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Great Merchant – Dao Ming

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Li Fang Sing, in front of King of Hell he said “Ah… this must be the Afterlife then. I guess I failed… I will lessen the trouble for you various magistrates. You can just send me straight to Hell.” While waiting for the judgement, fate intervened and he was sent to be reincarnated in a young world.
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9
Follower
5.0
3 Votes
7,365
Views
Li Fang Sing, in front of King of Hell he said “Ah… this must be the Afterlife then. I guess I failed… I will lessen the trouble for you various magistrates. You can just send me straight to Hell.” While waiting for the judgement, fate intervened and he was sent to be reincarnated in a young world.
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Great Merchant – Dao Ming

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Great Merchant – Dao Ming

5.0
(3 Votes)
財神 - 道明
N/A
Adventure;  Fantasy;  Wuxia;  
English||Ongoing
Li Fang Sing, in front of King of Hell he said “Ah… this must be the Afterlife then. I guess I failed… I will lessen the trouble for you various magistrates. You can just send me straight to Hell.” While waiting for the judgement, fate intervened and he was sent to be reincarnated in a young world.
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Chapters 13
Li Fang Sing, in front of King of Hell he said “Ah… this must be the Afterlife then. I guess I failed… I will lessen the trouble for you various magistrates. You can just send me straight to Hell.” While waiting for the judgement, fate intervened and he was sent to be reincarnated in a young world.
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Chapters

Chapter 1
Great Merchant – Dao Ming Prologue
 Dao Ming (Prologue 1)

Remember how I said I was going to be working on something with a friend months ago and then he disappeared on me? Well, he's back, sorta, he's still stuck in the boonies somewhere in China-Not-China, but he finally got internet and is alive, so I'll be doing this original series on the side with EC as the main. This seems to be a LOT easier to deal with since it's strictly traditional chinese unlike the triple whammy that is EC, also a lot less headache and way less research required (at least I hope so, everything I read so far I knew right away without needing to look it up, so o o/ /o/ huzzah!). Now if only I can somehow get him to do the web design with his potato over there >.>

Without further ado, here's 財神 - 道明 / Great Merchant - Dao Ming 

“No! Let me go! I’m innocent, it’s all those peasants’ fault! I’M INNNOOOCCCEEEEEENNNNNTTTTTT!” 

A deep voice screams for an appeal, to no avail as it’s dragged into one of the numerous passages to the left of the stern-looking man sitting cross-legged on an elevated pedestal behind a low-rising table. On top of the pedestal sat a man with eyes closed, his headpiece standing erect, with its two rounded rectangle winglets in perfect position.

“““Huuuooooooooo”””
 

[T/N: The “elevated pedestal” is referring to that raise platform where the judge sits at with his table and is above everyone else in the court. It LITERALLY doesn’t have an English word to describe it despite our efforts in trying to search for one. The English Architectural term is Chancel, sadly, it’s only used in religious (namely, Christian churches) floor plans. Just think of it as a little stage with steps where the judge works on, for those that watched Bao Zheng or period dramas that features magistrates, it’s that part where the servants step up onto to give something to the judge.]

 

[T/N: Since it isn’t quite clear and people have asked, and even our editor didn’t know, I’ll make a note here. The XXX year +/- YYY years means. XXX = actually lived years, YYY = years different from the pre-ordained date of natural death.]

 

[T/N: This is a two part reference to King Yanlou, in folklores within the CJK region, King Yanlou hate liars. Children are told that King Yanlou will come remove their tongue if they keep lying.

 

[T/N: And here’s part two of that reference.]

 

[T/N: This is why I need an editor, seems like this part needs a T/N since it gave him a wtf moment. Forcefully converting land into forests can indeed cause ecological disasters. You are literally changing the water cycle, the biomass make up, providing fuel for uncontrollable fires, etc… When a disaster strike, it will strike HARD. You don’t have the natural barriers that would otherwise be there. Ie. With swamps, wetland and barren plains, they act as natural fire buffering zones. Natural watersheds and so forth.


