Chapter 2: Borrowing a Corpse to Return a Soul?

  Lying on a hardboard bed, the young master of Hei Feng Zhai was between life and death. After being treated with mountain herbs by the village doctor, it was finally determined that except for his head being severely injured, there shouldn't be any major problems. This little life should be saved!

  What puzzled Xu Yizhong was that, according to the diagnosis of this herbalist, his nephew had only been stunned by the shell. Why did he lie in bed for several hours and still not wake up?

  Faced with Xu Yizhong's questioning, Cao Zhongyun, who is not even a skilled doctor himself, cannot give a clear answer. He can only respond cautiously, saying that perhaps the patient was shaken too severely and will not wake up for the time being.

  But through feeling the pulse, what can be confirmed is that this young master's pulse is full of energy and doesn't seem like it's about to give out at any moment. Therefore, as for why this young master hasn't woken up yet, he also couldn't say a specific reason.

  If it weren't for knowing that this guy, although not very good at treating illnesses, still had some skill in taking pulses, Xu Yizhong would have been worried that his nephew would also sleep and never wake up. At that time, Black Wind Stockade really didn't know what kind of situation it would become.

  Li Chengbing and several of his supporters proposed that he take over as the new leader of the mountain stronghold, but after Xi Yizhong and Li Chengbing discussed their abilities, it was ultimately decided to let the young master who had followed the old master to learn martial arts and had also studied literature with Xi Yizhong take over as the leader. After some thought, Li Chengbing agreed to Xi Yizhong's suggestion.

  With the support of this big boss, the succession of the head of Heifengzhai was also temporarily suspended. The fierce bandit who usually didn't listen to discipline, due to Li Chengbing's suppression, was still quite honest. However, as the young master failed to wake up for a long time, the mountain bandits began to become distracted and worried.

  But who would have known, at this moment in the mind of this young master, a fierce and uneven battle was taking place. Xu Bin, who had traversed space and regained consciousness, began to devour the soul of a young man who appeared beside him, trembling with fear, out of a desire to survive and continue living.

  It wasn't until the young man's soul was completely consumed that Xu Bin realized what had happened. He thought he had a second chance to make up for his past regrets, but instead found himself in a strange yet familiar parallel space. For this boy with the same name and surname who lived a somewhat tragic life, Xu Bin felt a pang of guilt and could only vow to live well on behalf of the boy.

  The earth is still the same, but the originally named Huaxia country has become today's Longhua country. From the memories of his youth, Xu Bin was surprised to find that the era in which he now lived as a young man had some similarities with the Republican era of his previous life on Earth. It was also the period when the feudal imperial rule of Longhua country had just ended, and the nascent democracy was also popularizing in this country.

  Nowadays, the people of Longhua are ignorant and do not understand democracy at all. Those politicians and warlords who understand democracy are vying for power and prestige, engaging in a cunning struggle for political power. Generally, the warlord politicians who learned democratic and capitalist ideas from abroad overthrew the last imperial dynasty of Longhua.

  Longhua State did not bring the people the peaceful atmosphere they had hoped for. On the contrary, in order to realize their own political ideals and desires for power, today's Longhua State has also become a true era of warlordism. How is this different from the Republic of China in our previous life?

  The original imperial court army that overthrew the last imperial dynasty, formed several political factions and became the strongest military force in Longhua State. However, in a few coastal cities of Longhua State, there emerged an armed force led by politicians who were not willing to be silent.

  These warlords, like locusts, have been waging wars on the territory of Longhua State, which is also dominated by the Han people, making life unbearable for the people. This is very reminiscent of the early days of the Republic of China!

  What surprised Xu Bin even more was that, apart from the last imperial dynasty being called Longhua with a surname of Su in power, the development trajectory of Longhua's history was also very similar to that of Huaxia in his previous life. The dynasties before the Longhua Empire were also the Ming Dynasty, and the founding emperor was also Zhu Yuanzhang.

  But it was not the historical nomadic nation of Qing Dynasty that overthrew the Ming Dynasty in the late Ming Dynasty, but a founding emperor Su Jili who also belonged to the Han nationality. The founding emperor of this Longhua Dynasty died after ruling Longhua for a hundred years, and the history of the later period is not much different from that of the previous Qing Dynasty. This made the Hans in this space once again become the objects of oppression by foreign forces.

