Starting with a Wei Wu soldier

Consciousness struggled to break free from a chaotic void and excruciating pain.

Chen Xing's last memory is of the blinding white light and deafening explosion in the laboratory. As a core researcher on a key national bioengineering project, he was in charge of the final stability test of a special biological agent—"Seed of Prometheus"—aimed at stimulating human potential. The pale blue solution spun slowly in the precision instruments, emitting a faint glow; data streams rolled across the screen like a waterfall. Everything was under control, until… that sudden energy spike. The alarm blared, the pressure inside the protective chamber instantly soared to a terrifying level, his vision was swallowed by pure white light, followed by an excruciating pain as if his soul were being torn to shreds… and then, endless darkness.

Now, the darkness has faded, replaced by an overload of terrifying information forcibly crammed into the senses.

The first thing to hit you is the smell.

It wasn't the familiar smell of disinfectant from the lab, nor any chemical odor he could define using existing scientific knowledge. It was a primal, savage scent, a mixture of countless elements, called "death." The dominant odor was an almost solidified, rusty, metallic stench of blood, penetrating deep into his lungs; each breath felt like swallowing viscous blood plasma. Following closely was the cloying, nauseating stench emanating from the corpse at different stages of decomposition, like rotting flesh fermenting rapidly under high temperatures. There was also the earthy smell of soil soaked in blood, and… an indescribable, foul odor of viscera and excrement. These odors intertwined, forming an invisible, sticky net that enveloped him from head to toe, almost suffocating him.

He suddenly opened his eyes, and the sight that greeted him caused his brain to shut down instantly, even temporarily blocking out the impact of the terrible smell.

The sky was a depressing, despairing leaden gray, with low, thick clouds like a huge, filthy shroud, pressing heavily on the entire world, blocking out even a sliver of sunlight. And the earth… the place beneath him, within his sight, could no longer be described as “land.” It was a vast “carpet” of dark red, brownish-red, and purplish-black hues, a mixture that had seeped through and solidified, sticky and slippery, a stepping stone (if he could still stand) would surely produce a nauseating, splattering sound.

This "carpet" is not flat; it is made up of "materials".

Corpses. Endless, densely packed, layer upon layer of corpses.

They lay scattered across every corner of the field of vision in various twisted and mangled forms beyond human imagination, stretching all the way to the distant, blurred horizon. Some had their chests ripped open, entrails spilling out; others were decapitated, their heads rolling a few steps away, their faces frozen in shock; some had their limbs torn off by immense force, leaving only torsos discarded like rag dolls; still others were almost crushed into a pulp, only the remaining fragments of armor indicating that they had once been living people. Broken weapons—spears, ring-pommel swords, snapped flagpoles—stuck like tombstones among the corpses, stained with black blood and bits of flesh. Several tattered flags fluttered weakly in the faint, pungent wind, their patterns obscured by blood.

"Croak—croak—"

Flocks of crows, like ominous moving shadows, rose and fell among the mountains of corpses. They cackled harshly, their dark eyes coldly surveying the feast before swooping down with deadly precision, pecking at the already cold, stiff eyeballs, the soft base of the tongue, or dragging long intestines from the wounds. Not far away, several unbelievably fat gray rats brazenly burrowed in and out of the corpses' abdominal cavities, making a sickening rustling sound, showing no fear of the "living creatures" so close at hand.

"vomit……"

The violent physiological reaction finally broke through the mental shock. Chen Xing abruptly turned his head and dry heaved. His stomach was empty, only acidic bile flowed upwards, burning his throat. He was a PhD in biology, had dissected countless laboratory animals, and processed various biological tissue samples; he considered himself to have a considerable tolerance for death and bloodshed. But what he saw before him completely overturned his understanding. This was not an orderly, purposeful scientific study; this was the most primitive, barbaric, and chaotic scene of slaughter, the ultimate ruins left after life was destroyed in large numbers and with high efficiency. Every broken body, not long ago, had been a living person with thoughts, feelings, and the ability to cry and laugh!

Fear, like a mixture of ice and water, poured over his head, instantly freezing his limbs and bones, then transforming into countless fine ice needles that pierced every pore. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, his teeth chattering. This was not a laboratory accident, not a scene that could be explained by any known scientific incident!

"Where am I?"