 

 Dao Ming (Prologue 2)

“THAT IS FOR THIS COURT TO DECIDE, WE WILL BE FAIR AND IMPARTIAL TO EVERYONE, FROM THE LOWEST SCUM TO THE GREATEST JADE EMPEROR.” King Yanlou’s voice booms out once more, as he turns his head slightly towards the man reading the scroll.

“Heh, if only we had your kind of judge back home.” The young man’s bitter smile deepens, mocking the corrupted officials from his country in his heart.

“Silence, you may talk when you defend yourself or have anything to add.” The judge-secretary walks up the steps to the pedestal, scroll in hand as he places it onto the low-rising table in front of King Yanlou and whispers into his ears. The secretary’s brush pen hovering above the scroll, moving to different parts every now and then.

“LI FANG SING, YOU CRIPPLED YOUR NEIGHBOUR’S ARM AS A CHILD OVER A MERE DOG, WHY?” The booming voice rattles the table, his face stern.

“It wasn’t intentional, but I did it nonetheless. I can’t remember the exact details, but he was torturing the dog for no reason whatsoever, then it somehow ended up with me breaking his left arm.”

“YOU ENDED UP KILLING THE SAME DOG THREE YEARS LATER, YOU CRIPPLED SOMEONE IN THE NAME OF PROTECTING THIS DOG, YET YOU KILLED IT WITH YOUR OWN HAND, ISN’T THAT RIGHT?”

The young man’s eyes go vacant as though he can see the past event playing before his very eyes, a silence follows as he nods his head. “I killed it to feed my family and myself, the village was going through a famine, yet the officials still wanted the regular tax on the crops. I won’t say that what I did was right, but I don’t regret it, otherwise someone in my family would’ve surely died.”

The judge questions no further, the judge-secretary walks down from the pedestal and takes over. “Then why did you kill your benefactor, who lifted you up from serfdom and into his household?”

The young man stares at the man, an incredulous look on his face. “Shouldn’t you people know all this already? Why do you need to ask?”

The judge-secretary gently lifts his brush pen up before dropping it softly into his other hand. “Just answer the question.”

“The man is a two-faced shrew, I was groomed by him to be a sacrificial lamb for his corrupt dealings. After finding out the truth unexpectedly, I simply did what I had too to stay alive.” The young man answers with an even voice, as though it had no impact on him then, and has no impact on him now.

Before the judge-secretary can continue his questioning, the young man continues onto something else. “I took over the post held by that beast that wasn’t fit to be either a pig nor dog. Afterwards when I became of age at 16, I worked tirelessly to enrich the country’s coffers, make the citizens’ lives easier, making my way into the Royal Inner Circle within 2 years.”

The young man takes a few steps, looking at nowhere in particular, yet having a look as though he’s staring into the distance. The two magistrates look on patiently, waiting for him to continue. “I thought the Heavens is just, that the man with the Mandate of Heaven would rule righteously. Then I saw the truth. That dog-king seeks only pleasure, increasing his harem whenever possible. It doesn’t matter if the woman is a girl, or that she’s already married, he will have his way. The Queen is no different, ever jealous -using other womenfolks to vent her anger-, she enacts policies in the name of equality. Men and women are fundamentally different! Even those women with the same body types as the men simply can’t keep up! But does she care? No! Women get sent to the mines with the men, same with conscription! And when quotas aren’t met, or the army fails, the womenfolk get flogged until they are crippled!” A disdainful look appears in the young man’s eyes.

“That doesn’t give you the right to usurp the Decree of Heavens and end the Royal line.” The judge-secretary inserts flatly.

“The sons and daughters are no better! Treating the commoners as toys, having their pets ‘play’ them to death. If this is the Decree of the Heavens, then PAI!” The young man spits with disgust. “The Heavens is a sham!”
 

[T/N: You will notice the use of Heaven and Heavens, they are both one and the same, but this is due to remaining artifact from older translators. In all cases, they are singular when used like this (different from the Judeo-Christian-Islam Heaven.]


