Chapter 1

**Bang!**

The screeching of brakes tore through the long night.

Qin Sang was still hesitating. He wasn't without the courage to fight to the death, but he had a family—his parents and siblings…

The intense pain from his body pulled him back to reality. Only pain, his limbs unresponsive. His body seemed deformed, squeezed into a narrow corner, the jagged metal frame looking menacing.

The car spun violently, the lights on the roadside neon converging into a kaleidoscope in his field of vision. A red line appeared before him, and the dark yellow jade Buddha hanging at the end of it drew a short arc, smashing into his nose.

Amid the interplay of light and shadow, a fountain of blood engulfed the jade Buddha, indicating that the artery in his neck had ruptured.

"Car accident!"

Qin Sang regretted it bitterly. The other party had made the first move; he shouldn't have hesitated!

Death, everything—efforts, cares—lost all meaning, like a shattered mirage.

The only thing he could think of was what kind of place he was about to go to…

It must be hell.

"I want to live."

Qin Sang's eyes were wide open.

The inertia from the collision had not yet subsided, and the car was still spinning. The jade Buddha swung back and forth, as if swinging into his soul.

A dark vortex swallowed him whole.

**Boom!**

…

The sun was scorching hot.

The stone mountain was steep, with jagged rocks and little greenery. In the distance, sporadic bird calls added to the heat.

On the rugged mountain road, a convoy of prison carts moved slowly. On both sides of the convoy, several fierce-looking men on horseback galloped, whipping their horses and shouting loudly.

These horsemen were not dressed like officials; their behavior was more like that of bandits and mountain robbers.

The prison cages on the carts were also crudely made, clearly new, with the wood still showing fresh white edges.

Each cage was crammed with prisoners.

Qin Sang's hands and feet were bound, and he was curled up in a corner of the prison cage, his gaze gradually clearing.

Since regaining consciousness, he had been in a daze, occasionally becoming briefly lucid. It wasn't until today that he had fully assimilated the memories of this body.

This body also bore the surname Qin, from a village called Wangjiazhuang. His parents were farmers in the village, and he had two older brothers, making him the third in the family. In the village, he was called Sanwa, not yet of age, and without a proper name.

The Qin family was diligent, and with many laborers, their life was relatively comfortable. But how much gold and silver could they dig out of the land?

Qin's parents had other thoughts. Not only did they send Qin Sanwa to school, but when he turned fifteen, they also took him to seek employment from Mr. Wang, hoping to find him a job.

Mr. Wang was an old acquaintance of Qin's father and also from Wangjiazhuang. In his youth, he had built a shop in a nearby small city, far wealthier than the village farmers, and was a respectable figure.

Seeing Qin Sanwa's honesty, Mr. Wang was willing to take him on as an apprentice. Qin's parents were naturally grateful and readily agreed.

This was Qin Sanwa's first time leaving home. In his fear, he followed his parents' teachings, working diligently and earning Mr. Wang's favor. Mr. Wang even took him along on business trips to buy goods.

Unfortunately, the world was chaotic. Not long after Mr. Wang and the young apprentice set out, they encountered a band of mountain robbers on the mountain road. Mr. Wang was beheaded, and Qin Sanwa was captured and thrown into a prison cart, left with a small life.

Poor Qin Sanwa had never encountered such a situation and soon died of shock, leaving Qin Sang to take over his body.

Like a cuckoo in a magpie's nest, the unfamiliar body gave Qin Sang a strong sense of estrangement. The memories indicated that this was a world vastly different from his previous one, but Qin Sang had no time to care about these things.

The sun grew more intense, his body was exhausted, and his wounds were excruciating. Qin Sang mustered his strength, blinking his sore eyes. His gaze suddenly fell on the last cart in the convoy, and he vividly recalled a scene he had seen three days ago when he was briefly lucid. Even in the midday sun, his spine felt cold.

Looking around, there were few prison carts left.

There was no time left; he had to find a way to escape!

The convoy had been traveling north for over ten days. They were now far from Wangjiazhuang, and Qin Sanwa's memories provided no help. Qin Sang had no idea where they were.

At first, they had traveled on the main road, and this band of robbers had captured many people.

Once they had enough captives, they deliberately avoided populated areas and headed into the wilderness and mountains.

In the desolate countryside, there was no one to help.

To survive, he could only rely on himself!

The narrow prison cart was crowded with five people, and Qin Sang's bones ached from being squeezed. He pushed back a bit.

The prisoners in the cart were all young and strong men, like Qin Sanwa, innocent victims.

Qin Sang pushed a few times, but there were no curses, only weak moans, filling him with despair.

Including himself, the prisoners were starving and weak, while the bandits were strong and mounted on horses. How could he escape?

At that moment, a gentle breeze brought a rare coolness. Ahead, a river appeared, not too big or small, with a wide, calm surface, shimmering in the sunlight, not turbulent.

On the riverbank were some ancient trees, and waist-high yellow grass covered the entire riverbank, rustling in the wind, an excellent place to bury bodies.

"Whoa!"

The leader of the bandits was a bearded, muscular man. He led the group to the riverbank, then dismounted and approached the last cart, kneeling down and respectfully said, "Reporting to the Immortal Master, this is the Shuishui River, which connects to the Wuling River. We are now within the territory of the Great Sui Empire."

The cart was silent, with no response. The leader remained prostrate on the ground, not daring to rise.

After a while, a hoarse, unpleasant voice came from the cart, "Build a raft to cross the river, and continue north."

The bearded man quickly agreed. Just as he was about to get up, the cart suddenly emitted a violent cough, "Quick… quick, bring in two blood offerings… cough, cough…"

Qin Sang was startled, and all the prisoners became agitated.

Whenever the Immortal Master demanded blood offerings, two prisoners would be sent into the black-covered cart. An hour later, two corpses would be brought out.

Three days ago, Qin Sang had accidentally seen the state of the corpses. They went in alive but came out as dried corpses, their flesh completely drained, leaving only skin on the bones.

The shriveled eye sockets were still vivid in his mind, as if telling him of endless terror, shattering his worldview.

If not for his clear senses, Qin Sang would have thought he was in the eighteenth level of hell, but he couldn't recall which level had the punishment of draining one's flesh and blood.

"Come out!"

The leader arranged for his subordinates to cut trees and build a raft, personally pulling two people from a nearby cart.

Qin Sang secretly sighed in relief, but his despair did not diminish. If he couldn't escape, he would only live a few more days than these two, what was there to be happy about?

Qin Sang's eyes were fixed on the bandits building the raft. They were incredibly efficient, and the raft was almost complete. Qin Sang could only pray that they would cut corners, and the raft would capsize in the river.

Compared to being drained, he would rather drown in the river, treating this life as a dream before death.

The leader quickly walked to the cart, holding the two unfortunate men, who cried out with their last strength. The bandits by the river laughed continuously.

The sounds of water, wind, swords, footsteps, screams, moans, and laughter…

All these sounds invaded his ears, making the world suddenly noisy. Qin Sang felt extremely agitated, as if the world was spinning, and he was about to faint. Suddenly, he heard a thunderous shout.

"Evil fiend! Where will you run this time?!"

Qin Sang suddenly looked up and saw a dazzling white light flash on the mountaintop, piercing through the air, brighter than the sun.

The white light flickered, as if it were a sword!