Why did you provoke that old man? He's a reincarnation of a deity!

West of Mizhou City, the Li residence.

The Li family mansion occupied half of the alley on this street, with its vermilion gates and high walls, exuding an imposing and grand air. Li Chenggang was the Prefect of Mizhou Prefecture, ostensibly the local official in charge of the city, but secretly he monopolized the market, running grain shops, salt shops, money exchanges, smuggling, and lending.

Beneath the golden plaque bearing the name "Ye Residence" stood two gatekeepers, dressed in clean blue robes with fawning smiles on their lips.

They saw a hunched, white-haired old man leaning on a wooden stick he had picked up, walking slowly and panting as he reached the steps.

Upon seeing that the newcomer was an old man, the smiles on their faces instantly froze, replaced by cruelty.

"Where did this old beggar come from? Get lost! This is the Li residence! If you make a mess of it, you can't afford to pay for it!"

"If you don't get out of here, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Xiao Nian looked up, his face covered in bruises. He coughed twice, his voice hoarse and aged:

"Tell your master to get out here. Tell him I, Meng Chenhai, have come to collect a debt."

The gatekeeper was taken aback, looking him up and down: "Meng...? Ah, you're that thief! Weren't you beaten to death by your students?"

"He's still alive, so you don't need to bother with him," Xiao Nian said slowly. "Tell him to come out here and say that Meng Chenhai has come to collect the teaching salary he owes from back then. Ninety-eight taels of silver, not a penny less."

The gatekeeper's face changed: "What utter nonsense! Didn't our master say last time that you stole things from the manor and were kicked out long ago? You still dare to come asking for money?"

"Your master knows exactly what he stole. Go tell Lord Li that his grandfather, the thief, has come to collect his hard-earned money."

Just as the gatekeeper was about to start cursing again, another, more quick-witted man tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Don't talk nonsense with him. Have you forgotten what the master ordered? Every word this old man said must be reported."

The gatekeeper didn't understand why the master was still keeping tabs on the old man even though he had clearly kicked him out. He glared at Xiao Nian and turned to go into the mansion.

Before long, the vermilion gate opened from the inside, and Li Chenggang came out in person. He was in his fifties, with a fair complexion and no beard, wearing a blue peacock official robe, and a smile on his face.

"You old bastard, you still dare to come here and curse? I think you're tired of living. If you don't die today, I'm not a Li."

Li Chenggang waved his hand, and several servants rushed forward to surround Xiao Nian.

"Master Li, I won't beat around the bush with you today. I know your status in Mizhou Prefecture. You're the one who spread the news that I'm a thief. Now I'm not pretending anymore, I'm laying my cards on the table. I am indeed a thief, and now all I want is my hard-earned money."

Xiao Nian readily admitted that he was the thief, essentially telling Li Chenggang that he was the one who took the items.

The smile on Li Chenggang's face froze for a moment.

"Well, you've got it! You can guard against anything, but it's hard to guard against a thief within your own ranks. Men, beat him to death, and then search the place."

The servants of the Li family were preparing to take action.

Do you think I would carry anything on my person?

"Then give it back to me, and let bygones be bygones."

"Heh, if I deliver these things to Admiral Shi, you'll have your head chopped off several times over," Xiao Nian continued menacingly.

"I've been teaching here for ten years, but you've only paid me for five. You have five more years to go, and you must pay me every penny."

Li Chenggang's smile finally crumbled, and his face darkened.

"What do you want?"

"Give me back my hard-earned money!"

Li Chenggang was taken aback, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Mr. Meng is indeed a sensible man." He took a step closer to Xiao Nian and lowered his voice, "Give me back my things, and I'll give you double the money."

"Double? Mr. Li, am I getting senile? If I give you the goods, how am I supposed to live to enjoy them?"

"What if you take the money and then take the goods outside?"

"I still have my son!"

"You? You old beggar, do you even have any family? Your grandson can't get into the military academy because of you, and I don't think you care at all."

"Unless... you agree to one condition?"

"What are the conditions?"

"From now on, you will teach the Li family's children every month, earning ten taels of silver. You will live in my Li family's house, and I will take care of you in your old age!"

Xiao Nian narrowed his eyes. Saying it was to take care of him was really just keeping him under his nose, ready to kill him at any moment if anything went wrong.

"How long can I receive ten taels a month?"

"Then let's see what your worth is," Li Chenggang grinned menacingly, his words dripping with threat.

"make a deal!"

"good!"

