Chapter 1 Nightmare
“Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”
In the darkness, Qin Ziling suddenly sat up from the wooden bed, his chest heaving violently and his forehead covered with beads of cold sweat.
He just had another nightmare.
He dreamed that he was sitting in a wheelchair, looking up at the blue sky and seeing planes flying closer and closer from a distance, making a rumbling sound as they broke through the air, with two long white tails made of condensed water vapor trailing behind them.
Suddenly, the plane turned into a dragon-headed monster bird with a pair of broad fleshy wings, covered with golden scales all over its body, two fangs flashing cold light like sharp knives, a pair of black eyes with a ball of phantom fire flickering in them, and it looked extremely hideous and terrifying.
Lying on the dragon-headed strange bird was a tall, thin, injured old man in black with an ugly, old face.
The two long white tails behind the plane transformed into two giant swords that were emitting cold light and were extremely sharp.
In the dream, he suddenly turned into that old, ugly and injured old man, lying on a strange bird that exuded a cold and eerie aura. He was extremely weak and powerless. Facing the giant sword that broke through the air, his heart was filled with despair.
Suddenly, the two giant swords burst out with a light as dazzling as the sun, and countless sword lights whizzed in, covering the sky and the earth.
"My life is over!" The injured old man in the dream, Qin Ziling, felt a pain that could not be described in words. Then he saw his body and the strange bird under him being pierced by thousands of sword lights, becoming riddled with holes, and then suddenly exploded.
The terrifying impact force caused by this instantaneous explosion was so great that even several mountaintops below collapsed.
Blood, flesh and rocks flew everywhere.
The scene in the dream was frozen at a severed finger that streaked across the night and fell into an ancient well behind a dilapidated Taoist temple at the foot of the mountain.
A black ring was wrapped around the severed finger.
There was a tattered plaque hanging diagonally on the lintel of the Taoist temple, with the three characters "Chixiao Temple" inscribed on it.
…
After a long time, Qin Ziling gradually calmed down in the darkness. He glanced at the paper-pasted wooden window. It was still pitch black outside. Then he lay back on the bed, looking at the wooden beams above his head with several large spider webs, his eyes revealing a complex and confused look.
Ten days ago, he was still living in a ward with bright glass windows and a white-painted ceiling.
That day, his consciousness gradually became blurred and distant, and a great darkness enveloped him, ready to swallow him up. At that moment, he thought that he had finally succumbed to the disease and his life was about to come to an end.
But he really didn't want to give up.
He is just over 30 years old. Three years ago, his career finally took off after experiencing numerous setbacks. A better life is beckoning him.
So, he suddenly stood up, constantly telling himself to hold on. He struggled in the darkness to prevent his consciousness from sinking.
He believes that modern medicine is advancing with each passing day, and as long as he persists, there is hope!
Eventually the great darkness that tried to engulf him dissipated, and he lost consciousness.
When he woke up, he found himself lying in this old and dilapidated wooden house, covered with a worn quilt, and he had turned into a 19-year-old young man named Qin Ziling.
Ten days was neither long nor short , but because he not only possessed Qin Ziling's body but also took over his memories, after ten days of confusion, he had slowly begun to accept and adapt to his new identity.
But the recurring dreams of the past ten days, the images of many strange zombies that occasionally appeared in his mind, and even the evil and ruthless thoughts that occasionally popped up from his subconscious, made him, who had traveled to Qin Ziling's body, feel extremely terrifying and creepy every time he thought about it.
It was as if there was a very dark, evil and ruthless soul consciousness hidden in his soul.
"If my soul consciousness traveled to Qin Ziling's body as described in the novel, why do I keep dreaming of myself becoming that ugly and even evil old man? Why do my mind, in addition to the memories of myself and Qin Ziling before their death, also flash through some fragmented, messy, dark and evil, and even many weird zombie images? These are definitely not Qin Ziling's memories! Did I watch too many ghost and zombie movies in my previous life?"
"But this time, I actually saw the name of the Taoist temple clearly in my nightmare. It seemed that the name of the Taoist temple did not appear in the previous dreams."
Qin Ziling was lost in thought and fell asleep again in a daze.
When he woke up again, it was already daybreak.
