Chapter 2

This is a room almost bare of furnishings, with only a small table and a few bamboo baskets. On the table, a small oil lamp flickers, casting a dim light that makes the room alternately bright and dark.

In the middle of the room, a woman dressed in a black robe with embroidered edges is dancing and waving her arms, occasionally letting out strange, fierce cries, as if summoning vengeful spirits. Her cold, stern eyes are fixed on a young boy lying on the ground.

The boy, who looks to be about fifteen or sixteen, lies on an old straw mat, wearing coarse linen clothes. He has a long face, eyebrows like swords, and a high nose, making him look dignified. His skin is slightly dark, and he is tall and muscular, with strong limbs from years of hunting.

But now he seems to be ill, in a coma, and muttering strange words in a dialect that the locals can hardly understand.

"Mr. Fang... when is the trial?"

...

"I'm afraid I won't make it, what if I miss the train?"

This is a soul from a previous life, a young lawyer who loved outdoor activities and fell into a deep, bottomless cave while mountain climbing. His soul did not perish but traveled through 1,800 years of time and possessed the body of a sixteen-year-old hunter who had also fallen into a crevice.

He endured an incredibly long journey through the darkness, through the shifting of the stars and the cycle of the years. When his soul awoke, he had already traveled 1,800 years through the time tunnel.

The young hunter had been rescued two days ago. He had woken up once but quickly fell back into a coma. He wasn't sick, but he seemed to have lost his soul, speaking gibberish that terrified the locals.

In a corner, an elderly man, about sixty years old, squats. He is the boy's grandfather. The boy's parents had died of illness and entrusted their child to him before they passed away. If anything happened to the child, how could he face his deceased son?

At this moment, he is extremely worried. His grandson fell into a crevice at Ghost Worry Rock but was saved by a thick bush. However, the boy who returned seemed like a different person, speaking incomprehensible gibberish. The villagers, hearing that he had fallen into the crevice at Ghost Worry Rock, believed he was possessed by a ghost and even suggested burning him alive.

The old man sighed. After all, this was his grandson, and he had to try to save him. All his hopes were pinned on the witch.

Outside the broken window, a group of people stare at the boy on the ground with hateful eyes, whispering to each other.

"Did you hear that? He's speaking ghost talk again. He's talking about something called a train. What's a train? Have you ever heard of it?"

Everyone shakes their heads. No one has heard of a train. Someone, thinking they know, shouts, "I know! This must be the chariot of the Fire Demon King."

"Heaven! He's a demon!"

An old man stares at the boy, gritting his teeth. "He will bring disaster to our village. We must burn him!"

"Burn him!" the villagers outside shout loudly.

At this moment, a cry and the barking of dogs suddenly come from a distance, and a ball of fire rises into the sky. Everyone is stunned, not knowing what has happened. Then, a young man runs over, shouting in terror, "Village head, it's bad! The Cao army is conscripting men!"

...

In the sixth year of the Jian'an era, the Battle of Runan broke out. Liu Bei gathered the tens of thousands of Yellow Turban rebels led by Liu Pi and Gong Du in Runan and marched toward Xuchang, hoping to take advantage of Cao Cao's campaign in Hebei to launch a surprise attack on Xuchang.

At this time, Cao Cao had already ended the battle at Cangting and returned to Xuchang, personally leading a large army to attack Liu Bei. Cao Cao vowed to completely destroy Liu Bei this time.

On the plains north of Ancheng County in Runan, a thousand Cao army cavalrymen are driving thousands of civilian conscripts across the open fields. These civilian conscripts, numbering about five or six thousand, are old and young men from various parts of Runan.

These conscripts are not armored and are armed with a mix of broken knives, swords, hoes, and wooden clubs. Many are even unarmed. Their clothing is also very disordered, with some wearing short linen clothes, some wearing scholar's robes, and even some wearing short pants, bare-chested, moving in a chaotic group with no clear direction.

The cavalrymen constantly charge past the group, lashing at anyone who slows down, shouting, "Run faster, damn it!"

In extreme exhaustion, many fall to the ground. The Cao army cavalry show no mercy, spearing the stragglers to death.

"Run faster! If you pretend to be dead, you will be killed without mercy!"

The cries of the wounded and dying echo across the plains, filling the conscripts with fear as they desperately run east.

In the group, a tall, muscular young man runs at a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow. He is the young hunter who has just awakened from his coma. His previous life was named Liu Jian, a lawyer who loved outdoor activities and had a strong, athletic build. Unfortunately, he fell into a deep abyss while rock climbing.

Upon waking, he found himself in the body of a young hunter. His modern mind completely replaced the young hunter's, leaving him bewildered about this era, even not knowing his name in this time. He was conscripted by the Cao army.

He wants to ask the people around him what year it is and where he is. He knows he is in the Three Kingdoms era, and the large "Cao" character on the banners is particularly glaring.

"Run faster!"

A middle-aged man pushes him desperately, "The soldiers behind are lashing hard!"

Liu Jian turns back and sees, a hundred or so Cao army cavalrymen a few dozen steps away, lashing and driving the conscripts. Many are bleeding and falling, immediately speared to death.

Liu Jian sighs. His only advantage is his quick thinking, which is more than the sheep-like conscripts have.

He stretches his neck to look back. A black line is visible in the distance, about a few miles away, following them.

