Chapter 1: Blood Sacrifice Across Time and Space

(Renaming the book, seeking follows)

【1】Blood Sacrifice Across Time and Space

"Farewell! World!" Cao Xiaoqiang thought to himself, unable to help but smile with a sense of desolation.

In a hotel bathtub, a young man lay on his back. We are no strangers to seeing people in bathtubs, but what was strange was this man’s attire—a full suit with a tie, his black leather shoes polished to a shine, dressed as neatly as if he were attending a banquet.

Bright red blood continuously gushed from the right wrist of this pale-faced young man.

The three wounds were cut quite neatly; one could tell the person attempting suicide was a science student. However, the incisions were a bit shallow. You couldn't blame him for that, though; after all, it is rare for someone attempting suicide to be able to deliver a fatal blow in one go. Since ancient times, few have been able to be ruthless toward themselves at the moment of ending their lives. Those who can be truly merciless toward themselves rarely seek death in the first place.

Soon, due to excessive blood loss, Cao Xiaoqiang’s pulse gradually weakened, and he finally went into shock. In the split second before losing consciousness, Cao Xiaoqiang vaguely realized that he seemed to have entered a time tunnel. All the memories of his life up to that point surged before his eyes like a movie playing in reverse. The speed of the playback grew faster and faster, frame after frame flashing by, until finally, with a "pop," the tunnel before him was filled with an extremely white light.

At this moment, a voice said, "Blood sacrifice successful!" And Cao Xiaoqiang completely blacked out.

When he opened his eyes, the young man couldn't help but mutter in a daze: "Does heaven have a ceiling, too?"

A melodious female voice nearby saw him wake up and suddenly began to call out

"Patient in Bed 3 is awake! Dr. Zou~~ Dr. Zou~~~ Dr. Zou~~~~~~." Taking advantage of the nurse leaving to call the doctor, the young man carefully examined the room, feeling a sense of bewilderment in his heart. It seemed he had been saved after his suicide attempt; he felt a bit despondent, yet also somewhat relieved.

Indeed, this person was the protagonist of this book, the previously wrist-slitting Cao Xiaoqiang.

He saw that the hospital room before him was not large, with two beds placed side by side. Beside each bed was a white-painted wooden nightstand, looking very simple and plain. The lime-washed white walls were spotless, though they had a faint yellowish tint. The cement floor painted in dark red was uncommon; it was a style of decoration that had already disappeared and was rarely used in later generations. Through the open wooden shutters, the warm sunlight shone in, illuminating a pot of autumn chrysanthemums on the windowsill—the yellow ones were golden, the green ones deep and rich, truly beautiful. The wooden green-painted hospital beds were of the style seen in 1950s television shows, and the slogan on the wall was particularly eye-catching: "Warmly Celebrate the Founding of New China," with the character for "China" written in traditional script.

Seeing this, the young man who had lost so much blood felt another wave of dizziness wash over his brain. He thought: Could it be that I have time-traveled?

At this moment, the Dr. Zou called out by the nurse entered the room. Dr. Zou looked to be in his forties, his eyes bright and piercing. He appeared very thin from being accustomed to working hard for the health of others, but his lean, straight spine and shoulders gave him a very high-spirited air.

"You're awake, young man. You went into shock from excessive blood loss. Fortunately, the people in the Shuijing Hutong discovered you early and sent you here. It was only because of the timely rescue that your life was saved." As he said this, Dr. Zou looked quite proud.

"I observed the wounds on your wrists... young man, why did you want to commit suicide? I see you are dressed in a suit and tie, and the foreign watch on your wrist is quite valuable; you shouldn't be someone short of money. Why seek such a desperate end?"

The young man thought to himself, "I did put on my best suit and wore my Fiyta watch, that's true, but these things aren't worth much. I just wanted to die with some dignity when the hotel staff found me. I basically treated the hotel bathtub as a coffin."

So, he made up an excuse and said, "My name is Cao Xiaoqiang. I had a fight with my lover and we broke up; I couldn't think straight for a moment and tried to die for love. Now that I think about it, I regret it deeply. Dr. Zou, I will never forget your life-saving grace. May I ask when I can be discharged?"

