Chapter 1: The Shocking News of Zhao's Son Faking His Own Death

  "Ah, dear son, walk slowly on the road to the Yellow Springs, turn back and take another look at your poor mother..."

  In a suffocating darkness, Yang Zhi-jun faintly heard the sound of a woman crying. The voice seemed to be right next to him, yet it also seemed to be far away in the distance.

  Yang Zhi-jun's head was still dizzy and his memories were filled with the blinding light and endless heat of the bomb explosion. "So that's what it feels like to be bombed, boom! A loud noise, then nothing can be seen or heard..."

  Yang Zhi-jun, who was gradually regaining consciousness, recalled the events before the explosion. "Alas, I've failed at the last moment! I wonder if the hostages were rescued and whether that undercover agent blew up with me?"

  "Woe is me... Xing'er, my poor child, you're only fourteen years old and heaven wants to take you away. What will your helpless mother do from now on?!"

  "Huh, is that really the sound of a woman crying? Which Xing'er is it? It's definitely not crying for me!" Yang Zhi-jun's now clear mind was filled with confusion. "Could I be lying in the morgue? Or are they holding a memorial service? Damn! Am I alive or have I sacrificed myself? Who can tell me?" Yang Zhi-jun was engaged in intense mental struggle - "If I'm alive, why can't I see anything and my whole body feels nothing. If I've kicked the bucket, how can I still hear other people's voices? Have I really become a spirit?"

  Suddenly, a rapid footsteps came from outside, and a fierce voice like a devil's sounded from afar: "Zhao Si Jia's, have you prepared the rent owed to our family's Huang Lao Ye? Today is the final deadline. If you still refuse to pay, we'll burn down your house and sell you into slavery!"

  "Yes, if you dare to delay again, I'll take you to see the official right now!" Another loud quacking sound came from another duck.

  "What the f**k is this place, it's like a local tyrant from the old society, just like Huang Shiren's running dog?" Yang Zhi-jun was shocked after hearing the voices of the two men.

  "Officer, please give me a few more days," the woman begged bitterly. "My husband passed away last year and our family had to borrow money everywhere to bury him. This year's harvest was also bad, and the grain we collected is barely enough for my son and me to survive. We can endure the hardship, but unfortunately, my poor child caught a cold and followed his father in just three to five days. To bury my child, I even sold our only ox... now I really can't afford to pay the rent..."

  "Coffin?", Yang Zhi-jun's body gradually regained consciousness, and he slowly managed to lift his hand, feeling around. "So I'm in a coffin, no wonder it feels square all around", Yang Zhi-jun had already opened his eyes, but couldn't see anything, and somewhat understood his situation.

  "Zhao Si's family, it's also pitiful to hear you say that, but a life for a life and debts must be repaid. If we, the lower class people, don't ask you for rent, we won't have any way to explain ourselves to Master Huang when we go back." said Gong Ya with a gloomy tone.

  "Look at your family, with bare walls and now you're a widow. Why not just sign this contract and we'll wipe out the previous debt? Once you enter Master Huang's household as a concubine, you'll have fine clothes and food to eat, which is better than starving and freezing every day."

  Outside the coffin, two dog legs were flying with saliva, continuing to intimidate and entice the woman. Yang Zhi-jun inside the coffin had adjusted his breathing, trying to see if he could push open the coffin lid. "Damn it! It's actually nailed on!" Yang Zhi-jun sighed sadly after exhausting all his strength but still couldn't push open the coffin lid.

  Yang Zhijun was getting anxious, the coffin wasn't fully sealed, and there were gaps in the wood for air to seep through, but he needed to get out quickly to figure out his current situation. Lying in the coffin was really dangerous, if someone came to carry him away and bury him, it would be too tragic.

  "Zhao's family home. Today, if you don't agree, we'll have to use this coffin as collateral first!" The evil-sounding voice rang out again as soon as they entered.

  "No! My Xing'er is still inside! You murderers, if you dare to touch my Xing'er, I'll die in front of you!" The woman suddenly shouted hysterically.

  The two people on this side were stunned for a moment and didn't dare to make another move. But Yang Zhi-jun inside the coffin was not having it. "Hurry up!" Yang Zhi-jun shouted loudly, "Let me out of here!"

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Yang Zhijun desperately slapped the inner wall of the coffin with his hands.

  On this quiet night, several people outside the coffin heard a loud noise coming from behind!

  "Pen... pen prison guard... , seems like there's a voice, you... you... hear it or not?" The man who was just ferocious and menacing suddenly stuttered, trembling with fear as he asked.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang! Let me out of here!" The voice behind him continued...

  "What's that noise? Who's talking?" The two legs of the prison guard trembled, and he looked at Dog Leg's house with a bit of guilt, although he also heard the "thud" sound, but he really didn't have the courage to turn around and look towards the coffin.

