Chapter 3 Re-encountering Human Habitation

  The autumn sun was still quite scorching, perhaps due to the lack of rain, this river had already dried up, occasionally there would be puddles gathering a small amount of water, the water was heated by the sunlight. Liu Ze knelt down beside the puddle, not even caring if the water was dirty, he scooped it up with both hands and drank it in big gulps, with the moisture from this water, his parched throat finally got some relief.

  That sick wolf crouched ten meters away, staring intently at him. Liu Ze gripped the wooden stake tightly in his hand, waiting for it to pounce so he could deliver a fatal blow. But the sick wolf seemed to have no intention of attacking, only closely following, as if preparing to compete with Liu Ze in endurance, seeing who would fall first. Liu Ze also wanted to take the initiative to attack, but the wolf seemed very cunning, and as soon as it saw Liu Ze's intentions, it immediately escaped far away, waiting for Liu Ze to turn around before slowly catching up, always maintaining a distance of ten meters.

  Liu Ze gave up his intention to kill it, this cunning guy, perhaps it was once a wolf king, a wise wolf, although it had grown old and weak, its hunting experience still remained, it was certain that this two-legged strange animal could not survive in this wilderness, it was waiting for the moment when Liu Ze fell down to enjoy his dinner. Although Liu Ze was not afraid of this sick wolf, if a pack of wolves or tigers and leopards appeared, Liu Ze did not think the wooden stick in his hand would be of much use. So, the top priority was to find people, to find human settlements.

  Along the riverbed, it's not Liu Ze's sudden whim. After humans entered agricultural civilization, they no longer lived in caves but chose to live in plain areas with water sources. In the lower reaches of rivers, there would likely be plains and human settlements. As for how Liu Ze was certain that this wasn't a primitive society of eating raw meat and drinking blood, but rather an early civilized agricultural society, it can only be said that it's Liu Ze's gamble.

  The sky had darkened, and Liu Ze's stomach was growling with hunger, but there wasn't a single crumb on his body. The distant howls of wolves made him shiver with fear, for in the darkness lay death! The eyes of the loyal sick wolf beside him gleamed with an eerie green light, as if the night had given it greater confidence.

  Fire! Liu Ze thought of fire, the thing that beasts fear most. Although he didn't have a lighter on him, he still knew the ancient method of starting a fire by rubbing sticks together. After collecting a large pile of dry branches and grass, Liu Ze discovered that practice was much harder than theory. It wasn't until after hundreds of attempts that he finally managed to ignite the flames, letting out a sigh of relief. With this fire going, surely even beasts wouldn't dare approach him.

  But Liu Ze guarded the fire, and didn't dare to fall asleep. Firstly, the fire needed him to constantly add firewood to maintain its flames. Secondly, his stomach was tormenting him with pangs of hunger. In a daze, he seemed to have returned home to warmth, delicious food, his wife's affection, his daughter hugging his neck and laughing non-stop, her breath tickling him...

  He suddenly realized that the itchy feeling was actually the old wolf licking his neck with its rough tongue. He hastily swung the stick in his hand, and the wolf let out a loud howl and escaped again. Liu Ze felt somewhat regretful, if he had stabbed instead of hitting just now, he might have succeeded.

  The sky brightened, and the fire had long been extinguished. Liu Ze helplessly stood up straight, and the wound on his injured left leg burst open, with fresh blood flowing out. He tore off another strip of cloth, tightly bandaging the wound, and continued to move forward along the riverbed.

  The pangs of hunger came in waves, leaving him exhausted. He knew that if he couldn't find food soon, he might become the sick wolf's lunch before he could even leave this wilderness. He didn't want to die, so he had to fill his stomach. Fortunately, the season was still helpful, although wild vegetables like dandelion and plantain were too old to eat, the shrubs here were full of small red fruits that were sour but slightly sweet. He could also find fruits like hawthorn and Chinese wolfberry, and if he was lucky, he might even find a nest or two of wild bird eggs. Eating well was impossible, but barely filling his stomach was still possible. As for hunting those wild rabbits and mountain goats, Liu Ze didn't even think about it - without a gun or bow and arrow, it was almost like daydreaming. It's said that lions have a success rate of less than 40% when hunting, and with Liu Ze's two legs, he couldn't catch up to those agile animals even if he ran until he was exhausted.

  At night, when rekindling the fire, Liu Ze no longer had to suffer from numb hands and feet. Having mastered the technique of using flint to start a fire, lighting it became much easier. After starting three fires, Liu Ze could lie down between them and sleep for several hours.

  The adaptability of human beings is truly boundless! It's only been two days, and Liu Ze can already survive independently in the wilderness. This has further strengthened his courage to live on, and also made him understand a truth: as long as he doesn't give up, there will always be hope!

  That wolf still closely followed him, but Liu Ze saw that the wolf's eyes had become increasingly gloomy, perhaps even it felt that hope was becoming more and more distant.

  Smoke! A wisp of smoke rose slowly in the fading light of sunset, and Liu Ze excitedly jumped up. This scene was undoubtedly the most beautiful picture he had ever seen in his life. He shouted loudly and ran wildly towards the direction of the smoke, rolling down from a steep slope.

  At the foot of the slope is a thoroughfare, where the hoof prints of horses and the ruts of carts are clearly visible. At the end of the thoroughfare stands what appears to be a castle, with tall stone walls towering above, and wisps of smoke rising from within.

  Liu Ze was quite excited, although he couldn't determine what dynasty it was now, but one thing was certain, this was definitely not the barbaric era of drinking blood and eating raw meat, such a solid fortress, at least it was in the Qin or Han Dynasty.

