Chapter 1. Very Noisy
Spring, fragrance fills the distant mountains.
There is wind in the distant mountains.
On the eaves, the wind chimes are very noisy.
Ning Xuan was lying on a pair of fair white legs.
Sixteen years have passed since his transmigration. From an infant to a youth, everything before his transmigration has long since faded like dreams of the past.
Now, he yawned.
The owner of the fair white legs took the opportunity to place a peeled grape into his mouth, accompanied by a soft, gooey laugh that was even noisier than the wind chimes.
“Young master, the Western Regions Spirit Pearl, it’s said that they had to rotate three horses to bring it here so it could be picked early and arrive late. After it reached our county, it was first stored in an ice cellar overnight. This morning, before dawn, the eldest daughter of the Fugui Chamber of Commerce personally delivered it, hee hee.”
Ababa.
Abababa.
Ning Xuan ate the Western Regions Spirit Pearl in one bite. The grape burst in his mouth, its juice spurting out and stimulating his taste buds.
His vision blurred, and the distant mountains blurred with it.
He opened his mouth, continuing to wait for grapes.
Who asked him to be Master Ning’s only son?
In Xinghe County, who didn’t know that “the county magistrate changes like flowing water, but Master Ning is as steadfast as iron”?
Many people knew that Master Ning had connections everywhere. Perhaps he was tired of the bustling world, or perhaps for other reasons, he had found Xinghe County to retire in. Unexpectedly, he had a son in his old age, and an only son at that, who was naturally doted on to the extreme.
Coincidentally, Ning Xuan was this only son.
For these sixteen years, he had lived in luxury and had never lacked beautiful women.
If he wanted to practice martial arts, the martial arts master in his household was the renowned “Chasing Wind Swallow Blade” Zhang Erquan. If he wanted to study, a private school was opened for him, and the respected elder was the reclusive scholar He Jinzhu.
In Xinghe County, any family with some standing was thinking of marrying their daughters to him.
The eldest daughter of the Fugui Chamber of Commerce was no exception.
But Ning Xuan never chose, not even if he had a good impression of someone.
In these sixteen years, he had confirmed that he had no cheat system, and he understood that the height he could reach by studying in this life was not as good as simply lying down and waiting for his father’s arrangements.
The smartest thing for him to do was not to be presumptuous and mess around, not to think he was very capable, not to ambitiously think of doing something great. He just needed to follow his father’s arrangements.
He was not rebellious.
He was just waiting for his father’s arrangements.
Therefore, even when it came to marriage, he would wait for his father’s arrangements.
Seeing that the sky was already darkening, Ning Xuan turned and scooped up the owner of the fair white legs behind him. He used his most accustomed beautiful maid and said, “I’m tired.”
The maid giggled, pushing and shoving, kicking her long legs, struggling joyfully, and shouted, “No, please don’t.”
Ning Xuan found such words of feigned resistance novel at first, but now he was numb. He hugged this “cushion” and fell asleep.
Ning Xuan didn’t know how long he slept.
In a daze, he woke up.
Before he opened his eyes, he suddenly felt his left arm empty.
Normally, the beautiful little maid would be resting on his left arm.
The little maid loved to rest her head on his left arm, nestled close like a small bird.
She was petite and light, and even with her head on his arm, she didn’t burden him. Her warm, jade-like closeness, her meticulous thoughtfulness, and her discerning insight were her strengths.
These strengths had allowed her to stay by the side of the Ning family’s young master for two full years, irreplaceable by anyone else.
Therefore, it was absolutely impossible for her to let the young master wake up in the middle of the night and find her gone.
The little maid’s name was Xiaojie.
Seeing his left arm empty, Ning Xuan instinctively called out the maid’s name: “Xiaojie!”
No response.
He yelled again, “Xiaojie!!”
This time, there was a response.
It was the sound of the wind.
It was the wind outside the door.
The wind pushed open the door, but suddenly lost its force, and the opened door slammed shut again with a “pa ta.”