 

Dao Ming (Prologue 3)

Inside the Room of Meditation

“Please wait here, General.” A pair of guards respectfully guides a fat, bald, ruddy old man into the crystalline room. “We will prepare your carriage right away.” They cup their hands and bow deeply before leaving the room.

“There’s plenty of time, take it slowly, take it slowly.” The old man waves his right hand lazily as he struts into the room. “Eh? There’s already someone here?” He looks over at the other side of the large room, spotting a white-haired man sitting cross-legged in the corner, spots of glistening light trailing from his eyes, down his face. The old man swings the rake he’s holding over his left shoulder, causing the few possessions he has dangling off the rake to jingle, making his way over.

“What are you in here for, sonny?” The old man jokingly asks.

The young man opens his eyes, giving them a quick wipe with his sleeve before getting up. He cups his hands and bows slightly, “Greetings, elder.”

“Hoho, dispense with all the useless formalities, life is too short for that! Oh, wait, we are already dead, so it doesn’t matter anyways. Hahahaha!” The old man lazily waves it off, makes a joke and starts laughing by himself. The young man smiles politely at him, nodding once before sitting back down.

“Why the long face lad? Ah… I know!” The old man sits down across from the young man, laying his rake and bundle of things carefully on the ground. He clumsily reaches into his sleeves, retrieving two wine cups. “Hmm… I guess Hui Mong Wine would be good right about now.” The old man reaches into the bundle at the head of his rake, retrieves a gourd with practiced motion, then he fills the two cups from up high, without splashing a drop.
 

[T/N: The wine name is Returning (to) Dream 回夢]

 

[T/N: “Foundation” is my take on 打底. It’s a common folk-belief that you ought to eat something before you drink, as to enjoy it more without getting dead drunk right away.]

 

[T/N: I loled for a bit and people were giving me weird looks xD 星號 五三五四 is literally translated to Star Number 5354, but it is also the homonym for “Nonsense”.]

Back in King Yanlou’s Court

“Terrible news! Terrible news!” A pair of guards runs back into the ancient court room after going to retrieve the soul that was sent to the Room of Meditation. The pair runs to the center of the court, kneeling in front of King Yanlou, shaking like tree leaves in a typhoon.

“Calm yourself!” The judge-secretary shouts at the two. “What happened?!”

“The… the… Li Fang Sing is gone!”

“But… that’s impossible!”

“It’s true!”

The pair of guards and Lin Bai turn to look at King Yanlou, who slowly closes his eyes. After a few moments, he picks up the commandment tablet. “FATE BEYOND FATE, DAO WITHIN DAO. THE COURT IS ADJOURNED!”

SLAM

Everyone else in the room opens their eyes wide in shock, some even pick at their ears, wondering if they heard right.

“I SAID, ‘THE COURT IS ADJOURNED!’”

The judge-secretary is the first to recover. “Next!”

His voice acts like cold water, splashing onto the still dreaming guards. They all recovered with a few hiccups, resuming their duties.

“““Huuuooooooooo”””

Dadadada

 

Dao Ming (Prologue 4)

Prologue 4

A spiraling black hole appears thousands of meters up in the violet, swirling sky, shortly after, a young man with white hair drops out of it.

The young man opens his eyes at the sudden scenery, realizing his predicament.

“Oh shit! AHHH!!” The man can only scream and flail as he starts to fall.

“Oh, would you just shut up?” A figure appears next to the young man from nowhere, plucking him up by the neck and stops his descent. It releases its hand after the young man stops struggling.

“Eh… what the?” The young man looks left and right as he floats in the air. “Um… Thanks.” He turns and cups his hands to the figure, which turns out to be a guard dressed in ceremonial armour.

“Didn’t they explain you can fly at the Dispatch Counter? Damn bastards must be slacking off again.” The guard rolls his eyes in exasperation. “Alright, just get in your line and wait your turn.”

