Chapter 3: The Rift Between Worlds
The Modern World
High above the azure earth, engines thundered through the sky.A tactical transport aircraft of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) sped across the atmosphere at a steady pace, its hull battered by fierce winds.In the rear cabin, a squad of Special Forces soldiers stood in perfect formation, clad in desert-camouflage gear. Their black eyes burned with determination, their faces cold and resolute, betraying no trace of hesitation.
They were training for a HAHO (High Altitude, High Opening) parachute insertion—an infiltration method designed to evade enemy detection.At the command issued through their headsets, the red signal lamp turned green. Slowly, the aircraft's rear ramp lowered, revealing the vast expanse of sky and the distant land thousands of feet below.
Without warning, a deafening peal of thunder shattered the air.
Dark storm clouds churned across the once-clear heavens, heralding a sudden summer tempest. The howling winds buffeted the plane, the roaring engines struggling to drown out the distant cracks of thunder.
"Prepare to jump!"
Within seconds of leaping from the aircraft, they deployed their special parachutes designed for precision gliding. Suspended at an altitude above 30,000 feet, they maneuvered steadily toward their landing zone, aiming to touch down unseen.
Their sharp eyes scanned the forests and mountains below, gauging every shift of the wind and every change in direction.Hand signals replaced words.Each soldier maintained precise spacing, for any misstep could spell disaster.
Minutes stretched painfully long.In their world, every second was a life-or-death calculation. A single error could mean a collapsed chute, a fatal fall, or detection by the enemy. Yet none faltered.This was the mission they had spent years preparing for.
Among them, Li Feitian, a seasoned Special Forces operative, crouched low, tightening his harness.The oxygen in his mask flowed steadily, his heartbeat calm and even.Without hesitation, he stepped from the aircraft—and plunged into the vast emptiness of the sky.
The wind slammed against his body. His uniform clung tightly, flapping violently.Arms spread wide for balance, he awaited the precise moment to release his chute.Above the endless green canopy, he pulled the ripcord—and the parachute blossomed open, catching the air and slowing his descent.
And then... it happened.
Just as the parachute deployed, his figure stood out starkly against the storm-churned sky.Without warning, a blinding bolt of lightning flashed.A roar of thunder exploded around him.A jagged spear of white-hot energy slashed downward like heaven's sword.
CRACK!!!
There was no time to react.Searing light enveloped him.Pain unlike anything he had ever known tore through his body—his nerves aflame, his muscles convulsing uncontrollably.
The lightning strike shredded his parachute into tatters.His body spun wildly, helpless in the storm's fury.The rushing wind became a silent scream lost to the heavens.
Then, he fell...
Plummeting toward the earth, his soul was ripped from his broken body before he even struck the ground.Darkness swallowed everything.His final memories scattered like leaves in the wind.And in that same instant—an unseen force pulled his soul toward a place he had never known.
Between Heaven and Earth
Li Feitian's consciousness drifted in a void—a realm of swirling clouds and suffocating darkness.The sensation resembled his countless training jumps... and yet, something was profoundly wrong.
The air was heavy.The distant rumble of thunder shattered the silence.Blinding flashes of lightning lit up the murky void, burning away everything in their path.
In a heartbeat, his soul was drawn into the heart of the storm, swallowed by its violent energy.The sensation of falling, of gliding, disappeared.The world he knew—the firm air, the physical touch of existence—vanished utterly into oblivion.
He was pulled into a black tunnel of emptiness, an overwhelming vortex of force dragging him helplessly forward.
And then—it happened.
The sights and sounds of his former world dissolved into mist.In their place came an unfamiliar sensation, as if his very being was shifting.His body was no longer that of a soldier.It was the battered, broken body of a young man who had plunged into an abyss.
"He's alive! He's awake!"
A woman's voice, breathless with excitement, pierced the silence.
Slowly, painfully, Li Feitian forced his heavy eyelids open.The first thing he saw was the blood-smeared face of a young woman cradling him.
Pain wracked his body, searing through every limb.Cold numbness seeped into his bones, chilling him to the core.He glanced at his own hands—hands that were not his own.A stranger's body.
Panic stirred within him.He was no longer in the world he knew.The instincts of a soldier remained, but the surroundings—the mist-filled sky, the dense, wild forest—belonged to another era, another reality.
Wounded, broken, and lost, he tried to shout:
"Where... where am I?"
Yet only a hoarse whisper escaped his cracked lips.
"No need to speak. Drink this,"
another female voice murmured urgently.
A soft hand tilted his chin, forcing his mouth open, and poured a bitter liquid past his lips.
To be continued...