Inside the bathroom, mist swirled and steam billowed. Ning Chen stood beneath the shower, letting the scorching hot water cascade over a physique whose muscular lines could only be described as perfect.
"Chuzhou, I'm back!"
A flash of murderous intent erupted in Ning Chen's eyes.
Seven years ago, his Ning family was wiped out in a massacre, leaving only him to fall into the river and miraculously survive. Fortunate enough to be taken in by thirteen powerful masters, he mastered all their ultimate techniques.
Seven years later, he had finally completed his training and returned to Chuzhou!
His return this time was for three things only:
First, to track down his older sister and confirm whether she was dead or alive!
Second, to investigate the truth behind the massacre of his family!
Third, to exact revenge!
Just as he was deep in thought, the door to the bathroom was suddenly pushed open by an alluring woman who walked right in, smiling playfully. "Qingxue, why are you washing up by yourself? Didn't we agree to take a nice, fragrant bath together? Come here and let me see if your boobs got even bigger!"
Ning Chen turned around to look, and saw a tall young woman with ample breasts, a curvaceous rear, and long legs, wearing only form-fitting underwear, walking in.
Their eyes met.
Both of them froze.
"Who are you?"
The alluring woman let out a gasp of surprise, hurriedly using the bath towel in her hand to cover her nearly naked body, though a vast expanse of fair skin remained exposed.
If anything, this peek-a-boo effect only served to make the pulse race.
Ning Chen, however, remained calm. He grabbed a piece of clothing nearby and covered his own body as well.
The reason he hadn't made a move was simply because this hot, top-tier beauty looked somewhat familiar.
Then it clicked. "You're... Sister Luoxuan?"
Hearing this, Lin Luoxuan grew even more startled, staring at him with guarded eyes.
He looked... kind of familiar.
A moment later, Lin Luoxuan let out a shriek as if she had seen a ghost, and spun around to run toward the door.
But she was running too fast, stumbled, and went sprawling.
Ning Chen's reflexes were lightning fast.
With a single step, he materialized right beside Lin Luoxuan, catching her just in time to keep her from hitting the floor. However, the momentum caused Lin Luoxuan to tumble right into his arms.
Her skin was delicate, soft, and smooth.
The sensation of that single instant sent a ripple through Ning Chen's heart.
Crucially, his hand had happened to land right against the edge of Lin Luoxuan's towering breasts; even separated by her undergarment, the tactile feel was indescribably wonderful.
"Ah..."
Startled and terrified, and feeling her body had been violated, Lin Luoxuan instinctively swung a slap at Ning Chen.
Ning Chen caught her hand in the nick of time. Subduing the slight stirring of temptation in his heart, he hurried to speak. "Sister Luoxuan, it's me! I'm Ning Chen!"
He quickly added, "I'm still alive! I'm back, don't be scared, I'm not a ghost!"
He understood why Sister Luoxuan had reacted with such terror.
After all, from her perspective, seeing a relative who had died seven years ago suddenly reappear would indeed be terrifying.
"You... you're Ning Chen?"
"You're not dead?"
Lin Luoxuan stared with wide eyes.
Because she had fallen into Ning Chen's arms, her bath towel had slipped away, leaving her in just her underwear, while Ning Chen was bare-chested. The two of them were in intimate contact—skin to skin—and she could clearly feel the steady beat of his heart.
A heartbeat? Breathing?
He wasn't a ghost?
"Yes, it's me. I'm not dead," Ning Chen said with a smile. The very first person he laid eyes upon after returning to Chuzhou was his older sister's best friend—someone who had always treated him like a younger brother and had been so good to him. It made him genuinely happy.
A full several seconds passed.
Lin Luoxuan finally confirmed that Ning Chen was a living human being.
And indeed, without a doubt, it was Ning Chen.
Though seven years had passed and his appearance had changed, it was merely the maturation of a boy into a man; she could still recognize that this was Ning Chen.
"Ning Chen, you're not dead. That's wonderful!" A sudden wave of emotion washed over Lin Luoxuan.
The surge of emotion made her breathing hitch, causing her chest to rise and fall rapidly.
With Ning Chen holding her, his palm resting right against the edge of her breasts could distinctly feel the rhythm of that heave and fall.
This sent another tremor through Ning Chen's heart.
What Ning Chen could feel, Lin Luoxuan naturally felt even more clearly—his palm, his heartbeat, and even the unmistakable physical reaction Ning Chen was having. It made her face burn bright red.
"You—let go of me right now!"
Lin Luoxuan struggled to stand up.
Even though this was Ning Chen, someone she used to know well, the younger brother of her best friend, she had always viewed him simply as a little brother. How could she possibly accept such intimate physical contact between them?
Ning Chen hurriedly helped Lin Luoxuan steady herself on her feet.
"You—go put some clothes on!"
Lin Luoxuan blurted out.
As for herself, she snatched up her bath towel and fled in a panic.
She couldn't help feeling a wave of relief that she had at least been wearing her underwear when she walked in; otherwise, Ning Chen would have seen absolutely everything.
To be seen completely naked by her best friend's little brother—that would have been too shameful to bear.
She would never have been able to face her friend again.
Watching Lin Luoxuan's retreating back, Ning Chen couldn't help chuckling to himself. He suddenly realized how foolish he had been in the past, lumping Sister Luoxuan and his sister together in his mind and completely failing to see her as a woman. Looking back now, he really had been an absolute idiot.