He has already guessed what the Cao army is doing. If he is right, they are being driven to their deaths as cannon fodder, with thousands of enemy soldiers waiting for them.

He doesn't know how to survive, but he understands one thing: he must not run too fast or too slow. He must wait for the battle to start and find an opportunity to escape when the Cao army is busy.

Liu Jian runs nimbly with the crowd, grateful to heaven for giving him a strong, agile body. His excellent physical condition and quick thinking from his previous life give him a chance to survive.

He is a young hunter in this life, living in the mountains south of Runan, running and fighting beasts in the mountains for years, with incredible speed and agility.

His strong body and sharp mind give Liu Jian the capital to survive. Unlike others, he is not desperate but patiently waiting for a chance to escape.

Suddenly, there is a commotion ahead. Someone shouts, "There's an army ahead, it's the Yellow Turban army!"

Liu Jian also sees it. About a mile ahead, a dense army of about ten to twenty thousand soldiers appears, with weapons like a forest and banners like clouds. Under a large red banner, rows of soldiers with a fierce aura are lined up, and the front ranks are archers.

Thousands of bows and crossbows are aimed at them, terrifying the conscripts, who scream in fear and turn to run back. At this moment, the Cao army's attack drums sound, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The sound shakes the earth.

A thousand Cao army cavalrymen drive the conscripts toward the enemy lines. They no longer use whips but swords and spears, killing anyone who tries to escape.

Death looms ahead, and bloody slaughter lies behind. The cries of the dying, the severed heads, the piles of bodies, and the splashes of blood and limbs fill the air. Thousands of conscripts, driven by death, charge at the Yellow Turban army, the sounds of battle echoing across the plains.

The army ahead is the main force of the Runan Yellow Turban rebels, about twelve thousand strong, led by General Gong Du. He was ordered by Liu Pi to support Liu Bei's army but did not expect to encounter the Cao army on the way.

"General Gong, why are they just a mob?" a deputy general frowns.

"These are conscripts sent to their deaths. The real Cao army is behind."

Gong Du sneers and shouts, "Prepare the arrows!"

Thousands of arrows are raised, the cold arrowheads aimed at the charging conscripts...

Liu Jian, mixed in with the conscripts, runs diagonally toward the northeast. He has noticed a forest in that direction and realizes it is his only chance for survival.

Liu Jian dodges the surging crowd, gradually moving to the edge of the army. But he can't go any further, as a group of Cao army cavalry blocks his path to the north.

At this moment, the Yellow Turban army fires a volley of arrows, a dense cloud of arrows like locusts, causing a chorus of screams. Large numbers of conscripts are shot down, their bodies offering no protection against the enemy's arrows.

The conscripts are in chaos, their cries shaking the heavens. They have nowhere to run, surrounded by Cao army cavalry forcing them to charge. Any retreat is met with ruthless slaughter.

Liu Jian is knocked to the ground in the chaos. At this moment, he feels something. The earth is trembling.

He turns back, his eyes fixed on the distance. In the west, a gray haze covers the sky, the sun turning a bloody red. An endless sea of cavalry appears in the distance.

Soon, the earth trembles more violently, the sound of hooves like thunder in the northwest. The black mass of cavalry charges, the conscripts screaming in terror, "It's cavalry!"

Thousands of conscripts are already half-dead. Their task is complete, disrupting the Yellow Turban army's archer formation. The thousand Cao army cavalrymen responsible for driving them abandon them and charge into the archer formation.

No one cares about the conscripts' fate now. Liu Jian seizes this opportunity, reacting quickly. He shouts to the people around him, "Follow me, run to the forest!"

Liu Jian sprints, but soon realizes the problem. The forest is still hundreds of steps away, and the Cao army cavalry is only two hundred steps away, moving much faster. They will be cut down before reaching the forest.

Liu Jian's quick thinking from his previous life kicks in. He immediately lies down in a depression, dragging several bodies over himself, peeking through the gaps in the bodies.

The Cao army cavalry arrives, and a dense volley of arrows is fired. Hundreds of conscripts who are slower are shot down, screaming in pain.

This cavalry is led by Xiahou Yuan, with six thousand elite cavalrymen. He was ordered to launch a surprise attack on Liu Bei's reinforcements. He split his forces, with a thousand cavalrymen driving the conscripts and the other five thousand waiting for the right moment.

The thousand cavalrymen driving the conscripts charge into the enemy archer formation, removing the threat of arrows for the main Cao army cavalry, which then charges at the Yellow Turban army.

Xiahou Yuan, standing eight feet three inches tall, with a broad chest and a fierce gaze, wields an eighty-pound iron spear, looking like a god of war.

He roars, "Kill them all!"

The Cao army cavalry charges like a storm, the iron horses like tigers and leopards, cutting down heads and splitting bodies, blood misting the air. The conscripts, with no way out, are trampled to death, their cries filling the plains.

Gong Du leads the Yellow Turban army to meet the charge. He swings his large sword, challenging Xiahou Yuan, but after a few rounds, he is overpowered and flees. His horse is slow, and Xiahou Yuan catches up, spearing him through the back. Gong Du screams and dies instantly. Xiahou Yuan lifts his body high and laughs, "Is this the army of the big-eared thief?"

With their leader killed, the Yellow Turban army quickly collapses, and a brutal massacre ensues on the plains.

When the last warhorse leaps over Liu Jian, he jumps up from the depression and sprints toward the forest, his only chance for survival.

...