The Real Heiress Is a Master of Metaphysics

Originally titled "A Beauty Streamer Tells Fortunes Online"

Lin Zhixia discovers by accident that she’s the foolish biological daughter in a novel about a wealthy family’s fake and real heiresses.

In the book, the real heiress is lazy, greedy, and superstitious, acting like a charlatan. Her family sees her as a remnant of feudal superstition. In the end, they send her to a psychiatric hospital, and after she gets out, she starves to death in a rented room.

“Starve to death?” asks Lin Zhixia, who grew up in a Taoist temple, loves to eat, and is afraid of dying.

That’s ridiculous!

**

To change her fate, she follows her master’s advice and earns good karma by telling fortunes.

So she joins the most crowded industry of all, livestreaming, and becomes a beauty streamer. When viewers ask what she can do, Lin Zhixia answers earnestly, “I can’t sing or dance. How about... I tell your fortunes?”

[Is this streamer’s brain wired wrong?]

[A face like that, and she’s relying on superstition? Don’t make a fool of yourself!]

She takes a call from a sleazy guy, who is rambling on about dirty jokes.

Lin Zhixia abruptly interrupts him. “Um... you’re about to die. How about booking a grave for yourself first?”

Three minutes later, the man suddenly drops dead.

The viewers in the livestream: “!!!”

She takes a call from a singing streamer, who shyly asks if her boyfriend is her destined match.

Lin Zhixia smiles. “He’s not your destined match, but he might be your lucky charm.”

“Your boyfriend is a spy. Report him now and you’ll get a 500,000-yuan reward.”

The next day, an official announcement reads: “A vigilant citizen helped capture a spy ring and was rewarded 500,000 yuan.”

When a dancing streamer provokes her, Lin Zhixia looks at her with pity. “I understand why you’re so irritable. Your married life has been unsatisfying for a long time.”

The streamer blurts out, “How do you know!?”

Lin Zhixia says, “Because your husband is gay. He tricked you into marrying him, sis.”

And so Lin Zhixia continues as a beauty streamer, telling fortunes and catching ghosts to earn good karma.

Before long, official announcements start appearing one after another:

“Spy rings from multiple countries have been captured, thanks to a streamer who reported them in time and protected important scientific research!”

“A celebrity looks years younger overnight. It turns out they illegally used hematopoietic stem cells for cosmetic purposes.”

“An influencer colluded with an overseas fraud ring and planned to sell human organs.”

**

Lin Zhixia’s livestream gets more and more popular, and she accumulates more and more good karma.

The day she finally escapes the plot, her wealthy biological parents come looking to reunite with her.

She looks at them on camera and blinks. “Sorry, who are you? Stop trying to scam me, okay?”

Coming soon: Good news: Chen Zhi passed the civil service exam!

Bad news: She died on her first day at work.

Even worse news: She died, but not completely!

Chen Zhi floats in midair, staring at her own corpse in bewilderment.

But even death is less frightening than suddenly having two jobs in one day.

That’s right, the underworld has recruited her!

Two ghosts in official robes float before her, introducing themselves as Black and White Impermanence. They hand her an appointment letter for the job of an underworld bailiff. “Work hard. We’re counting on you.”

Chen Zhi breaks down. “...I don’t have time to be an underworld bailiff!”

They reply, “Don’t worry, it won’t interfere with your job in the mortal world.”

“You’re a civil servant, right? Nine to five. You’ve got plenty of time.”

“If it really doesn’t work out, you can just come down here and work full-time. You’ll save yourself decades of detours.”

Unable to refuse, and afraid the two of them might really send her to the afterlife, Chen Zhi can only grit her teeth and work two jobs a day.

By day, she catches criminals. By night, she catches evil spirits.

She catches one, then the other!

But

“Huh?!”

“How did I become the director while I was out catching people?”

**

In the modern era, the Age of Declining Magic has arrived. Incense offerings have dwindled, spirits and ghosts run rampant, and monsters and demons have emerged everywhere.

The River of Forgetfulness has dried up, evil spirits have escaped, the underworld is in chaos, and the mortal world can no longer cope.

To handle unusual cases, the Special Investigations Bureau is established.

Chen Zhi, who has a civil service position in the mortal world and connections in the underworld, is unanimously recommended as director by both sides.

Chen Zhi: ???

#Oh no, they really made me the director?

#The bosses who used to yell at me call me Director now#The coworkers who used to dislike me are fighting to become my followers

#Girls, all those boasts I made while studying for the exam have come true!

The actor Zhong Xu is attacked unexpectedly, and his soul attaches itself to a doll. Even after he recovers, he sometimes shares sensations with the doll.

The doll’s owner seems to be a workaholic with a bizarre streak. She doesn’t have time for pets, sometimes gives the doll a few affectionate rubs when she’s in a good mood, and tosses it aside when she gets busy.

At first, Zhong Xu, who hates being touched: “#￥%...”

When will this miserable life finally end!!!

Later, just as he’d hoped, the doll’s owner really does bring home a plump stray cat, and the doll is completely forgotten!

That night, Zhong Xu regains his human form and sneaks into her home. He picks up the cat, crawls into its bed himself, and lowers his voice. “Meow.”

But when she hears him and rushes over, she stares at him in shock and asks, “Who are you? Where’s Chen Facai from our house?”

“I’m doomed! Mom’s going to beat me to death!!!”

Zhong Xu: “...”

Oh no, looks like he blew his cover!

Reader’s guide:

1. This is a power-progression wish-fulfillment story, set in an alternate modern world. It’s very loosely based on reality, so readers who demand rigorous realism should steer clear.

2. There’s relatively little romance. The main story is roughly 70% plot and 30% romance.

Theme: Good and evil are always repaid.