Luoshui County.
Early morning.
Threads of dawn pierced through the clouds, spilling their light upon the ancient city walls.
The once-quiet Luoshui County had long since stirred to life. The main thoroughfares, extending in all directions, were already filled with the cries of vendors—a lively clamor of trade and bustle. On the eastern side of the county, inside a small courtyard enclosed by a wicker fence. Jiang Ning sat cross-legged on a wooden chair, facing the sun. His elbows rested on his knees, his palms cradled his chin. In his hands, he quietly leafed through a scroll.
[The Chronicle of the Mythic Era]
It was a miscellaneous text, recording tales of gods and spirits.
Before the Great Xia Dynasty, according to the book, there existed a world where gods and men coexisted. Rivers had their gods, mountains had their gods, divine beings were everywhere. Though the book seemed absurd and fanciful, Jiang Ning read it with extraordinary seriousness, utterly absorbed.
[Literacy +1 EXP]
[Literacy +1 EXP]
After a long while, Jiang Ning turned the final page and slowly withdrew his gaze. The scroll in his hands closed completely.
[Through this reading session, you have gained a total of 8 Literacy EXP.]
The next moment, A panel materialized before him. A panel that only he could see.
[Name]: Jiang Ning
[Source Energy]: 13.5
[Skill]: Literacy (Perfection 968/1000) (Special Effect: None)
"It's almost at full value. I wonder what changes will come once this Literacy skill reaches Perfection." Looking at his panel, Jiang Ning felt a surge of excitement.
Over the past few days, he had devoured every book at home, ancient records, comprehensive histories, classic scriptures, essential texts, all of them, one after another.
With the help of those books, he had painstakingly grinded this skill step by step: from Novice to Proficiency, then to Minor Success, and finally to Great Success.
Each breakthrough brought a clearer mind, faster thinking, sharper hearing and vision.
As far as he knew, these were exactly the effects of a growing spirit.
In the Great Xia Dynasty, within the Confucian tradition, reading nourished the spirit.
Through this period of intensive study, he had come to grasp the panel's wondrous function.
The panel possessed the power to turn the mundane into the miraculous. As long as he focused on reading, the Literacy skill would grow continuously, and once proven, the mastery would be permanently certified. Now, every book he had ever read was vividly etched into his mind. With a single thought, he could recall every detail.
At this moment, he was just over thirty experience points short of reaching Perfection. At his current pace, he could grind out those points simply by reading a few more books later.
With his present knowledge, without boasting, passing the county-level examinations to become a Child Scholar or even a Xiucai would be effortless.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ning's anticipation grew. Achieving scholarly honors next year could completely change his current situation.
"Dudu!"
"Dudu!!"
Just then, a soft, sweet, babyish voice reached Jiang Ning's ears.
Hearing that gentle call, Jiang Ning snapped back to the present.
Following the sound, he saw a little girl, delicately carved like jade, with large eyes and two little pigtails pointing skyward, wobbling as she ran toward him. Her chubby cheeks were particularly striking.
Seeing his five-year-old niece, Jiang Ning fully returned to the moment.
"Little Dumpling, slow down!"
A faint smile rose to his face.
In this household, the person closest to him was his five-year-old niece, Jiang Yuanyuan, nicknamed "Little Dumpling." From her delicate, finely featured face, one could tell she would grow into a beauty—a testament to good genes. Her mother's looks and bearing must have been exceptional.
"Dudu, this is Guoguo's book. I brought it for Dudu to read!"
As Little Dumpling spoke, she strained to look up at Jiang Ning.
Even though Jiang Ning was merely sitting on a chair, his height required the five-year-old to tilt her head back to see his face.
Jiang Ning smiled, took the book that Little Dumpling was struggling to hold, and felt a private joy.
For him, the book's content didn't matter, as long as he hadn't read it before, it would increase his Literacy experience points. With this new book, he would certainly max out the skill's experience points before the day was out. He set the book aside without examining it, then ruffled Jiang Yuanyuan's little head.
"Little Dumpling is so good!"
"Dudu is so handsome!" Little Dumpling, in turn, was unstinting with her praise.
Jiang Ning chuckled at that. He rubbed her little head and said, "What do you know about handsome or not?"
"Handsome is handsome! Dudu is just handsome! Just as handsome as my daddy!" The tiny Little Dumpling refused to back down.
Jiang Ning smiled noncommittally. Just then, a woman's voice drifted flatly from the nearby kitchen.
"Time to eat."
The voice was very direct, very cold, without much emotion, yet it carried an inherent gentleness and grace. Jiang Ning looked up and saw a woman around thirty, with the poise and appearance of a refined lady, standing at the kitchen door. The moment she noticed Jiang Ning's gaze, That rather striking woman gave him an indifferent glance, then looked away, as if with a touch of disdain.
Seeing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help an awkward smile.
How could he not know that this sister-in-law had long harbored grievances about him living off his elder brother for over a decade?After all, his sister-in-law had been married to his elder brother for more than ten years, and they now had a son and a daughter together.
The eldest son, Jiang Yiming, was already fourteen. He studied literature and practiced martial arts, with no small ambition. But since childhood, his extensive reading and martial training, nurturing his physique, had cost no small amount of silver.
Under these circumstances, Jiang Ning's previous self had spent those ten-plus years doing nothing productive, idle and shiftless, with all expenses borne entirely by his elder brother.
And his elder brother was merely a constable in Luoshui County, with limited income. How could his sister-in-law not resent him? Especially recently, with grain prices rising daily and five mouths to feed at home, finances had grown even tighter—and her resentment toward him had deepened.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ning felt quite helpless.
He was fully aware that his sister-in-law did not think well of him, and he completely understood, it was only human nature.
He had been bleeding his elder brother's family dry all along.
But as things stood, he had no way out. His previous self had left no savings. For most of the two-plus months since he had transmigrated here, he had spent his time recovering from injuries. So even if he wanted to move out, there was no way.
"Continuing to live off them for a short while is unavoidable. Luoshui County is not peaceful right now," Jiang Ning thought to himself.
He already had a plan for the future.
In recent days, drawing on his brother's position at the county office and his own intensive reading to understand the changing trends of the world. The Great Xia Dynasty he now inhabited was clearly showing the turbulent signs of a dynasty in its twilight years. And even within this small Luoshui County, several forces were stirring beneath the surface.
As a history major in his previous life, he knew this kind of situation all too well.
History always repeats itself in cycles,never absolute parallels, but inescapably similar trajectories.
Thus he understood clearly that the Great Xia Dynasty, which had stood for over eight hundred years, was now beset by calamities on all fronts: natural disasters everywhere, displaced refugees fleeing, rebellions springing up, and all manner of bizarre, deformed cults erupting. The great edifice was on the verge of collapse.
In such a situation, only one's own personal power could ensure survival in a dynasty's final years. Otherwise, once the rolling tide arrived, the empire thrown into chaos, heroes contending for power, especially in a world where the martial path blazed bright and strong, where the weak could fight ten to one, the strong could form an army of one, and the supreme masters could conquer a nation single-handedly. As an ordinary commoner, swept into such a torrent, how could one possibly survive?
His elder brother was now just an ordinary county constable—no different from a grain of sand in the tide of history.
"I'll still need my brother's help for a short while. As for my brother and sister-in-law's family… I can only repay them later."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. "Dudu" (嘟嘟) is a child's affectionate pronunciation of "dudu" a common Mandarin baby-talk variant for "uncle" (叔叔, shushu). Young children often replace the "sh" sound with a softer "d" sound, turning "Shushu" into "Dudu." In this context, Little Dumpling is calling Jiang Ning her uncle (her father's younger brother).