Chapter 1

Swindler! All of them are swindlers!

Ning Jinli kicked open several boxes of near‑expiry biscuits piled in the warehouse, then squatted on the ground, clutching her head and weeping bitterly.

She had thought her uncle, out of kindness, had given her a factory from her grandfather's estate, but after completing the inheritance procedures she learned the factory had halted operations and was on the verge of bankruptcy, with seventy million in debt dumped on her! Her boyfriend also dumped her because of that.

She collapsed, unaware that a box of biscuits had rolled to the warehouse back door and vanished instantly…

Inside a certain mountain cave.

Xiao Qidi sat with his back against the rock wall, gripping a blood‑stained, damaged battle sword that he used to prop himself up on the ground.

He and several dozen of his troops have been trapped here for many days, suffering extreme thirst and hunger.

The soldiers have fainted from hunger, and the bandits besieging and hunting them could find them at any moment.

Suddenly, a cardboard box fell from beside him.

He reflexively swung his sword down!

Bang!

The cardboard box burst open, the bag ripped.

Biscuits scattered across the floor, giving off a rich aroma.

"What… is this?"

Xiao Qidi was greatly startled.

Using the sunlight leaking from a crack above the cave, he picked up a piece, sniffed it, and couldn't help but stuff it into his mouth.

Fragrant! Crisp! Sweet!

It's edible!

He grabbed the biscuits and wolfed them down!

Although he was starving enough to eat an entire cow, he forced himself to hold back, then, after regaining a bit of strength, he woke the other soldiers and shoved a few pieces into each of their mouths.

The soldiers were both astonished and delighted, almost bursting into tears.

"His Majesty! …Where… where did this come from?"

"Such fragrant and sweet things have never been seen before, they're delicious!"

"Your Majesty, is there more?"

Xiao Qidi walked to the spot where he had been sitting, reaching toward the place he had leaned against.

The rock wall his fingers touched rippled like water before his eyes, actually forming a passage.

He hesitated slightly, then strode in.

"Your… Your Majesty?!"

The soldiers were greatly startled and lost color.

"A perfectly fine living person just vanished?"

Xiao Qidi felt his vision suddenly open up, and a huge room he had never seen before appeared before him.

The room was stacked with many boxes just like the ones earlier.

There was also a woman squatting on the ground.

He had no time to think, rushing to the boxes and swinging his sword down!

Whoosh—

The biscuits spilled out.

Exactly, these are them!

Overjoyed, he grabbed several boxes and was about to head back.

"Stop! Who… who are you?" Ning Jinli lifted her head, tears hanging on her cheeks, her eyes full of bewilderment.

She didn't even know when this young man in tattered ancient armor had appeared.

Judging by appearance, he is about eighteen years old.

Broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs; tall and straight, estimated at about 1.9 meters or more.

His face was dirty, yet it could not hide his stunningly handsome looks; between his brows and eyes lay a hint of gloomy and overbearing temperament.

Xiao Qidi halted his steps, "I am the king of Xuan Guo, Xiao Qidi."

Ning Jinli froze for a moment, wiped her tears and stood up, "Are you… cosplaying, little brother?"

The Xuan Guo king Xiao Qidi is historically the first emperor to establish a great unified dynasty.

The title of emperor was also created by him; later feudal rulers for over two thousand years continued to use it, honoring him as the Xuan Ancestor Emperor.

Nowadays, cosplay enthusiasts often imitate him, but they usually portray his image as emperor after he conquered the six rival states and founded the Xuan dynasty.

But this guy before us is dressed as Xiao Qidi during the Xuan Guo king period.

He also wields a broken sword, slashing wildly, and after finishing he still wants to snatch a few boxes and leave.

Is he too immersed in the role? Or is it robbery?

Or perhaps… he's mentally ill?

Xiao Qidi didn't understand what she was saying—some gibberish—so he turned to look at her, noticed she was wearing very little, and frowned, saying:

"Miss, you clearly have plenty of food, so you should be well‑off; why are you not covering your body?"

