Shen Chang'an glanced at them, expressionless, and walked away.

"He didn't even beat us up?" A younger brother looked at Shen Chang'an's retreating figure in surprise, "Did he get dumped?"

"Nonsense!" Brother Shan slapped the younger brother on the back of the head, "How bad can a man's mood be after a breakup? If he really got dumped, would we still be alive tonight?"

"That's true." The younger brother rubbed his sore head, unable to help but say, "Big brother, aren't you a bit demoralizing us by saying that?"

"You're so brave, why don't you go beat him up?"

The younger brother: "..."

He was scared, so he chose to remain silent.

***

Outside the gate of the Biological Division, the security guard was dozing off when he saw a man in a yellow robe standing outside. He was so startled that all sleepiness vanished. He realized it wasn't a ghost, but a Daoist.

"You, what are you trying to do?" The security guard scrambled out of his makeshift bed, shivering as he put on his jacket. In the middle of the night, dressed like that, it was either a ghost or someone crazy. He, a small security guard, couldn't afford to mess with either.

The Daoist in the yellow robe looked at the security guard expressionlessly, "Have you heard that this place is haunted?"

"Huh?" The security guard secretly opened a crack in the security booth, "What did you say?"

"I've heard that this place is haunted. As a cultivator, I cannot allow evil spirits to harm the world." The Daoist in the yellow robe's eyes were cold, "Those who have died should go to the underworld. Those who linger in the mortal realm should be punished!"

"What are you rambling about?" The security guard reached out and pushed the Daoist in the yellow robe out, "It's the middle of the night, our boss isn't here, and you're trying to scam me? You won't get any money, are you out of your mind?"

The yellow-robed Daoist frowned and smoothed the part of his Daoist robe that the security guard had pushed. "This Daoist doesn't take money..."

"Don't give me that! This morning, the Civil Service Department came and investigated. It was a virus that infected our company's system. There's no such thing as ghosts. We need to believe in science, understand what it means to believe in science?" The security guard, whose sleepiness had been disturbed by the yellow-robed Daoist, was a little annoyed. "You scammers, whenever you hear about ghosts, you run over to cheat people for money. Do you have any shame?"

"I…"

"Go, go, go! If you don't leave, I'm calling the police." The security guard waved his hand dismissively, urging the yellow-robed Daoist to leave. "You're not even that old, why can't you do something useful? You have to pretend to be a Daoist and scam people?"

"Obstinate and unyielding! The evil spirits here died unnatural deaths, they will eventually turn into evil spirits. When that happens, you will all become mere nourishment for their resentment." The yellow-robed Daoist was furious and stormed off. He couldn't communicate with such ignorant fools.

"Crazy!" The security guard slammed the window shut and went back to sleep on his makeshift bed.

***

Shen Chang'an didn't know where he could go. He wandered aimlessly on the deserted streets. When he finally looked up, he realized he had already reached the apartment complex where Dao Nian lived.

He stood outside the apartment complex gate, walking to the streetlight and leaning against it. He looked up at the moon, which had already risen to its zenith, his heart aching.

He took out his phone, but didn't know who to confide in.

He opened Dao Nian's chat window, then silently closed it again, repeating this several times. He couldn't bear the heartache, so he pretended to be lighthearted and sent a crying emoji.

Looking at the screen, the little adorable child was crying loudly. Shen Chang'an wiped his dry eyes. If he could be twenty years younger, he would have dared to cry so shamelessly.

Nian: Not sleeping?

At this cold, hard 2 am, there was actually a friend who was still awake like him. Shen Chang'an saw this reply, typed out a message, and then deleted it word by word.

Chang'an: Can't sleep.

Dao Nian watched the words "typing..." flicker on the screen for a long time, but the other person only replied with three words. He frowned.

Nian: Why are you crying? Did someone bully you?

Shen Chang'an saw these two questions and couldn't help but sniffle and smile.

Chang'an: If someone bullies me, you'll avenge me, right?

Year: Yeah, that's right.

"Don't mention it," Shen Chang'an chuckled, holding his phone. He leaned against the street lamp, which suddenly flickered twice. A white fox darted out from the wall behind him. But when the fox saw Shen Chang'an, it froze, its four paws stiff, and silently retreated back into the wall.

He, a male yao from the fox clan, absolutely could not lose to a scheming, white lotus male.

Showing up outside the Lord's immortal mansion in the dead of night, pretending to be weak, lonely, and helpless, clearly just trying to seduce the Lord. This shameless tactic is already played out by the fox clan elders.

Dao Nian didn't receive a reply from Shen Chang'an and asked again.

Nian: Not happy? I'll come keep you company.

Although he didn't want to go out at all, this was his own person, and when he was unhappy, he still had to coax him.