Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Starting with the Korean War, returning home to take charge

Thick smoke and steam billowing from the train shrouded the platform in a grayish-white hue. Yongdingmen Station was bustling with noise; family members seeing off their loved ones, new recruits wearing red flowers, and cadres maintaining order were all crammed together. The air was filled with the mingled smells of coal dust, sweat, and suppressed sobs.

He Yuzhu, carrying his bundle, squeezed into the designated carriage with the flow of people. It was a freight car with two rough, long wooden planks nailed to the sides as seats. The car was already packed with teenagers; some were excitedly chatting and laughing, some were clutching their bundles tightly, and some were staring blankly out of the window.

He sat down in a corner at the back, placing his bundle under himself. The reconnaissance map was kept at a minimum level of openness; within a radius of 100 meters, there were dense clusters of life-giving dots, but nothing unusual.

The train doors slammed shut from the outside, leaving only a few ventilation windows high up. The light dimmed abruptly, and the air became murky. The train gave a long whistle and slowly started moving. The waving arms and shouts on the platform were gradually replaced by the sound of wheels hitting the rails.

The carriage was quiet at first. Soon, whispers began, gradually growing louder.

"Hey bro, where are you from?" A burly young man with a dark complexion nudged his arm.

"Beiping"

"A big city, huh! I'm from Wangjiatun in central Hebei, my name is Wang Dazhuang!" The young man grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "What's your name? What brings you to the army?"

"He Weiguo," He Yuzhu paused, "for his family."

This answer is simple and common. Many people in the carriage are soldiers, either to have enough to eat, to ease the burden on their families, or out of a simple desire to defend their country. Wang Dazhuang, for example, mostly belongs to the first category.

"My family is great!" Wang Dazhuang, oblivious to the complexity in his words, continued, "I have six brothers, and I'm the third. Joining the army is an honor! We can even fight the American devils! I've heard their planes and artillery are incredibly powerful. Can we really win?"

Several other new recruits nearby also perked up their ears.

"You'll know when you get there." He Yuzhu didn't say much more. He knew he could win, but the process... He glanced at Wang Dazhuang's excited yet bewildered face and swallowed his words.

The train rattled incessantly northward. By day, fields and villages rushed past the windows; by night, only darkness and the sounds of snoring and teeth grinding filled the carriage. Occasionally, the cadres would open the door to distribute dry rations—cornbread and pickled vegetables—and water was also limited.

He Yuzhu silently ate the braised beef and sesame seed cakes he had brought with him, sharing some with Wang Dazhuang, who was watching him expectantly. Wang Dazhuang patted his chest gratefully and said that he could always come to him if he needed anything in the future.

The following night, the train entered the mountains, slowing down as the curves increased. Noise echoed through the mountains. Most people huddled in corners to sleep. He Yuzhu leaned against the cold carriage wall, eyes closed, unable to sleep. The reconnaissance map maintained a low-power, passive sensing capability, like an invisible net covering the surroundings.

Suddenly, at the edge of the map, about 120 or 130 meters ahead on the railway track, a stationary life-giving dot abruptly moved, then rapidly moved away from the mountains in the opposite direction of the railway at a speed far beyond that of an ordinary person.

wrong.

Almost simultaneously, a very subtle, unusual noise, different from the normal clanging of rail joints, came from under the train and into the air. The sound was short and almost indistinguishable amidst the noise of the train. But He Yuzhu's enhanced hearing caught this discordant sound.

There's something wrong with the tracks!

He suddenly opened his eyes, leaped up like a leopard in the darkness, and pounced on the emergency brake valve with the old chain hanging on the inside of the carriage.

"What are you doing?" Wang Dazhuang asked, startled awake.

He Yuzhu ignored it, grabbed the iron chain, and pulled it down with all his might!

"Squeak—creak—!"

A piercing metallic scraping sound rang out! The carriage shook violently and tilted, throwing and slamming sleeping passengers into the air, accompanied by screams, collisions, and curses. The immense inertia slammed He Yuzhu against the carriage wall, causing a dull ache in his back.

The train groaned in pain, continuing to slide for a long distance due to inertia, its wheels scraping against the rails and sending up blinding sparks, before finally coming to a trembling stop.

"What's going on?!"

"Enemy attack?!"

"Get out of the vehicle! Be on alert!"

A cadre's hoarse shout came from outside, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps and the cocking of rifles. The carriage door was pulled open forcefully, and the cold night wind rushed in, carrying the scent of mountain soil and vegetation.

He Yuzhu was the first to jump off the train. Beneath his feet was a gravel roadbed, and in the distance, the dark forest was shrouded in night. Only the headlights pierced the darkness, illuminating the mess ahead—a section of rail joint had been pried open, and the sleepers were askew. Had the train not braked in time, the locomotive could have easily derailed or even overturned.

"Over there! Someone's run away!" a soldier shouted, pointing to the mountains and forests.

On the reconnaissance map, the unusual light spot was rapidly moving away into the depths of the forest, about 150 meters away, and was still receding.

We can't let him escape! Spies are sabotaging the railway to delay military trains and cause casualties!

"I'll go after him!" He Yuzhu roared, and without waiting for orders, he dashed off like an arrow. His enhanced physical abilities exploded, and his speed far exceeded that of ordinary people. In a few leaps, he darted into the bushes below the roadbed.

"He Weiguo! Come back! Danger!" The cadre's shouts were left behind.

The forest was even darker, the trees and vines obscuring the starlight. But the reconnaissance map was the best guide. The movement of the dots of light was clearly imprinted in his mind; the enemy seemed familiar with the terrain, deliberately choosing difficult routes, intending to shake off their pursuers.

