Super System in the Early Tang Dynasty

The next day, Li Xingzhi woke up from his meditation in the morning, and it was already broad daylight.

Opening the door and stepping into the courtyard, it was a perfect time of day with clear skies and a refreshing morning breeze.

Li Xingzhi walked to the well in the courtyard, drew a bucket of water, splashed it on his face, and felt extremely refreshed. The whole world seemed to radiate a different kind of brilliance.

After washing up, Li Xingzhi stepped through the large stone moon gate and headed towards the front courtyard. He had made plans with Erlang yesterday to go on a spring outing and fly kites, and he figured Erlang would already be waiting for him in the front courtyard.

Suddenly, Li Xingzhi's nose twitched, and he stopped abruptly.

"Eh—" Li Xingzhi smelled a faint aroma of wine. Although it was faint, it was concentrated and did not dissipate, and it went straight into Li Xingzhi's nose.

Who's drinking at this hour? Steward Wang? No, he only likes Daughter's Red wine! Erlang, even less likely! Could it be a servant stealing wine?

With this thought in mind, Li Xingzhi twitched his nose and followed the faint aroma of wine all the way there.

As they walked along, passing through pavilions and corridors, they had come quite a distance. Occasionally, servants would catch a glimpse of Li Xingzhi and become quite curious, but they would only glance at him before returning to their work. Not everyone had Li Xingzhi's keen sense of smell! Moreover, even if the servants smelled something, they generally dared not ask or interfere, for who knew what their mysterious young master was up to?

Li Xingzhi, however, was focused on finding the source of the wine aroma. As he got closer, the aroma became even stronger, yet it was still just a faint, wisp-like scent, as if it were merely there to lure him over!

We walked until we reached a flat area near the backyard wall, which was the most secluded corner of the entire Li residence. There was only an empty, dilapidated small building next to it.

The aroma of the wine vanished as soon as it reached this place, as if it had appeared out of nowhere! Li Xingzhi looked around and felt that the rich aroma of wine permeated everywhere, but he could not find the source of the wine.

Li Xingzhi simply went into the small attic.

Although the attic had been cleaned by the servants, the rotten and old smell lingered.

Li Xingzhi's nose twitched. The aroma of wine reached the pavilion, but suddenly vanished completely, which Li Xingzhi found very strange. It was as if something was playing hide-and-seek with him, hiding away as soon as it saw him arrive, making it impossible for him to find.

Li Xingzhi was not giving up. He kicked and touched things here and there, as if trying to find some kind of mechanism!

"Huh?" Suddenly, Li Xingzhi noticed something different on the floor. He rubbed it with his foot and found that the wooden board was indeed different from the surrounding ones. He stomped on it and found that it was hollow underneath!

Li Xingzhi looked at it but couldn't find any mechanism to open it. The wooden board was probably old; although the material was good, it was somewhat rotten and seemed to be stuck to the surrounding floor.

He took out the sharp dagger he always carried, inserted it into the joint of the wooden plank, cut it open, and then gently pried it off. Immediately, the aroma of aged wine that Li Xingzhi had been searching for wafted out from under the plank, as if long-imprisoned prisoners were all rushing out!

Li Xingzhi took a deep breath, as if trying to inhale all the aroma of the wine. He was immersed in the fragrance of this aged wine, which had been buried for who knows how long, and felt slightly tipsy, almost as if he were about to get drunk.

He was, after all, a connoisseur of wine; otherwise, he wouldn't have repeatedly conjured up wine within the system, nor would he have eagerly searched for it alone without even a word, simply because he smelled its aroma.

A loud "bang!" reached Li Xingzhi's ears—the sound of something being smashed! It jolted Li Xingzhi awake from his reverie, which was still immersed in the aroma of wine!

Seeing the darkness below, Li Xingzhi, who had originally intended to wait, went down the wooden ladder. With the light coming from the cave above and his sharp eyesight honed over the past few days, he immediately saw several large, broken wine jars with liquid still dripping from the broken edges.

Li Xingzhi felt so sorry for him, wondering which spendthrift son it was!

Suddenly, Li Xingzhi noticed a small white figure moving on the ground! Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Little Jin, who had recently disappeared! He wondered how Little Jin had found this place; no wonder he hadn't seen any rats lately—it had been busy stealing wine from the big hole!

Watching Xiao Jin sway and squint as he practiced his drunken boxing, Li Xingzhi found it both amusing and exasperating.

