Take this! It's dangerous to go alone!

All the people who were near at the time the child had been cursed instantly felt a chill that penetrated deep into their bones, a feeling of dread, as if they were at the mercy of a vicious beast, its razor sharp teeth having sunk into the flesh of their necks, ready to rip out their throats. Many could not help but shudder and get goosebumps. Even the attendants, who stood at the far corners of the dining hall, felt their hairs stand on end. Some of the older, more fragile women present had even been unable to take the heavy atmosphere. They had promptly fainted!

However, not any of them had died on that fateful morning.The first person to actually have fallen victim to the devastating effects of Ling Mingyu's constitution was none of the people present in the great banquet hall.

That person had weakly lain the master bedroom of Ling family's estate, alone.

She was completely powerless from the bloodloss and exhaustion of giving birth. At the time, all the attendants scurried to prepare for the lavish festivities, and even the nurse had gone and taken her treasured child away from her. It was the very same nurse that would bring baby Mingyu and walk down the marble staircase into the extravagantly prepared grand banquet hall to present the small, precious bundle to the Ling family patriarch.

The first of the many people to suffer from Ling Mingyu's curse was none other than his own mother, Ling Mei Li.

Mingyu drew toghether his eyebrows, his rose petal lips pressed into a thin line as he remembered all this.

Suddenly, a solid but bouncy something came flying out of nowhere, smacking his foread before it landed on the grass in front of him with a thud. 'Huh? A peach?' Mingyu thought, astonished. He looked up.

"Are you done brooding now, son?" the deity in front of him asked in a slightly annoyed tone while raising one sword- like eyebrow.

From who knows where he had produced a long, slender bamboo pipe and was merrily blowing white clouds of dense smoke with it.

" I'm sorry, I got lost in thought." the young man replied earnestly.

"I can see that, yes. Well, now that I have sucessfully captured your attention again..." the heavenly official said, snarkily emphasizing the word 'again', while smiling.

"I have an offer to make you! I have recieved word from my subordinates, you see, that you have been subjected to a great injustice in place of somebody else. Your father, was it? Your body has been turned into one that brings misfortune to all living things around, yes? Well, as an upstanding deity with great moral values, Lao zi cannot let such an injustice continue! Ah, young man, it truly is a tragedy! How can I let you reincarnate with all the bad karma you have indirectly accumulated! You might not know this, but I also have a reputation to uphold! All karma should be well deserved. With this much disproportionately earned bad karma...wouldn't you just end up being reborn into a bug, demon, or some other vile creature? Hahaha! Not even transmigrating is going to get rid of something that's connected to your very essence like this. Truly devil's luck!"

The god laughed.

Mingyu was really starting to wonder what kind of substances that old geezer was smoking for him to laugh out loud at such a situation.

The deity cleared his throat, this expression turning solemn, as he shook his head. "No, we can't continue like this, obviously. So, I will give you this one time, exclusive offer! Only for you! You may recieve a poweful charm to negate the effects of that constitution of yours. Then, I will send you to a plane that I have especially adjusted to be to your liking. I did all this just for you! Hmm... aren't I great? This lao zi is very un-loli like indeed, hmph! Anyhow...you will have a loving family with a powerful background, many friends, and if you work hard, you can even ascend to the heavens to become an immortal. If you do that, we will meet again! Isn't that just great?!" the old man said while his eyes bent into crescents once again.

"Uhm... thank you very much." Mingyu replied, pleasantly surprised.

A warm sensation spread within his chest. It was joy. He could barely believe it. Is that what having good luck felt like? He could get used to this feeling!

"Oh, don't thank me just yet! There is something I haven't told you, actually."

The old geezer blew a puff of smoke in his direction, making Mingyu's eyes water slightly. Then, the deity of crossroads extended his free hand and cupped it. Within it, a palm sized, silver lock charm suddenly appeared. It seemed quite old, well worn even, and held the shape of a plum blossom. Intricate characters of unknown meaning embellished its surface.

