Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

The atmosphere in the meeting room was a bit tense. Zhou Mingqing cleared his throat and broke the silence: "Comrades, you will be working with Comrade Zhou Feng from now on. Let me introduce you to each other first."

As he spoke, he casually picked up the stack of documents in front of him.

With a "whoosh," the ten soldiers stood up in unison.

Eight male comrades and two female comrades.

One of the female soldiers was not tall, with a neat ponytail and a round face, looking like a girl next door at first glance.

If it weren't for this crisp military uniform, who would guess that this is an elite soldier handpicked by the military?

The female soldier next to her was half a head taller, with an oval face, a pair of phoenix eyes that exuded coldness, and a slightly downturned mouth. She radiated an aura of "keep away."

"Chen Xiao, codename 'Godfather'," Zhou Ming read aloud. "King of CQB, absolute master of indoor close combat. Three-time First-Class Merit Citation, and the title of 'Combat Hero'."

Upon hearing the sound, Chen Xiao snapped to attention and saluted with a clean and crisp movement, as if carved by a knife.

Zhou Feng quickly returned the greeting; just hearing this string of dazzling honors made his heart pound.

Although his bow was not quite standard, Chen Xiao showed no disdain and remained upright.

"Tie Jianguo, codename 'Rock.' Specializes in close-quarters protection, risk assessment, and route reconnaissance. Three-time All-Army Combat Championship heavyweight champion, recipient of the 'Iron Warrior' Medal."

"Lin Yin, codename 'Hummingbird.' An expert in multi-threaded reconnaissance, jamming, and precision strikes using unmanned aerial vehicles. She has won an international gold medal in electronic warfare and is a national model worker for outstanding women's contributions."

"Zhao Meng, codename 'Heavy Artillery'. A skilled expert in calculating and launching individual rocket launchers and mortars. He has won a single-event championship in international military competitions and has been awarded the Second-Class Merit Citation three times."

"Qin Ming, codename 'Scalpel.' A master of psychological warfare and ultra-long-range sniping. He is a former world military and police sniper champion and holds the 'First-Class Sniper' medal."

"Su Xiaoya, codename 'Poison Bee'. A top-tier hacker specializing in electronic penetration and information paralysis. She has received the Special Merit Award for 'Cybersecurity Expert' and has been recognized as a National Technical Expert."

"Zhou Yuan, codename 'Steel Cable.' A survival expert, proficient in rapid mine clearance, extreme bridging, and demolition. He has received the United Nations 'Guardian of Peace' Medal and a first-class merit award."

"White Wolf, codename 'Fang'. A master of close combat, he is adept at various styles of special moves and proficient in all melee weapons. He was the champion of the All-Army Special Forces Competition and holds the 'Warrior Medal'."

"Lu Ming, codename 'Ghost.' Long-distance infiltration, sabotage behind enemy lines, and intelligence interception are his strengths. He won the individual all-around championship in the 'Erna Raid' international reconnaissance competition and has been awarded the First-Class Merit Citation twice."

"Liu Xiaohai, codename 'Engine'. A vehicle master, capable of driving all combat vehicles in the military. He has won the All-Army 'Iron Cavalry' Cup Championship twice and the title of 'Best Driver'."

After the ten people had finished introducing themselves, Zhou Ming turned to Zhou Feng and gestured, "This is Comrade Zhou Feng, the core target you will be protecting in the future."

All ten eyes focused on Zhou Feng. Lin Yin tilted her head, sized him up, then suddenly grinned and saluted, "Greetings, Commander!"

The title "Commander" startled Zhou Feng, who quickly waved his hand, "No, no, no, just call me Zhou Feng."

Lin Yin smiled and said, "Okay, Comrade Zhou Feng."

Her probing reassured the other nine people nearby.

Apart from Tie Jianguo, although they knew a lot about guard duties, they never asked him to carry them out.

It seems that although this leader doesn't seem to have a military background, he has a good personality, so future communication and getting along shouldn't be difficult.

"Comrades," Zhou Ming spoke again, his voice steady, "you are all elite soldiers from your respective military regions. If we only put you in the role of bodyguards, you might have some reservations."

The meeting room remained quiet, but two people did subtly twitch their brows.

Zhou Ming ignored him, but his tone became even colder: "Regardless of your thoughts, Comrade Zhou Feng's safety is always the top priority! If anything happens to him, forget about the success of the mission; you won't even have a chance to come back! Do you understand?"

