I changed the world.

I changed the world.

Author: Tianfeng Heiyue

Introduction:

This world is characterized by the Industrial Revolution, the spread of Western learning to the East, mercantilism, the scholar-official class, the nobility, royalty, colonies, and constitutional monarchy.

Materialism, starships, fusion engines, warp jumps...

Humanity is reaching out its naive arm into deep space...

This is the worst of worlds, but also the most vibrant of worlds...

As a transmigrator, I have been hiding in the slums of this world for three days;

I have a secret: a book that can grant any wish!

I need to get out of this situation!

And so, one dramatic scene after another began to unfold.

Traces of immortals, the lingering glow of ancient gods, temples that manifest miracles, idealism...

The histories of East and West are beginning to be deconstructed... Myths are being reinterpreted...

With each wish I made, the world began to veer in an unknowable direction...

Chapter One: The Book That Can Fulfill All Wishes

"I want to obtain one million Imperial Scrolls, without breaking the law."

........................

On October 25, 2015, the thirty-sixth year of Chenghe, this was the third day since Zhang Jing had transmigrated to this world.

Yes, Zhang Jing is a time traveler; in the parlance of novels from his previous life, he transmigrated as a soul. He transmigrated into the body of a 23-year-old with the same name, and at the same time, his mind was filled with many memories that originally belonged to the original owner of this body.

It's 6 a.m., and Zhang Jing has just gotten up and finished washing up.

He rolled up his sleeves and pressed his left hand against a book-shaped tattoo on his right forearm near his elbow. It was a lifelike tattoo, about the size of a one-yuan coin. In his memory, this tattoo should have appeared out of nowhere along with his time travel.

"Come out!" Zhang Jing muttered solemnly, just as he had tried yesterday.

A barely perceptible flash of light appeared, and a quaint, brown-covered notebook came into his hand. The cover, made of some unknown material, had a skin-like texture and, upon closer inspection, some subtle patterns. In the center of the cover was a line of text written in an unknown script. Strangely, although Zhang Jing was certain he had never seen this script before, he could understand its meaning:

The meaning of the word is very simple and straightforward; it can be translated into Chinese as "a wish book".

Although he had looked at the book over and over again yesterday, Zhang Jing still felt a sense of unreality when he summoned it today. He couldn't help but turn the book over again. On the back of the book was a string of golden symbols with an unclear meaning. Zhang Jing could also recognize them as a string of numbers, which, when translated into Arabic numerals, was 75613.

Opening the notebook cover, a line of text is written on the title page: "Whatever you wish for, will come true."

The meaning conveyed by this line is very simple, even a child can understand it, but upon closer examination, the profound meaning it contains is extremely violent.

Before going to work yesterday, Zhang Jing made a wish on a whim: he hoped to receive one hundred yuan.

As a result, on his way to work, he, who was always suspicious, tripped over a small stone and stumbled. Then he found a hundred-yuan bill lying right at his feet. He had no idea who had dropped it.

After shoving the hundred yuan into his wallet, Zhang Jing was absent-minded all day. One thought kept echoing in his mind: if the words on the title page of that wishing book were true, then this was more than just a golden finger; it was an absolute golden thigh!

However, being cautious by nature, he didn't show it at the company. It wasn't until he got home after get off work that he couldn't wait to take out the wishing book and examine it again. He noticed a change: the string of numbers on the back of the book had changed from 75614 to 75613.

At the same time, some text appeared on the page after the book's title page, which was originally blank:

Wish: I want to get 100 yuan.

That wish has been fulfilled.

1 wish points will be deducted.

Suppressing the urge to make another wish immediately, Zhang Jing forced himself to calm down and pondered for an entire night in the face of this discovery that could drastically change his fate.

Until now.

Having barely slept all night, Zhang Jing gently turned the pages of the wishing book. The pages of the book seemed endless, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach the last page.

Regardless, for him, who is still burdened with huge student loans, money is the most urgent thing right now.

"I want to get one million yuan, without breaking the law," Zhang Jing said clearly as he made his wish.

To ensure that the wishing book wouldn't send him money in some strange way, he specifically added the premise that it wouldn't be illegal.

Just like yesterday, nothing happened after I finished making my wish. But a short while later, a new line appeared on the second page after the title page of the wishing book:

My wish: I want to obtain one million Imperial Scrolls, without breaking the law.

Zhang Jing closed the wishing book, silently recited "take back," and the wishing book disappeared from his hand.