  Although the space-time is different, what makes Xu Bin sigh is that in this space-time, Longhua country is still plagued by warlords' struggles. Many warlords who control a region are also representatives of foreign governments who covet Longhua's vast territory and resources. However, the military strength of Longhua today seems to be slightly different from that of the Republic of China in his previous life.

  At least in the memory of young people, the industrial foundation of Longhua State seems to be good nowadays. Even the air force and navy that rarely appeared in the previous life of Huaxia Republic exist in the troops controlled by those warlords who have been abroad. Although I don't know how specific the strength is, Xu Bin has a certain understanding of this time and space.

  Now in Longhua 1920, just like the Republic of China in the previous life, a war that swept through the world's military powers has just ended. This is similar to the trajectory of the Republic of China in the previous life, when World War I had just ended. Except for the changes in the history of Longhua, those active European and American powers on Earth in the previous life also exist here. This gives Xu Bin a bit more confidence in surviving in this space-time.

  Because he had swallowed the memories of his sixteen years as a youth, Xu Bin lay on this hard board bed for several hours before hearing a man's low sobbing voice beside his ear: "Xiao Bin, wake up quickly! Your father just left, if something happens to you, how will your second uncle explain it to the ancestors of the Xu family?"

  Xu Bin, who had absorbed the memories of his youth, knew it was time to wake up. Although the memories of his youth only remained in the moment when he was stunned by the cannonball, Xu Bin, who came from the Huaxia Eagle Special Forces, was very clear about the difficulties the young man was facing at this time.

  Especially when he heard that the old dad who had a high prestige in the mountain stronghold had passed away, Xu Bin realized that this second uncle was probably powerless to control the situation in the mountain stronghold. It's worth noting that for these bandits who have been wandering in the rain of bullets for years, betrayal is not something rare for them.

  Xu Bin, who didn't want to be killed by those unscrupulous bandits after barely getting a second chance at life, finally carefully opened his eyes after some careful consideration.

  What appeared before his eyes was a middle-aged man with disheveled hair, wearing a long gown and crying like a child. Xu Bin was also speechless, wondering how such a person could survive in the bandit world where death was an everyday occurrence.

  "Second Uncle!"

  Xiao voiced a cry, Xu Bin quickly saw the crying, nose-running and eye-tearing Second Uncle, who stopped sobbing and looked at him with one eye. After seeing that he had opened his eyes, he suddenly hugged the frightened Xu Bin and burst into loud wailing. It seemed that he didn't care at all, it was such a shameful thing to cry in front of this young boy at his age.

  "Xiao Bin! You scared Second Uncle to death. How come you're only waking up now? Do you know, your dad is gone. What are we going to do from now on? If something happens to you again, how will Second Uncle be able to face your dad in the future?"

  He was held by this seemingly weak middle-aged man, and Xu Bin, who was almost out of breath, could only forcibly push away his second uncle, who had tears and snot all over him, and bitterly smiled: "Second Uncle, I'm awake now, aren't I? You said don't cry, if the brothers outside see you like this, what will they think of you? Now that I'm awake, take me to see Father!"

  No matter what, Xu Bin, who has swallowed the memories of his youth, also needs to take on the responsibilities of a young man. To replace this father who couldn't see him off or have a final conversation with him, and fulfill his filial duties. More importantly, Xu Bin needs to quickly stabilize the morale of the mountain stronghold in this chaotic situation. Otherwise, the old nest that the Xu family father and son had operated for many years might be snatched away by others!

  From the memory of his youth, Xu Bin knew that there were still many ordinary bandit dens around Heifengzhai today. For a mountain stronghold like Heifengzhai, which is easy to defend and has abundant food and money, those bandits are really enviable! If he can't quickly stabilize the military morale of the mountain stronghold, he's afraid that his fate with Heifengzhai won't be good either.

  Xu Yizhong, who was reminded by his nephew, felt that this nephew seemed to be different from before after waking up, and also realized how embarrassing his previous behavior was. When he heard that his nephew wanted to go pay respects to his father, Xu Yizhong hurriedly supported Xu Bin, who was still a bit dizzy, to sit up from the bed.

  At the moment of leaving, Xu Bin saw that this uncle, who was still full of feminine charm just now, suddenly changed into a serious face like a Sichuan opera changing face. He couldn't help but sigh, it seems that this uncle can hold his own as the second master of the mountain stronghold, and he doesn't seem to be as useless as he imagined! At least this skill of changing faces, Xu Bin thought to himself that he still needs to learn well.