A life of idleness in the world of demons

Chapter 5 5. The murderer
Xiao Jie is very fair-skinned.

Ning Xuan liked her pure white color.

The first time I met her, she was copying scriptures for a nobleman outside a Zen temple in the neighboring prefecture.

Her handwriting was elegant and her appearance was beautiful.

Ning Xuan went up and asked, "How much?"

Xiao Jie said calmly, "Ten coins for a hundred characters, the paper is the finest Xuan paper, the ink has a light fragrance, and it's infused with rosin. Although the rosin is inexpensive, it was made by my own hands."

In the gentle breeze and the setting sun, she smoothed her long hair, a smile on her face that seemed to convey a profound understanding of Zen and a detachment from worldly affairs. Then, in a neither humble nor arrogant tone, she said, "Ten coins for a hundred words is not expensive. I am not here to make money, but simply to seek peace and quiet and to cultivate a connection with Buddhism."

Ning Xuan took out a silver ingot and placed it on the table.

The gold ingot was quite heavy, weighing twenty taels.

“Too many,” Xiaojie said.

Ning Xuan said, "I need a personal maid. I'll give you this much every month. Will you do it?"

Xiao Jie remained silent for a few moments, then packed up her stall.

Ning Xuan asked curiously, "Weren't you seeking tranquility and cultivating a connection with Buddhism?"

Xiao Jie said, "Young Master is my purity, the destiny bestowed upon me by Buddha."

Ning Xuan really liked Xiao Jie's frankness.

So, after getting into the carriage, he took out another twenty taels and placed them on Xiao Jie's long, white legs.

Xiaojie said, "There are too many."

Ning Xuan said, "I need a maidservant."

Xiao Jie looked troubled.

Ning Xuan took out another ten taels and added, "Fifty taels every month."

Xiao Jie quietly put the thirty taels of silver into her bosom, and then happily took Ning Xuan's arm.

And afterwards, she did a very good job.

I did it for two years.

The eldest son of the Ning family is never short of women. Even though he is young, he has grown up surrounded by women. However, Xiao Jie worked for him for two years when he was at the age when he really needed women.

Xiao Jie never mentioned becoming his concubine. Instead, she always said that once she had saved enough money, she wanted to leave. She wanted to see the distant world, to see the sunset at the ends of the earth, and to see the lone smoke rising from a foreign river.

Jealous maids would occasionally gossip outside, deliberately letting the young master hear, such as, "Xiao Jie doesn't actually want to leave; she's just using her vixen tricks to seduce the young master," or "Xiao Jie actually wants to be a concubine; she's using underhanded tactics, she's a scheming woman," or "Xiao Jie usually looks elegant and quiet, but when she's with the young master, she's so provocative, it's disgusting."
Ning Xuan didn't hide it, and then when Xiao Jie nestled in his arms and fed him fruit, he told Xiao Jie all these things.

Xiao Jie didn't panic. Instead, she smiled calmly and said, "During those years of copying books, I copied a sentence that goes, 'Is it not the mark of a gentleman to remain unperturbed when others do not understand him?' I am not a gentleman, but I will not be angry because others do not understand me."

Ning Xuan asked curiously, "So what exactly do you think?"

Xiao Jie fed the young master a piece of freshly caught fish from the East China Sea, then looked into the distance with a hint of longing in her eyes and said, "My family is poor. If I were to follow the conventional path, I would only end up getting married, having children, and toiling away my whole life."

But if I follow you, young master, I can earn a lifetime's worth of money in just a few years. With this money, I can travel to faraway places.

At that time, I will not stay for anyone; wherever the wind goes, I will go.

As for being alluring, they're not wrong, but I'll only be a woman once, so naturally I want to save my femininity for the people I care about most, and then leave this place without regrets.

She smiled lightly, exuding charm, yet her eyes held a mixture of conflict and reluctance.

From that day on, Ning Xuan knew that the maidservant by his side was a "shameless liar who doesn't even blink an eye."

but,

he likes.

A sophisticated young woman can always keenly perceive the reactions of the person beside her.

When Ning Xuan woke up from the nightmare, the muscles in his left arm stiffened.

Xiao Jie woke up.

She opened her eyes.

The bright moonlight streamed in from outside, casting very narrow beams of light across the stone slabs.

"Is something on your mind, young master?" Xiao Jie's voice became calm and composed again, neither humble nor arrogant. At this moment, she did not seem like a maidservant who wanted to please the young master, but rather like a confidante of the young master.

Ning Xuan was recalling his dream.

In the dream, the bear demon that crashed into the mountain arrived after dawn. Could this be some kind of hint?
Does this imply that the bear demon will actually arrive after dawn?
In his dreams, he could be determined to die and fight to the death, but only those who have actually died know how terrible death is.

He was suffering so much even in his dreams.

Outside of his dream, would he still suffer?
Why should he suffer?

