The Harris Family was outside cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, while Emily curled up beside William Harris, tilting her head up, her big watery eyes gazing at him, a look of confusion on her face. “Alang loves Second Young Master the most. If he finds out that Brother Sizi hit him, wouldn’t he blame Brother Sizi? Now that Aweng is gone, there’s no one left to protect Brother Sizi. What should we do then?”

William Harris smiled and rubbed Emily’s little head.

He leaned against the veranda pillar, one foot dangling, looking up at the pitch-black night sky.

From the horizon, a patch of dark clouds drifted over, quickly approaching Tiger Valley Mountain. William Harris said softly, “Aweng is gone, but Emily is still here. If Alang blames me, then Emily will protect Brother Sizi, right?”

“Mm-hmm, of course Emily will.”

Emily nodded vigorously, answering with great seriousness.

A trace of warmth flashed in William Harris’s eyes. He pulled Emily into his arms. “Emily protects me, and I’ll protect Emily too.”

Emily’s face broke into an even brighter smile.

Heaven had thrown him into the first year of the Shengli era, letting him muddle through for seventeen years, and then a bolt of lightning woke him up. Such a fantastical thing happening to William Harris left him feeling inexplicably confused.

Logically, with such a miraculous experience, he must be carrying some great mission.

But William Harris didn’t want to shoulder any mission. Being able to live again was already a huge satisfaction for him. In his previous life, he was disabled, lying on a sickbed every day, his only companions books or staring blankly at a computer screen. But now, he could run freely, and had felt the warmth of family… That was enough for him.

He just wanted to live happily, carefree, without any worries.

Sometimes, thinking back, those muddled seventeen years seemed like a kind of happiness too—at least, those seventeen years were happy.

Boom!

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, casting a ghastly white light over the courtyard.

Immediately after, thunder rumbled and rain poured down in torrents.

Rainwater streamed down from the eaves, quickly forming a curtain of water.

This rain looked like it would be heavy!

He hurriedly called The Harris Family over, telling her to take Emily back to their room to sleep. As for himself, he returned to his bedroom, sat on the hu bed, spread out a sheet of white paper on the bedside table, and, by the light of the oil lamp, began to swiftly sketch on the paper with a charcoal pencil.

The charcoal pencil was the first thing he made after regaining his senses.

William Harris was also skilled with a brush, but found it troublesome. It was fine for showing off, but for daily use… Even after seventeen years of rebirth, fully adapting wasn’t easy, so the charcoal pencil was much more convenient.

That night, lightning and thunder raged outside.

But inspiration flowed for William Harris, and he didn’t put down his pen until nearly the second watch of the night, finally collapsing onto the hu bed and falling into a deep sleep.

The thunderstorm stopped at dawn.

The downpour was so intense that the streams in Tiger Valley Mountain swelled, even washing out the mountain paths.

Chapter Six: The Murder Case (Part Two)

After the rain, a red sun burst forth, illuminating the land.

William Harris got down from the hu bed, walked to the door, and opened it, immediately greeted by a rush of fresh air that cleared his somewhat groggy mind.

On the porch, there was a basin of water, a face towel, some green salt, and a toothbrush.

Looking at the neatly arranged toiletries, William Harris couldn’t help but smile… Every morning when he woke up, he would see these, and he knew exactly whose handiwork they were. In his mind, he unconsciously pictured that little figure struggling to carry the basin and set it on the porch. Warmth filled William Harris’s heart. He picked up the toothbrush, dipped it in green salt, and began to brush his teeth.

“Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!”

The Tang dynasty toothbrush was crudely made and very uncomfortable to use.

If he wasn’t careful, the pig bristles on the toothbrush would fall out and get stuck between his teeth. Even after seventeen years of rebirth, William Harris still wasn’t used to it. He’d have to find a way to improve it someday, otherwise brushing his teeth like this every day was just torture.

After washing up, he felt refreshed.

William Harris walked to the main hall and saw Emily, looking like a little adult, coming out of the kitchen with a tray in her hands.

“Good morning, Brother Sizi.”

Seeing William Harris, Emily’s little face immediately lit up with a bright smile.

William Harris hurried over to take the tray from her, then gently replied, “Emily is up even earlier than Brother Sizi.”

On the tray was breakfast: a bowl of rice porridge with egg flowers floating on top, a dish of pickled vegetables, and two thick meat pies weighing about a pound in total, giving off a rich aroma.

“Has Emily eaten yet?”

Emily looked longingly at the food on the tray and shook her head.

Life for the The Harris Family was pretty good, but even so, most of the time, The Harris Family and Emily could only eat two meals a day. Youzhou was bitterly cold and always short on grain. Having three meals a day with meat at every meal, like William Harris, was not common.

“Then eat with Brother Sizi.”

William Harris set the tray down on the porch and sat cross-legged.

At first, Emily was reluctant—how could a servant eat at the same table as her master?