Crossing

Chapter 1 Time Travel (Please add to your favorites)

The desolate path, the crimson sun shining brightly under the sky, illuminating the surrounding world.

In a place where the vegetation is lush, a faint sound gradually comes from ahead.

click!

The long procession moved forward, the wheels of the carriages occasionally colliding with the stones on the roadside, making a series of sounds and causing the carriages to shake.

The driver in front was a middle-aged man with calloused hands. After noticing the carriage shaking from the stones, he cautiously glanced back, seemingly afraid of waking the people behind him.

Behind the carriage, a boy lay quietly on golden hay, his body covered in several open wounds. Although he had received some basic treatment, blood was still flowing from his wounds, staining the soft hay beneath him red.

Seemingly affected by the jolting of the carriage, the boy's open wounds were aggravated, causing his previously calm face to contort in agony, as if he were in extreme pain.

"What's wrong?"

The sound of horses neighing came from behind, along with the deep voice of a burly man.

A knight who was escorting the procession saw the carriage stop, rode up, and questioned the coachman.

"Sir, the carriage axle seems to be broken and will need some time to repair."

The coachman looked troubled, glanced at the knight in front of him, and said in a low voice.

Hearing this, the knight frowned immediately: "This is troublesome."

It was already noon. The knight looked up at the sky, feeling the scorching heat and hearing the faint sounds of weary breathing around him. He finally ordered the group to stop temporarily and rest and have a meal in a shady spot.

Upon receiving the order, the soldiers around him showed excited expressions, some of them eager to find a place to rest for a while.

However, despite their eagerness, they remained vigilant. After settling down, they specifically sent out several knights to explore the surrounding area, eliminating any potential dangers or traps.

But after the previous collision with the carriage, the people inside had begun to wake up.

Under the stimulation of pain, Chen Ming gradually opened his eyes.

Exhausted! In pain! Ugh!

Once he regained consciousness, the pain and exhaustion in his body were clearly transmitted to Chen Ming's mind, instantly clearing his mind and causing him to gasp for breath.

"Where...am I?"

Feeling the exhaustion and pain in his body, as well as the burning sensation emanating from his wounds, Chen Ming had a question in his mind. Then, a flood of memories began to rush into his mind, completely overshadowing his current thoughts.

This is the memory of a thirteen-year-old boy named Adir throughout his life.

In his memory, Adir was born into an ordinary baronial family, the sole heir to a fiefdom with its own territory. Because he showed excellent knightly talent from a young age, he was sent to the castle of Count Poria, a relative of Adir's father, for training two or three years ago.

In this region, Count Poria was the absolute ruler. As a relative of Count Poria, Adir's father naturally sought to curry favor with the count. Therefore, he sent his heir, Adir, to the count's castle at a very early age, partly to receive better training and education, and partly to demonstrate his loyalty.

Some time ago, scattered orc tribes from the north suddenly invaded the territory of the Kingdom of Ariel from the south. As the leader of the northern lords, Lord Poria sent an army to fight against the orc invasion together with the surrounding lords. Thirteen-year-old Adir went to war with the army, but he rushed too far ahead in the battle and was surrounded and injured by several orc warriors. He eventually died and was taken over by Chen Ming.

As his memory reached this point, the fatigue that had been nagging at him gradually subsided, replaced by a cool sensation that followed the intense heat, which cleared Chen Ming's mind after his ordeal.

"As expected, I've time-traveled again."

Feeling the memories flooding his mind and the intense pain emanating from the wounds all over his body, Chen Ming barely managed to raise his arm and touch his face.

There was something clumped on his face. Adir wiped it off and found it was all dried, congealed blood, flowing down from his right ear to his chin, making him very uncomfortable.

Not only on his face, but also on his chest, left arm, and right thigh, there were several large wounds, radiating intense pain. Blood was almost entirely covered in his body, and he had not received any cleaning.

This discovery startled him. He instinctively tried to stand up, but found that he had no strength left. He could only use his still intact right hand to hold onto the edge of the carriage and barely manage to sit up.

"Damn it... What's wrong with this world? Even thirteen-year-olds have to go to the battlefield and fight against orcs who don't look like ordinary people."