"This powerful artifact that brings good fortune to whoever wears it. However!" the heavenly official paused dramatically before resuming: "It's powers will be depleted within twenty-four hours. Before that happens, you will have to do certain deeds in order to replenish it's power. As I am a kind, moral, and just god, naturally only highly commendable actions will recharge this charm. The better a person feels by your actions, the more effective it is for making your plum blossom charm recover. It' a win win! So be gentle and kind! Or even better: find someone to love and cherish, doing all kinds of things for them! You know...uh, what do kids these days call it again? First base, second base, third, and home run? 'Kiss kiss hug hug'?" the deity of crossroads started muttering incoherently.

Mingyu, the pure, naive virgin who had never even touched a 'little yellow book', just looked at him speechlessly. 'Home run?' What was that supposed to mean? He had never heard of this term. Well, if his old butler hadn't taught him, it shouldn't be important, right?

The deity caughed again, his forehead creasing as he put a wrinkly hand to his throat. "Ugh, I should change my methods, my poor throat! Whatever, you get the idea! I will stop wasting both of our time now and send you on your merry way. Wait, do you have any questions?"

Mingyu perked up. He indeed had one question, something he had contemplated over for many years:

" Indeed... uhm, your highness...? There is one thing I would like to inquire about. With how powerful my body of extreme yin is, why is it that my butler, old Gui, could care for me without being affected? All my other servants couldn't bear it at all and didn't stay for longer than two days at a time. We had to hire new ones constantly because they all caught colds so easily! They didn't even dare staying in the same room as me. But old Gui never got sick, not even once..."

The young man fell quiet as he remembered that person's weathered but gentle, smiling face. If anybody were to ask him about his father, the person he would immediately think of was not Ling Jingguo, who he hadn't seen since he was three years old, but his faithful, elderly butler instead. He was the man who raised Mingyu and loved him dearly. Everything the young master of the Ling family knew was taught by him. Without that man, he would not have survived long at all! However, it had seemed as if old Gui was completely fine while being around him, whereas ohers could barely breathe due to the frightening pressure emitted by him! Besides, that old man had lived a long life, passing peacefully in his sleep due to old age.

The heavenly official in front of him sighed wistfully, as if knowing exactly what was going on in the head of the youth in front of him.

"That man... has accumulated much good karma over the course of many, many reincarnations. Even I was astounded when I saw him pass through here. Ironically, you were lucky to have him. Your extreme yin body would affect his yang energy, but, really, that guy had more than enough to spare. Even after he moved on from your plane, the positive karma he had earned much exceeded those of all the people I have met before him. He was truly blessed by the heavens! So, don't worry about him! I am certain he has been reincarnated into a plane where he can live a good life. Now, if there is nothing else, then off you go! Here, catch!"

The deity threw the plum blossom shaped artifact at the young man in a graceful manner. The moment Mingyu's fingers closed securely around the silver lock charm, he could feel himself lose consciousness. He did not fight against the pitch black darkness closing in on him. Instead of the fear of the unknown, his heart held anticipation. Finally, he could live without bringing pain to others. That peculiar old geezer had, whether he knew it or not, lifted a tremendously heavy burden off the young man's heart.

The deity of crossroads rested in a tranquil forest grove, only accompanied by the cheerful chriping of birds in the distance and the sound of a peacefully murmuring river. The old man blew out another billowing cloud of smoke, as he quietly thought to himself.

'Ah, that youngster's tear filled eyes had certainly been very charming. He definitely won't have a hard time finding somebody to do all kinds of sweet and fluffy things with.'

The heavenly official heaved a contented sigh as he imagined all the dog food those poor cultivators in the lower plain would be forced to eat in the future. He would certainly look forward to watching this spectacle!

'And who knows? Maybe, in the future, I will even create some favorable situations to help that young man and his lover get together sooner! Wouldn't that be all kinds of fun...' the old man's lips bent into a mischievous smile as he cheerfully looked forward to all the entertainment he would be witnessing soon.