Chapter 1: Battlefield

  On the desolate hill, a tattered and worn-out Chu flag stood at the top, flapping in the night wind. The large "Chu" character on the flag had been torn in half, with a gaping hole that seemed to mock something. A soldier sat under the flag, clutching it tightly with one hand, his head bowed against his chest. A long spear pierced through his chest and into the ground, its shaft stained with dark purple blood. He had been dead for a long time, yet still refused to let go of the flag.

  Around this flag, countless bodies fell heavily, obviously, around this flag, there was a fierce and bloody battle. Along the slope downwards, the corpses of both sides were intertwined, with bizarre postures, stretching far away, the grass had turned dark red, roughly estimated, in this square mile of grassland, both sides suffered at least thousands of casualties.

  A circling vulture excitedly discovered this huge food site, swooping down with a sharp whistle, but startled several wild dogs that were tearing at the corpse on the ground, scattering in panic, then turning back reluctantly from a distance of several meters, their fluffy heads stained with fresh blood, their open nostrils puffing out heavy breaths, their wide-open mouths dripping with a mixture of blood and saliva, and still stuck between their teeth were shreds of flesh.

  The proud vulture disdainfully swept a glance at the wild dog not far away, and then used its curved and sharp hard beak to fiercely peck at the delicious food in front of it, tearing off a piece, and then lifted its neck to swallow it down.

  Perhaps it was an unknown fear of the flying creatures in the sky, a few wild dogs barked demonstratively for a while, scratched their front paws on the ground a few times, and then retreated, each turning their sharp mouths to the next target, after all, there was plenty of food here, no need to face the unknown danger.

  A wild dog thrust its sharp teeth into the target's thigh, where the meat was the most delicious for them. The warm liquid that flowed into its mouth seemed to make the dog realize something, and this food seemed different from before, but it excited him even more. The warm liquid that flowed down his throat caused a sudden surge in hormones within him, and he let out a low growl, closing his jaws, ready to shake his head and tear off this piece of meat that excited him even more.

  "Ah!" A shrill cry suddenly rang out on the quiet grassland, and the beautiful food in front of his eyes suddenly sat up from the ground, with a blood-stained face covered in blood, a pair of eyes staring blankly at the wild dog close at hand.

  The wild dog let out a loud yell, opened its big mouth, turned around and ran away, running several yards before stopping again. It turned its head and stared at the previous food with a pair of green eyes, staring dead at it. The large vulture not far away was also startled by this sudden movement, spreading its wings and taking off into the air, circling above the grassland.

  The stray dog's eyes still held a bewildered gaze, darting back and forth with a mix of terror, confusion, and disorientation. Its mouth let out a series of murmurs, yet it didn't even glance at the stray dog just a few steps away.

  Perhaps it was the delicacy that enraged the wild dog, or maybe it was the warm and savory flavor still flowing in its throat that stirred up its wild nature. More likely, it was the second time tonight that it had been scorned that made it feel ashamed and angry. In any case, the wild dog let out a few furious barks, suddenly dashing towards its target with sharp teeth gleaming coldly in the faint light of the still smoldering fire.

  Approaching the target, it sprang up, its wide-open mouth aimed at the food that was exposed by looking up at the night sky. It was very satisfied with this pounce and even thought it was the most perfect strike in its life. But its shallow thoughts stopped there, and the beautiful food raised its hand, holding a steel knife shining with cold light, waiting for its own attack. The wild dog's eyes showed a terrified light, but it had no power to stop its most violent and perfect pounce in its life. It stared blankly as it flew towards the cold light like a goose flying into fire. It heard the sound of the steel knife entering the flesh, and then the light in its eyes suddenly dimmed, and its body fell heavily from the air.

  Perhaps, in the face of survival, dignity is nothing. Since tonight has already been trampled by vultures once, coming again may not be anything, let alone these standing creatures are more terrifying than those airborne guys. If this wild dog can still think, it must have such a feeling.

  The death of this wild dog made the others feel in danger, they ran far away, and even the vulture that was acting invincible also kept a distance. Although it did not leave the food source, every time it lowered its head to tear at the flesh, it would raise its head to glance at the figure sitting on the ground.

  Li Qing's head was in severe pain, the tearing kind of pain made him unable to bear loud moans, but what he feared more than the headache was that he didn't know where he was and what had happened. Looking around at the scene, the tragic situation like a hellish Asura made his body tremble with fear.

