He slowly got up, using his hands to support himself against the flattened reeds on the ground.

Su Jiusheng shouted at her, "Don't move, don't get up."

It was too late. The moment Ning Qiluo stood up, she clearly sensed a danger approaching from behind her.

The light was already shining down overhead.

Ning Qiluo saw Su Jiusheng shaking his head at her in the distance. Ning Qiluo slowly turned around and saw a man dressed in black, wearing a mask, with a smile playing on his lips. He said to her:

"I've come to pick you up."

Pick her up?

Who is he?

Ning Qiluo stared blankly at the man whose face she couldn't make out. Suddenly, in a flash, the object in his hand lunged at her, and Ning Qiluo had no time to dodge—

A crackling, ear-piercing sound of electricity suddenly rang out.

An electric current coursed through her entire body, spreading to her limbs and bones, and then to her brain...

Her eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief, and her whole body was almost numb with pain.

As her body slowly collapsed, the man in black who had electrocuted her caught her, gently placed her on the reeds, and then silently disappeared into the night.

General Deok-sun!

These were the only four words Ning Qiluo heard before her consciousness completely vanished.

...

...

Autumn arrives slowly, but the cold comes suddenly.

Yellow leaves are covered with dew and turn into frost, just as September marks the beginning of autumn.

It was a few minutes past dawn, and there was fog on the window.

A slender, fair hand pressed against the window, leaving a handprint. She breathed on the window and drew a sunflower. However, the sunflower she drew was a bit ugly, so she drew a smiley face on it instead.

Then she drew an old man.

The old man only had a few strands of hair drawn on him, which looked comical and funny.

"Wanxi!"

A powerful roar.

The girl shuddered in fright and quickly wiped the old man off the window with her hand.

As she turned around, she didn't forget to use her head to cover the window, which she had just smeared into a mess, and muttered, "Grandpa, you scared me again. You don't know I was just seriously ill, I can't take a fright."

The old man walked over and scolded her in his strong voice: "Yesterday afternoon, where are the fish in my fish tank? Tell me honestly, did you steal them all to feed Cuihua? Where did you take those two cacti in my study? And that big calligraphy brush in my study, I can't even bear to use it myself, tell me, did you take it to brush the barbecue?"

One by one, the cases were listed out.

Ning Qiluo remained motionless and silent, her head bowing lower and lower.

Upon seeing this, the old man didn't know whether to be angry or amused.

He used to look forward to seeing her, but now he sees her every day, which is so annoying that he's about to tear down his general's mansion!

"Grandpa doesn't blame you."

The old man's name was Ning Wangshan. He was the owner of this general's mansion and was known as General Deshan, a meritorious nobleman.

Now in his sixties, his temples are completely white, and his eyebrows are also white. Despite his age, he is not stooped; he stands tall like a pine tree, and looks energetic and radiant.

Ning Wangshan asked her:

"Did Lan's mother say that when you got up this morning, you kept complaining that you felt unwell all over?" the old woman asked her.

Ning Qiluo twisted her fingers and said in a soft voice, "I just... suddenly feel like I'm sick, I have no energy, I can't muster any strength, and I might die."

Upon hearing this, the old man not only showed no concern but burst into laughter and asked her, "Tell me, what do you need to eat to survive?"

Ning Qiluo: "Hot pot."