  "I'm going to f**k your grandfather! Let me out of here!" Yang Zhi-Jun yelled loudly from inside the coffin, and the people outside heard him clearly.

  "It's a fake corpse!" The jailer let out an earth-shattering yell and took off running with his pants down, closely followed by the similarly undignified house servants.

  "Xing Er, is that you?" A timid voice sounded from outside the coffin. "Don't scare Mother, Mother has heard your voice."

  "Alas, let's go out first and talk about it later. Can't scare the woman outside again." Yang Zhijun thought to himself, earlier he heard two men shouting and running outside, afraid of scaring this woman away too, so he politely said "Lady outside, would you mind finding someone to help open the coffin lid? I'm not dead yet!"

  "It's really my Xinger, it's really my Xinger..." The woman outside the coffin was trembling and kept muttering to herself, completely unaware that Yang Zhi had not called her "mother" and used different words. "Xinger, you just hold on for a moment, mother will go call someone to help!"

  After a while, Yang Zhi-jun was lying in the coffin and was about to lose hope when he finally heard a group of people's voices. "Zhao Si Jia Di, is your son Xing really alive? Isn't this a fake resurrection?" Several men's voices rang out in disorder.

  "My son is really alive, he's still talking, it's not a fake resurrection! Please help me, hurry up and get him out, my poor child...... Waaahhh..." The woman begged.

  "Zhao's family, don't cry anymore, I, Zhao Dabiao, will help you! Every day, Xing'er sees me and still calls me uncle, I don't believe he can come back to harm me!" A loud voice of a sturdy man rang out.

  "We're so many people, what's there to be afraid of! Let's get to work!" After another flurry of chatter, the coffin that had already been nailed shut was pried open.

  "My goodness! I can finally see the sky again!" Yang Zhi Jun let out a long sigh and said with emotion. Then, he saw a group of curious yet fearful faces blocking the light above him.

  When Yang Zhi-jun was carried out of the coffin by a group of people dressed in ancient clothes, he fell silent. He didn't have time to cheer for not being dead, and was confused by his current situation.

  In front of him was a group of people speaking in a dialect that was clearly different from modern Mandarin, wearing strange and exotic clothing. Zhao Xing couldn't stop asking himself what this situation was all about. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't make an accurate judgment! These people were obviously of the yellow race, and although their language was difficult to understand, it was still possible to make out that they were speaking Chinese. But these clothes, except for seeing them in TV shows and movies, had never been seen on anyone else in real life.

  "Everyone, you've brought me here to be an extra, does my superior know about it?" Zhao Xing asked with a hint of guilt. Because he was clear that no company had the right to use special forces as extras.

  "What? What crowd actor? Has this kid been fooled?" The middle-aged man named Zhao Dabao put his hand on Zhao Xing's forehead and muttered to himself.

  "Xing Er, hurry up and thank Uncle Zhao, it was him who saved you!" The familiar female voice finally rang out again.

  "What do you call me? Who is Xing Er?" Yang Zhi Jun made his last effort, praying in his heart, "Heaven, please don't let it be a ghost possession! I don't want to become another person!"

  "Alas, Zhao Si's family, it seems that although your son didn't die young, his brain is still muddled. Zhao Da Dan sighed and said, "Fellow villagers, let's go back and let the mother and son have a good talk... Alas..."

  At this moment, Yang Zhi-jun, who had always been skeptical of the idea of crossing over and ghosts, probably knew what was going on. In his heart, he shouted: "Damn heaven, you're really playing a trick on me with this crossing thing! If I'm going to cross over, why can't I be one of those rich and noble guys? Why did I end up as a poor coffin maker? How am I supposed to live like this?"

  "Ugh, I'm so tired, I want to sleep..." Yang Zhi-Jun awkwardly said to the woman in front of him. As soon as he heard his own voice coming from his body, with its obvious signs of puberty, Yang Zhi-Jun couldn't help but feel like going crazy.

  "Oh, Xing'er, then hurry up and go to sleep!" The woman busied herself covering Zhao Xing with a tattered quilt that had its cotton filling exposed.

  Tonight, looking at the thatched roof with starlight shining through, Yang Zhi-jun couldn't sleep no matter what. The entanglement and confusion in his heart could only be understood by those who had gone through it.

  Before his sacrifice, Yang Zhi-jun was a professional soldier who led an elite reconnaissance battalion. In a battle to rescue hostages and crack down on drug traffickers in the Golden Triangle region, Yang Zhi-jun unfortunately died along with a bandit strapped with explosives. At that moment, Yang Zhi-jun became a martyr; but in this time-space continuum, Yang Zhi-jun occupied the already deceased Zhao Xing's body, successfully completing a journey through time and space.