"What happened?"

"A hallucination? Virtual reality technology? Impossible... The touch, the smell, this... it's too real!"

Chaotic thoughts, like fragments churned by a hurricane, clashed wildly in his mind. He tried to explain it with scientific theories—spatial folding? Parallel universes? Higher-dimensional interference? But any conjecture seemed so pale and powerless in the face of this incredibly real and brutal scene. He pinched his thigh hard, a clear pain shooting through him, along with the rough feel of his clothing against his fingertips. He looked down and saw that he was now dressed in coarse linen clothes, similar to those worn by ancient commoners, also stained with blood and mud.

cross?

This term, which only appeared in online novels and science fiction movies, was like the last straw, crushing his scientific worldview. A sense of absurdity surged in like a tidal wave, almost drowning him. But the instinct for survival, like ancient code buried deep in his genes, began to be forcibly activated after the extreme fear and chaos.

We can't stay here! We have to leave!

He struggled, trying to crawl up from the cold pile of corpses. His limbs ached terribly, as if he had just run a marathon, or fallen from a great height, his bones seemingly shattered and reformed. He braced himself with his hands, his touch cold, slippery, and elastic—the abdomen of a disemboweled corpse. He recoiled as if burned, his stomach churning again.

"Heh...heh..."

Not far away, a "corpse" that had been thought to be dead suddenly emitted an extremely faint, bellows-like breathing sound. Chen Xing's heart stopped, and he looked over in horror. It was a young soldier, probably not even twenty years old, with half of his face sliced ​​off, revealing his pale cheekbones. A broken spear was stuck in his chest, and with each labored breath, blood and foam gushed from his mouth and nose. His eyes were unfocused, staring blankly at the gray sky, filled with endless pain, bewilderment, and a last, faint lingering attachment to this world.

This look in his eyes had a far greater impact on Chen Xing than all the severed limbs and broken bones combined. He was no longer observing his research subject through a screen or protective glass; he was witnessing, so closely and directly, the final demise of a fellow human being. A profound sense of sorrow and the terror of empathy gripped him.

Just then, a muffled sound faintly came from afar.

Thump...thump thump...thump thump thump...

At first, it was indistinct, but it quickly became clear and coherent. It was the sound of horses' hooves! And not just one or two, but a whole herd, rhythmic, and menacing hooves! The sound was coming from the other side of the mountain of corpses, heading in his direction!

Danger!

Although the identity of the newcomers is unknown, in this region that has just experienced a fierce battle and is now deathly silent except for scavengers, any moving or grouped creatures are definitely not saviors! The more likely candidates are a team cleaning up the battlefield, or... roaming raiders!

Fear instantly overwhelmed the physical pain and mental chaos. Chen Xing gritted his teeth, almost drawing blood from his lips. With the last of his strength, he crawled on all fours toward a relatively high pile of corpses—a mixture of warhorses and soldiers. He had to move quickly and quietly! Like a startled lizard, he moved with difficulty across the cold, slippery, uneven "ground," avoiding protruding bone fragments and sharp shards of weapons, finally curling up in a relatively hidden depression formed by several large horse carcasses. He used a headless, heavily armored infantryman's corpse as a shield, only one eye visible, peering intently through the gap under the corpse's armpit, staring intently in the direction from which the sound came.

His heart pounded wildly in his chest, the sound so loud it seemed to be drumming right next to his ears. He was even worried that the sound of his heartbeat would give away his location. Cold sweat slid down his forehead, mixing with the blood on his face, and ran into his eyes, causing a stinging sensation, but he dared not raise his hand to wipe it away.

Under the leaden sky, the endless mountains of corpses and seas of blood stretched out silently, with only the cawing of crows, the rustling of rats, and the approaching, louder sound of hooves, like the tolling of death's bell, forming the only chilling background noise in this land of death.

Chen Xing, a scientific research elite from a highly civilized society, had all his knowledge, all his rationality, and all his pride utterly shattered in this most primitive and brutal killing field. He was like a naked and vulnerable infant, just out of the womb, mercilessly thrown into this strange era where the strong prey on the weak and human life is as worthless as grass.

live.

This simplest yet most difficult proposition weighed heavily on his shoulders like never before. And the first test was fast approaching, with the ever-growing sound of horses' hooves.