“Um… what line?”

“Huh?! The line for the Domain and World you will be reincarnating into! Where’s your registration paper?”

The young man starts looking around, unsure of what’s going on.

“Don’t tell me you lost it?!”

“Umm… I don’t know the name of the Domain, but I was told it was made in the last few thousand years and I was supposed to head to something called Star Number 5354?” The young man offers sheepishly.

“That’s probably the Domain of the Endless Seekers then… 5354 eh…” The guard pulls out an ornate clipboard before flicking his fingers on it. “What is your name?”

“Li Fang Sing.” 

“There you are… What the hell?! They didn’t even fill in which office was responsible for you!” The guard snaps his head away from the clipboard and stares into space in a particular direction, gnashing his teeth. “Alright, follow me, just walk normally.” Without waiting, the guard turns around and walks toward the floor. Countless lines sprawl across the barren, twisted landscape, like the grain on an ancient piece of lumber. Wordlessly, the pair approaches a comparatively short line in the distance, the people in line can be vaguely distinguished, like ants harvesting nectar. Many were the same size, with the odd few that are bigger, smaller, some with wings, some with horns, others with different features. 

“Delivery! Delivery for Li Fang Sing!” A large, translucent kite chirps while pulling a cart stall with a lantern hanging with the word “Deliver” on it. Hearing that, the guard turns around and waits patiently for the bird to pull up next to them.

“Li Fang Sing?” The bird’s head stares at the young man, its head jerking and stopping at different angles.

“Yes? That’s me…?”

“Good, good, press thumb here.” The kite waves its right wing, a clipboard appears out of nowhere in a shower of light. The young man presses his thumb onto it as asked. The kite waves it left wing shortly after, whereupon the clipboard is replaced by 3 satchels. “Thank you, thank you.” The kite coos before grabbing the satchel labeled ‘For the Netherworld Deliverymen’ with its beak as it starts running off into the distance, chirping ‘Delivery! Delivery!’.
 

[T/N: The references are SO HEAVY, that I’ll be adding T/N quite a bit, especially for our western audience. When buddhists in the CJK region burn their offering to the dead, they often burn a small bundle of spirit money for the delivery as ‘tip’. As for the kite, it’s a symbol of Garuda, this ‘might’ relate to the fact that whenever an offering is burnt, a wild gust of air would come and scatter the ashes to ‘collect the offering’ and bring them to the dead. I’m not that big of a buddha scholar, so forgive me if I get this reference wrong.

 

[T/N: Yamaduta are the Messengers of Yanlou/Yama/Enma, they are spirits that no longer receive offerings thus getting no spirit monies, having to work it off ya know, no freeloaders!

 

[E/N: huehuehue T/N: these references to other series]

 

[T/N: Blame Ishman for all these T/N T.T. “Catching it in his hands” is referring to a trope used in asian media for a trait of someone slightly greedy happy to earn a small profit where they toss it up and claps the coin in their hands. E/N: I’mHelping.jpg It’sallonfire.jpg]

 

[T/N: This is… IIIIIIMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIBBBBBLLLEEEE to translate right. It’s a funny rhyme thing based on numbers. One (counter) Life, Two (counter) Attachment (like husband and wife, or dependants), Three Eight is slang for “nosy”/”stupid”, Twenty Four is nonsense, but 3x8 is 24 from the 9x9 timetable song, so... yeah. Four Sour Dough is 4 dead corpse or similar. Just think of it as a funny, nonsensical singalong.

 

[T/N: The original for “” is “like he hadn’t eaten anything in his life” which is a common idiom/slang… but it doesn’t carry well in english considering they are dead and ppl not familiar with it will get the wrong impression.]


“‘Being Drunk, you are still 30% awake.’ The next time you wake up, you will be as a babe. Drink it and walk into the portal there.” The woman’s eyes are pure white as though she’s blind, yet, she gives the feeling that she can see more clearly than anyone here. Her gnarly finger points toward a swirling black hole directly behind her.


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