The distance is decreasing. One hundred meters... eighty meters...

The pursuer noticed the chase, sped up, and deliberately made noises to mislead the pursuer. But this trick was ineffective against the map.

Fifty meters! He Yuzhu could already see a blurry black figure darting through the woods ahead.

The shadowy figure suddenly turned around and raised his hand!

He Yuzhu's hair stood on end, and he instinctively lunged to the side!

"Bang!"

Gunshots ripped through the silence of the forest; bullets grazed his scalp, striking tree trunks behind him and sending splinters flying. It was a pistol!

The other party fired a shot, didn't look at the result, and turned to run again.

He Yuzhu got up, his eyes already adjusted to the darkness, and stared intently at the figure's back. He couldn't let him fire again! As he chased after him, he reached behind him for his waist and drew the sheathed dagger he had hidden close to his body.

Thirty meters! The other side seemed about to turn around and fire again.

It's now!

He Yuzhu exerted force with his arm and twisted his waist, channeling all his strength into his right arm, and hurled the dagger! He didn't aim for the head or torso—those, though deadly, were easy to miss. He aimed for the back of the opponent's thigh, near the calf, a large area enough to cripple him.

The dagger flashed an almost invisible, cold light in the darkness.

"Ah—!" A heart-wrenching scream rang out. The dark figure in front stumbled, fell to the ground, and rolled around clutching its legs, howling in agony.

He Yuzhu rushed forward and kicked away the pistol lying beside him—a short-barreled model he had never seen before. Only then did he look at the person on the ground: a middle-aged man dressed in civilian clothes, his face pale, covered in cold sweat, and with a venomous look in his eyes.

He Yuzhu remained silent, squatted down, and used strips of cloth torn from the other man's body to neatly bind his hands behind his back. He then checked the wound on the man's calf. The dagger had penetrated deeply, and blood was gushing out, but it was not yet fatal. He pulled out the dagger, wiped the blood off the man's clothes, and tucked it back into his waistband.

The sound of footsteps and shouts approached from behind. Several soldiers carrying rifles and an officer rushed up, panting, their flashlights flailing wildly.

"He Weiguo! Are you... alright?" The company commander, who was leading the team, had a serious face. When he saw the agent tied up on the ground and the bloodstained dagger in He Yuzhu's hand, his pupils contracted slightly.

"Reporting to the company commander, I'm fine. The spy who sabotaged the railway has been caught." He Yuzhu stood up, his voice steady, his breathing only slightly rapid, and he didn't even have a scratch on his body.

The flashlight beam illuminated the spy's pale face and gruesome wound on his calf, then swept across the short-barreled pistol on the ground. The company commander gasped, his gaze towards He Yuzhu completely changing. In the dark of the mountains, chasing an armed spy barehanded, not only surviving but also disabling and capturing him alive with a throwing knife… such skill and courage were far beyond what ordinary recruits possessed.

"Good! Good lad!" The company commander patted him heavily on the shoulder. He Yuzhu didn't budge. "You've done a great job! Quick, carry him back! Inspect the tracks and repair them as soon as possible!"

Back at the railway, a brief interrogation confirmed he was undoubtedly an enemy agent. The tracks were severely damaged, and engineers urgently repaired them. Approximately two hours later, the train restarted.

But He Yuzhu's name had already spread throughout the military. In particular, the stories of injuring the enemy with a flying knife and capturing armed spies alive, embellished by eyewitnesses, had taken on a legendary quality.

The following morning, when the train stopped at a small station, He Yuzhu was summoned to the regimental headquarters carriage. A refined-looking officer with sharp, eagle-like eyes personally met with him and inquired in detail about what had happened the previous night. He Yuzhu answered simply, only emphasizing that he had good hearing, that he braked suddenly when he sensed something was wrong, that he chased after the spies to prevent them from harming others, and that throwing the knife was a trick he had learned from an old hunter in the alley years ago—it was just a coincidence.

After listening, the commander didn't ask any further questions, but gave him a deep look and said to the officer beside him, "Comrade He Weiguo is highly vigilant, bold yet meticulous, and exceptionally skilled. He successfully prevented enemy agents from sabotaging the military train and protected its safety. He is commended for this! Furthermore, in light of his performance, he is hereby granted the rank of Private ahead of schedule!"

"Yes, sir!" The officer stood at attention and took notes.

He Yuzhu also stood at attention and saluted—a military salute he had just learned, and which was not yet quite standard.

Within his mind, the dormant system light screen reappeared:

[Battlefield Event: Successfully prevented enemy agents from sabotaging military supply lines and personally subdued/severely wounded one enemy agent (determined to be a trained enemy personnel, equivalent to a threat unit of "Private First Class" or higher).]

[Combat Contribution Assessment: Major Contributor.]

[Gain Battlefield Points: 500 points.]

[Bonus Reward (First Effective Enemy Combat/Merit): 500 points.]

Current battlefield score: 1000 points.

[Note: Points can be used to redeem battlefield-related skills, supplies, or unlock permissions. Please check in a safe environment.]

One thousand points. Still a drop in the ocean compared to one hundred million. But this is the starting point, a starting point bought with blood and risk.

Back in the carriage, Wang Dazhuang looked at him as if he were a god: "Brother Weiguo, you...you were amazing last night! A throwing knife! I didn't even see it!"

The other recruits around him cast respectful and envious glances his way. He Yuzhu simply shook his head, sat back down in the corner, and closed his eyes again.

The freight car continued its clattering northward, getting closer and closer to the border and the battlefield.

He Weiguo's name, along with those thousand points, set sail into the unknown flames of war.