Chapter 1 Very Noisy

Springtime. Fragrance filled the distant mountains.

Wind blew through the distant mountains.

Under the eaves, the wind chimes were very noisy.

Ning Xuan was currently lying on a pair of long, fair legs.

Sixteen years had passed since he transmigrated. Growing from an infant to a young man, everything from before his transmigration had long faded like a dream of the past.

Right now, he let out a yawn.

The owner of those long, fair legs took the opportunity to pop a peeled grape into his mouth. A soft, sweet giggle, even noisier than the wind chimes, accompanied the gesture.

“Young Master, these are Western Region Spirit Pearls. They say it took three relays of fine steeds to pick them in the morning and deliver them by evening. After arriving in our county, they were sealed in an ice cellar for the night. Before dawn broke today, the eldest miss of the Fugui Merchant Guild personally delivered them, hehe.”

Munch.

Munch, munch.

Ning Xuan swallowed the Western Region Spirit Pearl in one bite. The grape burst in his mouth, its juices washing over his taste buds.

His vision was hazy, and the distant mountains blurred along with it.

He opened his mouth, waiting for the next grape.

Who could blame him? He was the only son of Old Master Ning.

In Xinghe County, who didn’t know the saying, “County magistrates come and go, but Old Master Ning is here to stay”?

Many people knew that Old Master Ning had connections reaching the heavens. Perhaps he had grown tired of the bustling world, or perhaps for some other reason, he had chosen a place like Xinghe County to retire. As a result, he had a son in his old age, his one and only son. Naturally, this child was spoiled to the heavens.

Coincidentally, Ning Xuan was that only son.

For the past sixteen years, he had lived a life of luxury, never lacking in fine food, beautiful clothes, or beautiful women.

If he wanted to practice martial arts, the resident martial arts instructor was the renowned Wind-Chasing Swallow Saber, Zhang Erquan. If he wanted to study, a private school was opened right in the manor, taught by the famous retired scholar, He Jinzhu.

In Xinghe County, any faction with a bit of wealth or status dreamed of marrying their daughter off to him.

The eldest miss of the Fugui Merchant Guild was exactly like this.

But Ning Xuan never bothered to choose, not even if he had a favorable impression of them.

Over these sixteen years, he had confirmed that he didn’t have a cheat. He also understood that no matter how hard he studied in this life, the heights he could reach wouldn’t compare to simply lying flat and waiting for his old man to arrange everything.

His smartest move was to avoid tossing about blindly with unwarranted arrogance, to avoid thinking he was highly capable, and to avoid harboring grand ambitions of doing something monumental. All he had to do was listen to his old man’s arrangements.

He was not rebellious.

He was just waiting for his old man to arrange things.

Therefore, even when it came to marriage, he would wait for his old man’s arrangements.

Seeing that it was getting late, Ning Xuan turned around and scooped up the owner of those fair legs, his most accustomed and beautiful maidservant, and said, “I am tired.”

The maidservant giggled, pushing and shoving playfully. She kicked her long legs, struggling joyfully as she laughed and cried out, “No way.”

When Ning Xuan first heard such words of playing hard to get, he found it quite novel. Now, however, he was long numb to it. He hugged this body pillow and went to sleep.

Ning Xuan did not know how long he slept.

In a daze, he woke up.

Without opening his eyes, he suddenly felt that his left arm was empty.

Normally, that beautiful little maidservant would definitely be resting her head on his left arm.

The little maidservant loved resting on his left arm the most, clinging to his side like a cicada, acting like a little bird relying on a person.

She was petite and exquisite, her body very light. Even if she pressed against his left arm, it wouldn’t burden him. That clingy feeling of warm, fragrant jade, her meticulous thoughtfulness, and her decent ability to read the room were her true skills.

These skills had allowed her to stay by the side of the Ning family’s eldest young master for two whole years without anyone being able to replace her.

Therefore, it was absolutely impossible for her to let the eldest young master wake up in the middle of the night and find her missing.

The little maidservant was named Xiaojie.

