The Human World Lies Beyond the Door

Zhang Zhen had spent more than twenty years studying, earned his PhD, and just passed the civil service exam. He hadn't even had time to get a salary card when a flash of white light sent him flying. When he opened his eyes again, he'd become an orphan who had fallen into the river in Heqing Township in another world. He was tied to a wooden stake, with firewood already burning beneath his feet. The villagers said a water ghost had possessed him, and they were going to burn him as an offering to the river. The scholar looked at the fire beneath him and thought fast: datura seeds could cause hallucinations, the witch had unfocused eyes, and tipping over the incense burner could break this deadlock. This was a fractured Tang dynasty. Daoist priests drew talismans, scholars cultivated vital energy, swordsmen roamed at will, and strongmen could move mountains. Others who transmigrated brought a System. He had only the knowledge in his head and a mouth that had just managed to get him out of the water. He hid his abilities behind a half-understanding, playing the fool to keep his skills concealed. Starting with a bowl of porridge, a streak of ash, and a set of falsified accounts, he taught the whole village how to ward off demons and earned himself the title of Literary Star. With an abacus, he calculated a corrupt official into a dead end. Only when he saw the door beneath the river did he realize that this body bore a destiny guarded for thirty years. A commoner, a scholar, a gatekeeper, a state preceptor. From the riverbank in Heqing Township, he would walk all the way to the Golden Throne Hall, and beyond that door. "There are two sets of books to keep. One for others to see, and one for yourself."