"Huh?"

Ning Jinli's brain short‑circuited.

What riches!

Besides, it's so hot; wearing a camisole and shorts—how is that not covering the body?

This kid really is a nutcase! What a waste of being so tall and handsome.

Xiao Qidi was busy delivering food to the soldiers, lifting his foot toward the warehouse back door.

Ning Jinli had just wanted to say she opened the back door just to get some air, but the outside was overgrown with weeds and impassable; as soon as someone stepped out, they disappeared.

She stood frozen, goosebumps bursting all over her body.

Holy shit…

Originally it's a ghost?!

Xiao Qidi returned to the cave and set down several boxes of biscuits.

"You two, follow me to move more," he directly ordered, "the rest, quickly fill your stomachs."

"Your Majesty... where did you just go?"

The soldiers were all dumbfounded.

Xiao Qidi pointed behind him.

"You can't see there's a passage? Let me clarify, then I'll lead you out from here."

"Follow me."

He turned his head and went over again.

The two named soldiers gritted their teeth and chased, each slamming their forehead into the rock wall.

"Miss, do you have water?" Xiao Qidi walked up to Ning Jinli.

Ning Jinli's face turned deathly pale from fright, and she kept stepping back.

The ghost appeared again!

Xiao Qidi thought he was being mistaken for a bandit, so he pulled two gold bars from his pocket and threw them to her.

"Miss, I won't take it for nothing. Let me buy you some more food and water—will two gold bars be enough?"

Ning Jinli instinctively caught them.

They were not big in volume, felt heavy and substantial, the weight and texture were genuine.

Together they weighed about a catty; at current market prices they could sell for over three hundred thousand!

The extreme pressure of being penniless let her overcome her fear of ghosts.

To be honest, her parents died early; right after college graduation she was screwed over by her uncle, her boyfriend dumped her over this, and her resentment outweighs even a ghost's!

"Not enough?"

Xiao Qidi saw her dazed, thought the two gold bars weren't enough to buy such excellent food, and threw her a jade pendant.

She quickly took it too, one hand holding the gold bars and jade pendant, the other pointing to the corner, "Take the biscuits as you like; there are two bottles of pure water left over there—here you go."

Xiao Qidi walked over, looked at the sealed plastic bottle of water, and his eyes showed doubt.

This was something never seen before.

Move it first, then talk.

"Miss, I still need more; I'll come back later."

Xiao Qidi gave an order, hoisted two bottles of pure water and several large boxes of biscuits, then vanished again through the warehouse back door.

Ning Jinli took a while to come to her senses.

Something's wrong…

Do ghosts need to eat and drink too?

"Eh, who cares!" Ning Jinli decided, and immediately went to the urban area to find a shop selling gold bars.

—

Inside the cave.

Xiao Qidi learned from the crowd that only he could see the passage on the rock wall.

This dispelled his idea of leading them out through there.

He picked up the bottled water, gave it a quick try, unscrewed the cap, took a small sip, and passed it to the others.

After being thirsty for so long, even dirty water would be drinkable, let alone this pure water—it was practically like drinking sweet nectar.

But each person only took a tiny sip; dozens of people together only finished one bottle.

As for the food His Majesty had just brought over, they didn't even touch it.

"Your Majesty, we have recovered our strength and now volunteer to lure the enemy, willing to die to cover your breakout from the bandits' encirclement," a leading soldier with red eyes said on behalf of everyone, "Please, Your Majesty… take this food and water back to distribute to the villagers."

After speaking, everyone knelt down, tears streaming as they kowtowed deeply.

They were ordinary soldiers from the nearby village, born and raised there.

This place lies on the frontier of Xuan Guo, already suffering drought for over half a year, and then bandits took advantage to wreak havoc, seizing water sources and supplies.

Whoever refused to hand over their stored grain, the bandits would chop their children into meat chunks, roast and eat them.

Any woman could not escape their rape and abuse.

