"Old man, could you please take another look and see if anything's wrong with me? Perhaps, there's some lingering poison in my body?" At the top of Jade Kun Mountain, a young man in his twenties was anxiously pleading before an elder outside a cottage.
The young man's name is Wu Qianhan, aged twenty-three. With handsome and sun-kissed looks, a striking repose is what sets him apart. Even dressed in a gown of mere short sleeves and shorts, he still manages to come off as pretty exceptional.
The old man, at this moment, was enjoying a reclining chair with his eyes closed. After listening to Wu Qianhan's words, without bothering to even give him a glance, he responded grumpily, "Scram! No need to check, you have no problems at all, moreover, the toxins in your body have been completely cleansed."
"No problem? That's odd. Why have I been hearing someone calling my name in my dreams lately? Could it be an illusion?" Wu Qianhan's brow furrowed even deeper, and a thoughtful look took over his face.
"'Someone calling your name in your dreams?" At this, the old man opened his eyes quickly, gave Wu Qianhan a side glance and asked, "Male? Female?"
"Female." Wu Qianhan instantly became more energetic and started spilling the details, "And it was a woman with an incredibly pleasing voice. Though, I couldn't see her face in the dream, I am convinced that she must have been an unparalleled beauty."
"Convinced?" The old man smirked disapprovingly and declared, "I am also convinced that you're not sick. You're just getting the spring fever."
Wu Qianhan shook his head and quickly corrected, "No, old man, really. I indeed heard someone calling my name in my dreams."
Saying this, Wu Qianhan paused, then once again, he seriously said, "Old man, I've been thinking lately, and I seriously suspect that my worldly ties are not severed yet."
The old man's eyes popped open, and he retorted peevishly, "Worldly ties? Why don't you just say that you want to leave this mountain? Fine, fine, I won't stop you. After all, there's nothing wrong with you now. Hurry up and leave."
"Really? You're truly letting me go?" Wu Qianhan cautiously confirmed.
Ever since he arrived here five years ago, there were numerous instances when Wu Qianhan tried to sneak down the mountain, only to be ruthlessly intercepted and brought back by the old man every single time. And each time, he wasn't spared the chastisement. So what's happening now? The old man is actually allowing him to leave, and that too, this willingly! Had the sun risen from the west?
"Relax, it's real this time." the old man slightly inclined his head and sighed, "Five years already, it's time for you to leave. As of today, your body has fully recovered. I've kept my promise to your father."
"A little later, pack up and leave, remember, once you descend the mountain, head straight to the Jade Kun station. Your father said he'd arrange for someone there to pick you up," he added.
"Really? That's great..." Wu Qianhan's face lit up with joy, and in the middle of his speech, he flung himself at the old man, tightly grasping his hand, and while shaking his arm, excitedly exclaimed, "Old man, it's been five years! Five years! This is the first human conversation I've heard from your mouth!"
"Scram, you little brat! I don’t want to see your face!" The old man fumed as he literally kicked Wu Qianhan out of the place.
"Got it, old man, until we meet again!" Wu Qianhan was very agile, and after being kicked out, he didn't look back, instead frantically running down the mountain.
"Huh? Something's not right... why is this little brat acting so strange today?" The old man was puzzled, watching the hurried figure of Wu Qianhan disappear down the mountain.
Moments later, his face turned pale as he noticed his left hand. On one of his fingers, where the dark golden ring used to sit, was nothing. Enraged, he jumped out of his recliner and bellowed in the direction of Wu Qianhan, "You little brat, get back here and return my Xuanlong ring!"
"Come back? Do you think I’m a fool?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Qianhan didn’t turn back, but instead increased his run, yelling while running: "Till we meet again, old man."
…
The Yunkun Mountain range is incredibly expansive, with precarious slopes, dense forests, and numerous winding paths crisscrossing in all directions, resembling a chessboard. It's effortless to lose one's way within.
Perhaps because of this, there are usually no signs of life within the Yunkun Mountain range, with very few people venturing here.
But today was a different story. All of a sudden, a group of people arrived.
There were ten people in total, nine men and one woman.
Among the nine men, the leader was a bald, portly man with scars strewn across his left face, making him look fierce. He was wearing a vest and a pair of shorts. The other eight men were dressed in identical vests and denim shorts. They all had tattoos of a ferocious tiger on their left arm, each holding an iron rod in their hands.
At the moment, they were all surrounding a woman against a crumbling wall. They had lustful expressions on their faces, and some even drooled.
"Wow, you truly are the divine Dream Luo, the city flower of Longhua city. This figure, this face... simply superb!" The bald man’s eyes were filled with lust, revealing his yellowing teeth as he spoke.
"You... you know who I am? Who... who the heck are you guys? Who sent you?" Dream Luo's delicate face was stern, her beautiful eyes filled with panic. She could see the ill-intentions of the group before her - in particular, the bald man's unbridled gaze, which made her feel disgusted and uneasy.
"Hahaha…" The bald man laughed heartily, arrogantly saying, "Who can boss me around? Dream Luo Shen, I'll tell you the truth, today, I came specifically for you.”
"For me?" Dream Luo Shen's face grew increasingly ugly, because at this moment, she could almost guess their intentions. She quickly said, "Do you want money? As long as you let me go, I'll give you whatever amount you want."
"Let you go? Are you joking?" The bald man, his lips slightly raised, had a sleazy look on his face. He said, "Correct, we really want money, but compared to that, I'd rather 'communicate' with you and ... perhaps shoot an adult film or something to commemorate it."
With these words, a blond man next to him deliberately raised the video camera in his hand and laughed lasciviously, "Hehe, don't worry, my video shooting skills are top-notch. I've been a professional videographer for twenty years, guaranteed to make you satisfied."
"Haha!" As soon as the blond man's voice fell, there was a burst of laughter all around.
"You…” The expression on Dream Luo Shen's face changed dramatically; she turned completely pale. Even though she had already guessed the outcome in front of her, when she heard the bald man say it out loud, she still couldn't accept it. Her heart was filled with fear and panic. She didn't dare to imagine how bleak and dark her future would be if the bald man succeeded.