He was already in such a terrible state in his dream, so why did he have to fight to the death again outside of the dream? You have to understand, this time he was not facing a "weakened" mountain-ramming bear demon, but a completely full one.

No! There might be more than one.

Ning Xuan suddenly flipped over and straddled Xiao Jie's waist.

Xiao Jie giggled. But in the next instant, Ning Xuan flipped Xiao Jie over, quickly got out of bed, hurriedly put on his boots and clothes, and at the same time took down Xiao Jie's light gauze skirt and moon-white silk sash hanging from the sandalwood clothes rack, threw them on the bed, and then said, "Let's go! Let's go tonight!"

Without asking any questions, Xiao Jie immediately got up and dressed, her movements as fast as she could take off her clothes.

Why did she ask?
Since the young master has made his decision, she will obey.

Just as Ning Xuan finished putting on his robes, Xiao Jie had already dressed herself and had brought a large black umbrella and a bundle containing the young master's clothes.

Carrying a bundle on her back and clutching a large black umbrella, she stepped outside, casually asking, "Young master, how many men should I have escorting you?"

Ning Xuan said, "Everyone!"

This time, Xiaojie was stunned.

Because what the young master said was really unexpected.

They arrived this afternoon, and before they could even warm their bedding, they were about to take away all the servants, maids, and guards of the Ning Family Manor in the middle of the night.

Xiao Jie asked, "How should I tell them?"

Ning Xuan said, "Just say I'm willing."

Master Ning was clearly very influential.

Ning Xuan's words were enough to make everyone follow him overnight.

The kind-faced old man looked at the young master with some curiosity. His sleeves were bulging, where Ning Xuan had used the "Rain of Pear Blossom Needles" time and time again in his nightmares.

The old man, of course, did not believe that this young master Ning had suddenly woken them up and taken them away "out of willfulness".

Why?

Just because he is Old Ning's son.

Therefore, the old man was particularly curious about what would happen at the mountain resort.

When he reached the foot of the mountain, he quietly gave instructions to a clever guard.

The guard voluntarily broke away from the group and quietly hid in a small grove at the foot of the mountain, waiting to see what would happen next.

In the early hours of the morning, before dawn, the group returned to Xinghe County.

“My son, is it too cold and damp in the mountains that you are in such a hurry?” A simply dressed woman hurried out from the inner courtyard to greet him. Her eyebrows were slightly drooping, with a hint of kindness in them, and her eyes were full of doting affection. On her wrist was a string of expensive prayer beads.

This is Ning Xuan's mother.

She is a Buddhist.

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back," the simple woman said. "What time is it? Xuan'er, go to sleep now."

Ning Xuan went to sleep.

After a night of tossing and turning, covered in sweat, he took a bath and didn't ask Xiao Jie to serve him anymore. Instead, he lay down on the soft couch, but he still couldn't fall asleep.

The sky slowly began to brighten.

The warm, golden sunlight streamed down from the sky.

In the afternoon, the old man holding the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles received the news.

"Boss, everything is normal, no surprises at all. I even went for a run in the mountains. Young Master Ning is really quite willful," the subordinate reported.

The old man said sternly, "Whether Young Master Ning is willful or not is not for you to decide."

The subordinate grinned and said, "Okay, boss, I won't say it anymore, I won't say it anymore, okay?" displaying a rough and unruly demeanor.

After he left.

The old man said, "Everything is normal. Sigh, everyone knows that Old Ning had a son late in life, but isn't he spoiling this son too much?"

Thinking of Ning Xuan's small arms and legs, he couldn't help but sigh again.

Inside Young Master Ning's room, all the windows were closed.

Ning Xuan looked at the panel.

【Heavenly Demon Talisman】

[Life Gate 1: Mountain-Colliding Bear] (Not yet summoned)
[Life (Constitution): 1]

[Sex (Mental): 1]

He silently prayed in his heart, "I beseech the Heavenly Demon Talisman."

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a mysterious talisman appeared in his mind. The strange and profound symbols on the talisman were mysterious and profound, but he knew that these strange symbols represented the "mountain-collision bear".

The talisman burned
At the same time, a powerful force surged into his body.

The table in the secret room was slowly covered by the rising shadow, and the bronze mirror revealed a fierce man who was about ten feet tall and so strong that he looked like he was covered in a layer of muscle armor.

It was a suit of finely forged steel armor, tightly and resiliently wrapping around the body, every muscle sharp and angular, as if carved by a knife, containing explosive power.

On the rooftop, a black cat that was taking a stroll suddenly bristled, let out a piercing meow, and shot off into the distance as if electrocuted.
Ning Xuan hunched over, his height diminished, and looked at his imposing reflection in the mirror. He glanced at the stats: "[Fate (Constitution): 1 (3.7)]", frowned slightly, and thought to himself, 'After all, this is just extra power from the Heavenly Demon Talisman; I need to improve myself. I used to think this world only had low-level martial arts; it seems I was wrong. I need to look further.'

(End of this chapter)