Min Nan city.
Around ten in the noon.
Wang Gai was sitting on a bench by the White Crane Lake in the Green Vine Park, feeling the scorching wind sweep. It was already autumn, but the temperature was exceptionally high, without a trace of chill.
All of these mattered little to Wang Gai, today, he was particularly heartbroken, he even felt his future was filled with darkness, harboring a sense that life was meaningless.
Why was that?
Because just an hour ago, Wang Gai was sacked for the 108th time. The boss, fat as a pig, bellowed at him with glaring eyes, “Wang Gai, you useless bug, looking at your impoverished state, you were born to be a loser. Get lost from here. I don’t need you.”
“Why? I’ve been diligent and hardworking, never tardy, never been lazy, my restroom breaks don’t even exceed a minute. I’ve even considered the company like my own home, first one to reach and last one to leave, doing the dirtiest and most strenuous work, why would you want me to leave, haven’t I performed well?” Wang Gai roared back, seemingly venting all the buried resentment, with emotions reaching the extreme.
The fat boss scoffed, “Why? I’ll tell you. While you are hardworking, you’re too naive, oblivious to the human nature and social manners, not knowing what to do and when to do it. Dull-headedly working all day, you’ll soon be worked to death. I don’t like seeing you around, now get lost from here.”
“Ha ha…” Wang Gai laughed out of bereavement, lamenting, “So that's why. Fine, I’ll leave. I don’t want to work anymore, nor bear the humiliations from you all.”
Out of rage, Wang Gai stormed out of the company and ended up sitting in Green Vine Park.
Wang Gai, originally a village lad, coming from a line of hardworking farmers. Perhaps due to some ancestral blessings, he managed to graduate from a mediocre university, with dreams of earning big bucks afterwards, to gift his parents a decent house and his little sister some new clothes.
His aspirations were simple, but were yet to turn into reality. Ever since he graduated, he worked for multiple companies, admittedly small ones, but that kept him content. His hard-working nature remained unchanged, yet he was often bullied until he left or was fired, unsettling him and leaving him without significant earnings.
He was fired again, today. To add to the injury, his rent was also due yesterday. He initially planned on paying the rent with this month's salary, but that is now a distant dream.
His vacant eyes gazed at the White Crane Lake in front of him, the desire to jump in and end it all was strong, to cease this miserable existence.
“Alas, it was my haste that I didn’t even demand this month's salary, I have worked for more than half the month at least, they should have given me around a thousand or eight hundred. That could have helped me survive this month’s rent,” sighed Wang Gai.
As Wang Gai was sighing heavily, he noticed an enchanting scene at the edge of the White Crane Lake that wasn't present before. A beautiful maiden was standing by the lake, seeming lost in the distance. Her skirt fluttered with the wind, and her long, black hair rippled slightly, appearing to mirror thousands of threads of sorrow, severing the sadness of the mortal world.
Unaware of Wang Gai's gaze, the young girl stood with her back towards him. Her figure was captivating, leaving Wang Gai in awe. He murmured to himself, "What a beautiful maiden!"
Hearing Wang Gai's remark, the young maiden turned slightly. A face of incredible beauty came into Wang Gai's view.
She was so beautiful, that one might mistake her for a celestial being gracing the mortal world with her presence.
Despite her appealing beauty, her face was pale, her eyes carrying an unspoken disgust and resentment towards the world.
The maiden gave a faint smile, then turned away. With a leap, she threw herself into the lake.
Splash!
Water from the White Crane Lake spurted around, the erstwhile clear water now had a dull hue, with a hint of crimson mixed in.
Only then did Wang Gai realise what had happened. The maiden had jumped into the lake, in an attempt to end her own life.
"Ah!" cried Wang Gai. He ran to the edge of the lake, shouting, "What are you doing? Why jump into the lake? The world is so beautiful, it's waiting for you to explore it. Come back up quickly."
But the maiden was nowhere to be seen on the surface of the lake. Wang Gai, panicking, rued, "Damn it, she's dead. Saving her is important, after all, my own existence carries no meaning."
In this moment, Wang Gai laughed mockingly at himself. Just a moment ago, he was trying to console the maiden. Now, he was contemplating on taking his own life. What gave him the right to advise others?
Splash!
Wang Gai jumped into the lake, swimming towards where the maiden had fallen.
Underwater, Wang Gai could vaguely see a shadowy figure slowly sinking. He hurriedly swam towards it, managed to grab the maiden, and started pushing upwards with all his might. Lifting her above his head, he tried to get back towards the shore.
At this moment, the young girl didn't move, unconscious, seemingly showing no signs of life.
Actually, they weren't far from the shore, but Wang Gai still exhausted his strength to push the girl onto the land.
"Phew, she's really heavy, totally exhausted me," Wang Gai almost collapsed from exhaustion, his hands grasping the crevices on the shore as he attempted to climb up.
Suddenly, Wang Gai felt the lower half of his body that remained in the water sink dramatically, held back by a formidable force. His legs simply could not move at all.
"What's going on, a cramp?" Wang Gai exclaimed in surprise.
Before Wang Gai could react, in the next second his whole body was pulled into the lake's depths by some unknown force.
The water was icy cold.
Wang Gai seemed to be enveloped by the endless water, his struggles pointless, unable to move even a finger.
Quickly, Wang Gai traversed through layers of space-time tunnels, ending up in an extremely dark world.
This place was filled with an intense yin energy, along with nerve-racking screams that echoed around.
"Where is this? Why is the yin energy so strong here? It feels even heavier than the cemetery south of the city," Li Yang said with doubt.
Thump, thump…
Footsteps sounded as two strangely shaped beings approached; no, not beings, monsters.
One had the body of a human and the head of a bull, while the other had a human body yet the face of a horse. They each held a two-meter-tall steel fork in their hands, their bodies wrapped in fluctuating yin energy.
Creatures with the heads of animals - Bull-headed and horse-faced!
Don't let Wang Gai's unassuming exterior fool you, he still takes pleasure in reading books and ancient texts. The descriptions of the 'Ox-Head and Horse-Face' in those tomes matched perfectly with what he was seeing now.
A chill ran down Wang Gai's spine as he finally understood his predicament. He was dead. These were scenes that one could only encounter in the underworld.
"So, I'm dead, huh?" Wang Gai said with a strange laugh. Uncertain whether he felt relieved or was simply aggrieved by life.
At this point, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face made their way to Wang Gai.
"Your name is Wang Gai," the Ox-Head asked.
"Yes, I am Wang Gai," Wang Gai admitted, accepting his fate since he was already dead.
"Then come with us," they said.
With Wang Gai positioned between them, they continued walking and soon reached a grand hall.
There sitting in the hall was a ferocious-looking individual with a full, shaggy beard, eyebrows angled upward like sword blades, and eyes as large as bronze bells.
Wang Gai knew, this person could only be the legendary Lord Yama.
Bang!
Lord Yama took his ceremonial staff and slammed it down hard onto the desktop.
"Wang Gai, your life was not yet meant to end. Why have you descended into the underworld?" He demanded in a booming voice.