Meng Shan

Beneath the gray-blue sky, the drizzle had briefly let up.

The ancient city at the foot of the mountain was shrouded in a thin mist.

Da Sheng Yun Zhou, Jade Mountain City.

Pain—suffocating pain.

Meng Shan jolted awake from his sleep. The surroundings were strange and unfamiliar.

Before his eyes was a large pearwood bed, draped with delicate gauze curtains.

The familiar ceiling was gone, as was his soft mattress.

"Where am I?"

Meng Shan struggled to move his weak body, confusion and bewilderment filling his eyes.

As waves of intense pain coursed through him, he instinctively tried to find its source.

Looking down, he discovered layers of bandages wrapped around his chest. A strong, pungent medicinal scent wafted from them.

A flicker of surprise rose in Meng Shan's heart. "I... When did I get hurt?"

He struggled to sit up and looked around.

Just then, a gentle voice came from beyond the curtains. "Cousin, you're awake! Thank goodness!"

Before Meng Shan could look up, a slender figure hurried toward him.

A faint fragrance accompanied her, and then a soft, fragrant presence filled his arms, making his head spin.

Before he could speak, the person in his arms sobbed quietly. "Cousin, I thought... I thought you'd never wake up again..."

Her voice trembled with worry, moving him deeply.

Though he was full of questions as he looked at the girl in his arms, Meng Shan chose to remain silent under the circumstances.

As time passed, the girl gradually calmed down. Shyly, she lifted her head, revealing a lovely, graceful face and allowing Meng Shan to see her clearly.

She looked about fifteen or sixteen, with a touch of girlish innocence in her eyes and a gentle air about her.

Her black hair was simply pinned up with a wooden hairpin, and her pale blue silk clothes gave her a particularly fresh, refined appearance.

Her eyes were red and swollen, and tear tracks still marked her face, adding to her delicate, endearing look.

Perhaps because Meng Shan had woken, a trace of joy showed on the girl's weary face.

She said softly, "Cousin, you're injured. Don't move around just yet. I'll go fetch Mister Mo."

Watching the girl leave, observant Meng Shan had already noticed that her clothes were unusual. At first glance, she looked like an actress in a historical drama.

"I remember... I was playing Wulin Qixia Zhuan last night, and I was about to start my sixth playthrough, and then..."

At that thought, Meng Shan's eyes suddenly widened.

Memories that did not belong to him surged into his mind in an instant, like a whirlpool stirred up by a deep-sea storm.

Meng Shan's memories became a jumbled mess, and his head throbbed as if it would split.

It took him a long while to come around, and then a shock beyond words welled up inside him.

He had transmigrated!

Rubbing his aching head, Meng Shan closed his eyes, hoping to ease the discomfort.

By then, he had fully absorbed all the memories belonging to this body.

It was a life entirely different from his own.

In these memories, his name was Meng Qingshan, and he was the biological nephew of Li Yuanzhen, chief escort of the Changfeng Escort Agency in Jade Mountain City.

He had trained in martial arts and worked as an escort under his uncle, Li Yuanzhen, since childhood, traveling far and wide.

He was openhearted and loyal, and was deeply loved by his uncle and everyone at the agency.

Li Yuanzhen had been widowed young and had no children apart from his two daughters.

As he grew older, he treated Meng Qingshan like his own son and groomed him as his successor.

A few months earlier, the Fuwei Escort Agency had paid them a visit and proposed that the escort agencies join forces, with the aim of making itself the head of the alliance.

Jade Mountain City stood at a major crossroads near several rivers, and trade there was brisk. With the world in turmoil as well, the escort business had flourished.

Besides the Changfeng Escort Agency, there were four other agencies in Jade Mountain City.

The Zhao family's Fuwei Escort Agency was the largest of them. Zhao Zhicheng was ambitious, and though he had already captured a third of the city's business, he still wasn't satisfied.

He wanted to form an escort alliance, bringing all five agencies together so they could advance and retreat as one and set escort prices collectively.

It seemed like a good idea, but Li Yuanzhen thought Zhao Zhicheng was a hypocrite who would stop at nothing. Working with him would be like making a deal with a tiger, so he promptly rejected the proposal.

Since the Changfeng Escort Agency was the oldest in Jade Mountain City, the other three agencies grew hesitant when they saw Li Yuanzhen's refusal. Zhao Zhicheng was furious and once threatened to drive the Changfeng Escort Agency out of the city.

Not long afterward, the Changfeng Escort Agency took on an important escort job.

To ensure the cargo's safety, the agency sent out all its best men. Yet not only did the cargo fail to reach its destination safely, the entire group nearly perished.

Only Li Yuanzhen and Meng Qingshan survived that job.

Li Yuanzhen did everything he could to get Meng Qingshan out of danger, but suffered grave injuries himself.

Not long after returning to the agency, he died from the severity of his wounds.

In his final moments, Li Yuanzhen seemed to have seen through the truth. He had wanted to tell Meng Qingshan something, but in the end, he only asked him to look after his two daughters before passing away.