Holding onto the edge of the carriage, Chen Ming barely managed to prop himself up, feeling the excruciating pain and exhaustion coursing through his body, and thought helplessly.

The memories in his mind still contained the scene of the original owner of this body fighting against those orcs, which seemed very vivid because it had only happened recently.

In my memory, although those orcs did not have intact steel armor and their faces were ferocious like wild beasts, they were all muscular and generally two meters tall, and their mere appearance was a terrifying intimidating force.

In fact, these orcs' fighting prowess truly lived up to their physique and appearance. Even without training, their superhuman strength and physique, coupled with their crude leather armor, allowed them to rival fully armored warriors. If not for their scarcity, they would be far beyond the capabilities of ordinary armies.

However, even such terrifying orcs were not invincible in Adir's memory.

Adir's horrific wounds were inflicted by the attack of several orcs, but before that, he had killed at least several orcs before being surrounded by a large group of orc warriors because he charged too far ahead.

The root of all this is that this world possesses the supreme power of knights.

"Knight's Breathing Technique..."

As he carefully recalled the memories in his mind, a unique training method emerged, causing him to murmur to himself.

"Lord Adir, you're awake?" A voice suddenly came from ahead, carrying a hint of surprise, breaking Chen Ming's thoughts.

It was a middle-aged man wearing shiny armor, with a full beard and his not-so-short hair tied up in a bun, looking greasy and unkempt for a long time. He looked at Chen Ming sitting up and exclaimed with some surprise.

He seemed to be the leader of the group. Seeing Chen Ming's pale face and slightly open wound, he quickly directed the others to go over and carefully help Chen Ming up, then support him as he walked down.

The people here were either soldiers or grooms, none of them particularly delicate or gentle. They were all rough and clumsy, which aggravated Chen Ming's wounds.

"hiss···"

Feeling a sudden, sharp pain shooting through his body, Chen Ming gasped sharply, his previously sluggish consciousness, caused by exhaustion and blood loss, instantly returning to full alertness.

He struggled to lift his head, and with the help of others, managed to stand up and look around.

Several carriages were parked quietly in the shade of a tree, avoiding direct sunlight.

Behind these carriages, figures lay silently, like corpses, each covered in blood, motionless, a truly terrifying sight.

Among these figures, Chen Ming recognized a few from Adir's memories. They were either noble scions like him or young apprentice knights. They were not particularly important, but they were not ordinary people either.

Seeing this situation, Chen Ming had a vague understanding of what was going on.

The team's mission was probably to transport people like him, whose status wasn't too low, and who had been seriously wounded on the battlefield, back to their hometowns.

Chen Ming also observed that, apart from his own carriage, most of the other carriages around him were carrying several wounded people.

This is good news, and it at least shows his status among this group; he should be considered one of the top ones.

"Adir, from now on, this will be my name."

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Chen Ming repeated the name to himself twice before making the decision.

A few soldiers took some dry rations from the wagon, cut them up, and handed them directly to Adir.

The dry rations were hard and unpalatable, tasting like rotten meat. Because they had been placed on the wagons transporting the wounded, they were still stained with the blood of the seriously injured, which made Adir's expression grim.

On the opposite side of Adir, seemingly noticing Adir's troubled expression, the leader explained to Adir, "It's still wartime, so it's not suitable to light a fire. It will be fine after we get through this part of the journey."

Adir grasped the dry rations in his uninjured right hand, said nothing, and simply nodded in understanding.

The wilderness of this world is far too dangerous. Not only are there all sorts of dangerous wild beasts, but also various bandits and robbers roaming the area. Not to mention, it's currently during wartime, and there might be scattered orc units wandering in the wild. Lighting a fire rashly could attract these dangers with the thick smoke, causing unnecessary harm to the group.

Having figured this out, and in order to recover his injuries and strength as quickly as possible, Adir forcibly suppressed the nausea in his heart and ate the piece of dry rations stained with dried blood.

The group rested quietly under the shade of the trees for a while. When the sun outside seemed to have subsided a bit, Adir once again struggled to get into the smelly carriage at the command of the leader with his hair in a bun. He watched the scenery along the road stretch past as he rode along, accompanied by the bumpy ride.

(End of this chapter)