The Empress Knelt Outside My House and Said, 'Stop Pretending. Come Clean.'

My name is Lin Xiao. I transmigrated to a cultivation world and became the only surviving disciple of a fallen sect. After awakening the Sect System, I wandered from place to place and ended up as the mayor of a remote little town. All I wanted was to keep my head down, grow stronger with the System, and get revenge! What I didn't know was that this town was utterly absurd.

The town's schoolteacher is a Confucian sage, a mighty expert who may yet found a school of his own and become its patriarch.

The fortune-teller in town, who mooches food and drink from me every day, is a Daoist grandmaster and the Dao Ancestor's first disciple.

The potter is a Buddhist grandmaster who once created a world of colored glaze.

The pharmacist who runs the apothecary is the legendary Cloud-Sending Heavenly Lord. The blacksmith is the greatest swordsmith alive, though he gets no respect... The town's willow tree is the Willow God, reborn through sixteen lifetimes. If I knew who they were, I'd think they were all putting on an act for me.

And whenever trouble comes to town, everyone except me secretly thinks, "I can handle this!"

Then one day, a woman claiming to be an empress finds me and kneels outside my door, speaking with a cold laugh: "Stop pretending. Let's lay our cards on the table. I know who you are!"

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.