"... master! Young Master, please wake up!"
The voice of an old man.
I opened my eyes.
Drenched in a cold sweat, I could feel my silk robe getting wet from it.
As I was trying to regain my sight, the old man in front of me asked in worried and somewhat panic.
"Young Master, are you feeling ill?"
"... you?"
How can I stay alive? Wait a minute, where is this and who are you?
The last thing I remember was Tia's panicked face and my chest pierced by a sniper bullet. I definitely already dead.
I'm aware that my life ended with that bullet.
But, how come I'm alive?
This ..., is not a dream right? My sense is working perfectly. Not only that but this vividness. There's no way that this is a dream.
I don't believe the story of reincarnation. My belief about the afterlife is that men will go to either Hell or Heaven according to their karma in the world. Recalling what sin I've done back on Earth, I can say for sure that I'll end up in Hell. However, I'm not in hell right now. Not even in the Realm of Barzakh.
Please wait a moment ..., I need to think and make my mind straight.
I'm dead ..., Aditya Herlambang is dead by that sniper's shot. The killer is, someone from Gulita Organization.
I got dragged in that high-class society by Andre back then. It's a suspicious organization in the first place, but that time I was desperate to gain support and fund. They assassinated me because I become useless for their plan.
Undoubtedly, I'm dead.
But, why I'm here?
I turned my head and gaze at the old man that just wake me up.
He still looks at me and from that gaze, he seems to ensure my well-being.
This old man ... his face looks familiar.
And as I thought about that, a series of memories appeared into my head. Those were memories of someone named Dian Xianli.
He was the sole heir of the Dian family, a new uprising merchant family serving the State of Bai. He ..., the former soul of this body, or I must say 'me' was a second-generation brat who is arrogant and unruly.
This world is somewhat different from earth. There's a magic, qi, alchemy, and stuff going on here, with a racial diversity much more than New Guinea. In this world, a mortal could gain mysterious power by cultivating, becoming a cultivator. A cultivator could smash mountain and pierce the sky with their inner power known as Qi. And cultivators also have a longer lifespan compared to mortal.
I come from Dian's family who earns a living by trading. My family got its golden age when my grandfather took the lead as the head of the family and expanded the business. My father also inherited grandfather's expertise and was able to build a trading network to the end of the continent. But when he returned to his hometown, the King of Bai asked for his allegiance. He also gave father several tasks to prove this so-called 'allegiance'.
My father, Dian Yuanli succeeded in establishing a trade route connecting the state of Bai with other sovereignty. That was the task. And the completion proves his loyalty. Because of his loyalty, despite being a merchant, the King of Bai granted him a piece of land and a noble title. And then the Dian family become a noble with the title of Bupati. A minor noble.
But then, the old nobles didn't quite like this newly appointed nobleman. For them, a merchant like father is the kind they despise. A commoner who just success making a bit of money, not from true high blood.
This dislike grew into jealousy and envy. The reason was the King of Bai often listened to father's advice, while he ignored the old nobles. This caused them to want to get rid of the father from the court. Even the Prime Minister and Military General.
Then they conspired to throw the father from the court. Father was given the mandate to build a road network that connects cities in the country of Bai. Because he had the experience, this was an easy task for him. Or it should be like that.
They sabotaged the project by plundering the funds the king had given to him, making him fail to complete it. When my father reported what had happened to the king, none of the senior nobles defended him and instead added oil to the fire. They accused him of corrupting funds and using them for personal gain.
But they have no evidence at all. Even so, the king was confused. Disappointed. The father who could not keep the funds that had been handed over to him was his ignorance. The king cannot forgive that mistake without punishing him.
The king punished his father by expelling him from the capital and was not permitted to participate in central politics. The king did not revoke his noble title, but he put his father in a house arrest.
The scheme, however, didn't end with just that. When my father prepared to return to his territory, senior nobles were preparing for an ambush. Our group was attacked in the middle of the road by nobles army disguised as bandits. I and my mother and some of the father's concubine managed to escape from them along with several subordinates.
I don't know if my father survived the attack, I hope he is alive and well. But, his carriage was at the front of our convoy. I doubt he could survive because they attacked from the front and sides.
And here we are, I'm alone in this carriage with old butler Dian Luze. My mother, stepmother, and step-sister in three other carriages. Why I'm all alone? Well, it's because they are fed up with my mischief, in fact, I once tried to molest my step sister. This Dianli Xianli, is truly a rogue.
This ..., Am I reincarnated into this pervert? It's not my place to say that this body perverts because what I did in the past is beyond perverseness. But, really? This body lost his virginity when 12-year-old?
"Young master! Please tell me if you are sick, I will bring you medication if necessary." Dian Luze, the old butler asked.
This old man, even though my family is in a difficult situation he's still loyal.
"No need, I'm fine. Just bring me a glass of water."
"At once, Young Master."
He opened a chest and took a bottle and a glass. Pour water from a bottle into a glass, and give it to me. Because I'm thirsty, I drink it right away. However, a scorching feeling ran out from my throat when the liquid flows down into my stomach.
"This ..., is this liquor?" I asked butler Luze.
He nods and answered, feeling that my question is strange. "Yes, Young Master. It's your favorite Dwarven Mead."
"Bring me a glass of water! Plain water, spring water, mineral water, whatever ..., I want to drink something to quench my thirst. Not liquor."
I'm not someone who drinks liquor. I don't know, maybe I don't want to lose my sanity by drinking. Maybe it because my father's religion doctrine implanted in me since I'm a child. Simply, I don't drink alcohol.
"I understand, I'm sorry Young Master." despite founding my order strange, butler Luze still obeys me.
I'm thinking about what to do. I'm not Aditya Herlambang from earth anymore. This body is someone with the name of Dian Xianli. A young master of a noble family, the heir of Dian lineage. My family is on the verge of total destruction without my father's presence. And I, his son was infamous for being a useless Young Master.
"Luze, why did you wake me up"
"Forgive this old butler for disturbing your nap, Young Master. We are almost there. Young Master had asked me to wake him up when we arrived at the fief border."
"Already?" This is fast, we separated from the main convoy seven days ago. And it usually took ten-day with horse-carriage to arrive in this place. Why are they in such haste? I asked once more. "when I'm asleep, did you get any news regarding father?"
"Unfortunately, there's none."
"... I see." remembering the last word from my father in the earth, somewhat I regretted being unfilial.
I'm rich and successful with numerous assets, but I've never given it to my parents nor tell them about my well being.
I closed my eyes and began my plan to survive in this world.
In this place, I have strong enemies. My father's enemies to be precise. They won't let my family develop more. They feel insecure with my family, especially father.
If ..., if by chance dad can't survive the ambush. The family burden will be on me. I, as the heir of Dian's family, must carry out my duties as head of the family. I will be an easy target for those old nobles by then.
But, what can I do? What can I do in this world with my meager strength? I've already died once, and that because I didn't have enough power.
I couldn't expect cultivation. My talent was valued as low-ranked, only a Human Grade 3 talent. Even if I trained myself to death 24 hours a day, I'll hardly progress. That would be like getting a tenth with twice the amount of effort. This will be almost torture training.
Maybe that's why in this world I don't really care about cultivation. Former Dian Xianli might think that it's a waste of time to cultivate when he's talentless. At least he knows what and when to give up.
Damn. Just how ..., how can I gain power in this cultivation world if not by cultivating?