The villagers lacked food and water, were oppressed by the bandits, and the local officials either died at the bandits' hands or fled.

In desperation, King Xiao Qidi rushed over, personally leading the remaining soldiers who swore to defend their homeland against the bandits.

Xuan Guo's governmental power is held in the hands of today's Prime Minister, and according to Xuan Guo law, the king may only personally rule after turning twenty.

And the Prime Minister turned a blind eye to the suffering of this small place.

Everyone knew that Xiao Qidi received no help from the court yet risked himself to aid them; this young king truly gave his all.

Now, as long as the king can escape and let the villagers also taste this delicious food and pure water, they are willing to lay down their lives.

Xiao Qidi looked at the soldiers kneeling before him, his chapped lips slightly parting.

"I order you to finish all of this, take turns standing watch, restore your spirits, and wait until nightfall to leave the cave with me. You must all return home alive—not one may be missing."

Xiao Qidi originally stood with them because he did not want to abandon these soldiers who had fallen into the bandits' ambush.

He led them to evade the encirclement and hide in this concealed cave.

Otherwise, with his martial ability, breaking out alone would pose no problem.

His Majesty! the soldiers, tears streaming down their faces.

Xiao Qidi waved his hand, holding a plastic paper and an empty bottle, fell into deep thought.

These things are quite strange; they will surely lure those bandits who treasure wealth as their lives into the trap.

A lethal lure plot surfaced in his mind.

After wiping out the bandits, he would then go to that strange room and ask the woman if she had more food and water.

Perhaps it could ease the villagers' drought and famine suffering.

If she could help relieve the villagers' drought and famine, he would be willing to pay any price.

Meanwhile—

Ning Jinli went to the urban district and found a gold-recycling shop.

She sold two gold bars and earned 310,000.

Walking out of the gold shop, she watched the bustling street and felt as if she were dreaming.

As a child, she had been a well-protected, carefree rich girl doted on by her parents.

But at age twelve, her parents died suddenly in an accident, her grandfather fell ill and could not get up, her uncle took over the family business, and even kicked her out of the Ning household.

Not long ago, her grandfather passed away; her uncle said she had endured a hard decade and gave her a factory to inherit.

She thought her bitter days were over, but instead she fell into a trap.

Now, her account holds a sum of money she has never seen before.

Compared to the factory's seventy million debt, this is a drop in the bucket, but it's still better than having nothing.

By the way, she also has a jade pendant.

Coincidentally, there's an antique shop nearby; she might as well stop by to see how much she could get for it!

Not far away, a luxury car that had just passed turned around and pulled over to the curb.

Dad, what's wrong?

Ning Yao, playing on her phone in the passenger seat, sensed something odd.

Ning Hai gripped the steering wheel, staring fixedly at Ning Jinli's back, and said, "I just saw your cousin come out of that gold-recycling shop next door."

Ning Yao was very surprised.

She sold gold? Could it be that the dead old man secretly gave it to her before he died?

No way; I watched closely, the old man had no chance. Anyway, you go ask around the shop first—I'll keep tailing her.

Sure!

Ning Yao decisively got out of the car.

Ning Hai drove the car, keeping a distant follow behind Ning Jinli.

Soon after, Ning Jinli entered an antique shop.

Welcome, miss. What kind of antique are you looking to buy?

The pot-bellied shop owner asked casually, adjusting his gold-thread glasses as he furtively sized up Ning Jinli.

She had a graceful figure, but her attire was very plain.

She was quite young, with a student-like air, clear eyes—obviously a fresh graduate just entering society.

Ning Jinli looked around; everything was unfamiliar to her, and all seemed expensive.

The owner added, "You've come at a good time; today I'm bored, so I'm personally receiving guests. I guarantee you'll be satisfied with what I recommend, and the price is negotiable."

Ning Jinli whispered, "I want to sell something."

Sell? What can you sell? the owner frowned, his tone mocking, "Heh, go ask around—do you know what level Wu Sanye is? This place is the finest antique shop in all Xinghan City, not a junk recycling station."