"Understood!" the ten people replied in unison, without the slightest hesitation.

They all understood the weight of those words.

Even if they all sacrifice themselves, they must not allow Zhou Feng to suffer any mishap.

A soldier's duty is to obey orders, even if those orders endanger their lives, they will not resist.

Protect the target, regardless of the cost.

Zhou Feng stood aside, observing everyone's reactions, and felt a mix of emotions.

He wanted to politely say something like, "You don't need to work so hard, I can protect myself," but he swallowed the words back.

This is not the time to let him be polite.

These people were sent to protect him with their lives, and what he had to do was not to refuse, but to live up to their kindness and the protection they were giving him.

After Zhou Ming finished speaking, he took a step back and gestured to Zhou Feng: "Comrade Zhou Feng, would you like to say a few words?"

Without hesitation, the latter took a deep breath and walked directly to the front of the stage, looking at the 10 people in front of him.

"Everyone, my name is Zhou Feng. From now on, we are comrades-in-arms fighting side by side."

"I know that you are all elites in the military, capable and hardworking, and much more skilled than me. But this mission is different; we are going to an unknown world, so I hope that everyone can cooperate sincerely."

"I have no idea what the situation is over there. It might be calm, or it might be fraught with danger. I can cross over once a day, so as long as there's still time to react and a chance, no matter how dangerous it is, I will do everything in my power to bring everyone back safely."

"You protect me, and I will protect you. We're in this together!"

"Please rest assured, sir! We entrust our lives to you!"

Chen Xiao responded immediately, and the others' gazes were equally determined.

Looking at them, Zhou Feng felt a surge of warmth in his heart, and his nose even felt a little sore. In the end, he could only nod heavily.

After the meeting ended and a short rest, the eleven people went to the square in the compound.

This was their first time exploring a new world, and the organization had not provided them with any large machinery or vehicles; all 11 of them were dressed in full individual soldier gear.

A flash of light, and they vanished from everyone's sight in an instant.

The high-ranking officials of the Dragon Kingdom who witnessed this scene on the monitoring screen were all amazed and speechless.

Knowing something is one thing, but seeing it with your own eyes is another.

As the light faded, Zhou Feng and the others opened their eyes to find themselves in an unfamiliar forest.

Chen Xiao and his team reacted extremely quickly, instantly forming a defensive formation and activating their detection equipment.

The test results showed that the oxygen concentration, air environment, space radiation, and gravity range of this world were no different from those of China, and the air quality was even better than that of China.

With the environment safe, everyone's worries were finally relieved.

This relieved everyone.

Zhou Feng didn't feel anything. Just like when he first transmigrated to the courtyard world, he just rushed in without thinking about whether there would be any danger.

"Stay hidden! There are people ahead!" Qin Ming suddenly warned in a low voice.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw two men in long robes riding horses past the edge of the woods.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

So... they've traveled back to ancient times?

Although it's not the future world that scientists dream of, and there's no technology for them to learn from, the ancient times have their own advantages!

That means Zhou Feng's safety index skyrocketed instantly!

With their individual equipment, the ten of them were more than capable of protecting Zhou Feng.

Given the technological level of the cold weapon era, unless it was a siege by thousands of people, even a few hundred people would be easily cut down by firearms.

"You guys stay hidden, I'll change my clothes and go scout ahead."

As Zhou Feng spoke, he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a long robe and hat, which he then put on.

He couldn't bring much weaponry or equipment, so he simply prepared some clothes and everyday items, which proved to be very useful.

China is not the same country as the United States. The ancient scope is too vast, spanning five thousand years of history. Who knows which dynasty we might travel to?

The two people who had passed by earlier, although they were also wearing long gowns, found it difficult to determine the current time based on the style of their gowns.

Lin Yin launched two drones, which began to explore the surroundings and soon discovered that someone was passing by in the distance.

Judging from his attire, he was probably a scholar taking the imperial examination, which means it shouldn't be too far removed from modern times, since the imperial examination system was only perfected during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

"My lord, I encountered misfortune while visiting relatives. May I ask where I am in this place?"

Zhou Feng went up to him and asked a question in a deliberately literary manner, feeling as if he were playing a large-scale immersive escape room game.

The person coming from the opposite direction was taken aback, then pointed with a strange expression in the direction of Zhou Feng's back: "This is the outskirts of Qiantang. It's about ten miles to the city."

"Thank you very much, brother!"