Qin Ziling's home is a courtyard with three entrances, east and west wing rooms made of brick and tile, three main rooms and four side rooms, a winding corridor, and a screen wall on the mountain... All of this represents the Qin family's former prosperity.
But now the house is leaning and the red-painted mud walls are peeling off, showing its current state of decline.
The cross-shaped corridor paved with blue bricks, which once looked like an elegant courtyard, has now become a vegetable garden and a place for raising chickens and ducks, with chicken and duck droppings visible everywhere on the ground.
Qin Ziling lived in the east wing. When he came out, a young woman wearing a coarse cloth skirt, with a pretty face and a graceful figure, but with yellow skin and a malnourished look, was feeding the chickens and ducks.
"Master, please get up. I'll get you some water to wash your face." Yin Ranyue said hurriedly when she saw Qin Ziling pushing the door open.
"No need, I can do it myself." Qin Ziling waved his hand , then strode to the well and fetched some water to wash.
Looking at Qin Ziling fetching water to wash himself, Yin Ranyue looked a little confused.
She was a poor homeless child who almost starved to death on the roadside. It was Qin's mother who took pity on her and took her home.
At that time, the Qin family had not yet completely declined and had quite a bit of assets. Not only did they own fertile fields outside the city, they also had shops in the city. They also had several servants and maids, as well as tenant farmers.
But the good times didn't last long. First, the shop went bankrupt and all the goods turned to ashes. Then the old man of the Qin family passed away. Then the master of the Qin family, Qin Ziling's father, fell seriously ill. In order to treat the illness, the Qin family's fertile land and oxen were pawned and sold, and the servants and maids were also dismissed and left.
Only Yin Ranyue, who was only ten years old at the time, was well-behaved and clever. Mother Qin loved her very much and felt sorry for her, so she finally kept her.
But in the end, the master of the Qin family died, making the Qin family's life become increasingly poor.
However, Qin Ziling had been a young master since he was young, and he also knew that Yin Ranyue was a maid picked up by his family. He always took her service for granted, and sometimes when he was in a bad mood, it was common for him to scold her.
But ever since she had a serious illness ten days ago, Yin Ranyue clearly felt that Qin Ziling no longer had the airs of a young master towards her, and even spoke to her quite gently.
"Could it be that the young master has some sexual thoughts?" Yin Ranyue looked at Qin Ziling, a blush appeared on her obviously malnourished face, and then she hurried to the kitchen to bring the prepared breakfast to the wooden table in the main room.
She has been serving Qin Ziling since she was a child. If she were in a wealthy family, she would be a maid and would not marry out. Moreover, given the current financial situation of the Qin family, it is unlikely that Qin Ziling will be able to marry off a wife in a grand ceremony. The most likely possibility is that she, a maid, will be directly transferred to the Qin family's daughter-in-law to save the betrothal gift.
So in her heart, Yin Ranyue had already regarded herself as Qin Ziling's woman, it was just a matter of whether she was a wife or a concubine.
Now, because of his ideas from the modern civilized world, Qin Ziling naturally shows great consideration and respect for women, which makes Yin Ranyue feel surprised and curious. While she is full of imagination, she is more happy.
Seeing Yin Ranyue go to the kitchen to serve breakfast, Qin Ziling went into the inner room. His mother Cui had already gotten up early and was weaving.
Cui was a well-known weaving expert in the village. The cloth she wove was very popular and was also the main source of income for the Qin family besides the ten acres of thin land .
Cui was only in her early forties, but because of overwork, her hair was half white and her face was covered with obvious wrinkles. However, her hair was still combed meticulously, and her clothes were worn but clean and tidy. She also had a good temperament and did not look like an ordinary village woman at all.
When Qin Ziling was a child, he heard people mention that his mother came from the prominent Cui family in the neighboring Qinghe County.
However, ever since Qin Ziling was old enough to understand, Cui never mentioned anything about her mother's family, and there has never been any interaction between the two families.
"Mother, you've worked hard. Let's have breakfast first." Qin Ziling said softly, looking at Cui with admiration and respect.
He comes from modern society, and not only integrates Qin Ziling's memories of this life, but also his emotions.
Of course, he occupied this body by accident, and it is reasonable for him to be filial to the original owner.
"In the blink of an eye, it's already dawn." Cui stopped the work in her hands, said with a smile, then stood up and went to the main room with Qin Ziling.
