The first time I met Ning Ying was in an old room, behind the ancestral hall of the Feng Clan. The room was normally off-limits to everyone.
But on that day, I had suddenly been forced to go there. They told me that I’d been put in charge of that place—so I had to take good care of the thing inside.
Yes, they referred to it as the thing.
From that name, I knew they didn’t like whatever was in there—but they couldn’t get rid of it either.
So they made me go instead.
The aged door creaked harshly as I opened it.
It was a very empty room, with only a single table in there. Sitting on the old table was an incense burner, and a jar that had a seal on it.
The seal looked ancient. I walked towards it for a closer look. I could barely tell from the faded ink that it had been created by my great-grandfather.
My great-grandfather. He was the one who helped the clan smoothly ride out that chaotic, war-filled period. He was the latest hero of the Feng clan.
The jar suddenly started to shake just as I began to examine the seal. Cracks spread all over it as the jar shattered into countless pieces before my very eyes.
Smoke poured out of the shattered jar. After it dispersed, a completely naked woman stood before me. She had a ferocious expression and lunged at me when she saw me. It seemed like she wanted to kill me.
Having been threatened, I naturally had to fight back. But before I could even take a talisman out, she suddenly fell to the ground.
I held up the talisman as I stood there without knowing what to do.
Although she was a ghost, she was also a female ghost.
The Feng clan had a rule: ghosts that were being provided for by the clan were either their benefactors, or ones the clan had let down. Hence, they couldn’t be killed. And since I had already seen her body, I could only bring her back to the place where I lived.
I didn’t dare to tell the others for fear that they would use this against me.
She was in a deep sleep and seemed to be very weak. I wanted to seal her again. However, I didn’t succeed even after several attempts. Since I had no other choice, I could only look after her.
It was only after three years that she awoke. I just so happened to turn 18 then, and I had been planning to move out of the ancestral mansion.
What I hadn’t expected was that she would lose her memories. Other than remembering that her name was Ning Ying, she didn’t remember anything else.
I decided to bring her with me when I left.
It was only because I fell for someone else’s plot that we formed a ghost contract. I had thought of dissolving it. But since I had to keep her for the long term anyway, I felt that the contract wouldn’t make that much of a difference.
Ning Ying was very obedient. She always followed my every instruction to the letter and rarely asked any questions. Because I always gave her a cold attitude in response, over time, the only thing she felt towards me was respect.
Later on, I sent her to Nalan Ying’s side to find out what weaknesses he had.
But what I hadn’t expected was that the next time I saw her, not only had she yet to find a single weakness of his, she also appeared to have transformed into an entirely different person.
I had been unable to sense her for a long while on that day, which was why I went to the neighbourhood she often frequented to check up on her.
I saw her circle the neighbourhood several times. I didn’t know what she was looking for, but I knew I had never seen those kinds of expressions on her face before.
They were more lively—I could make out a myriad of emotions from her face. But what I couldn’t make out were the true feelings lingering in the depths of her eyes.
I secretly observed her for a while before appearing before her.
I had thought she would be as respectful and distant as before, but I was completely wrong. The first thing she did after seeing me was complain in a tone filled with disdain and dislike.
She said she didn’t want to remain by Nalan Ying’s side anymore because he was too horny. I didn’t know why, but I told her to follow me back.
I was somewhat unaccustomed to her sudden transformation. She was far too noisy.
She wasn’t like the former Ning Ying, but our contract clearly indicated that she was Ning Ying.
I didn’t understand what was wrong with me. Before, I’d always feel irritated whenever Ning Ying appeared in front of me. But after she suddenly changed—even when she was loudly tearing my house down—I only felt that she was being too noisy. I didn’t hate her.
Her actions towards me were weird, too—she always tried to touch me for some reason.
To tell the truth, I thought she had been turned against me by Nalan Ying and was plotting my death.
But she was right. With her ability back then and that strange sword, she wouldn’t have had to spend so much effort getting close to me if she had really been planning my demise.
So what did she want?
On that fateful night, she held me down and poured some strange energy into my body.
It swam around inside my body, before gathering around my heart and suddenly turning docile—as if it had been tamed. A familiar, heart-pounding sensation arose deep in my heart as my arms tightened around her.
It felt like I had held her like this before. My body moved faster than my thoughts could process.
Afterwards, I felt anger. Touching me so recklessly could’ve caused her soul to disperse! But I couldn’t bear to scold her for some reason.
Couldn’t bear to…
When those three words appeared in my mind, they stunned even myself. I cared for her.
She told me in such an arrogant tone, “Feng Jin, from now on, I’ll protect you. If anyone dares to touch even a single hair on your head, I’ll send them to the afterlife!”
I suppose what I was feeling at that moment was…not knowing whether to laugh or cry?
‘Just where does she get the confidence to be this arrogant?’ I wondered.
But I have to admit, I think I fell for her right then.
The familiarity I felt from my soul made it impossible for me to deny that she was slowly occupying my heart. The events after that only made me even more certain that I had fallen for her.
Neither of us brought it up, as if it was natural to be together like this.
She was always afraid of sucking away my yang qi, so the furthest we ever went was only kissing. They weren’t deep kisses either, it was more like just touching lips.
But although she was so careful with me, she was so cruel to herself. I have no words to describe how I felt when I saw her in such a weakened state at the graveyard.
My heart was hurt to the point where I couldn’t feel the pain any more.
That was why I took her despite her protests.
The feeling of losing that much yang qi was horrible. It felt like I had been drained of vitality. Weakness, exhaustion and cold overtook me.
No wonder she protested that much.
But what kind of man would I be if I couldn’t stand this much, after all she had done for me?
I wanted to help her return to life, but she wasn’t willing to accept any assistance. She diligently worked to raise her own strength.
For a long time, I didn’t understand why she rejected my suggestion… until one day, I remembered what she had once said:
“He’s a human, he’s too fragile.”
She knew I would have to pay a heavy price to help her return to life. She wasn’t willing to let me take the risk, and so she would rather put in more effort on her own.
She really spoils me. That feeling of being extremely pampered always made me caught between wanting to laugh and wanting to cry.
Everyone who had been forced to acknowledge me back then eventually became envious of me.
I’m glad I had brought her with me back then.
But I know—deep inside—that if she had still been the original Ning Ying, I wouldn’t have fallen for her.
She’s different.
She’s Ning Ying, but not.
Author’s note:
And that’s the end for arc 8.
Next arc’s a xianxia. En…supernatural novels aren’t my forte, so please forgive me if I wasn’t good at writing it.
Serial transmigrations require a lot of different types of worlds, so it encompasses a lot of genres. But not every author can write each genre fluently, so please be understanding little angels.