I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

……

……

In his dream, Qian Zifu was still the poor scholar who repeatedly failed the imperial examinations, living in a dilapidated house, wearing old clothes, and living in abject poverty.

But one night, someone knocked on the door.

The door opened, and outside stood an extremely beautiful woman who introduced herself as Miss Hu, expressing her admiration for Qian Zifu's talent and her willingness to offer herself to him.

Qian Zifu was overjoyed and immediately burned incense and performed the wedding ceremony, welcoming the woman into the house. From then on, the woman wove cloth, cooked, washed clothes, and served her mother-in-law. The couple lived happily together.

Three years have passed, and the couple still has no children.

The scholar was anxious, and the woman wept. Three years later, the woman finally revealed the truth to him, saying that she was not human, but a fox from the mountains.

The fox and the human cannot have children, but she has a special ability: she can steal the exam questions for him before the imperial examination.

Sure enough, the scholar passed the autumn imperial examination that year, passed the spring imperial examination, and passed the palace examination all the way through, finally becoming the top scholar.

The emperor personally bestowed an embroidered ball upon him, betrothing the princess to him. The woman then packed her belongings, saying that her earthly ties with him were severed and that she was going to the deep mountains to cultivate immortality.

Finally, the woman left behind countless gold and silver coins and drifted away. The scholar sat alone in front of the hall, crying and laughing at the same time. He felt that he had such a wife in his life, what more could a husband ask for?

The dream was like a complete yet clichéd tale of the strange and supernatural, with its beginning, development, climax, and resolution all present.

—But the problem is, the fox woman's face in the dream is completely Deng Ziwen's.

In the dream, the woman lifted her skirt as she descended the steps, turning back to smile at the scholar.

That smile was clearly forced out by Deng Ziwen; it was stiff and pathetic, as if he had been forced to swallow half a pound of lard.

Fortunately, the dream was disjointed and did not contain any scenes of the two being affectionate.

Deng Ziwen seems to have retained some of his own consciousness.

When Qian Zifu asked him to do laundry and cook, he threw hot food and tea in the other man's face.

Qian Zifu scolded him for not knowing how to be a wife, but he rolled his eyes and continued to eat his chicken leg.

……

……

"Hilarious! Save him quickly, or he might throw up, hahaha."

Outside the dream, Su Ya was already squatting on the ground laughing.

"Hehehe."

"Hahaha."

Hu Sanniang and the other fox girls laughed so hard they were doubled over, tears streaming down their faces, and kicking their paws wildly.

Ayan covered her mouth, her eyebrows and eyes curving, while even Azhu, standing to the side, twitched her lips very slightly.

Zhao Weilai covered his face, feeling that Deng Ziwen's unlucky constitution was acting up again.

She never imagined in her life that her boyfriend would dress in women's clothing and get married to a man.

Stop laughing.

Zhao Weilai spoke in a low voice, but her shoulders were trembling.

Hu Sanniang, standing to the side, laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight, and it took her a long time to say:

"If he really puts this talisman into my room, the one in my dream will be me!"

Su Ya finished laughing before slowly speaking:

"Therefore, if the talisman really ends up in Miss Hu's hands, everything in this dream will become reality."

The demon will make Miss Hu marry him in her illusions, and then in reality, Miss Hu will fall in love with him as if bewitched.

Upon hearing this, Hu San Niang's smile vanished instantly.

She crossed her arms over her chest, and the fox fur stood on end.

If Zhao Weilai and his group hadn't intercepted the talisman halfway, and if Deng Ziwen hadn't carried the talisman with him and not given it away—

Tonight we'll have our wedding ceremony; she'll be marrying the scholar in the future.

"Kill him." Hu Sanniang stretched out her claws, her tone filled with hatred. "This scholar cannot be allowed to live."

……

Before Zhao Weilai could speak, Azhu had already moved.

Qian Zifu didn't even move, and a thin red line appeared on his neck. As the red line slowly spread, blood belatedly began to gush out.

He opened his eyes and felt as if he had just escaped a dream, having just broken free from illusory happiness, only to be forced to confront the cruel reality.

A top scholar, a princess, a beautiful fox spirit, gold and silver treasures, a bright future, and great success.

Everything is fake.

Then I saw my head roll off, my body fall to the ground, and I only had time to utter a plea for mercy:

"No! You can't kill me! I'm the newly appointed top scholar! Third Sister, Third Sister, save me—"

His eyes were wide with anger, and he couldn't believe he would die so hastily.

……

……

After searching through the corpse for a while, everyone noticed that a very faint black mist was rising from Qian Zifu's chest.

The black mist resembled a piece of paper that had been soaked and rotten, slowly solidifying into a shape. There were no words on the paper, but it exuded an ancient and heavy aura.

A system notification popped up in front of everyone:

[Fragment of the Book of Life and Death (Red): A fragment of the Book of Life and Death in the Underworld, possessing boundless power.]

Red prop.

This was the first time Zhao Weilai had ever seen a prop of this caliber, so he couldn't help but take a second look.

The page only appeared for a few seconds before disappearing; it must have been put away by A'Zhu.

Azhu stood up and wiped her fingers with a piece of blue cloth.

"This is our mission objective. The underworld has been newly established, and the Book of Life and Death has been scattered among the mortals. We need to piece it back together page by page."

Ayan glanced at Zhao Weilai and asked with a grin, "What? You want to steal it?"

Zhao Weilai quickly waved his hand.

A moment later, Deng Ziwen fell out of the burst bubble. He saw Qian Zifu's corpse, and after figuring out the whole story, he started punching and kicking the dead man.

"I'm such a jerk! Ugly as a person, yet so full of dreams. I'll do your laundry, cook for you, steal your exam papers, and even help you marry a princess!!"

Su Ya laughed so hard she almost choked.

Zhao Weilai helped Deng Ziwen up before gently saying to Ayan:

"Forget it, with your skills, you could kill us like chickens. I haven't lived enough yet. Thanks for this time, but how about we exchange contact information so we can do dungeons together in the future?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a system notification appeared:

[Number of players remaining in the instance: 32]

[System Announcement: Congratulations to players Zhao Weilai, Deng Ziwen, Su Ya, and Hu Da from Jiangcheng University team for completing the main quest: Exorcising Evil Spirits.]

Jiangcheng University Team Rewards: 1800 points, Lanyuan Set Part 1 "Robe" (all attributes +8%), Lanyuan Set Part 2 "Beaded String" (healing effect +15% when worn), Pet Hatching Manual x1, Pet Food x5, Dungeon Preview Card x1.

Fox's Reward: 200 points, and one piece of the Orchid Garden Set, "Long Boots" (Movement Speed ​​+8%).

……

[System Announcement: Congratulations to the Spirit Communication Team members Shen Yan, Shen Zhu, and Song Mo for completing the hidden main quest: "Fragment of the Book of Life and Death" (Qian Dadan, a low-ranking judge in the underworld, steals a fragment of the Book of Life and Death in an attempt to rewrite the fate of mortals.)]

Psychic Rewards: 3000 points, 50 Orchid Garden Seeds, 2 Orchid Garden Outfits (long dress, long robe, beaded necklace, long boots, orchid pendant, hairpin).

[System Announcement: A player has been detected completing a hidden main quest. The instance will be transformed into a secret realm: "Songjiang Orchid Garden" (clearance records will be retained). It will reopen in seven days.]

The secret realm will close in ten minutes, at which time teleportation will begin.

……