  Where am I? What is this place? Am I dreaming? No, it's not a dream. The warm blood that just splashed on me and the intense pain all over my body are all too real.

  The intense pain in his mind disappeared unknowingly in this fear, and a piece of information flashed through his mind, Da Chu, Manchu, war, defeat, death. In an instant, Li Qing understood everything, but his body shook even more violently.

  A half-moon, a field of corpses, the faintly burning residual fire not only failed to add any warmth to this world, but instead made people feel even colder. The wispy rising smoke was instantly blown away by the wind and dispersed into thin air.

  In the sky, a vulture and in the distance, wild dogs gazed coldly at the blood-soaked man who sat on the ground, waving his knife, cursing heaven and earth, from the nine heavens to the eighteen layers of hell, until he was hoarse and finally fell to the ground again, still punching the air, pounding the ground with a thud. Feeling that this bloody guy would no longer pose any threat to them, the vulture and wild dogs finally set their sights on food again, only occasionally looking up during their feast, paying attention to this strange and frightening creature in the distance.

  Li Qing, who had fallen to the ground, was panting heavily with his mouth foaming and his tongue dry. He was too weak to shout loudly again due to excessive blood loss and emotional agitation, making his body extremely frail. The thrill of cursing heaven and earth had just passed, and the idea of survival immediately flooded his mind.

  Rather be a peaceful dog, not a chaotic person. It seems that I am this chaotic person after all. Li Qing slowly calmed down, the severe pain from his body made his mind even clearer. The pain mainly came from two places, one was on his head and the other was on his leg. He reached out to touch the painful place on his head, a sharp needle-like feeling immediately followed, it seemed that his head had been hit by something heavy. His leg, however, was bitten by that damned wild dog.

  He struggled to get up, although his body was shaking, but Li Qing knew it was because of excessive blood loss that caused dizziness, as long as the bleeding stopped, it wouldn't be a big deal. Looking around at the soldiers on both sides who were missing arms and legs, or even their heads, Li Qing couldn't help but feel grateful, he had fainted from the heavy blow to his head, but had avoided the suffering of being stabbed by swords and guns, if he had been stabbed, he would probably be like the corpses on the ground now, being torn apart by these wild dogs.

  Looking at his own body, the simple soft armor only covered a few important parts of his body, and the coarse hemp clothing was already in tatters. He smiled wryly, found the scabbard, hung the sword on the buckle of the soft armor, and then picked up a long spear from the ground as a makeshift crutch. It seemed that the Great Chu had suffered a great defeat in this battle, and he needed to leave this place quickly. Li Qing knew that the barbarians were extremely cruel, and at this moment, they might be pursuing the fleeing Great Chu army. When they came back to sweep the battlefield, they would strip the dead bodies of their leather armor and abandoned weapons. If they discovered him, he would have to go to the underworld again.

  The vulture was a little afraid of the swaying figure, and when Li Qing walked a few steps closer, it seemed to be approaching him. It immediately flapped its wings and rose into the air, circling for a while before landing on the small hill, where there was also an endless supply of food.

  Li Qing narrowed his eyes to look at the vulture, and then his gaze fell on the tattered flag. He let out a silent sigh. Now he was a warrior of Great Chu, and even a low-ranking military officer, the Cloud Banner Lieutenant. He couldn't let the enemy get their hands on his army's flag.

  With his long spear in hand, Li Qing slowly made his way up the hill, determined to take down the military flag.

  The vulture was extremely dissatisfied with this guy's choice, and he actually followed himself again. Helplessly, he cried out once more, flapping his wings to rise high into the air, leaving that place far behind. However, he still circled in mid-air, unwilling to leave. In the distance, a wild dog barked contentedly several times, its howls eerily similar to those of a wolf.

  Standing in front of the warrior who refused to let go of the flag, Li Qing bowed deeply. No matter where they are, brave and faithful warriors are always respected.

  He took down the military flag from the flagpole, looked at one side of the flag, and sighed at the sight of the bright red "Changsheng" characters. He carefully folded the tattered flag of the Great Chu Changsheng Camp and tucked it into his bosom. After taking a final look at the battlefield, which resembled a Buddhist hell, Li Qing limped away with his long spear, his long shadow trailing behind him, lonely and desolate.