After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Lijia Village.

It was foggy in the early morning.

"Squeak~"

Ning Nan pushed open the wooden door and took a deep breath.

The air is fresh.

Everything is auspicious.

He chuckled and stretched.

The door slammed shut with a loud bang.

Thump, thump, thump, stepping out of their dilapidated courtyard.

He stretched his arm forward, bent his elbow, and made a stretching motion that was scorned by the people of Lijia Village.

He swung his arms, pushed off with his thighs, and started jogging.

"According to the plot, the female lead will be assassinated at Luofeng Slope, ten miles away today, and the male lead, that blockhead Li Yanting from the east end of the village, will save her there."

Ning Nan muttered to himself, speaking in a language that the old oxen of Lijia Village were destined not to understand.

The morning breeze felt on his body, but the body that the women of Lijia Village were drooling over was not cold at all. His strong physique, just turned eighteen, was, without exaggeration, hotter than the red-hot furnace in Chen the blacksmith's house!

Walking on the bluestone slabs in straw sandals, I greeted the people of Lijia Village all the way.

Some people nodded.

Some people pretend not to see it.

He can't remember the people who pay attention to him.

Those who ignore him remember him very clearly.

A stream flows, and a bridge spans it.

Thump, stepping onto the stone slab bridge leading to Luofeng Slope.

The dead black dog of Li Erlai's family, who lived by the bridge, chased after him, barking and snarling.

"Woof woof—woof!"

Bang! Ning Nan turned around and kicked the dog in the mouth. "Woo-woo-woo," the dog whimpered and ran back after being kicked.

"Hey." Still not satisfied, he chased after the dog and kicked its butt hard, sending the dead dog tumbling off the bridge.

"Splash!" The dog's head went into the water. "Woof woof—woof!"

The dead dog was barking and splashing around in the water.

"You won't drown."

Ning Nan spat and ran towards the other side of the bridge.

The stones in his straw sandals hurt his feet, but he didn't stop.

"The female lead's servants all died, and she was seriously injured. Li Yanting saved her. The plot was extremely melodramatic. This woman had amnesia, and the two got married a few days later."

Deng Deng Deng!

Ning Nan wiped his sweat, took a side path to cross Yaoshan Mountain, and there were still five miles left.

"Three months after their marriage, the woman regained her memory and secretly ran away. The male protagonist was heartbroken, and the people of Li Village mocked him. Just then, hey, the woman came back, saying that she was the only daughter of a wealthy man named Zhu from the city, and that she had returned with her dowry to find her husband... And then the male protagonist became incredibly wealthy..."

The thorns in the mountains cut my calves.

But Ning Nan dared not stop at all.

A little blood won't kill you.

"I was sitting at a roadside stall, eating barbecue and reading a book, completely engrossed in it. Just as I got to this part, a flash of white light appeared, and a 100-ton truck with its license plate covered, its high beams brighter than the sun, ran a red light and turned without braking, heading straight for me!"

Ning Nan sniffed in grief and indignation.

I struck it lucky! I was pulled into a book, pulled into this dilapidated Li Family Village!

Eighteen years!

Eighteen years!

From an infant adopted by a widow to an adult, he waited a full eighteen years, until the day of "May 20th of the Dingmao year of the Great Liang Dynasty"—the day this story begins!

Ning Nan was parched and crawled up the mountain using both hands and feet.

"Damn it, I have to make it! I have to make it! Whether I get back to Earth or not, at least I should be able to live a decent life!"

He was a baby when he transmigrated, and was adopted by Widow Ning from Li Family Village.

But after all, he was an abandoned baby, and there were rumors in the village that he was the illegitimate child born to Widow Ning and another man, and that he was not registered in the county.

The Ning family were originally outsiders, having fled to Lijia Village.

After all the male members of the family died out, the village head, Li Baoxin, wanted to take advantage of the widow Ning's extinction of her lineage and refused to register her household.

No identity.

The village headman wouldn't issue a travel permit, so he'd never be able to leave Lijia Village for the rest of his life.

Even though he had a lot of messy knowledge in his head, and the photographic memory that came with time travel, it was all useless.

The mother and son had always relied on digging in the soil for food.

"Miss Zhu is the only chance."

His soles were bleeding from the friction, but the pace of the pain only accelerated. If he weren't afraid of wolves, he would have slept there last night.

"As long as I can save Miss Zhu before Li Yanting... then follow the plot, marry her, and wait for Miss Zhu to come back to repay my kindness, I'll be rich."

Li Yanting... Li Yanting... Ning Nan spat out a mouthful of spittle. Damn it, isn't it strange that such a poor, godforsaken place has this name?

Li Erlai, Li Dahei, Li Sanzhuang... these are names that fit the style of a dilapidated village!

He lay on the small earthen slope, parted a clump of foxtail grass, spat twice, and expelled the grass seeds that had flown into his mouth.

The wind blew by, carrying an overwhelming stench of blood.

Ning Nan looked towards the main road.

"really!"

His eyes were serious.

There were about a dozen corpses lying haphazardly on the ground.

Several men in black walked around, brandishing knives and occasionally stabbing the corpses with their blades.

"No rush."

Ning Nan held her breath.

We definitely can't win in a fight.

Besides, the female lead definitely didn't die. She should be among the group of people lying in pools of blood. After these men in black leave, he can just go and "pick her up" again.

There were three men in black.

Ning Nan lay there obediently.

About fifteen minutes later, the men in black nodded to each other, put away their weapons, and ran together toward the west side of the main road.

Ning Nan narrowed his eyes, took out a piece of cloth from his pocket, and covered his mouth and nose... In case the bad guys saw him, at least he could cover his face.

A cool morning breeze blew in from the north, causing the foxtail grass to sway gently.

I waited for another 15 minutes while nestled on the earthen slope.

After confirming that the group of thieves wasn't fishing and the man in black hadn't returned, Ning Nan emerged from the bushes.

He crouched low as he approached the pool of blood, tiptoeing as carefully as possible to avoid getting his straw sandals covered in blood. He rummaged through the corpses a few times; they were all dead, completely still.

At that moment, a soft moaning sound rang out.

Ning Nan turned around, took a few quick steps forward, and moved the two heavy female corpses aside. Underneath the corpses... sure enough, there was a woman in fine clothes lying there, her brows slightly furrowed!

"He's not dead!"

She wore a bright green dress of excellent quality, with a softness that Ning Nan had never experienced since her transmigration.

"This must be silk," Ning Nan said, smacking his lips.

This woman had a supple figure, an extremely beautiful and charming appearance, and skin as white as snow, radiating a light that only porcelain could produce.

When I was thirteen, I secretly went to Master Li's house and peeked over the wall to see the old man's newly acquired concubine. I originally thought that the concubine was a beauty of unparalleled grace.

But to compare that concubine to the woman in one's arms is like comparing a beautiful sparrow to a phoenix on a branch.

"He was stabbed in the abdomen."

Ning Nan was prepared. He took out some herbs from his pocket, chewed them, and found them bitter and astringent. He spat out the herbs, applied them to the woman's abdomen, and then wrapped a strip of cloth around her waist to bandage the wound.

With a swift backhand scissors, he hoisted the woman onto his back.

After confirming that no blood had dripped onto the ground, Ning Nan, wearing straw sandals, disappeared into the bushes and ran straight home.