Li Xingzhi was watching Xiao Jin's drunken boxing performance when he didn't notice the little mouse wobbling back to the wine jar. Its tiny body gently bumped into the wine jar next to it, and for some reason, that bump contained such great force. The huge wine jar began to shake, and a jar of wine on top wobbled twice before falling straight down.

Fortunately, Li Xingzhi reacted quickly and caught the jar of wine. He put the jar back in its place, then touched it, it was unclear whether he was happy to have saved the wine or satisfied with his own agility.

A loud "bang!" rang out, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, jolting Li Xingzhi awake from his narcissistic and self-satisfied fantasies!

He turned his head and saw that the jar had crashed to the ground, the wine splashing everywhere! The chubby, white mouse was lying on the edge of the broken jar, and in a gulp, it sucked up almost half of the wine into its little belly, which startled Li Xing!

The little mouse, oblivious to everything else, was thoroughly enjoying its drink! It even sucked the few drops of wine from its long whiskers into its seemingly small belly.

Xiao Jin was happy, but Li Xingzhi was not so pleased. The usually reserved Li Xingzhi was startled by a little mouse, and although no one saw it, it still made him lose face.

And so, the cute little mouse was in trouble!

Li Xingzhi couldn't just watch the little mouse enjoy its drink so much; he was just not happy about it! So, driven by a wicked impulse, he grabbed the little mouse by its tail, dangling it in the air, and glared at it fiercely.

The little mouse was still drunk, its usually bright eyes half-closed, unaware of what had happened.

Li Xingzhi, with a mischievous grin, grabbed the little mouse by its long tail and gently shook it, causing the little mouse's body to swing.

"Pfft—" The little mouse sprayed a mouthful of wine, which was full of mouse saliva, directly at Li Xingzhi. Li Xingzhi couldn't dodge in time and his clothes were sprayed directly!

"Oh dear, if you don't discipline someone for a day, they'll start tearing down the roof beams!" Li Xingzhi thought to himself, feeling utterly frustrated!

Li Xingzhi carried Xiao Jin and walked back, intending to change his clothes first.

He hadn't gone far from the wine cellar when he ran into Steward Wang and Erlang, who had come looking for him. It turned out the two had been waiting for Li Xingzhi for a long time without seeing him, so they came looking for him.

"Young master, what's wrong?" Wang Xiucai asked with concern, looking at Li Xingzhi's disheveled appearance. Only when facing Li Xingzhi would Wang Xiucai show any emotion; normally he was lifeless and was even secretly called a 'living Yama'!

Li Xingzhi picked up the white mouse and, as if venting his frustration, shook Xiao Jin's long tail. "That's it!" Li Xingzhi said. "Xiao Jin found a big wine cellar in the backyard and is stealing wine to drink!"

Li Xingzhi felt extremely depressed thinking about his disheveled appearance.

"Greetings, elder brother!" At this moment, Wang Erlang bowed to Li Xingzhi.

“We brothers don’t need so much formality!” Li Xingzhi said.

Erlang has recently been following Master Shi and has become quite the scholar. This is exactly what Li Xingzhi wanted to see. Living in this world, one must understand some rules; Erlang, after all, is not like him and can't act as freely. However, Li Xingzhi doesn't like excessive formality between the two brothers.

After the formalities were completed, Erlang stared longingly at the little mouse whose tail Li Xingzhi was holding, looking distressed. He wanted to say something, but dared not. Little Jin held a significant place in Erlang's heart as his first pet and playmate.

Li Xingzhi, seeing this, didn't take it too seriously and handed the little mouse to Erlang, saying, "Keep a close eye on him, don't let him cause trouble again. Next time, I won't let him off so easily." Actually, the little mouse had done a great service by finding so much good wine this time, and if it weren't for what happened later, Li Xingzhi might have rewarded him handsomely. However, now, the good and bad were evenly matched. After all, Li Xingzhi had been a repressed, petty, and nerdy guy his whole life.

"Thank you, big brother!" Erlang took Xiao Jin, placed it in his palm, gently stroked its little belly, and looked very happy.

Li Xingzhi looked at Erlang and was still very happy. Although Erlang had become more polite and mature like a little adult these days, he still had a childlike heart and fun! Although Erlang was sensible early, Li Xingzhi still hoped that he could have a more complete childhood.

By this time, it was already broad daylight, and nearly 9 AM.

Li Xingzhi dared not delay any longer, as he was going to enjoy the spring scenery later!

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One update today, thank you for your support! The next few chapters should have a minor climax.