Chapter 1: Don't Be a Hero in Your Next Life

  "Yangzi, it's so late, what are you doing running here?"

  Cao Youxue smiled and asked the young man beside him, pushed open the car door with one hand, got out of the car, stretched lazily and stretched his slightly tired body.

  Twenty-six-year-old Cao Youxue is a detective with the X City Police Department.

  A few days ago, he cracked a drug case and successfully shot dead a drug lord hiding in X city, and was commended by the provincial bureau.

  This case is also somewhat bizarre.

  What was originally just an ordinary suicide case unexpectedly led to a series of murders being uncovered by a detective. During the investigation, the detective encountered obstacles and was even suspended from duty, but Cao Youxue remained determined and continued to pursue the case.

  He never thought that the truth would actually be...

  A renowned entrepreneur known throughout the province turned out to be a big drug lord; and behind this, an even bigger bribery case was exposed!

  The municipal law system of City X was almost half implicated.

  There were countless officials who fell from power, including high-ranking officials in provinces and cities.

  This is also the largest drug trafficking group and corruption case cracked in Henan Province since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

  The entire case was cracked, and it took two years. In those two years, Cao Youxue went through countless tests of life and death, and suffered immense pain. Now that the case has finally been solved, Cao Youxue feels incredibly relieved. Standing beside the Xiong'er River Reservoir, looking at the rippling water under the moonlight, his heart is filled with pride, but also a faint, indescribable sadness.

  Suddenly, Cao Youxue felt a sense of foreboding in his heart.

  The countless times he had hovered between life and death over the past two years had given him a keen instinctive intuition about danger.

  He almost subconsciously dodged to the side, but just as he dodged, a gunshot sounded from behind him, and a bullet entered his back, knocking him to the ground.

  Although I reacted, things happened too suddenly!

  Cao Youxue fell to the ground, one hand covering his chest, with fresh blood flowing out from between his fingers. He lifted his head and stared at the young man who had just gotten out of the police car with an incredulous gaze. The young man was holding a handgun, its black muzzle still smoking...

  "Yangzi, you..."

  Cao Youxue couldn't believe this fact, his most intimate comrade-in-arms and most powerful partner, had actually shot at him.

  Under the moonlight, the young man's face was expressionless, quietly watching Cao Youxue.

  "Lao Cao, I've advised you before, don't investigate any further... this case is not as simple as you think."

  But you didn't listen, and insisted on continuing the investigation. But what was the result? I'll tell you, this case isn't over yet, those people who jumped out, were just a group of insignificant scapegoats... You ruined someone's good deed, how could they possibly let it go?

  In an instant, Cao Youxue seemed to have understood everything!

  In these two years, he wandered countless times on the edge of life and death... There were several times when he was puzzled about how the other party found him.

  Originally thought it was an internal ghost, and later indeed turned out that internal ghost.

  But never thought, this biggest insider, turned out to be...

  Many doubts that have been unclear for two years suddenly became clear!

  "Yangzi, you too..."

  "Don't blame me, I have a wife and kids, and I love them very much."

  Lao Cao, to be honest, I really admire you, admire your persistence, admire that so-called sense of justice... But what's the point? The case seems to have been solved, but you've become a lone wolf. As for Uncle and Auntie's affairs, I'm very sorry. But if anyone is to blame, it's you for not knowing when to stop, for not seeing clearly this world we live in... Lao Cao, good people don't live long, wanting to be a hero means you're destined to have no good ending."

  Yangzi said, and the muzzle was again aimed at Cao Youxue.

  "In your next life, never be a hero again!"

  Bang!

  As Yangzi's voice fell, a gunshot rang out, echoing over the Xiong'er River Reservoir, lingering for a long time...

  Several days later, Cao Youxue's body was found in a reservoir!

  After confirmation by the public security authorities, Cao Youxue was found to have been killed in revenge by a gang. In response, the provincial government issued instructions and launched a massive anti-gang campaign across the province, posthumously recognizing Cao as a martyr.

  At the memorial service, as Cao Youxue's parents had passed away and there were no close relatives at home, Zhang Yang, then vice director of X City Public Security Bureau, who was Cao Youxue's most trusted comrade-in-arms and best partner, attended in place of Cao's family members and expressed gratitude to the leaders for their kind condolences.

  Old Cao, don't blame me!

  Good people don't live long, while evil ones leave a legacy for thousands of years...

  You often say: Man proposes, God disposes! But now I'm standing here, and you're gone... I hope in your next life, don't be a good person again!

  ————————————————————————————

  Bang!

  Gunfire broke out.

  Cao Youyue let out a loud cry, opened his eyes and sat up with a flip of his body.

  His back was sweating, his shirt was soaked through and clinging to him, cold and clammy, making him feel very uncomfortable.

  "Little friend, what's wrong with you?"

  Perhaps the commotion was too loud, and it startled others in the house. A strange yet familiar voice sounded in the darkness, followed by a flash of fire as someone lit an oil lamp. The pitch-black room suddenly brightened up. Although the light was dim, it still gave Cao You a sense of safety.

  Sigh

  He let out a breath, wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead with his hand, and gradually calmed down.

  A stout man wearing a diagonal apron, holding a green ceramic oil lamp in the shape of a carp jumping over a dragon gate, with one hand blocking the wind, his expression tense, quickly walked to Cao Youxue's side. Behind him was a woman about thirty years old, her eyebrows and eyes even more tightly knitted, sitting on either side of Cao Youxue, though she didn't speak, the concern in her eyes was evident.

  Cao Youxue immediately revealed a brilliant smile and said softly: "Dad... Mom... I'm fine!"