  When he turned back, he found that the old wolf was squatting at the top of the slope, with a distance of twenty or thirty meters between them, and it did not continue to follow up. It let out a long howl, the sound was low and sad. In this pursuit between man and wolf, there seemed to be no winner, but after all, they did not die at each other's hands (claws), survival is the first priority, from this perspective, they both won again. As for the old wolf losing its last prey, how long can it survive in the wilderness? Liu Ze was about to enter human civilization, what would be waiting for him next?

  All of this seems to have become unimportant, in the last glance between man and wolf, Liu Ze read a kind of tenacious persistence, that is the meaning of life!

  At this time, several people ran over from the direction of the castle. They were running very fast and soon arrived in front of Liu Ze. Liu Ze looked at them coldly. These people were wearing ancient costumes that could only be seen in movies and TV shows. They had black straight robes, hemp shoes, and high buns on their heads, held up by a thin wooden stick. They were flustered and panicked, running while constantly looking back, as if someone was chasing them from behind.

  Liu Ze learned from the ancient costume TV series and bowed his hands to these people, saying: "Excuse me, sirs, where is this place?"

  Several people didn't intend to stop at all. One of them pulled Liu Ze and hastily said, "What's the point of asking?! Hurry up and run! If you don't run now, your life will be in danger!"

  Although the pronunciation was different, Liu Ze still barely understood what he meant, but he was still confused and quickly ran two steps to keep up with their pace. "What happened to you guys?"

  That person was about to say something else, when the one beside him hastily said: "Second Brother, don't bother with him, let's run quickly!"

  At this time, the sound of horseshoes came from behind, Liu Ze turned his head and took a glance, more than ten horses rushed over like a whirlwind, he hurriedly dodged to the side of the road. Before Liu Ze could see what the horseback riders looked like, a lasso had already been neatly and efficiently placed around his body. Liu Ze shouted loudly: "You've caught the wrong person!" But the people on horseback didn't pay any attention to his shouting, and the speed of the horses didn't slow down in the slightest.

  Liu Ze only ran a few steps with the horse before being pulled to the ground, and his entire body made intimate contact with the earth. The rope tied around his chest was deeply embedded in his flesh, giving him a feeling of near suffocation. His clothes were quickly worn away, and his chest and knees felt scorching hot with pain, as if the skin on his body was being stripped away layer by layer. Liu Ze's consciousness gradually became blurry.

  Damn it, don't make me cross over like this...

  When Liu Ze regained consciousness again, he was splashed awake by a bucket of cold water. He felt that all the bones in his body seemed to be scattered, his two legs were bloody and swollen, the wound hurt to death, and his mouth involuntarily cursed. However, his mind was still relatively clear, and he secretly observed the situation around him.

  It's clear that he has been taken back to the castle, which is made entirely of unevenly sized stone blocks, rough and simple. However, the person walking towards him is radiant and resplendent, wearing clothes that are unmistakably made of high-quality silk, with wide sleeves and intricate embroidery in gold thread. Liu Ze is not unfamiliar with this type of clothing, having seen it many times in movies and TV shows - it's typical Han Dynasty attire. In recent years, there was even a "Hanfu" movement where young people would wear traditional Han clothing for their coming-of-age ceremonies. Liu Ze is now certain that he has indeed traveled back to the Han Dynasty, but whether it's Western Han or Eastern Han remains unclear.

  That man was quite young, only in his early twenties, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, handsome and elegant, but with a cold face, a look that warned people to keep their distance. All around him were soldiers wearing leather armor and holding spears, bowing to him. A person who looked like he was in charge reported to him: "Reporting to young master, the five escaped civilians have been caught, please decide how to deal with them."

  The young master in brocade clothes slightly raised his eyelids and lightly touched his upper and lower lips, and a word popped out.

  "Cut."

  Those five civilians were so frightened that their souls left their bodies, and they all knelt down, knocking their heads to beg for mercy.

  "Master, spare our lives! Master, spare our lives!"

  The young nobleman in brocade stood there, his face expressionless. Several soldiers rushed up and dragged the five civilians away, their wails, sobs, and pleas for mercy filling the air, followed by a few blood-curdling screams, after which all was silent.

  Before long, five bloody heads were brought up. Liu Ze watched with his eyes wide open as the five lives were reduced to just five bloody heads in an instant. The strong smell of blood filled the air and lingered for a long time, unable to be dispelled. Liu Ze's soul was deeply shocked, so much so that he had forgotten about the pain from his wounds. Was this really ancient times? Viewing life as worthless, slaughtering people like pigs and dogs, heaven, isn't this too cruel?!

  The young master in brocade clothes waved his sleeve and said lightly, "Hang these five human heads at the city gate, let these lowly people know that this is the outcome of escaping!" The soldier responded with a sound and retreated.

  "Didn't you just run away with five of them? What's going on now?" The young master in brocade turned his gaze to Liu Ze.

  "Report to the young master, this villain was captured together with those five escaped prisoners. In my humble opinion, this villain is undoubtedly a spy of the Xianbei people!" The attendant said with a flattering smile.

  "What a Xianbei spy?" The brocade-clad young master seemed to have taken an interest, walking up to Liu Ze and sizing him up from head to toe. Liu Ze's attire was indeed quite curious, although the clothes were already tattered and worn out, the style could still be vaguely discerned, especially the buttons on the clothes which made the brocade-clad young master extremely surprised, and the pair of leather boots on Liu Ze's feet looked even more unusual. "Under whose orders did you infiltrate our Great Han border? What is your intention?"