Chapter 1

The weather in the fifth month of the lunar calendar was already very hot, and only in the evening did it feel a bit cooler.

Liu Heng sat dully under a big tree, his eyes fixed on the fiery red clouds in the western sky.

"Having been in this world for five days, it seems I can't go back. I should accept all of this." Liu Heng muttered to himself.

He couldn't explain the bizarre things that had happened to him.

Originally, he was a librarian in the 21st century, but he inexplicably found himself in the Ming Dynasty, possessing the body of a soldier who had fled from Liaodong after the defeat at Sarhu, becoming a bandit.

When he possessed the body, he also gained the memories of the original, roughly understanding his identity and environment.

His predecessor was an honest man but had a robust, muscular body. Despite being capable of bullying others, he was often bullied because he had always been honest.

As the sun set and the sky gradually darkened, Liu Heng spat out the bitter grass root in his mouth, stood up from the ground, patted the dirt off his buttocks, and staggered toward the camp.

Before it got completely dark, the camp would serve food. Every time, Liu Heng would time his arrival just right, never missing a meal. Even so, the most profound impression he had over these five days was that he had never had a full meal.

He went to the rear camp kitchen, where the cook was already surrounded by bandits begging for food.

Liu Heng, relying on his strong body, squeezed to the front of the cook.

The cook, without even looking, grabbed a palm-sized pancake and a bowl of wild vegetable soup and handed them to him.

Liu Heng didn't leave after receiving them but said, "I'm still missing one pancake."

Ordinary bandits only got one wild vegetable pancake per meal, while small leaders got two. Liu Heng's predecessor, being an old hand from Liaodong and a former border soldier with a strong body, held a small leader position.

"You only get one pancake, take it or leave it. Get lost, I don't have time to waste on you." The cook, being the brother of the previous camp leader, took advantage of Liu Heng's honesty and always gave him only one pancake, keeping the other for himself.

If it were the old Liu Heng, he would have tolerated it, not wanting to cause trouble. The current Liu Heng, still in a daze and not fully accepting his reality in the Ming Dynasty, didn't bother to argue.

But now, things were different. Since he had decided to accept everything, he wouldn't let anyone take what belonged to him. His soul wasn't that of the old, honest man.

In the bandit camp, it was either you bully me or I bully you. The simplest way to change the image of being an honest man was to establish authority. Liu Heng swung his arm and smashed the earthen bowl of wild vegetable soup onto the cook's head.

Smack... The earthen bowl shattered into several pieces on the cook's head, and the wild vegetable soup dripped down, mixed with a few threads of blood.

The noisy bandits suddenly fell silent.

Liu Heng, with his free hand, grabbed the cook's collar and pressed a shard of the broken bowl against his neck, saying fiercely, "Say that again."

The cook, stunned by Liu Heng's sudden attack, felt the coldness on his neck and shuddered, stammering, "Y-Yes... I'm still missing one pancake."

"What? Say it again."

"Two, I'm missing two."

"I still didn't hear it clearly. I'll give you one more chance to rephrase it." As he spoke, Liu Heng pressed the shard into the cook's neck, and blood trickled down.

"Three, three pancakes." The cook, on the verge of tears, said, "There really aren't any more."

Liu Heng felt it was enough, released the cook's collar, and said, "Bring them."

The cook, who had no choice, had lost his backing when the previous camp leader died in the attack on Wang Family Village. Faced with the suddenly aggressive Liu Heng, he was momentarily frightened.

After Liu Heng left, the cook, Ma Laocui, watched him leave with a hateful gaze.

Liu Heng, of course, didn't see it.

He held four pancakes, refilled a bowl of wild vegetable soup, and found a quiet spot to squat and eat.

The pancakes were dry and hard to swallow, and the wild vegetable soup was bitter and hard to drink, but they could fill his stomach. Liu Heng, who hadn't had a full meal for several days, ate greedily.

After eating two pancakes and drinking half a bowl of wild vegetable soup, he was about 70-80% full, and his eating pace slowed down.

"Hey, isn't that Liu Damu?"

As the voice fell, the earthen bowl in front of Liu Heng was kicked over, shattering into several pieces, and the remaining wild vegetable soup spilled on the ground.

Liu Heng glanced at the person who kicked over his bowl, his eyes narrowing slightly.

He knew this person was called Zheng Daqiu, who usually followed the previous camp leader, bullying others and often mocking Liu Heng's predecessor for fun.

Liu Heng had never liked this person and, seeing that he was accompanied by several subordinates, ignored him.

However, Zheng Daqiu didn't want to let Liu Heng off. He bent down, hooked Liu Heng's chin with his left hand, and slapped his face with his right hand, laughing, "Haha, you're angry, our Liu Damu is angry."

The bandits around him laughed in agreement.

Smack... Just as Zheng Daqiu was laughing, Liu Heng, taking him by surprise, punched him in the face, knocking him over.

Taking advantage of his weakness, Liu Heng leaped onto Zheng Daqiu, raining punches down on him.

The bandits around them, who had always seen Liu Heng as an easy target, were taken aback and didn't react in time.

When they finally reacted, they rushed toward Liu Heng, trying to save Zheng Daqiu from under him.

But at that moment, Liu Heng pressed a shard of the broken bowl against Zheng Daqiu's neck and firmly held his arms.

"Don't move. If anyone takes another step, I'll kill him now."

"I'll kill him today, all of you help me!" Zheng Daqiu, finally able to speak, shouted madly.

He had always bullied Liu Heng, but now he was being beaten by the person he looked down upon, which filled him with hatred. He wanted to kill Liu Heng to satisfy his anger.

"Shut up, or I'll kill you now!" Liu Heng said fiercely, pressing the shard into Zheng Daqiu's neck, drawing blood.

The pain and the coldness of the shard made Zheng Daqiu realize he was being held hostage by Liu Heng.

Thinking of this, his legs went weak, and he stammered, "Y-You, don't do anything rash. If you kill me, they won't let you go."

Liu Heng sneered at this threat, finding it weak and ineffective.

"Liu Head, I'm here." A bandit with a wooden spear approached Liu Heng.

"Stand behind me." Liu Heng said to the bandit.

Liu Heng knew this person was called Yang Yuan, the only subordinate willing to follow his orders.

Clatter, clatter... Suddenly, the sound of hooves approached, getting louder.

"What are you all doing here? Disperse!" A rough voice came from the stopped horse.

Liu Heng turned his head and glanced sideways.

The person on the horse wore an iron helmet and a double-breasted cotton armor.