However, just as Ning Chen turned around to go put his clothes on,
he suddenly froze.
Qingxue?
Just now, when Sister Luoxuan had walked into the bathroom wanting to wash up, had she not first called out "Qingxue"?
And his older sister's name was Ning Qingxue!
Could it be that seven years ago, his sister hadn't really died?
A wave of intense excitement washed over Ning Chen.
Any lingering feelings of temptation vanished completely.
He dressed at top speed and bolted out of the room.
But Lin Luoxuan was nowhere in sight.
There was movement from the neighboring room.
Ning Chen strode over, pushed the door open, and called out, "Sister Luoxuan, my sister—"
At that moment, Lin Luoxuan was in the middle of getting dressed. Although she had her top on, her jeans were only pulled up halfway, leaving her fair thighs and white lace underwear fully exposed to Ning Chen's line of sight.
In particular, the motion of her pulling up her trousers at that exact moment possessed an indescribable aesthetic appeal and temptation.
Lin Luoxuan was struck with horror. Hadn't she locked the door?
How had Ning Chen pushed it open?
"Are you still looking?!"
Lin Luoxuan was genuinely angry.
"I'm sorry, I was in too much of a hurry."
Ning Chen hurriedly turned around and pulled the door shut behind him.
He had been too anxious to ask about his sister, so much so that when he shoved the door open, he hadn't controlled his strength and had smashed the lock completely.
Half a minute later, Lin Luoxuan finally emerged. Her face was still flushed a deep crimson with a mix of shame and annoyance, but before Ning Chen could speak, she blurted out, "I know what you want to ask. Your sister isn't dead. She's still alive, right here in the Ning Family Old Mansion. She said she wanted to take a bath, so I went to fetch some clothes for her, but I never expected..."
At this, Lin Luoxuan's face grew even redder.
It had all been a misunderstanding.
So she had essentially let Ning Chen take advantage of her for nothing, yet she had no way to settle the score with him.
Ning Chen was instantly overcome with emotion. "My sister is really still alive?"
"Yes," Lin Luoxuan nodded in confirmation. "When your sister finds out you're still alive, she'll definitely be overjoyed."
"Since she didn't come to wash up over here, she must be in one of the other courtyards. Let's go find her first."
Lin Luoxuan added.
This place was the Ning Family Old Mansion, covering over forty mu of land with three compounds and seventeen rooms, featuring several courtyards. Where they currently stood was a specific bathing area located within the inner courtyard of the old mansion.
"Okay."
Overjoyed to the point of tears, Ning Chen felt a lump in his throat. In that moment, he was so emotional he almost wanted to cry.
It turned out he really did still have family left in this world.
"Little brother, run! Run away, the bad men are going to kill you..."
Right at that instant, Ning Chen's ears twitched as he caught the sound of a voice.
Immediately following that was the sound of approaching footsteps, and a group of burly men in black rushed over.
"Damn it, so you ugly freak actually ran over here."
"Well, well, look at that—there's a great beauty here too."
The leader was a massive, burly fellow with a jagged scar across his face, giving him a vicious look. His gaze swept past Ning Qingxue and locked directly onto Lin Luoxuan.
"It's them?"
Lin Luoxuan was instantly startled.
"Who are they?"
Ning Chen's gaze turned glacial, fixing upon the burly man with eyes brimming with murderous intent.
This bastard had dared call his sister an ugly freak, sealing his death sentence in Ning Chen's mind.
"They're Zhou Shihao's men. Nowadays, the Ning Family Old Mansion belongs to Zhou Shihao, though they don't usually keep a close eye on this part. Your sister wanted to come in and take a look today, so I snuck in with her. Taking a bath was just a spur-of-the-moment idea to help her relax here in the old estate."
Lin Luoxuan hurriedly lowered her voice and said, "Don't make a sound. Whatever you do, don't let them know who you are."
Zhou Shihao was the underground emperor of Chuzhou.
Seven years ago, when the Ning family was destroyed, Zhou Shihao had been one of the participants.
If Zhou Shihao found out Ning Chen was still alive, it would spell huge trouble.
Therefore, after whispering this warning to Ning Chen, Lin Luoxuan quickly stepped forward, shielding Ning Chen and Ning Qingxue behind her.
The scar-faced bruiser stared at Lin Luoxuan and sneered, "This is our Mr. Zhou's territory. You broke into a private estate for no good reason—how do you plead?"
Lin Luoxuan quickly spoke up, "My little brother and his sister have had issues with their minds since they were kids; they have mental health problems and wandered in here by mistake. I came to look for them. I'm so sorry, I apologize, and we'll leave right now."
"This old mansion is about to be put up for auction by Mr. Zhou. You trespasses and ruin its commercial value, and you think a simple apology cuts it? As if anything in this world is that cheap." The scar-faced man let out a cold snort.
"Then what do you want? We... we can pay you compensation, is that alright?" Lin Luoxuan asked hurriedly. If the other party discovered that Ning Chen was still alive, they would surely refuse to let him go, and she wanted to avoid any prolonged entanglement.
Without hiding his greedy desires in the slightest, the scar-faced man stated bluntly, "Either you cough up ten million in compensation and get lost, or you sleep with me and become my mistress for three years. Take your pick."