Chapter 1: Very Noisy

Chapter 1: 1. Very Noisy

Springtime, fragrance fills the distant mountains.

There is wind in the distant mountains.

On the eaves, the wind chimes are very noisy.

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

Sixteen years have passed since he transmigrated here. From an infant to a youth, everything from before his transmigration is now like a dream of a past life.

Right now, he lets out a yawn.

The owner of those fair, long legs takes the opportunity to place a peeled grape into his mouth, accompanied by a soft, sweet giggle that is even noisier than the wind chimes.

"Young Master, these Western Region spirit grapes—they say it took three changes of thoroughbred horses just to get them here from the late harvest. After they arrived at our county, they were kept in the ice cellar for a night. Before dawn broke this morning, the eldest miss of the Fugui Chamber of Commerce delivered them personally, hee hee."

*Ah-ba.*

*Ah-ba-ba.*

Ning Xuan swallows the Western Region spirit grape in one gulp. The grape bursts in his mouth, the released juice assaulting his taste buds.

His vision is hazy, and the distant mountains follow suit.

He opens his mouth, continuing to wait for more grapes.

Who else could it be but the only son of Master Ning?

In this Xinghe County, who doesn't know the saying, "The county magistrate is like flowing water, but Master Ning is like an iron pillar"?

Many people know that Master Ning has heaven-reaching connections. Perhaps he grew tired of the hustle and bustle, or perhaps for other reasons, he chose a place like Xinghe County to retire. As it turned out, he had a son in his old age—an only son at that—so naturally, he is pampered to the heavens.

As it happens, Ning Xuan is that only son.

For these sixteen years, he has lived in luxury, never lacking for beauties.

If he wanted to learn martial arts, the master in the house was the renowned "Wind-Chasing Swallow Blade" Zhang Erquan; if he wanted to study, a private school was opened in the house, with the old scholar being He Jinzhu, a famous man who had resigned from office to live in seclusion.

In Xinghe County, every family with any sort of foundation is thinking of marrying their daughter to him.

The eldest miss of the Fugui Chamber of Commerce is one such person.

Yet, Ning Xuan never goes to choose, even if he has a favorable impression, he doesn't pick.

In these sixteen years, he has already confirmed that he has no "golden finger," and he understands that the heights he could reach by studying in this life are not as good as lying flat and waiting for his father's arrangements.

His smartest move is not to be self-righteous and mess around, not to think he is very capable, and not to have grand ambitions of doing something great. He only needs to listen to his father's arrangements.

He is not rebellious.

He is just waiting for his father's arrangements.

Therefore, even when it comes to marriage, he will wait for his father's arrangements.

Seeing that dusk has fallen, Ning Xuan turns and lifts the owner of those fair, long legs—the beautiful maid he is most accustomed to—into his arms, saying, "I'm tired."

The maid giggles, pushing and shoving, kicking her long legs, struggling playfully, and laughing, "No, don't."

When Ning Xuan first heard such words of feigned refusal, he found them quite novel, but now he is long since numb to them. He falls asleep holding this "body pillow."

Ning Xuan does not know how long he slept.

In a daze, he wakes up.

Without opening his eyes, he suddenly feels that his left arm is empty.

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

The little maid loves to pillow her head on his left arm, clinging to his side like a cicada, as dependent as a little bird.

She is petite and exquisite, her body very light, so even when she presses on his left arm, she doesn't burden him. That warm, fragrant, sticky feeling, her meticulous thoughtfulness, and her keen ability to read the room are her strengths.

These strengths have allowed her to cling to the side of the Ning family's young master for two whole years, with no one able to replace her.

Therefore, it is 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 is Xiaojie.

Seeing his left arm empty, Ning Xuan subconsciously calls out the maid's name: "Xiaojie!"

No response.

He raises his voice and shouts: "Xiaojie!!"

This time, there is a response.

It is the sound of the wind.

