Late Ming Dynasty: From the Defeated Soldiers at Daling River to Ascending the Throne

Chen Feng and his group walked north for a while and finally found a place to rest.

It was an abandoned charcoal kiln in a mountain valley. Half of the kiln opening had collapsed, but people could still crawl inside.

Zhao Sheng went in and looked around. When he came out, his face was covered in soot: "Nobody's here. It hasn't been used in a while."

Chen Feng nodded and slid down against the kiln wall.

Sitting down like that, my bones felt like they were falling apart, and with each heartbeat, my vision would go black for a moment.

Meng Changgeng sat down next to him, his hands resting on his knees, all ten fingers wrapped in cloth. He nudged Chen Feng with his elbow: "Boss, can we still go back?"

Chen Feng didn't move. "Yes, I can. I will definitely be able to take you back."

"But you don't even know the way, how are you going to lead us back?"

Chen Feng smiled and said, "Shut your mouth."

Chen Feng did not know the way, but in the military academy in his later years, he conducted countless sand table simulations with his comrades and instructors on the mountains and rivers of the whole country.

Having studied hundreds of famous battles from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign, I have a thorough understanding of the mountains and terrain of the northeastern part of our motherland.

Once he arrives at the destination, he will roughly know the direction to go.

Meng Changgeng fell silent. This time, he didn't pull his earlobe, but silently opened the bundle and took out the dry rations inside.

Hao Dadao was already lying on the ground. He had been carried all the way by two night scouts, and as soon as he lay down, he started snoring.

Sun Ergou squatted down next to him, hastily bandaging the wound on his left arm, the blood seeping through and staining the gray cloth into a palm-sized patch.

Aji leaned against a tree, his right hand hanging at his side, his five fingers trembling slightly.

Zhao Sheng took one of the night scouts out for a walk, telling the others who stayed behind to get some rest.

The remaining four scouts scattered around, silently eating their dry rations.

Chen Feng chewed on his dry rations, slowly closed his eyes, and finally the ringing in his ears that had lasted all night subsided.

He heard the wind rushing in from the mountain pass, rustling the withered grass.

I could hear the sound of pebbles rolling down as Sun Ergou moved, and I could hear Hao Dadao snoring.

I also heard someone speaking in a low voice.

"Wang Baihu is gone just like that."

"Why is Commander Chen heading north?"

"I heard from Chief Zhao that we're going to go out of the pass... and circle back from outside the Great Wall..."

"Huh? Is this reliable?"

"...Stop talking."

The crowd fell silent.

He knew what those five night watchmen were thinking.

I am not Wang Jie, so I cannot gain their unconditional trust. In a sense, they were dragged out of the pass by me.

But where can we go now if we don't go beyond the Great Wall?

If they hadn't been hunted down after bombing the main camp last night, they might have been able to escape back to Jinzhou in the chaos.

A whole night has passed; the Tartars must have realized what was happening, and the Later Jin scouts must be searching frantically for the arsonist. The road to Jinzhou must be even more tightly blocked than before.

Instead, fleeing north was the only way to survive, as the Later Jin forces were limited and the border fortresses in the rear were sparsely defended.

The Mongols were also all drawn away by Huang Taiji, leaving the grasslands deserted.

Once you've passed through the pass and found the horse, you can return to Xifengkou in four or five days.

Sleepiness washed over me like a tide.

He leaned against the kiln wall, finding a slightly more comfortable position, and his consciousness slowly sank into darkness.

Chen Feng had a dream.

He stood in his room from his previous life. The room was small, with a bed, a wardrobe, and a table.

There was a framed photo on the table, containing a picture of him wearing a military uniform from later times.

He looked at the familiar face in the photo and a smile appeared on his lips.

He heard someone knocking on the door, and when he went out, he found his mother and father going to open it.

The door opened, and standing in the doorway were several leaders from the military region.

The leader saluted his parents and handed them a small red velvet box with both hands.

The box contained a red five-pointed star medal.

When the mother saw the medal, she instantly understood what had happened. Her legs went weak, and she burst into tears.

The father helped the mother up; he didn't cry, but his eyes were red.

He took the box shakily and held it in his arms.

After a long pause, he finally asked, "Sir...my son...hasn't caused any trouble for the troops, has he?"

The commander's eyes also reddened, and he saluted again solemnly, saying, "Comrade Chen Feng... is the bravest in the entire army!"

Chen Feng opened his mouth, as if to say, "Mom, I'm here! Your son is still alive!"

But no sound came out; as soon as he opened his mouth, an invisible force choked his throat.

He wanted to rush over and hug his parents, but as soon as he made a move, the scene in front of him began to shatter.

The scene shifts to Chen Feng at his own funeral.

Former comrades-in-arms, dressed in civilian clothes, stood solemnly in line to lay flowers at their graves.

"Company Commander, that day... that day if it weren't for you..." The man's Adam's apple bobbed, and he couldn't continue.

On the day of the accident, it was Chen Feng who pinned him down, which saved his life.

Chen Feng looked at the face scarred by shrapnel and wanted to reach out and touch his head, but he couldn't.

"The company commander was a good man." Another soldier's voice choked with emotion. "He scolded me, but he did it for my own good."

The former squad leader spoke up: "Kid, you said you'd treat me to drinks when you get back to China... When are you going to treat me to drinks?"

The old squad leader also silently shed tears...

The sound grew farther and farther away, more and more indistinct, as if separated by a layer of water.

When Chen Feng came to his senses, he was already standing in a void filled with grayish-white mist.

Standing opposite me was a person wearing 21st-century camouflage training uniform, with a face that was all too familiar—my past self.

"How does it feel to be reborn?" asked the person in their previous life.

Without even thinking, Chen Feng exclaimed, "This is terrible!"

"How bad is it?"

"No cell phone, no computer, no family or friends, there's nothing here."

Speaking of this, Chen Feng recalled that when he returned to China last time, his mother found him a blind date, a pretty elementary school teacher, but she's gone now.

He gritted his teeth, "Is it even possible to go back?"

In his past life, he shook his head: "It seems we can't go back."

Chen Feng fell silent.

After a long silence, the other person asked again, "What are your plans for the future?"

He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know yet. Right now, I just want to survive. I've been given a second chance at life, and I can't just die like this without knowing why."

Looking at him in his past life, she thought, "As a time traveler, don't you want to make something of yourself?"

"What kind of business?"

His expression was playful in his past life. "For example, being an emperor."

He paused for a moment, then laughed: "Of course I want to! Who wouldn't want to try being emperor?"

He paused, looking at his tattered armor and battered body. "But I'm just a fake commander now, with only four or five men I can barely trust... To be emperor... that's too far off."

"Didn't you ever consider surrendering to the Manchus?"

Chen Feng looked at his past self, his expression turning serious. "You know that's impossible."

The previous life nodded, as if satisfied with the answer.

"Keep it up." The old man patted Chen Feng on the shoulder. "You've already taken the first step, there's no turning back. Just keep walking in the direction you've chosen in your heart."

"And you?"

In her past life, she turned her back and walked into the mist, waving goodbye as she walked away. "I'm going back now. Goodbye."

The figure from the past life walked further and further away until it disappeared into the mist.

Chen Feng wanted to reach out and stop him, but he stopped halfway through, clenching his fist as he watched the disappearing figure.

Why try to hold on? We're already from two different worlds.