Hellish Start

Chen He's forehead throbbed intermittently, waking him up. With difficulty, he opened his tired eyelids and saw darkness around him. Where was he? He reached out and felt his forehead still sore and sticky. It was blood! Had he been attacked? It couldn't be, he had just been at home playing a game all night. His heart began to beat fast with fear!

At that moment, strange and scattered memories began to flood his mind. Suddenly, he felt dizzy and disoriented, almost fainting. After a while, that strange sensation finally faded, and his memories of two lives successfully merged. With an expression of disbelief in the dim light, he realized that he had somehow traveled through time and found himself in the body of a young disabled man in the city of Lang in the Datong Dynasty in Yuzhou, at the foot of Qingwu Mountain.

Chen He used to be a semi-famous fighter, but a car accident left him crippled and forced him to retire. The frustrating retirement life led him to stay up late playing video games frequently, and it turned out that staying up too late actually led him to time travel! And here he was, in a cruel world similar to ancient China, where power belonged to the strongest.

This place was Lang City, under the rule of the Dongfang family in the Datong Dynasty, in the ancient city of Lang. Before becoming Chen He, he was a low-ranking member of the powerful Feiye gang in Lang City. In a gang fight, someone cut off his legs. Although he miraculously survived, his legs were deformed, and he was abandoned to become a beggar.

Currently, he was being captured by the Dongfang family. According to what he heard from the Dongfang family's subordinates, they had captured him to lure wild beasts into the misty forest. With no power or influence, no background, beggars like him were despised and treated like insects. No one would care if they lived or died. Therefore, the Dongfang family felt completely justified and unconcerned about capturing him.

Lang City was full of beggars, and Chen He was not the only one going through a rough time. Besides him, there was another young beggar. And the reason he was occupying this body was because the previous young beggar had attacked him with a brick and then strangled him to death. Wasn't this an extremely dangerous situation for him now?

"Damn it!" Realizing this, Chen He shuddered and scolded himself for being too careless.

"Shh, shh, shh!" At that moment, in the quiet night, the characteristic sound of someone rolling in the straw was heard. Hearing the noise, he opened his eyes wide and scanned the area around him. The different gaps in the wooden boards allowed a faint light to illuminate the area, slightly improving his vision. Chen He's gaze stopped at a blurry figure three steps to his left: the young beggar.

The young beggar's eyes gleamed like those of a wild wolf! Chen He could vaguely see him holding a grayish-white hemp rope in his hand. It must have been the commotion Chen He made when he woke up after crossing over that alerted the young beggar. And the young beggar must have been astonished by Chen He's "return from the dead" and now sought to eliminate any future threats. One couldn't help but admire the young beggar's courage. Most people would probably think they were hallucinating if they were in his shoes, wouldn't they scream in terror? Yet, the young beggar's first instinct was to try to kill Chen He again. Chen He's mind raced as he held his breath, withdrawing his gaze and deciding to remain still.

At this moment, Chen He's body was weaker than the young beggar's, and his legs were deformed below the knees. This physical disadvantage was insurmountable. If he wanted to turn the tables in this adverse situation, he could only rely on his experience from his previous life's fighting arenas and his courage. Furthermore, his weakness and disability would inevitably lead the young beggar to underestimate him, a point Chen He could use to his advantage.

The young beggar's breathing became slightly more rapid and nervous. He tiptoed lightly on the damp straw, emitting faint creaking sounds. The hunter slowly closed in on his prey, while the prey continued to absentmindedly massage his own neck, completely unaware. The young beggar seemed to have an idea as he slowly released the hemp rope in his hand.

Chen He's heartbeat slightly accelerated, sweat beading on his forehead. In the arenas of his previous life, although bloodshed and injuries were common, it wasn't a matter of life and death. But this time, if he lost, death would be the only outcome, leaving him feeling nervous and apprehensive. His left hand continued to massage his throat, while his right hand secretly grasped a handful of straw by his side. Who was the hunter, and who was the prey? It wasn't clear yet! From the corner of his eye, Chen He saw the young beggar's left palm extend forward, while his right hand formed a claw shape. Was he trying to cover his mouth with his left hand to prevent himself from making noise? And using his right hand to strangle himself? In the midst of Chen He's thoughts, he saw the young beggar lunging towards him.

The young beggar's eyes gleamed like those of a wild wolf! Chen He could vaguely see him holding a grayish-white hemp rope in his hand. It must have been the commotion Chen He made when he woke up after crossing over that alerted the young beggar. And the young beggar must have been astonished by Chen He's "return from the dead" and now sought to eliminate any future threats. One couldn't help but admire the young beggar's courage. Most people would probably think they were hallucinating if they were in his shoes, wouldn't they scream in terror? Yet, the young beggar's first instinct was to try to kill Chen He again.