The sound of the wind outside the door.

The wind pushes the door open, but then suddenly loses its force, and the door, having been pushed open, "clatters" shut again.

*Clatter, clatter, clatter.*

The door makes a continuous sound, accompanied by the intermittent roar of the pine forest suddenly coming from outside the window, revealing an eerie atmosphere.

Ning Xuan opens his eyes abruptly.

He is astonished to find that the entire room is cast in an indescribable gray, while outside is an indescribable dead silence—the kind of dead silence that, despite there being sound, makes one feel even more quiet.

This is the Ning family's private villa. He came here to enjoy the flowers; he arrived just this afternoon. The villa had arranged many dancers and musicians, but he felt tired, so he postponed everything until tomorrow.

It shouldn't be this deathly silent here.

Thus, Ning Xuan sits up and walks outside.

He walks through the inner courtyard; the villa guards who should have been on duty are not there.

He looks left and right; the night watchmen carrying lanterns are not there either.

Although Ning Xuan is a slacker, he is not stupid. He pinches himself hard, and a clear sensation of pain follows.

'Not a dream? Then, did bandits attack?'

The Ning family villa is guarded by experts, and the guards are well-trained. Ning Xuan only had to look at their eyes to know they had all killed people. For his father to hire a group of guards who have killed people to stay in the mountains and watch an empty villa, it is clear that his background is truly not small.

In such a situation, it stands to reason that the surrounding mountain bandits could never have wiped everyone out without a sound.

Moreover, he doesn't smell any blood.

'It shouldn't be bandits, then what exactly is going on?'

Ning Xuan thinks to himself, but his movements are not slow. Although he is somewhat terrified, he makes a decision: he cannot return to his room; he must first find a place to hide and wait until dawn.

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

The moon.

It is black.

He shivers, takes a light breath, and quickly walks toward the side courtyard. He remembers there is a viewing rockery there; the rockery is deep, and he can hide there.

A moment later, Ning Xuan is hidden.

He clenches his fists, suppresses his heartbeat, slows his breathing, and begins to wait quietly for dawn.

He feels large beads of sweat sliding down his spine.

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

Fortunately, he waits until the sunlight.

But his heart suddenly skips a beat.

Something is wrong!

The sunlight is white.

Ghastly white!

The ghastly white sunlight shines on the rockery, making it seem as if he has suddenly jumped into a "black and white television from before the transmigration."

And in this moment of trance, he feels something is watching him.

He turns his head mechanically and slowly, as if time has been pressed on a slow-motion button. He... meets a pair of blood-red eyes.

Immediately after, a foul wind arrives.

He feels a strong impact and a tearing, excruciating pain in his chest.

The rockery shatters.

He shatters too.

He lies on the ground along with the rubble of the rockery.

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

Then, he sees a black bear—a black bear with fur like steel needles, a head as large as a peck, and ears like tattered sails.

When the black bear sees him looking, the corners of its mouth curl up, revealing a human-like, mocking smile, along with a row of dense, sharp, melon-seed-like teeth.

"It's been a long time since I've eaten a human."

The black bear actually utters a strange, human voice, then grabs him and starts gnawing from his feet, one bite after another, gnawing up to his calves, his thighs, his waist. Every time he faints, the black bear shakes him awake.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!!"

Ning Xuan lets out an unimaginable scream.

He sits up abruptly, gasping for air, his fearful eyes scanning the surroundings, but he only sees the gauze curtains hanging quietly and the moonlight reflecting on the walls.

This is his room.

"So... it was a nightmare. Fortunately, it was just a nightmare."

He raises his hand to wipe his sweat, only to find that his whole body is soaked. He says offhandedly, "Xiaojie, pour me some honey water."

But, there is no response.

Ning Xuan turns his head abruptly.

The gray room, the black moon, wind coming from the distant mountains, hitting the door, making a harsh "clatter, clatter" sound.

(End of chapter)