After transmigrating for fifteen years, Gu Qingyan finally realized that he was the fake young master in a switched-at-birth story.

He had taken over the life of the real young master—born into wealth and privilege, pampered for fifteen years, living in luxury and idleness, achieving absolutely nothing. Then one day, the real young master returned… and he instantly became the one everyone despised.

The woman he had called Mother for fifteen years, Madam Xu, coldly said,
“You stole my son’s place and lived in luxury for fifteen years while he suffered. If you have even a shred of shame, you should leave the Li family immediately and give yourself a little dignity.”

“If you won’t leave with dignity… then I’ll make sure you leave that way.”

Gu Qingyan was dumbfounded.

For fifteen years, his life had been smooth sailing. Aside from having a weak body, he had been adored as the only son—anything he wanted, he got.

But now that the real son was back, that same Mother wanted to kick him out, not even sparing him some travel money.

So he was a fake son.
Did that mean the feelings of the past fifteen years were fake too?

Even as he was thrown out of the Li household, Gu Qingyan couldn’t believe it. Not until the northwestern wind whipped against his face and chilled him to the bone.

His mother really didn’t want him anymore.
He was no longer Li Qingyan, but Gu Qingyan.

They were so heartless they wouldn’t even let him take anything with him.
All the money he had saved over the years—New Year gifts, personal allowances, monthly stipends—was left behind in that house, now freely enjoyed by someone else.

Had he known it would end like this, he might as well have spent it all—used it, eaten it, blown it all on luxuries!

Gu Qingyan was not willing to accept this fate.

With bold strides, he headed straight for the Yama Temple.

“Come out! Show yourselves!” he shouted.

No response came from inside the temple. Gu Qingyan narrowed his eyes, grabbed a bunch of incense sticks, and was about to light them.

Suddenly, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, knowing they were in the wrong, materialized with bitter expressions.

“Let’s talk this over. No need to light incense!”

“I’m reporting this to the Central Office! I’m reporting this to the Underworld! I’m going straight to the King of Hell himself!”
Gu Qingyan landed two hard punches as soon as he approached.

He stomped on Ox-Head and punched Horse-Face, shouting:
“You told me I had great merit in my last life and could reincarnate into a good family, live a life of luxury and leisure, and not lift a finger! But it was all a lie. A lie!”

“This identity was stolen—it belongs to someone else! If that’s the case, you should’ve told me from the start. I would’ve chosen to reincarnate as a panda instead! Why come to ancient times to suffer like this?!”

“So what now?!”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face trembled in fear.

“We can explain!”

“Then explain. Right now.” Gu Qingyan sneered. “Otherwise, I’ll slit my throat and we can talk it over in front of the King of Hell.”

With a plop, Ox-Head knelt down.

“Bro, you’re my big bro, don’t do this! If King Yama finds out, we’ll get our bonuses docked—he’s ruthless. One penalty lasts a thousand years!”

Horse-Face was even more desperate—he hugged Gu Qingyan’s leg.

“It’s all our fault! We’ll compensate you! This time it’s real—we promise you’ll live in comfort even in ancient times. Being a panda sounds glamorous, but being filmed 24/7 isn’t fun!”

“I don’t believe a word you say,” Gu Qingyan scoffed. “Last time, you tricked me exactly like this.”

“This time it’s real!”

Ox-Head raised his hand and swore,
“I swear to King Yama himself—this time, your golden cheat code is top-tier! You’ll win without even trying. Life will be better than a panda’s!”

Gu Qingyan stopped and looked at them suspiciously.

Horse-Face quickly added,
“Bro, to be honest, too many souls want to reincarnate as pandas. The reincarnation queue is a hundred years long—one second to reincarnate, a century of waiting. The underworld is pitch black and boring. Do you really want to stand in line for a hundred years?”

“Fine. I’ll believe you one more time. Where’s my cheat code?”

Gu Qingyan wasn’t really planning to die. The underworld was pitch-black, and more importantly, he wasn’t sure he could dodge Meng Po’s soup again and keep his memories.

“Right here.”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face exchanged a glance, then pulled out something that looked like a compass.

“This is a system. With this bound to you, you can have the whole world. Wealth, status—if you want to be emperor, go for it.”

“Second-generation rich? That’s nothing. You’ll be the first-generation founder. Bro, you can start your own family line, write your own legacy!”

They hyped it up so much it seemed they wanted to press the compass to Gu Qingyan’s forehead and bind it by force.

Suspicious of their enthusiasm, Gu Qingyan remained cautious.
“Really? Let me take a look first.”

“Please, go ahead.” Ox-Head handed him the compass.

Gu Qingyan didn’t take it yet. “Don’t give it to me—open it first. Let me see what it is before I decide.”

Ox-Head chuckled as he opened it.
“You still don’t trust me? Think about it—if you really slit your throat and went to complain to the King of Hell, we’d be the ones in trouble. We wouldn’t dare trick you again.”

That made sense to Gu Qingyan.

He leaned in to look at the compass. Inside, it seemed to hold a world of its own—profound and mysterious.

Unable to resist, he reached out and took it.

[Ding! Would you like to bind the Sign-In System?]

Sign-In System? So this is the new trend in cheat codes? Even the underworld is keeping up with the times.

“I need to test this first. If I’m not satisfied, I’m returning it. Don’t think you two can fool me again.”

As Gu Qingyan hesitated, Horse-Face suddenly pricked his finger, and a drop of blood fell onto the compass.

[Binding successful. Activating system…]

Gu Qingyan’s expression changed.
“What did you just do?!”

