Chapter 4

During these days of recuperating in the tent, He Boqiang, relying on the colorful fragments of memories from the spiritual world, came to understand this world in general.

In those memory fragments, what left the deepest impression on He Boqiang was not the bizarre and fantastical world, but the years and days of practice, where swinging the sword and blocking with the shield had become a kind of conditioned reflex. There was also a gentle blonde lady with faint freckles on her face, and a sea of fire capable of incinerating everything.

He Boqiang referred to the star-studded void as the spiritual world.

After closing his eyes, fragments of residual memories would continuously appear in the spiritual world, gradually merging into He Boqiang's body. This feeling was not one of possession, but of integration.

He Boqiang discovered that the owner of this body was named Qiangbah, originally from a noble family in a northern city of the empire, living a carefree life with good education. As the second son, Qiangbah had no right to inherit the title or land, so the old earl planned for him to enter a high-level warrior academy to strive for promotion to a first-tier warrior. This would allow him to inherit a set of magical rune equipment and a warhorse from the family treasury, becoming a rune knight.

Qiangbah indeed followed the old earl's plan, but an accident occurred just when he was one step away from becoming a first-tier warrior.

He joined a small group called the "Wind Chasers" and, during an external mission, a dark mage abducted a companion. While chasing the mage, Qiangbah was trapped in a sea of fire. Although he was rescued from the fire by people who arrived later, his body suffered severe burns, seemingly losing the chance to become a powerful warrior.

This part of the memory was very chaotic. Later, for unknown reasons, Qiangbah began to travel extensively. Unfortunately, in the dense forest on the northern slope of the Goro Forest in Handanar County, he encountered a demon. As a knight with a spirit of sacrifice, Qiangbah decided to stay behind to protect his companions, despite being heavily injured. A demon's corpse coincidentally fell on top of him.

Perhaps from that moment on, the knight Qiangbah, the original owner of this body, had already died. The one who was revived from under the demon's corpse by Sulidak was He Boqiang, who had crossed over to this world.

Outside the camp, the sound of chaotic footsteps was heard again. Recently, small-scale battles frequently erupted near the Handanar County forest, with the demons that had been driven away often emerging from the dense forest to attack the outposts around the forest.

The 57th Heavy Infantry Regiment was stationed at the foot of the forest, often harassed by these demons.

The second squad, including Sulidak, had been out with Baron Sidney for almost a day and a night. Just as He Boqiang was about to starve to death, the warriors of the second squad, wearing heavy armor, walked into the camp, too exhausted to even remove their armor, and plopped down on the rawhide inside the tent with a thud.

The last one to enter the tent was Captain Sam, the most experienced heavy infantryman of the 57th Regiment. The old soldier Sam had too many survival skills to teach these young men. His heavy iron boots, which emitted a strong smell of blood, stepped near He Boqiang's face. He held a long knife wrapped in a leather sheath and drove all the warriors lying in the tent outside.

"Everyone, come and have a bowl of hot soup. Even if you want to sleep, take off your armor first, so you don't end up with your arms and legs crippled by the bindings."

Sam kept talking as he helped the other warriors remove their armor. When he was idle, he talked so much that people wanted to cut out his tongue.

Sulidak, holding a large wooden bowl, walked laboriously to He Boqiang's side, sat down on the moisture-proof felt on the ground, and placed his hand under He Boqiang's nose, feeling a faint breath before relaxing.

He Boqiang weakly opened his eyes, barely looking at him, feeling deeply grateful to the warrior who had saved him from under the demon's corpse.

Sulidak untied the laces of his iron boots and said to He Boqiang, "You're really a tough one, looking better, but still a bit pale."

He skillfully tied the two heavy iron boots together and hung them at the tent's ventilation port.

A gust of wind blew in, spreading a scent as rich as snail powder throughout the tent.

Sulidak, having freed his feet, did not rush to take off his heavy armor. Instead, he first took out a greasy black cloth and carefully wiped the blade of his military knife before sheathing it.

Sulidak bent down and supported He Boqiang's head, giving him a sip of hot soup.

With food in his stomach, He Boqiang felt the gnawing pain in his stomach finally subside.

However, the pain in other parts of his body soon followed.

Sulidak, ignoring He Boqiang's pained expression, whispered to him, "You can't guess what we encountered last night. A large group of demons passed through our defense zone, but fortunately, they weren't targeting us, or we would have been dead. When will this nerve-wracking life end?"

He seemed to need someone to vent to, not expecting a response from He Boqiang. He untied his heavy chainmail and threw it into a corner of the tent.

Sulidak's body was filled with a strong smell of blood, but he seemed to notice nothing. He carefully took out a palm-sized piece of black-patterned demon skin from his pocket, looking proud and excited as he said to He Boqiang, "But our squad ambushed a lone demon. The main prize, of course, went to Baron Sidney, but we all made a small fortune, hehe..."

After saying that, Sulidak gave He Boqiang another sip of hot soup.

"You need to get better soon!"

Seeing the thick demon skin, He Boqiang finally realized that the enemies these warriors faced were not humans, but demons, several times stronger than humans. No one told him where these demons came from, as if they were supposed to exist.

...

During the period He Boqiang was recuperating in the tent, the other soldiers of the second squad would bring him food from outside. Most of the time, it was porridge and meat soup, and sometimes a careless person would bring him a piece of roasted meat, cutting it into small pieces and stuffing it into his mouth.

The next day, when Sulidak found the piece of roasted meat still in He Boqiang's mouth, unable to be swallowed, he scolded the soldiers.

He Boqiang slowly recovered in this painful ordeal, gradually getting to know this perilous new world.