"Although you are out of danger, you are still a bit weak. You should rest quietly for a few days. If you feel your body is fine, it's okay to go home and rest in bed, but don't do any strenuous exercise in the near future," Dr. Zou said to Xiaoqiang, looking serious.

"Thank you, Doctor. I will go back and rest now. May I ask, how much is the medical bill? I don't have any money on me right now. Could I perhaps use my watch as collateral and bring the money later?" Xiaoqiang asked hesitantly.

Dr. Zou smiled and said, "When you get home, be careful to rest and eat some blood-nourishing food. Buy an old hen to make soup and take good care of yourself. The emergency medical fee is only 50,000 yuan (at the time of the currency reform, 10,000 yuan was equivalent to 1 new RMB, and pork was only 1-2 yuan per jin). Your foreign watch is truly valuable; there is no need to leave it as collateral. I trust you, Mr. Cao."

Thus, after thanking him repeatedly, Cao Xiaoqiang left the hospital. It was nearly noon, and he stood on the streets of Beijing, feeling a sense of bewilderment.

At this moment, that voice in Cao Xiaoqiang’s mind sounded again

"Blood sacrifice successful. Shall I activate the Time-Space Beacon?"

Surprised, Cao Xiaoqiang hurriedly asked

"What is a blood sacrifice?! What is a Time-Space Beacon?! Who are you?!"

The incredibly deep male voice replied to Xiaoqiang: "Hello, Master. I am the Blood Soul. I can take you in and out of time and space where a Time-Space Beacon exists. The cost is your blood; this is the blood sacrifice.

A Time-Space Beacon is a super-dimensional time-space coordinate. Once activated, it can evolve along with that time and space. For example, even if you leave this time-space today and return in a year, when you return, it will be October 10, 1950, rather than remaining on October 10, 1949."

Cao Xiaoqiang was completely speechless. What kind of thing is this? It even keeps pace with the times! Such a high-tech, high-fantasy, incredible thing had actually appeared on a loser like him.

The Blood Soul seemed to be able to read Cao Xiaoqiang’s thoughts and continued: "Master, the reason the Blood Soul appeared on you is because of the heroic blood and spirit accumulated by countless Chinese martyrs who shed their blood and sacrificed their lives. This sublimated into blood light. The layering of blood light across multiple time-spaces becomes a blood bond. After countless blood bonds combine organically, they become a blood peptide. A blood peptide is the primary life unit that makes up the Blood Soul. Through growth, merging with other blood peptides, and devouring blood bonds, it eventually grows into the intelligent life form known as the Blood Soul. This process involves countless evolutions over millions of years across infinite time-spaces. The moment the Blood Soul is formed and born, it automatically parasitizes the descendant of Yan and Huang who has the strongest blood spirit and is closest to death at that very instant, using them as a host. Once the host dies, the Blood Soul will perish along with them."

Cao Xiaoqiang exclaimed, "You have quite the logic!...Countless years of accumulation across infinite time-spaces, yet you only have a lifespan as long as mine!?"

"Yes," the Blood Soul replied. "My life is as short as yours, but I will bring you the ability to freely travel through time and space. The cost is 100 milliliters of your blood. Any object smeared with your blood will be carried along during the travel to the Time-Space Beacon. Since the nearest natural beacon is on October 10, 1949, you have arrived here."

After a long silence, a shocked Cao Xiaoqiang said

"Activate the Time-Space Beacon."

"Yes, Master. Activating Time-Space Beacon... Time-Space Beacon has been activated. Please provide instructions, Master," the Blood Soul replied in its incredibly deep voice.

"Let me ask you, Brother Blood Soul, how many Time-Space Beacons are there in total? How are they established? Can I establish them myself?" Xiaoqiang was still a bit confused by this fantastical experience.