Pa ta, pa ta, pa ta.
The door creaked repeatedly, accompanied by the intermittent sound of the pine forest rustling outside the window, creating a creepy atmosphere.
Ning Xuan’s eyes snapped open.
He was surprised to find that the entire room was shrouded in an indescribable gray, while outside it was an indescribable silence. It was a silence where, despite the presence of sounds, it seemed to make everything even quieter.
This was the Ning family’s private villa. He had come here to admire flowers; he had arrived in the afternoon, and the villa had arranged many dancers and musicians. He had found it tiring and postponed them all until tomorrow.
It shouldn’t be this silent.
So, Ning Xuan sat up and walked outside.
He walked through the inner courtyard. The villa guards who should have been on duty were nowhere to be found.
He looked around again. The patrolling guards with lanterns were also absent.
Although Ning Xuan liked to slack off, he was not stupid. He pinched himself hard. A clear pain spread through him.
‘Is this not a dream? Did mountain bandits attack?’
The Ning family villa was guarded by experts, and the guards were well-trained. Ning Xuan knew just by looking into their eyes that they had killed people. It was obvious that his father had significant background to be able to hire a group of killers to guard an empty mountain villa, which clearly showed he had considerable influence.
Under these circumstances, it was highly unlikely that the surrounding mountain bandits could have killed everyone silently.
Moreover, he didn’t smell any blood.
‘It shouldn’t be mountain bandits either. So, what exactly is going on?’
Ning Xuan thought to himself, but his movements were not slow. Although he was somewhat frightened, he made a decision: he couldn’t go back to his room. He had to find a place to hide himself until daylight.
At this moment, he looked up at the sky again.
The moon.
It was dark.
He shivered, took a light breath, and quickly walked towards the side courtyard. He remembered there was a viewing rockery there. The rockery was deep and could be used for hiding.
A moment later, Ning Xuan was hidden.
He clenched his fists, suppressed his heartbeat, regulated his breathing, and began to quietly wait for dawn.
He felt sweat dripping down his back in large drops.
Having been pampered for so long, he hadn’t encountered danger that he had to face by himself for a long time.
Fortunately, he saw the sunlight.
But his heart skipped a beat.
Something was wrong!
The sunlight was white.
Ghastly white!
The ghastly white sunlight shone on the rockery, making him feel as if he had suddenly jumped into a “black and white television from before his transmigration.”
And in that moment of daze, he felt something watching him.
Mechanically, he slowly turned his head. Time seemed to be on slow motion. He met a pair of blood-red eyes.
Immediately after, a fierce wind came.
He felt an intense impact and a tearing pain in his chest.
The rockery shattered.
He shattered too.
He lay on the ground amidst the shattered rockery stones.
He struggled to turn his head, trying to see what had attacked him.
Then, he saw a black bear, a black bear with fur like steel needles, a head as large as a斗, and ears like torn sails.
Seeing him look, the black bear grinned, revealing a human-like mocking smile, and a row of dense, sharp teeth.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten a human.”
The black bear actually let out a strange human voice, then grabbed him, and began to devour him from his feet, bite by bite, all the way to his calves, thighs, and waist. Every time he fainted, the black bear would shake him awake.
“Ahhhhhhh!!!!!”
Ning Xuan let out an unimaginable scream.
He suddenly sat up, gasping for breath. His terrified eyes swept around, but he only saw the gauze curtain hanging quietly and the walls reflecting the moonlight.
This was his room.
“So. It was a Nightmare. Fortunately, it was just a nightmare.”
He raised his hand to wipe the sweat, only to find his body was drenched. He casually said, “Xiaojie, pour me a cup of honey water.”
But there was no response.
Ning Xuan suddenly turned his head.
The room was gray, the moon was black, and the wind was blowing from the distant mountains, hitting the door and making a piercing “pa ta pa ta” sound.
(End of Chapter)