Chen He's mind raced as he held his breath, withdrawing his gaze and deciding to remain still. At this moment, Chen He's body was weaker than the young beggar's, and his legs were deformed below the knees. This physical disadvantage was insurmountable. If he wanted to turn the tables in this adverse situation, he could only rely on his experience from his previous life's fighting arenas and his courage. Furthermore, his weakness and disability would inevitably lead the young beggar to underestimate him, a point Chen He could use to his advantage.

The young beggar's breathing became slightly more rapid and nervous. He tiptoed lightly on the damp straw, emitting faint creaking sounds. The hunter slowly closed in on his prey, while the prey continued to absentmindedly massage his own neck, completely unaware. The young beggar seemed to have an idea as he slowly released the hemp rope in his hand.

Chen He's heartbeat slightly accelerated, sweat beading on his forehead. In the arenas of his previous life, although bloodshed and injuries were common, it wasn't a matter of life and death. But this time, if he lost, death would be the only outcome, leaving him feeling nervous and apprehensive. His left hand continued to massage his throat, while his right hand secretly grasped a handful of straw by his side. Who was the hunter, and who was the prey? It wasn't clear yet!

From the corner of his eye, Chen He saw the young beggar's left palm extend forward, while his right hand formed a claw shape. Was he trying to cover his mouth with his left hand to prevent himself from making noise? And using his right hand to strangle himself? In the midst of Chen He's thoughts, he saw the young beggar lunging towards him.

The young beggar was solely focused on attacking, neglecting defense, leaving a wide opening, precisely because he underestimated Chen He.

From another perspective, it's understandable. What attacking power could a wounded, disabled, and weak person have?

The young beggar left a wide opening in his defense, and Chen He didn't hesitate at all, using all his strength to forcefully lift his right knee.

Despite having deformed legs, his knees were still intact!

"Puff!" The sound of the collision resonated lightly in the darkness of the night.

This single strike instantly drained all the young beggar's strength. Veins in his body bulged, his face twisted in pain, turning bright red. He wanted to scream desperately, but his mouth was stuffed with straw that Chen He had in his hand.

His throat moved, emitting gagging sounds, while tears flowed incessantly.

In the next instant, Chen He clenched his right fist, with his thumb raised, and precisely struck the young beggar's temple with all his might.

The young beggar grunted, his body trembling slightly, and then slumped down.

Often, the hunter becomes the prey!

"Huff, huff, huff!" Panting, Chen He felt relieved but exhausted, sweaty. That strike seemed to have robbed him of all his energy.

After a brief rest, with effort, he raised his numb right hand and pushed the young beggar away from him.

The young beggar's eyes were bloodshot, unable to close in death.

Chen He closed the young beggar's eyelids with his hand, feeling remorseful in his heart.

The young beggar and his past life shared a history of begging, and their relationship was not insignificant. But now they were killing each other.

After some contemplation, Chen He found the reason:

According to the candid conversations of Dongfang family's subordinates, they had to ensure that the decoys were alive. Two decoys were needed, and they couldn't afford to lose one. So, if one decoy was missing, it could delay the time.

It's better to be alive and feigning death than to be dead. Although killing each other couldn't completely change the fate of the decoys, nobody wanted to die. Every day they could prolong their lives was another day lived.

Chen He knew that his body was weak and disabled, and he had accepted his fate long ago. Therefore, he had no other thoughts.

Of course, here's the translation with the protagonist's name changed to Chen He:

What surprised Chen He was how the young beggar managed to free himself from the hemp rope. However, due to his predecessor's leg disability, there was no possibility of escape, so the servants of the Eastern House didn't bother to tie him up.

Realizing that he was now the bait, Chen He didn't feel relieved for having survived the danger, but rather plunged into internal darkness. Being the bait was the biggest threat. Although the servants of the Eastern House who watched over him were common people, they were all robust and strong. How could he escape their control with this weak and disabled body?

Shaking his head resignedly, Chen He crawled in the gloom to retrieve the hemp rope and then returned to the side of the young beggar's body. He tied up his hands and feet to restore the scene. His predecessor may have accepted his fate, but Chen He would not so easily. In his previous life, in the ring, he was not only knocked down once, but rose up more than once. The same would happen in this life!

At that moment, a series of words appeared before him, and then a semi-transparent panel the size of a cell phone screen slowly outlined itself. Chen He rubbed his eyes incredulously, but upon looking again, the panel was still there. "This is real!" Immediately, great joy seized his face; this panel was too familiar to him.