Chapter 002: Trading Items with My Daughter? A Desert Eagle!

In the modern world of cultivation, the Great Qin Heavenly Dynasty.

"Dad, it’s all my fault..."

A young girl in a ponytail and sportswear kept wiping her tear-reddened eyes with the back of her hand, her sobbing voice echoing softly through the cemetery. Sixteen-year-old Liang Xin looked up at the black-and-white photograph, the pain in her heart wrapping around her like creeping ivy.

Her mother had passed away long ago, leaving her and her father to rely on each other. Liang Chuan had been both mother and father to her, always a wonderful parent, but now they were separated by the boundary of life and death. When she received the call from the factory notifying her that her father had died of sudden cardiac arrest from exhaustion and insufficient spiritual energy while working his shift, her mind had simply shut down. It wasn't until his friends helped hold the funeral that the grief finally hit her like a tidal wave. Even though the factory would pay out a sum of spirit stones, no amount of wealth could replace her own flesh and blood.

Liang Xin sobbed as she took off her backpack. When she unzipped it, a black wooden box came into view. "Dad, this is the wooden box you took everywhere you went." She took it out and placed it before the headstone inscribed with "Beloved Father, Liang Chuan." Looking at the smile in the photo, her heart twisted in agony, and crystalline tears fell to the ground, leaving small dark stains.

"If only there really were another world," Liang Xin murmured to the headstone. "Then you wouldn't have to work so hard, you wouldn't have to be so tired." For a moment, her mind went blank. After a while, she choked out, "Dad, I put your favorite gun inside the box for you. You used to joke that if anything ever happened to you, I should sell it, but I couldn't bring myself to..."

To her, the loss of a loved one was more than just a passing sorrow. With no other family left, her father’s death was an endless downpour. Guns were not prohibited in this world; they were the magical artifacts of most cultivators, and this particular firearm was one Liang Chuan had saved for a long time to buy. Whenever he was exhausted after work, he would pick it up to clean, maintain, and tinker with it. Liang Xin knew well that this was her father’s greatest pastime in his weary life. Whenever he held the pistol, a faint smile would grace his face. While it might have been worth thirty or forty thousand spirit stones, affection could never be measured in such currency. That was why she had placed the gun inside the black wooden box to bring it here.

However, in her weeping, Liang Xin did not notice that the pistol she had placed in the box had vanished into thin air.

At the same time, Liang Chuan was holding the black wooden box, examining it carefully. As he looked at it, the image of his daughter surfaced in his mind. *Such a small child, will she be bullied out there? I wonder if she’ll remember to buy food if she’s cold or hungry.* To provide her with the best education, he had spent his life working in the factory. He had been the model employee every year, but that had cost him the time he could have spent with her. If he had known he would transmigrate, he certainly wouldn't have pushed himself so hard.

"I hope... I hope I died at the factory." Liang Chuan felt a deep sense of guilt, wondering when his daughter would discover the balance in that bank card.

Just as he was drowning in self-reproach, the black wooden box in his arms suddenly emitted a faint golden light. The sudden change startled him so much he almost threw the box away. "This thing isn't going to explode, is it?" But as the golden light faded, several miscellaneous items appeared out of thin air inside the box. And right on top was his pistol!

"This... isn't this my gun?!" He was intimately familiar with it, having bought one in his previous life. Along with it was a box of .44 caliber ammunition!

"Could it be..." Liang Chuan trembled as he picked up the gun. When he turned it over, an "Ice Bear" sticker was still attached to the grip. His heart skipped a beat. This was definitely his! The Ice Bear sticker was from the *We Bare Bears* merchandise, one of the birthday gifts his daughter had given him when she was very young.

"Right, the bullets too!" To confirm his theory, he hurriedly opened the box of ammunition. The bullets were pure white, making a crisp sound when scraped with a fingernail. Holding them up to the sunlight, one could faintly see the logo of a long-horned bull. "No doubt about it, these are definitely my bullets!" These were standard spirit-powered rounds he had purchased, crafted from the bone of a first-tier Iron-Horned Bull.

But why would they appear in this wooden box? He had always kept them on a display shelf! Liang Chuan frowned in thought and turned his attention back to the box. There was a letter on top and another box underneath. Seeing the delicate handwriting, his eyes widened. He knew this script all too well—it was Xinxin’s! He didn't care about anything else; he pulled the letter out as if it were a treasure.

"Dad, don't worry about me down there. I will take good care of myself. When I was little, I never understood why you were so busy, but later I slowly began to understand. You were doing it for me..."

Reading the words, Liang Chuan stood dazed for a moment. Though it was a simple explanation, the weight on his heart eased slightly. *Xinxin has grown up. It’s just a pity I didn't spend more time with her.* Actually, the five hundred thousand he had saved was more than enough for a top-tier school, but every time he thought there might be other expenses, he had gritted his teeth and kept working. From the letter, he finally understood the cause of his death.

"Who would have thought that even at the Foundation Establishment stage, working overtime could lead to sudden death?" While lamenting this, he couldn't help but feel relieved that it had happened at the factory, counting at least as an industrial injury. In any world, those who exploit labor are the most wicked of capitalists. He folded the letter carefully, placed it on the bed, and picked up the pistol again to handle it.

"But what is this?" Liang Chuan picked up the box at the very bottom with curiosity. The moment he saw it, his mind went blank. On the side of this box was a black-and-white photograph of himself.

"No way..."

As he slowly opened the box, his stomach turned. Inside were grey powder and bone fragments. "This... is this my own ashes?" Seeing his own remains... that was an experience only those who had lived it would understand!

"Wait!" Liang Chuan realized, belatedly, that he had received things from after his death. He hadn't realized it while immersed in grief and memory, but now it was clear. "Could it be that the two boxes can pass items between each other?"

Liang Chuan was ecstatic at the thought. If this were true, he could use the black wooden box to send items to Xinxin! And if he earned spirit stones in this world, he could send them to her too! "Xinxin, you truly are Daddy’s little angel!" If she hadn't put those things in the box, he would never have discovered its function. If the box weren't so small, he would have tried to climb into it himself!

*Knock, knock, knock.*

Just then, a knocking sound came from the door.

"Who is it?" Liang Chuan subconsciously clutched the black wooden box to his chest; it was his treasure now!

"Third Senior Brother, it’s me!" Liu Ruyan’s anxious voice came from outside. "They’re attacking!"