Shurong's Tresses

Late at night, everyone was fast asleep.

Jiang Yan was no exception.

The night was short, and sleep came in fits and starts. He felt groggy and dazed.

As if in a dream, he watched everything unfold with the cool detachment of an alert bystander.

"Jiang Yan, wake up! It's almost time for class. If you're late, Teacher Mo will be angry."

"Teacher Mo will be angry."

At the mention of Teacher Mo, Jiang Yan groggily opened his eyes.

Soft morning light streamed through the window lattice. Fine dust filled the room, dancing in the glow.

"Mm... I'm getting up. Don't rush."

Beside him stood a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl, as thin as a bamboo pole. Her skin was fair, and when she saw Jiang Yan was willing to get up, her face lit up with a smile.

"Here, I brought you your new clothes. Put them on. You'll look very smart."

"Mm, okay."

"Ugh... My head hurts!"

The girl briskly poured some hot water and brought over a steaming towel.

Smack!

She plopped it right on Jiang Yan's head without a word. The warmth seeped into his forehead, clearing his head a little.

"Feeling better? Hmph!"

"That's what you get for drinking so much. Go ahead, drink yourself sick—no one's going to care."

"I... I won't drink anymore."

A little while later, the girl replaced his towel with a fresh, hot one.

Then she said, "Mm-hmm, no more drinking."

"Actually, you don't have to lose heart. You're..."

Crash!

The dream shattered. Jiang Yan opened his eyes in the dark.

His first thought was to check the temperature of his left hand. If it felt cooler than his body, it might be a curse.

He'd heard that some monsters could enter people's dreams and kill them.

His left hand was warm. Nothing had changed.

In the darkness, light flickered in Jiang Yan's eyes.

"If it wasn't a dream, then what was it? Just some pointless dream?"

"Or a fragment of my predecessor's memories?"

His soul had crossed into another world, but he hadn't received even the slightest bit of his predecessor's memories. Now that he'd fully settled into this world, fragments that seemed to belong to his predecessor had surfaced.

"Really interesting."

Teacher Mo, the bamboo-pole girl, the drunken young man.

The next morning, Jiang Yan got up and headed to the square for breakfast.

The dream had affected him the night before.

He hadn't slept well.

At the square, he happened to run into Shan Renhu coming back. He blinked and walked over. "Brother Shan, you're back pretty late today."

"J-Jiang... Squad Leader." Shan Renhu's face twisted as he awkwardly addressed Jiang Yan.

"Uh..." Jiang Yan felt awkward too. He hurriedly waved his hands. "Brother Shan, don't be so formal. Let's stick to what we called each other before. I can't accept you calling me Squad Leader."

Old Shan had been the one to show him the ropes, a benefactor who'd helped him along. Apart from his habit of speaking coldly, he was a pretty decent fellow—honest and dependable.

Seeing the sincerity in Jiang Yan's eyes, Shan Renhu smiled, looking genuinely happy. "Jiang Yan, we really did get back late this time."

"We patrolled all night and didn't run into a single monster. Then, just as we were heading back, we came across a Human Wraith. A small fry."

It really had been a small fry. The sight of Tang Long chopping a Human Wraith apart with two swings of his swords had left a deep impression on Jiang Yan. It had even become one of the things that inspired him to take up martial arts.

After all, only by becoming a martial artist could he better protect himself.

But now, Jiang Yan was confident that one thrust of his sword could kill three or four of them.

Killing low-level monsters made Jiang Yan very happy.

It was a perfect chance to farm Weird Value by killing weak mobs. The value was low, but there was no danger. If he had a choice, he'd much rather face ten low-level monsters than one high-level one.

At that moment, Shan Renhu gave Meng Sheng a hearty slap on the shoulder and laughed. "But this time, Meng Sheng here did most of the work killing the monster."

"Honestly, ever since this kid killed that Shadow Silence Monster last time, it's like he's become a different person."

"He's eager to fight monsters, and he especially likes torturing them to death, stabbing them over and over with his spear."

"He even mutters things like, 'Once a monster is killed, it dies,' and stuff like that."

Jiang Yan looked at Meng Sheng and offered him some encouragement. "Congratulations, Meng Sheng. You've overcome your fear of monsters."

To kill a monster, you first had to overcome your fear of it. Otherwise, your legs would give out before you even made a move. People like that were in even greater danger when they encountered monsters.

Once you conquered your fear, killing a monster would be like slaughtering a chicken or a sheep. At the very least, you could keep your head when you struck, giving yourself a much better chance of killing the monster and surviving.

"I... I..." Meng Sheng started getting nervous again, his words coming out with a stutter.

But this time, he was excited. He'd once imagined how wonderful it would be to be as strong as Jiang Yan, killing monsters with a single stroke, as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.

Now he was moving in that direction. It was a truly wonderful feeling.

Just then, Ying Cong let out a soft "Huh." "That woman's back again."

Their attention was drawn to him, and then their gazes shifted.

A young woman stood ahead of them, holding a large bowl.

They hadn't gotten a good look at her yesterday, but now that they examined her closely, they saw how charming she was. She was a real beauty.

She wore a floral dress, its hem swaying gently in the morning breeze like ripples spreading across a tranquil, glassy lake, carrying a cool, quiet elegance.

Jiang Yan estimated that she was only a head shorter than him. Standing on tiptoe, she curiously inspected the breakfast being served that morning.

The sunlight cast a faint blush on her face, making her clear eyes, delicate brows, rosy lips, and rounded chin easy to see.

Jiang Yan waved a hand in front of Ying Cong's face. "Stop staring. Your eyes are about to pop out."

Looking at Ying Cong's lovestruck expression, he silently cursed him for being such a country bumpkin. Had he never seen a pretty woman before?

Back on Azure Planet, all he had to do was tap a few S-rated profiles to find goddesses of every type.

"Brother Jiang, don't you think she's really beautiful?"

Jiang Yan nodded. He had to admit it.

She was beautiful, but he'd seen at least a hundred women as beautiful as her.

But he wasn't going to say that to a country bumpkin like Ying Cong, he thought silently.

"I heard she's a family member of the squad leader who just arrived in Yuyang Village. You can tell at a glance that she's from the city."

"I hope I can marry a woman that beautiful someday."

He concluded, "She really is such a quiet and elegant woman."

Seeing that Ying Cong had the makings of a simp, Jiang Yan silently shifted his feet.

Quiet and elegant? Hadn't Ying Cong seen how rudely she'd slurped down her food yesterday?

At last, after chatting as they queued, they got their food. Jiang Yan did as he had the day before: he squeezed the dried meat, pickles, and bun together until they shrank as much as possible, ate them in three or four bites, and gulped down the porridge.

He was about to set down his bowl when a small hand pushed a large bowl toward him. "You must be hungry. I'm not very hungry, so you can have mine."

Across from him, the girl held out the bowl with one hand. "You're Jiang Yan, right? I heard my elder brother call your name yesterday." Her calm face was lit by a pair of lively eyes that darted around as she looked at Jiang Yan, as if she were wondering about something.

A breeze blew by, and the woman's long hair fluttered. A few strands brushed through the air and touched Jiang Yan's cheek.

A faint lily fragrance drifted over.

"Oh, right. Let me introduce myself. My name is Ren Shurong."