He licked his dry lips, composed himself, picked up the wooden chamber pot from beside the bed, and went out. Zhang Jing's house was located in the city's slums. It was a dilapidated wooden shack, a one-bedroom apartment that served as the bedroom, living room, and kitchen. In this area, houses generally didn't have private bathrooms; there was only one public toilet about 100 meters away, shared by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. One could imagine the luxurious experience of squatting in it. Therefore, Zhang Jing generally avoided it.

I walked a few steps outside, emptied the toilet into the ditch, waited for a while at the public water tap not far away, and waited for the neighbor lady in front to finish filling her water tank before going over to wash the toilet.

Humans are actually quite adaptable creatures. In just three short days, Zhang Jing had already become quite accustomed to the practice of using the same water source for both drinking water and chamber pots. This tap was actually installed last year to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Emperor Chenghe's ascension to the throne, a true act of kindness to the people. Before that, everyone used an old well about 50 meters away that had a rather unpleasant odor.

There was meat in his breakfast today. Because he found money yesterday, Zhang Jing bought braised beef to treat himself after get off work. In his previous life, he had never realized how delicious meat could be.

Zhang Jing's body belongs to an orphan whose parents died five years ago from a terrible plague. In his memory, everything during that period was gloomy: the sky was gray and gloomy, the faces of pedestrians on the road were pale and fearful, and there was also the gray smoke column that rose for more than a month at the morgue in the northern suburbs of the city.

Life is not easy, Zhang Jing realized this from the first day he transmigrated.

After finishing his meal, Zhang Jing put on his only official uniform, a simplified version of a Confucian robe, somewhat similar to his Zhongshan suit from his previous life, yet with some differences. It got its name from the fact that government officials often wore this attire on non-essential occasions. Nowadays, it is also a fairly common formal suit.

The Great Zhao he lived in was a great empire that had been passed down for over 600 years. Although it had experienced major events such as resisting foreign invasions, civil wars, reforms, constitutional monarchy, the spread of Western learning to the East, the Industrial Revolution, and the rise of capitalism, it had not suffered the humiliating modern history of his previous life and had retained its status as the strongest power in the Eastern Continent. Therefore, it had a better inheritance of some traditions and culture than in his previous life.

Carrying a shoulder bag, Zhang Jing went out and locked the wooden door with an iron padlock. In his previous life, he'd said this kind of lock kept out honest people, but not thieves. However, all his most valuable possessions were in his wallet—to be precise, besides his phone, a bank card with 1530 yuan in Imperial Vouchers, and nearly 300 yuan in loose change; nothing else. Besides, in this slum, as long as you didn't flaunt your wealth, few people would dare to target the residents.

The nearest bus stop was about an hour away. Zhang Jing walked forward, glancing down at his feet. Piles of recycled waste and household garbage filled the alley, emitting a strong, rotten smell. The surrounding houses were extremely close together, usually less than 25 centimeters apart. Perhaps due to the light rain the night before, the ground was muddy and slippery, not to mention some residents had simply emptied their chamber pots onto the street, requiring him to be constantly vigilant.

Some naked children stood at the doorway, sucking their fingers and looking at him; their heads appeared somewhat large due to their thinness. In Zhang Jing's memory, due to living conditions, few children in this area were robust.

Zhang Jing glanced around every now and then, wondering how the million he wished for would arrive. About fifteen minutes later, he emerged from the maze-like streets of the slum. The streets here were more open, and the ground was no longer uneven. He walked for a while and came to a bus stop. The rusty metal signboard displayed the name of the stop—Jiqingfang Station.

He took out his phone and checked the time. It was a "Zhuoyue" brand smartphone, a budget phone brand developed for lower-income consumers. However, in Zhang Jing's opinion, the phone wasn't bad at all; it just showed that in the consumer electronics field, the world's technological development was clearly far ahead.

It's 7:03 now, and there are only a few people waiting for the train on the platform. Most of them are office workers dressed similarly to Zhang Jing. Zhang Jing knows that in another 10 minutes, the number of people waiting for the train will increase exponentially, which is why he prefers to leave home earlier.

After another five minutes, an electric double-decker bus slowed down and pulled up, and the people waiting around the station all gathered around.

When the bus was about ten meters away from the crowd, the driver had already stepped on the brakes...

Just then, the front of the bus suddenly lurched downwards, followed by a loud bang...

The ground suddenly cracked open, and to everyone's astonishment and horror, the double-decker bus plunged into the pit as if it had stepped into a trap.

The crack in the huge crater expanded rapidly. Before the group could react, the ground beneath their feet shattered, followed by screams and gasps as everyone lost their footing...