Zhou Feng bowed in thanks, and the other party returned the bow before leaving in a hurry.

In this outskirts of the city, anyone would be on their guard. If he didn't have a horse and Zhou Feng didn't seem like a bad person, he wouldn't have bothered with him at all!

Qiantang…

Zhou Feng returned to his hiding place and immediately took out his phone. He could connect to the WiFi signal in modern society, so he could look up some information.

I searched for Qiantang on a search engine and found that it has become a district under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou City.

But if we really want to trace it back, it can even be traced back to the Qin Dynasty!

Wait a minute… why didn’t that person have an accent? Was it Mandarin?

After discussing it with Chen Xiao, Zhou Feng had another guess in mind.

This world, like the previous courtyard world, is probably not a real historical point in the world where Zhou Feng and his companions live.

It's another world derived from cultural and entertainment works!

So the person Zhou Feng just met spoke Mandarin, and his language habits were not like those recorded in history.

The others quickly explored the surrounding area, while Zhou Feng hurriedly contacted Zhou Ming via WeChat to report the situation in the "ancient world" and his own speculations.

Just like in the world of courtyard houses, he appeared in Nanluoguxiang as soon as he appeared, very close to where the plot takes place.

His presence near Qiantang proves that the story of this world takes place in Qiantang!

"Sir, the drone has captured images of the Qiantang River. I see..."

Lin Yin's voice suddenly faltered. She swallowed hard and handed the screen to Zhou Feng.

What's shown above is a woman poling on a bamboo raft with a bamboo pole, her face...

"Liu Yifei?" Zhou Feng's eyes narrowed slightly, and he involuntarily swallowed.

Lin Yin wasn't a fan of any particular celebrity; her reaction was simply because she was a little bewildered to see a face from her own world in another world.

Zhou Feng was simply craving it.

He immediately searched for Liu Yifei in the search engine, and with the addition of Qiantang, there was only one answer: "Meng Hua Lu"!

And it's the world of TV dramas!

Although the plot has been adapted and is not based on official history, the background is basically certain: this period is during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty!

"Ah, the Song Dynasty was weak..."

Now that he knew which world it was, Zhou Feng finally felt relieved.

The eleven men immediately chose a spot deep in the woods and prepared to set up camp.

Their attire was so conspicuous that if they went to Qiantang rashly, they would only alarm the authorities.

It's better to wait until tomorrow to travel back and change into the Northern Song Dynasty attire before coming back.

Upon receiving the news, Zhou Ming had already arranged for someone to custom-make hair ornaments, clothing, and valuables for them from the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty!

While the others were busy securing the tents, Zhou Feng sat to the side, rubbing his chin, his thoughts wandering.

"The Dream of Splendor" is relatively lucky. Although it contains elements such as martial arts and lightness skills, it is still within the normal range.

In a world of high martial arts like "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," things would be really troublesome. Internal energy and sword energy fly around wildly, and there are all sorts of strange poisons. Unless you are directly covered by firepower from firearms, no one can guarantee their safety.

But now that he has arrived in this era…

A sharp glint flashed in Zhou Feng's eyes.

I dare not say anything else, but at least we must prevent that ambitious and talented grassland overlord from marching south into the Central Plains!

Foreigners should stop thinking about standing on the head of the great Han people!

Moreover, the greatest value of this world to the Dragon Kingdom lies in its untapped and enormous resources!

At this time, North and South America were still wild and untamed, and the Age of Exploration had not yet begun!

Zhou Feng could easily organize his own fleet, set sail, and dominate the entire Earth!

The thought of using the resources of the entire world to support the Dragon Kingdom and then gaining even stronger support from the Dragon Kingdom is terrifying!

If you bring the weapons of modern society into this era, they will be invincible, and it's not just a matter of defeating them at a lower level.

No matter how formidable the cavalry on the grasslands are, if a few machine guns are mounted on the city walls, they'll all become sitting ducks.

What Liao Dynasty? What Mongolia?

From the moment Zhou Feng set foot here, he had only one choice.

Either integrate or thoroughly investigate and eliminate.

"We still have to take over this world!" Zhou Feng clenched his fist.

His attitude and strategy towards this ancient world were completely different from those towards the traditional courtyard house world.

The different nature of their societies meant that they could not communicate with the imperial court of this world as they did in the courtyard world.

At the very least, Zhou Feng would never kneel down; even if he did, it would be someone else kneeling before him!