"Every time a Chinese blood peptide is born, it automatically leaves a natural beacon in the current time-space, like a cocoon left by a silkworm. Once activated by a Chinese Blood Soul, a contract is formed. Once the Chinese Blood Soul perishes, the beacon will disappear, having no effect on the time-space it was in. Currently, I can perceive three natural beacons; this is the one closest to 2010. Master can also designate any time-space to establish a new Time-Space Beacon, but it requires 1,000 milliliters of blood. This consumption is too high and may cause you extreme discomfort or even a coma," the Blood Soul explained.

"I don't want to die again. Don't even mention custom Time-Space Beacons in the future. If I can shuttle between existing ones, that is already a great joy in life. Since the beacon is activated, I'll look around here before going back," Xiaoqiang said to himself.

The capital of New China, Beiping—at the beginning of the founding of the country, the scene in this city was a bit shabby. It lacked the jungle of steel and concrete skyscrapers from the time-space Cao Xiaoqiang came from, nor was there the scene of traffic weaving through the streets.

Beiping had been spared the ravages of war because Fu Zuoyi accepted a peaceful transition. But after many vicissitudes, it no longer possessed the grandeur of the imperial capital of yesteryear. In the small streets and hutongs, there was trash everywhere, dust everywhere. Everywhere there were low, dark bungalows and messy, crowded courtyards.

However, fortunately, there were people—many people. These hardworking Beiping residents were busy sweeping the streets, cleaning with a hundred times the enthusiasm, as if they hadn't done any construction or cleaning work for thousands of years. This drive was so fiery that even the autumn sun seemed to grow warmer. Workers carrying goods, porters, and vegetable farmers carrying loads on their shoulders shouted rhythmic chants, bringing infinite vitality to the city.

After wandering around for a while, feeling dizzy and having ringing in his ears, Cao Xiaoqiang, his excitement fading, followed the address Dr. Zou gave him and found Shuijing Hutong. After searching around, Cao Xiaoqiang discovered that the hotel bathtub was abruptly sitting in a corner of the hutong.

Cao Xiaoqiang thought to himself, this thing cannot be left behind! Seeing that there was no one around the hutong, it was empty. Following the Blood Soul's instructions, Cao Xiaoqiang unwrapped the gauze on his wrist, squeezed some blood from the unhealed wound onto the bathtub, and then activated the time-space travel, returning to 2010.

After a wave of dizziness, Cao Xiaoqiang found that he had returned to the hotel room before his departure. Although the bathtub was still in its original place, there was a clear gap between it and the surroundings, and the broken water pipe was still sputtering tap water. Fortunately, the floor drain in the bathroom was clear, otherwise, the hotel would have surely noticed the anomaly after the room flooded.

There wasn't a single drop of blood on the bathtub after the travel, which saved him the trouble of cleaning. It seemed that all the blood had been consumed during the blood sacrifice process.

Cao Xiaoqiang pondered that this was a heaven-sent opportunity. He would first use this extraordinary ability to get himself out of his predicament. His current situation was... truly unbearable.

Xiaoqiang was twenty-six this year, a graduate of the Industrial Automation Department at Pujiang University. His suicide attempt was because his savings of 100,000 yuan from years of work, plus the 200,000 yuan sent by his parents back home for a down payment on a house for his marriage, had been stolen from his rented apartment. Then, his girlfriend turned on him and broke up with him. Three months had passed since then. Cao Xiaoqiang, who went to the police station's theft division almost every day to ask about progress, had become completely disheartened, until the thought of ending his life arose, and finally, he took action.

Having made up his mind to live well from now on, Cao Xiaoqiang checked out of the hotel. Since it was determined that the burst pipe was not the tenant's fault, the hotel didn't give him a hard time. Xiaoqiang took a taxi directly back to his rented apartment in Beijing and began searching online to see what items were suitable for trade in 1949. Although his head was spinning from the continuous blood loss, his brain was in a state of high excitement, as if he were on drugs—dizzy yet excited. This was probably a common symptom for first-time time-travelers.

For an obscure urban wage earner, being able to freely travel through time and space and become a unique time-space merchant could be said to be a life-changing event. And for a loser who had just been thinking about suicide, this was that life-saving elixir, the red sun that dispelled the dark fate...