Chapter Two: Fate Rushing In

Some people frantically tried to grab onto something, but in this situation, all their efforts were in vain, and everyone fell into the pit along with the double-decker bus.

Zhang Jing was completely unprepared. Caught off guard, he only had time to try to gather his body before a strong impact came from the soles of his feet. Unable to stand, Zhang Jing fell sideways onto the uneven ground.

A sharp pain shot through his leg. The surroundings were dark, filled with dust, screams, coughs, and cries. Zhang Jing was momentarily stunned before he came to his senses. The dusty air around him made him afraid to breathe deeply, so he covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve. He reached up and patted his hair, and a large amount of dust fell to the ground.

A somewhat absurd thought flashed through Zhang Jing's mind: his image must be terrible right now.

By this time, he had begun to recover somewhat, and his brain started to work at high speed. His past life experience made him realize that he had likely encountered a road collapse caused by some reason. In his past life, he had often heard news reports of similar incidents where roads collapsed and vehicles fell into them.

This time, he was facing the same situation. As for why it happened, Zhang Jing guessed that it was most likely because of the wish he had made that morning…

Zhang Jing squinted, observing his surroundings and the sky. The darkness, accompanied by smoke and dust, made it difficult to see clearly. He could roughly determine that it was a large rectangular pit, about the size of a basketball court. The bottom of the pit was about 4 to 5 meters above the ground.

The double-decker bus not far away had stalled, and many passengers were crying and trying to climb out of the carriage; the extent of casualties was unknown. Fortunately, although the vehicle was impacted, it did not appear to have caught fire.

Unable to see clearly, Zhang Jing reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He was somewhat distressed to find that the screen was cracked, but fortunately it didn't affect its use for the time being, and he was able to turn on the flashlight function.

In the beam of the flashlight, the surroundings were filled with a large number of suspended particles, swirling and dancing. Even so, Zhang Jing's vision had improved considerably. He could even see a steel bar sticking out at an angle about a fist's distance from his right leg, looking as ferocious as the fangs of a beast.

Zhang Jing immediately realized that if he hadn't instinctively pulled his body inward as he fell, his right leg might already be impaled on that steel bar...

"This wish is truly hard to fulfill..." Zhang Jing thought to himself.

However, there was no time to think about it at that moment. Zhang Jing quickly checked himself with a flashlight. Fortunately, apart from a few scratches on his clothes, he was not injured.

After moving his body a bit, he realized that he probably didn't have any internal injuries or anything like that. His legs were no longer in pain, so Zhang Jing picked up his phone and started shining the flashlight around him.

The ground was covered with uneven rocks and mud. He first spotted his shoulder bag a few steps away, half-buried in pebbles. He walked over, stumbling along, and pulled out the bag, patting it to reveal his wallet and various documents inside.

Just as he picked up his shoulder bag, he noticed what appeared to be a round metal object on the ground. He squatted down to take a closer look, and after brushing away the loose dirt, he immediately recognized it as a simple, square-holed coin.

In his past life, Zhang Jing was a dabbling collector, partly due to the craze for collecting. He would occasionally browse antique markets and buy some trinkets of dubious authenticity. Naturally, he was quite familiar with ancient coins. In fact, he even had a few Kaiyuan Tongbao coins displayed on his desk in his past life as feng shui coins.

He quickly looked around and, seeing no one nearby, hurriedly picked up the ancient coin from the ground and held it in his palm. He then quickly searched the surroundings and, finding nothing else, used the pretense of checking his shoulder bag to secretly put the coin inside.

At this moment, a lot of noise came from above, and the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. Obviously, the situation here had attracted the attention of the surrounding area, and some people had gathered around to try to rescue, but perhaps because they were worried about causing a secondary collapse, no one dared to get too close.

Having made a purchase, Zhang Jing slung his backpack over his shoulder, shining his flashlight around to see if there were any other finds, while walking towards the double-decker bus to see if anyone needed help.

There were some people around who had fallen while waiting for the bus. They all got up and most of them seemed unharmed, but a few were still lying on the ground groaning, indicating that they had fallen more seriously.

Some people have started trying to climb up the pit wall, but it is not easy to climb because it is quite steep.

Zhang Jing arrived at the double-decker bus. The doors seemed to be broken. Some people were trying to open the doors from inside the bus, but they couldn't. Others were smashing the windows, and some of them had even succeeded. Several people had already climbed out of the broken windows.

Zhang Jing saw many people still inside the car smashing the windows with their fists. It seemed that they were unable to break the windows due to a lack of tools. So he picked up a stone from the ground, walked to the car, and smashed it hard on the corner of one of the windows. With a loud crack, the window shattered.