  It's almost been twenty days since I arrived in this world!

  Cao Youxue still can't get used to it.

  He thought he was a goner for sure, but unexpectedly, after that gunshot went off, he found himself still alive and kicking!

  However, the world he is in now is no longer his original one.

  And now he is no longer his former self...

  To put it accurately, the current Cao Youxue is a young man in his prime, only thirteen years old. If we use a more mysterious tone, then his soul currently occupies the body of a thirteen-year-old boy named Cao Peng.

  Comrade Cao Youxue is an excellent Party member and also a firm atheist.

  When he faced such a situation, he couldn't say clearly what was going on. Could it be that there really is the existence of gods in the dark?

  But if there is a god, why doesn't he punish those evil people?

  He can't think clearly and can't figure it out.

  But there was one thing he knew: he was no longer Cao Youxue, and he couldn't go back to his original world. He would take revenge!

  In this world, he got a new name and also gained a new family.

  The honest man's name is Cao Ju... Oh, don't get me wrong, it's not Cao Ji, but Cao Ju... the "Ju" in drawing water! It's said that when he was born, his mother, who was Cao Youxue's grandmother, was fetching water from a well. "Ju" means to draw water from a well, so he was named Cao Ju.

  At the same time, he also has a new identity, that is Cao Youxue's old dad in this world...the kind of close relatives.

  The woman sitting to the right of Cao Youxue, surnamed Zhang, had no name. Before marrying Cao Quan, everyone called her Zhang Nü, and after marrying Cao Quan, she became 'Zhang Shi'. In this era, unless from a wealthy family, most women would not have been given names at birth.

  Zhang was born into an ordinary family.

  Cao Ju and his wife Zhang had a son and a daughter...

  His son is Cao Peng, also known as Cao Youxue; his daughter is Cao Shi, who is also the sister of Cao Youxue. She was 18 years old and married a man named Deng Ji from Deng Village in Jiyang two years ago. When she got married, Cao Quan specially asked someone to give her a name, which is Cao Nan.

  Deng Jie was going to meet his future wife in the south of Jiuyang, and since the five elements of the Cao family were missing wood, he got the name Cao Nan.

  Cao Youxue had never seen this sister before, but after rebirth, he heard Zhangshi mention it a few times. More than ten days ago, Cao Peng suddenly fainted and woke up to find that he had changed into Cao Youxue... or rather, Cao Youxue had become the 13-year-old Cao Peng.

  Looking at the worried expression of this simple and honest couple in front of him, Cao Youxue's heart also warmed up.

  "Dad, I'm really fine, I just had a nightmare."

  Unexpectedly, Cao Qiu and his wife became even more tense after hearing this.

  The couple looked at each other and Zhang said: "Peng'er, don't be afraid, Mom and Dad are right here, go to sleep obediently, nothing's wrong!"

  "Yes, it's getting late, Peng'er go to sleep, I and your mother will accompany you."

  In his previous life, Cao You was busy with work and had little time to accompany his parents.

  Later, because of that shocking case, even his parents were implicated. To this day, Cao Youxue still feels extremely guilty about it.

  This young couple in front of me, although very unfamiliar. But the soul that inhabits this body is owed to them, with an unbreakable blood relationship.

  This also made Cao Youxue's heart feel a strong sense of dependence.

  Listening to Cao's gentle words, my heart, which had been stirred up by the nightmare earlier, seemed to calm down instantly...

  He closed his eyes and lay down again.

  Enjoying Zhang's gentle movements as he covered him with a quilt, his heart felt warm.

  "His father, Pong Er has been having terrible nightmares since he woke up, it's not a good thing."

  "I know... Peng'er has been weak since childhood, that day he suddenly fainted, and now he's having nightmares nonstop. I'm worried that he's encountered something unclean."

  His mother said, "If not, I'll go to Zhongyang Mountain in two days to ask for two talismans of fairy water."

  I heard that the immortal of Zhongyang Temple has great powers. Some time ago, Old Wang's young son fell ill and was cured after drinking the immortal's talisman water.

  Cao Ju and Zhang's wife were talking in a low voice.

  Cao Youxue seemed to be asleep, but he heard everything clearly.

  After waking up, Zeng had asked around to clarify the world he was in and the era he was currently living in. However, neither Cao Jing nor Zhang Shi could give a clear explanation of the situation. Therefore, Cao Youxue only knew that he was currently in Zhongyang Town, located at the foot of Zhongyang Mountain.

  Zhongyang Mountain is under the jurisdiction of Nanyang County.

  Nanyang Commandery

  In the long history of China, many dynasties had a Nanyang Commandery.

  Cao Youxue can at least confirm that the world he is in now should still be Huaxia.

  But which dynasty is it specifically?

  Still can't be sure at this moment!

  Cao Ju and Zhang Shi lowered their voices, whispering to each other.

  From the initial Zhong Yang Guan Fu Shui to the later family trivia...

  Cao Jie suddenly said: "I heard from Old Man Wang next door during the day that Liu Jingzhou and General Zhang have stopped fighting, and it seems they are going to form an alliance."

  Liu Jingzhou?

  General Little Zhang?

  Cao Youxue's heart suddenly thudded, vaguely, he already had an answer!

  ————————————————————————————————

  Today is the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first month.

  The old and new publish a new book, and at the same time, I wish everyone a happy New Year. The previous 'rabbit' is like brocade, everything goes as desired.

  New year new atmosphere, Lao Xin also looks forward to the new book getting a good result. Collection, recommendation, click... I want them all, please ask brothers to give more support, thank you!

  Starting point. Welcome, book lovers! The latest, fastest and hottest serialized works are all on the starting point of original works!