Li Chenggang turned around and waved his hand, and his attendant ran in and took out a money bag.

He personally handed it to Xiao Nian, weighed it in his hand, and the silver coin clattered as it was placed in his hand.

A full one hundred taels!

"Keep the change. Consider the extra money as an advance payment for your coffin."

Xiao Nian took the money pouch, opened it in front of him, and then put it in her pocket.

"Two extra taels? That's more than enough to buy your father's coffin." Xiao Nian turned and left.

Li Chenggang stood at the door, clenching his fists tightly, watching the hunched figure disappear around the corner of the alley, his smile slowly fading.

"Master, would you like to?" A servant behind him leaned forward and whispered, making a throat-slitting gesture.

Li Chenggang spread rumors that Meng Chenhai was a thief in order to test whether he had taken the black box that allowed communication with foreigners, but Meng Chenhai neither argued nor defended himself.

Li Chenggang was extremely annoyed. Later, he ordered the students of the military academy to beat him to death, and that would have been the end of the matter of the black box. He never expected that this old bastard would come to blackmail him at this time.

Li Chenggang waved his hand dismissively, his face grim: "Let him run wild for a couple of days. Mizhou City isn't that big. Go investigate and see where he hid the things. Once you find them, clean up the mess and get the stuff back."

"What if that brat Meng Delin gets involved?"

Li Chenggang narrowed his eyes slightly and said without hesitation, "Kill."

To him, those worthless lives were not even as important as the watchdogs he kept.

Xiao Nian walked down the street, with several pairs of eyes staring at him from behind.

He didn't turn around; his hunched back swayed slowly as he hummed an off-key tune.

Xiao Nian agreed to Li Chenggang's request. It was simple: in her previous life, her uncle Ye Jingtang was acquainted with Li Chenggang, and Xiao Nian could see him at the Li residence.

There are still many mysteries surrounding what happened to him in Kunlun Mountain in his past life that need to be solved. He will only be able to find out gradually after meeting Ye Jingtang.

Thinking of Ye Jingtang, Xiao Nian began to recall details of her past life.

His father, Xiao Huaiyuan, was the registrar of Xunwu County. On the surface, he was a farmer, but in reality, he was a top-notch martial arts master.

His mother, Lin Wanqing, was said to be a young lady from a prominent family. She eloped with his father to Xunwu County. He also had a younger sister named Xiao Lingyi.

The Ye and Xiao families have been friends for generations. In his previous life, when he was fourteen, he went to his aunt's house in Mizhou Prefecture to find his cousin Ye Xunmei. They reunited in the county town in his previous life. Ye Jingtang had always wanted to bring the two of them together, and they entered the Chu Nan Heng Yue Martial Arts Academy together.

Xiao Nian treated her like a goddess, showering her with care and concern. But what was the result? His cousin, Ye Xunmei, enjoyed the vanity that came with Xiao Nian's passionate love, and her attitude towards him was one of neither accepting nor rejecting him.

Until Shi Junhao appeared.

The eldest son of the Shi family, the governor of Jiangbei Province, returned from studying abroad. He was elegant, wealthy, and worldly-wise, and Ye Xunmei immediately fell into his arms.

A bitch and a dog, a match made in heaven.

After that, Xiao Nianxin was heartbroken and gave up on herself for a year.

Everything changed starting with Liu Wan'er, a student at the Beiyang Xuanwu Martial Arts Academy. The two met at the Shennong Trial Grounds. Their experiences were quite similar, and they rescued each other from dire situations on several occasions. Later, they secretly pledged their lives to each other.

Later, Xiao Nian's martial arts cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds, making him the number one martial artist in the Great Xia Dynasty and breaking through the limits of the Martial Emperor.

Liu Wan'er contracted a strange illness. To save her, Xiao Nian ventured alone into Kunlun Mountain. On the verge of death, he was rescued by the Kunlun Immortal and taken away from Blue Star to cultivate immortality.

When I returned, eight hundred years had passed, and everything had changed beyond recognition.

Even after hundreds of years, Xiao Nian still investigated the fates of his missing relatives through various ancient texts: his father and mother were used as experimental subjects by foreigners, Ye Jingtang died to save his father, his sister established an overseas country, and Liu Wan'er vanished without a trace.

With his memories of his past life, he understood that it was not too late. Liu Wan'er's illness was a constitutional disease that would not manifest for three years, and the invasion from the alien realm would also take five years.

Three years, five years—he needs to be strong enough during that time to change everything!