[Sign-In System bonus soul effect: ‘No gods, no ghosts, only science. A world unified under scientific values.’]

What the hell? Ox-Head and Horse-Face just appeared, and you’re telling me to believe in science?

Gu Qingyan narrowed his eyes. But then—
A thought suddenly surfaced in his mind: this small world has no ghosts or monsters. Everything follows the rules of science.

A soul effect swept through his consciousness.

Before he could fully process it—

Ox-Head and Horse-Face, who were groveling a moment ago, burst out laughing.

“It’s bound! This little world is now sealed! Even if you slit your throat, you won’t get another audience with the King of Hell!”

“Get lost, the both of you!”

“Ahahaha! You brat dare to threaten Lord Ox and Lord Horse? Enjoy your time playing around in that little world of yours!”

The two laughed arrogantly and disappeared in a flash.

Furious, Gu Qingyan stormed forward and kicked the statues of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face deities, smashing them to bits—yet nothing happened.

He lit a stick of incense, but as soon as it was lit, it went out!

Then he looked at the fierce-looking statue of King Yama. Gu Qingyan fumed. He had fallen for their trick again!

Eighteen different methods of dying flashed through his mind, but he gave up on all of them—they were either too painful, too tragic, or too ugly.

[Sign-In System successfully activated. Hello, Host. Please carefully read the system user manual.]

Frowning, Gu Qingyan took a deep breath and opened the manual.

[1. Signing in consumes points.]

[2. You must make direct contact with a sign-in point.]

[3. Rewards from sign-in are randomly generated. Host must explore them on their own.]

[4. The system reserves the right of final interpretation.]

So golden fingers are this casual now?

[Host: Gu Qingyan]

[Age: 15]

[Points: 3 (Initial points)]

Gu Qingyan looked like an old man on the subway checking his phone. He had to try out this golden finger. If those Ox-Head and Horse-Face dared to trick him, even if it killed him, he’d make them pay.

He glanced coldly at the fierce King Yama statue and snorted, “King Yama, huh? Can’t even judge people right. One star review.”

What was that?

A glowing golden solid inverted triangle appeared above King Yama’s head.

[Sign-in point discovered: King Yama Hall of Qingzhou Prefecture. Consume 1 point to sign in?]

Gu Qingyan raised an eyebrow, jumped onto the altar, and reached out to touch the sign-in point.

[You have successfully signed in at the King Yama Hall of Qingzhou Prefecture. Received: Beginner’s Gift Pack.]

[The gift pack has been placed in the system backpack. The host can access it via the system.]

Gu Qingyan’s eyes lit up. A system backpack? That was practically having a portable storage space!

As the thought crossed his mind, a bundle appeared in his hand.

He opened the bundle. Inside were ten taels of silver—five in silver notes, the rest in scattered silver coins. There was also dry rations, a water pouch, a fire striker, a change of clothes, an oil-paper umbrella, and a dagger.

Gu Qingyan was stunned. This Beginner’s Gift Pack was clearly tailored for him. Now that he’d been kicked out of the Li family, there was no way he’d go back with any self-respect. His only option was to return to the hometown of the fake young master.

From Aunt Xu, he already knew the fake young master’s home was in Lingchuan County, which was a five-day journey from Qingzhou Prefecture.

Everything in the gift pack was suited for traveling—it solved his most urgent problem.

With everything prepared, it was enough to get him back to the fake young master’s hometown.

Gu Qingyan thought, This golden finger is actually pretty useful. Guess Ox-Head and Horse-Face didn’t lie about that, at least.

He happened to be hungry, so he took out a steamed bun made of white flour—still warm, surprisingly.

He broke it open. Inside was a generous amount of diced bamboo shoots and cured meat. One bite was bursting with savory flavor, and he couldn’t stop eating.

The bun was larger than a grown man’s palm and thickly made. Gu Qingyan was full after just one.

Having eaten the meat bun, he no longer felt the urge to go tattle. After all, better a live dog than a dead lion.

He patted his stomach and decided to leave King Yama Hall and go outside to see if there were other sign-in points.

Things were already like this. He needed to figure out how sign-in points worked and focus on living well.

Looking back, he saw his footprints still on King Yama’s altar.

Grinning, Gu Qingyan wiped them off. “No hard feelings, old man. I was just mad about being tricked. If you’re going to be angry, take it out on Ox-Head and Horse-Face—they’re the real culprits.”

“Dock their performance pay hard, all the way to hell and back. What’s a thousand years? You’re too soft. Ten thousand years at least!”

Even if King Yama couldn’t hear him, it didn’t stop Gu Qingyan from snitching.

“Pardon my offense, pardon my offense.”

Finally, he wiped the dust off King Yama’s feet, stuffed the bundle into his system backpack, and swiftly left.

Unbeknownst to him, just as he left, Ox-Head and Horse-Face came tumbling out, wailing in pain.

“Boss, have mercy!”

“We didn’t mean it. It was an accident!”

“That brat ran too fast—we really couldn’t catch up!”

“Please spare us just this once!”

The two who had been so smug moments ago were now crying bitterly, full of regret. The pain of having their divine powers extracted was so intense that they couldn’t even maintain their true forms.

How could they have known? The system had just been bound, the small world’s barrier just formed—and before they could leave, their direct superior caught them red-handed.

We’re doomed.

This time, they might really be suffering for ten thousand years.

If only they had known… it would’ve been better to coax that little brat properly. That would’ve been far better than getting beaten down by the big boss.