Don't Take My Merit Points

[Younger seme | Flamboyant general x Cool, aloof judge | Equally matched]

Xie Wuyou died, and his ledger of merit was pitch-black. All the underworld officials agreed that he must be an evil ghost.

The bad news: The underworld officials forced him to drink Meng Po’s Soup, and he was about to be sent to Hell to suffer.

The good news: Someone stopped them.

Chief Judge Jingzhou read through the entire case file, growing more and more suspicious. There wasn’t even any merit for defending the country. Where could an eighteen-year-old boy have killed more than three thousand people?

Something was wrong with this case.

Xie Wuyou sat down on the floor and looked at him with a cheeky grin. “I’ve already drunk Meng Po’s Soup, and now you’re telling me this?”

--

And so, an amnesiac evil ghost was forced to return to the human world with the newly appointed judge to investigate the case. He hoped he might remember something and get his conviction overturned sooner. Perhaps he was simply lucky, because on his very first day, he discovered that he had once been a celebrated general, yet not a single word of merit had been recorded in his ledger.

Clearly, someone had stolen his merit points.

Xie Wuyou lay half-reclined on the bed, smiling lazily at him. “Look, my lord. I’m a great guy.”

Jingzhou avoided his smile and replied coolly, “Don’t flatter yourself. We haven’t figured out what happened yet.”

Xie Wuyou said, “But you’re here, my lord. You’ll make sure I get my merit points back, right?”

--

On their last day in the human world, the wind lingered on the window frame, and candlelight flickered. Xie Wuyou sat on the edge of the bed, running a finger around the rim of his wine cup.

Xie Wuyou said, “I don’t want the merit points anymore.”

Jingzhou thought he’d misheard. “What kind of nonsense are you talking? You should be a general with outstanding merit. You deserve the best possible ending.”

Xie Wuyou didn’t answer. Instead, he suddenly reached out, pulled Jingzhou close, and kissed him, wine on his breath.

After a long while, he murmured, “Stop pretending. You remember me.”

We’ve known each other for a long time, ever since those blood-soaked years in the human world.

Reading Guide:

1. Dual timelines, past and present. One-on-one romance, mutual devotion, happy ending.

2. Since the story follows the seme’s search for his memories, it’s told from his perspective. The author isn’t fixated on any particular trope; the story comes first.

3. This novel contains a lot of flashbacks.

Theme: Good and evil are proven by the human heart.