Chapter 1

Jiang Zhou, dressed casually, stood with his mouth half-open, staring blankly at his surroundings.

Everywhere were towering ancient trees, the smallest of which had a diameter of several meters and a height of over ten meters.

The twisted and entangled massive roots and vines were even thicker than he was.

Underfoot was a thick layer of fallen leaves, and overhead were layers of dense foliage, like a green dome that blocked out the sky.

Sunlight could only filter through the gaps in the branches, casting faint green light.

"Traversed?"

He couldn't think of any place on Earth with such an exaggerated forest.

Moreover, he was just in the library a moment ago. How did the world change with just a blink?

"Could it be you?"

Jiang Zhou closed his mouth and looked at what he was holding.

It was an old, yellowed scroll.

He had originally brought his newly hand-holding girlfriend to the library for a date and found this thing while looking for books.

Out of curiosity, he picked it up.

When he opened it, he only saw a blank, ancient silk surface, with nothing on it.

When he tried to put it back, he lifted his head and saw this scene.

To say this old scroll had no tricks, do you think I believe it?

Can one traverse so casually?

Jiang Zhou was quite satisfied with his little life and had no desire to traverse.

He had no choice but to hold the old scroll and examine it repeatedly.

If it really caused this, he could only rely on it to return.

But apart from four characters that looked like ghostly symbols, he found nothing.

He frowned and stared at the four ghostly symbols, hoping to discern some clues.

"Ghost, God, Map, Record?"

Jiang Zhou read out each character, then suddenly realized.

I can actually recognize these ghostly symbols? That doesn't make sense...

With a mix of surprise and doubt, Jiang Zhou suddenly saw new characters slowly appear on the previously blank scroll.

Just like before, he inexplicably recognized these characters he had never seen before.

"Imperial Command, Reward, Punish, Ghost, Seal, Spirit, Invoke, God?"

What the heck?

Jiang Zhou was still dazed when the old scroll suddenly turned into a beam of light and shot towards the space between his eyes.

Caught off guard, he felt a cool sensation at his brow, followed by an itch in his eyes.

What's going on?

Jiang Zhou was startled and quickly took out his phone.

He glanced at it, and as expected, there was no signal.

He opened the camera and pointed it at himself.

He saw a faint red mark on his brow.

What the heck?

"Hey? What an interesting magical artifact."

At that moment, Jiang Zhou suddenly heard a pleasant voice.

He quickly looked up and saw a magnificent white deer standing on a branch of a giant tree to his right.

The large antlers were curved, and its strong body emitted a faint glow, exuding a mysterious aura.

On the back of the white deer was a girl in a green gauze dress.

She was very beautiful, with a purity and vitality that Jiang Zhou had never seen before.

Jiang Zhou suspected he was seeing a forest spirit.

"Can you see me?"

The girl, who looked like a spirit, seemed very surprised.

She lightly squeezed her legs, and the magnificent white deer leaped down from the tree.

It landed gently in front of Jiang Zhou.

The green gauze dress was short, revealing the girl's white legs, which were somewhat blinding.

"Can you see me?"

Seeing Jiang Zhou a bit dazed, the girl lightly furrowed her brow and asked again.

Jiang Zhou opened his mouth and said, "Shouldn't I be able to see you?"

The girl's delicate brows furrowed, seemingly not quite believing it.

Riding the white deer, she circled around Jiang Zhou a few times.

Noticing that Jiang Zhou's eyes were following her, she finally stopped.

She stared at Jiang Zhou for a long time, then tilted her head and said, "You are human, no doubt."

"Your blood is weak, you have no magical power, your attire is strange, and you have a bit of the scholar's pedantry, but no righteous aura. How can you see me?"

What do you mean by 'human'? Aren't you human?

"That..."

Jiang Zhou was a bit confused: "Of course, I see with my eyes. What are you trying to say?"

"Eyes?"

The girl seemed to think of something, her big eyes turning: "Could you be a natural spirit eye?"

Before Jiang Zhou could answer, she clapped her hands: "That's it! Without any cultivation, it can only be a natural spirit eye. Great!"

Jiang Zhou noticed the girl seemed suddenly very happy.

Her eyes curved into two crescent moons as she looked at him: "I want you to do something for me."

Jiang Zhou felt she was calling him like a cat or a dog, as if it were a given.

"Are you crazy?"

He didn't like people who were self-righteous.

"Indeed, you have some backbone."

The girl seemed to notice his displeasure and, before he could speak, said with a smile.

At the same time, she extended a white finger and pointed into the dense forest.

Jiang Zhou watched as a green vine grew from her fingertip and shot into the forest.

"Roar!"

A deafening roar echoed.

The green vine dragged a massive creature back.

It was a horned monster that resembled a wild boar and a rhinoceros.

At least three to four meters long.

But it was tightly wrapped by a thin green vine, suspended in the air, unable to move.

The girl gave him a sweet smile.

Then, sharp saw-like teeth grew on the green vine, piercing the monster's flesh.

"Roar—!"

In the monster's piercing scream, Jiang Zhou watched it deflate like a punctured balloon.

In just a few seconds, the monster's massive body turned into a skeleton wrapped in wrinkled skin.

"..."

Jiang Zhou's face was expressionless.

He was terrified.

The girl still didn't see fear on his face and thought she hadn't scared him.

She furrowed her delicate brows: "Aren't you afraid?"

"..."

Can you not be afraid?

Jiang Zhou wanted to speak, but he found his body stiff.

This demoness was a capricious lunatic.

He was afraid that one wrong word would make her suck him dry.

Definitely a demoness.

Jiang Zhou was almost at his breaking point.

A few minutes ago, he was in the library with his girlfriend, enjoying a peaceful time.

How did it turn into this in the blink of an eye?

Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation at his brow, and a beam of light flew out, transforming back into the old scroll, which slowly unfurled.

From the abandoned monster's skeleton, a faint light orb floated out and merged into the unfurled scroll.

Images appeared on the old scroll.

A strange beast was born in the mountains, grew up, and hunted in the deep mountains.

Until it was entangled by a green vine and its life came to an abrupt end.

The image stopped there, becoming a picture on the scroll, with characters recorded beside it.

[Divination: A strange beast in the mountains, immensely powerful, capable of splitting the earth and mountains.]

Jiang Zhou also saw that after the record, a line of characters slowly appeared and then slowly disappeared.

[Not evil, not a demon, no reward if not you who punishes]

Jiang Zhou was slightly stunned.

Could it be...

Imperial Command, Reward, Punish, Ghost, means this?

If he personally slays demons, he can receive rewards from the Ghost God Map Record?

"Actually not afraid of me."

The demoness's dissatisfied voice startled him.

Jiang Zhou noticed she didn't seem to have seen this scene.

His silence made the demoness misinterpret it as calmness in the face of danger.

The demoness wrinkled her nose, seemingly troubled, then showed a fierce expression: "Hmph, you have some backbone, just like those stinky bones of the Confucian school!"

This expression, though fierce, was more cute and charming.

But Jiang Zhou didn't think so. A capricious lunatic was truly terrifying, especially a demoness.

Jiang Zhou still didn't speak. The demoness continued, suddenly excited: "But it's fine, this makes it more fun!"

"What do you think? How about I put a heart-eroding curse on you?"