On the dining table in the main hall were already placed a few black-flour steamed buns, a plate of scrambled eggs with chopped green onions, a plate of green vegetables and a pot of porridge.
Seeing Cui and Qin Ziling coming in, Yin Ranyue hurriedly scooped a bowl of porridge for each of them, and also pulled out a chair for Cui.
Cui and Qin Ziling sat down respectively, but Yin Ranyue stood aside without taking a seat.
"Ranyue, please sit down and eat with us. It'll be like this from now on. I don't have to call you every time." Qin Ziling looked up at Yin Ranyue and said.
"Yeah!" Yin Ranyue responded with a slightly red face, and then sat down.
Cui didn't say anything, but a look of relief appeared in her eyes as she looked at Qin Ziling.
After the family sat down, Cui and Yin Ranyue each took a black steamed bun and started eating with vegetables and porridge, without touching the scrambled eggs with chopped green onions.
"Mom, Ranyue, you should also have some scrambled eggs." Seeing this, Qin Ziling wanted to give them some scrambled eggs with chopped green onions.
"You need to strengthen your blood and energy when practicing martial arts, which consumes a lot of energy. You should eat all the scrambled eggs, and we will just do some easy work. Since you are a woman, this is enough for you." Cui said.
"Yes, Master, practicing martial arts is the most important thing!"
When Qin Ziling saw that Cui and Yin Ranyue refused to eat scrambled eggs, he felt moved and helpless, as well as a deep sense of shame and powerlessness.
After coming to this world for ten days, he had already understood that practicing martial arts was extremely exhausting. If he wanted to strengthen his qi and blood, eating a few eggs was far from enough.
Those who practiced martial arts with him and achieved real success all ate meat and medicinal herbs every day as a tonic. Even the truly wealthy families would eat the meat of exotic animals as a tonic.
But the Qin family is now in decline, and the monthly tuition fees for the martial arts school are very tight. How can there be any extra money to buy meat and medicinal herbs for Qin Ziling? As for exotic beast meat, there is no need to think about it.
Because the strange beasts live in the deep mountains and are extremely powerful and ferocious, even experienced old hunters dare not go deep into the mountains to hunt them. Only martial artists who have cultivated to the level of strength dare to go deep into the mountains to hunt strange beasts.
However, even for a martial artist at the strength level, it is extremely dangerous to go deep into the mountains to hunt exotic beasts. Generally, it takes a team of three to five people to dare to go into the mountains to hunt exotic beasts.
"Alas, without meat and medicinal herbs to nourish me, with my current physical foundation and talent, all my hard training will be in vain!" Qin Ziling sighed secretly in his heart, but he couldn't say it out loud.
No one knows a son better than his mother. Although Qin Ziling said nothing, Cui seemed to understand his thoughts. She sighed and said, "Ziling, I know you are ambitious and want to learn from your grandfather to practice martial arts and revive the Qin family. But our family is no longer as prosperous as it used to be. Without meat and medicinal herbs to nourish you, it will be a thousand times more difficult for you to learn from your grandfather. If you think it is impossible, you might as well make plans early."
"Mom, I want to hold on a little longer." Qin Ziling said without hesitation.
If he were to live his life over again, how could he be willing to be a mediocre farmer in a small village?
Moreover, this is a chaotic world where the strong prey on the weak, the strong are respected, bandits are rampant, and wars are raging everywhere. If you don't have strong military force, let alone protecting your family, even your own life will be in danger.
So no matter how difficult this road is or how slim the hope is, Qin Ziling will never give up at this time.
"Well, as long as you have this determination, mother will definitely support you." Cui nodded with mixed feelings.
"Thank you, mother." Qin Ziling looked at Cui's half-white hair and wrinkled face. His nose felt sore and he lowered his head.
When he lowered his head, his eyes fell on the bowl of porridge in front of him, and Qin Ziling's mind suddenly flashed back to the ancient well he saw in his nightmare.
"Mother, is there a Taoist temple called Chixiao in our area?" Qin Ziling's heart moved and he asked.
"Chixiao Temple?" Cui was slightly stunned, then looked at Qin Ziling with surprise and asked, "Why are you suddenly asking about Chixiao Temple?"
