‘He hasn’t forgotten his past life!’ Mr. Clark suddenly broke out in a cold sweat on his back, pointing at Edward Thompson and asking in a trembling voice, “You—you didn’t drink the Meng Po soup?”

Edward Thompson suddenly smiled, his smile full of ambiguity and even a bit guilty. “If I had drunk the Meng Po soup, how could I have told you the winning numbers?”

“Oh no!” Mr. Clark stomped his foot anxiously, realizing he had forgotten this matter. Not drinking the Meng Po soup and returning to the living world would disrupt the course of history—a serious offense. If Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva found out, he’d be dismissed from his post. But if he took him back to drink the soup, it would mean the same person used the time system twice, and a ‘warning’ would pop up on Kṣitigarbha’s computer. The risk was too great.

However...

Mr. Clark suddenly remembered that he hadn’t yet crossed the Naihe Bridge, so King Yama would never discover his existence. If King Yama didn’t know, Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva would be even less likely to know. Besides, even if King Yama did find out, he would cover for him—he knew all of King Yama’s secrets! That was the key point. After thinking it over, letting him return to life with his past memories was less risky than taking him back to drink the Meng Po soup. Besides, could this kid really outwit Zhu Yuanzhang?

Mr. Clark hesitated for a moment, but the temptation of the two hundred million underworld currency jackpot finally made him decide. As soon as he got back, he would have the other William Thompson drink the Meng Po soup and completely forget his past life, pretending to be this jackpot-winning Edward Thompson.

Thinking of this, he said sternly, “You will return to where you came from. This is the iron law of resurrection in the underworld. It has nothing to do with which entrance you stand at. Today, only this entrance is open. Hurry and stand over there, state your winning numbers. There are only ten seconds left. You have only this one chance.”

The countdown on the revealed card began: nine, eight, seven... Although Edward Thompson was very suspicious, he had no choice. There was no time left, so he could only stand in front of the ‘Revealed’ entrance and shout to Mr. Clark, “The two missing winning numbers are my birthday. Go check it yourself!”

“All right, we have a deal.” Mr. Clark used his electronic pen to select the row for William Thompson and gently pressed the resurrection key... “Wait!” Edward Thompson suddenly shouted, “What if my body has already been cremated?”

But he was out of time. The countdown on the revealed card suddenly jumped from five to zero. A dazzling blue light shot out from the card, and Edward Thompson’s ghost instantly vanished without a trace. In the empty grand hall, Mr. Clark’s chattering laughter echoed, “Don’t worry! You are now William Thompson. Even if Edward Thompson has been burned to ashes, it has nothing to do with you. I wish you and Zhu Yuanzhang a pleasant time together. Bye-bye!”

The next day, the underworld lottery was drawn. The two hundred million grand prize was won by an old man who grew vegetables on the sixteenth level of hell, spending only two underworld coins. It caused a sensation in the underworld. For a while, business at the Naihe Bridge lottery machine was booming. After a review by the supervisory agency, it was confirmed that none of the old man’s three generations of direct relatives worked in any authority, so the prize was valid.

……

Volume One: Swept into a Major Case

Chapter One: Return to Ming

In the twenty-second year of Hongwu, September, the chill of late autumn shrouded the land of Huainan. Among all the cities in Huainan, the most famous was Zhongdu Fengyang. This was the land where the dragon rose. In the second year of Hongwu, after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, Zhongdu was built at the southern foot of Phoenix Mountain, southwest of Haozhou. Because the new capital was on the sunny side of Phoenix Mountain, it was named Fengyang. Zhu Yuanzhang granted titles to many nobles and relocated 140,000 wealthy households from Jiangnan here, instantly turning the once impoverished small town into a prosperous and thriving place.

Linhuai County was about twenty li east of Zhongdu Fengyang. It was originally called Zhongli County, but was renamed Linhuai County because it was close to the Huai River. The land here was fertile and the water abundant, making it a high-yield grain area since ancient times. Moreover, being close to the land of the dragon’s rise, it enjoyed many court privileges, so the people here were generally well-off and lived comfortable lives.

To the east of Linhuai County was a small hill shaped like a silver ingot, known locally as Yuanbao Mountain. At the foot of the mountain was a village called Lijia Village. As the name suggests, most of the families in the village had the surname Li. On this day, a major event occurred at the home of the landlord Mr. Thompson in Lijia Village—the young master of the Li family had jumped into a well to commit suicide.

“They’ve pulled him up! They’ve pulled him up!” Several farmhands clumsily hauled a soaking wet person out of the well. “My son!” Mr. Thompson cried out, rushing over like a madman. He frantically slapped his son’s face, but after a long while, his son still showed no sign of life. Mr. Thompson was overwhelmed with grief and burst into tears, “Son! You mustn’t die! If you die, the Li family line will be cut off.”

All the farmhands were silent. He’d been under the water for two hours—how could he possibly be saved? Poor master, the family had only one son for three generations. Now the Li family was truly finished.

At this moment, a woman in her thirties stepped forward to comfort Mr. Thompson, “Master, the dead cannot come back to life. Please take care of yourself.”

Mr. Thompson suddenly jumped up and cursed at the woman, “Wretch! How dare you speak! If you hadn’t forced him so hard, would my son have jumped into the well?”

Everyone in the courtyard was stunned. The master actually dared to curse the mistress—times really had changed. The woman’s face turned cold, her almond-shaped eyes widened, and she slapped Mr. Thompson hard across the face, snapping, “What did you just call me?”

Mr. Thompson seemed to be awakened by the slap. He stared blankly at the woman, feeling both afraid and heartbroken. Thinking that his son was gone forever, grief welled up inside him. Covering his face, he squatted on the ground and sobbed.