Seeing his left arm empty, Ning Xuan subconsciously called out the maidservant’s name. “Xiaojie!”

No response.

He raised his voice and shouted again. “Xiaojie!”

This time, there was a response.

It was the sound of the wind.

The sound of the wind outside the door.

The wind pushed the door open, but then suddenly lost its strength. The opened door slammed back shut with a clatter.

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

The door rattled continuously. Accompanied by the sudden, intermittent rustling of the pine forest outside the window, it gave off a creepy, bone-chilling vibe.

Ning Xuan snapped his eyes open.

To his surprise, he found that the entire room had taken on an indescribable shade of gray. Outside, there was an indescribable dead silence. It was the kind of dead silence where, despite there being sound, it only made everything feel even quieter.

This was the Ning family’s private mountain villa. He had come here to admire the flowers and had just arrived in the afternoon. The villa had arranged for many dancers and musicians, but feeling tired, he had pushed them all to the next day.

It shouldn’t be this dead silent here.

Thus, 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 seen.

He looked left and right. The guards patrolling the night with lanterns were also gone.

Although Ning Xuan liked to lie flat, he wasn’t stupid. He pinched himself hard, and a clear sense of pain transmitted over.

I am not dreaming? Did we get hit by mountain bandits?

The Ning family villa was guarded by experts, and the guards were well-trained. Ning Xuan could tell just by looking at their eyes that they had all killed people before. For his old man to hire a batch of killers just to watch over an empty mountain villa deep in the mountains, it was obvious that his background was truly not small.

Under these circumstances, it stood to reason that the surrounding mountain bandits could never silently kill everyone off.

Moreover, he didn’t smell any blood.

It shouldn’t be mountain bandits either. Then what exactly is going on?

As Ning Xuan pondered this, his movements were not slow. Although he was somewhat afraid, he still made a decision. He couldn’t go back to his own room. He needed to find a place to hide first and wait until dawn.

At this moment, he looked up at the sky again.

The moon.

It was black.

He shivered, took a light breath, and quickly walked toward the side courtyard. He remembered there was a decorative rockery there. The rockery was very deep and could be used to hide.

A moment later, Ning Xuan was well hidden.

Clenching his fists, suppressing his heartbeat, and slowing his breathing, he began to quietly wait for dawn.

He felt large drops of sweat sliding down his spine.

Having been pampered for so long, it had been a very long time since he encountered this kind of danger that he had to face himself.

Fortunately, he waited until the sunlight appeared.

But his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Something wasn’t right!

The sunlight was white.

Pale white!

The pale 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 this moment of daze, he felt that something was looking at him.

He mechanically and slowly turned his head. Time seemed to have been put on slow motion. He met a pair of blood-red eyes.

Immediately after, a foul wind hit him.

He felt a strong impact on his chest, followed by a tearing, agonizing pain.

The rockery shattered.

He shattered as well.

He lay on the ground along with the crushed stones of the rockery.

He struggled to turn his head, wanting to see clearly what had attacked him.

Then, he saw a black bear. A black bear with fur like steel needles, a head as large as a bushel, and ears like torn sails.

Seeing him look over, the black bear’s mouth curled into a human-like, mocking smile, revealing a dense row of sharp, seed-like teeth.

“It has been a long time since I ate a human.”

The black bear actually let out a bizarre human voice. Then, it grabbed him and began to gnaw on him starting from his feet. Bite by bite, it gnawed up to his calves, his thighs, his waist. Whenever he fainted, the black bear would shake him awake.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

Ning Xuan let out an unimaginable, miserable shriek.

He suddenly sat up, gasping heavily for air. His terrified eyes swept the surroundings, only to see the bed curtains hanging quietly and the walls reflecting the moonlight.

This was his room.

“So it was a nightmare. Thank goodness it was just a nightmare.”

He raised his hand to wipe his sweat, only to find that his entire body was drenched. He casually said, “Xiaojie, pour me a cup of honey water.”

But, there was no response.

Ning Xuan abruptly turned his head.

A gray room, a black moon. Wind came from the distant mountains, slamming against the door, making a harsh clattering sound.