The Iron Direction

Chapter One: The Military Flag

BOOM!

A deafening explosion shook the entire world. My vision instantly blurred, my mind went blank, and my ears heard nothing but a sharp, agonizing ringing.

It took a few moments for my consciousness to resurface. But when I opened my eyes, the scene before me was far more terrifying than the darkness I had just escaped. Bullets and shells whistled through the air. On the muddy ground, squads of soldiers charged forward with fixed bayonets. Their uniforms and weapons looked exactly like the Kuomintang soldiers I often saw in old war movies.

I desperately hoped this was just an illusion or a movie set I had accidentally wandered into. But the sight of soldiers collapsing under a hail of lead, the fountains of blood splashing everywhere, and the corpses blasted into the air by shells—falling back to earth in tattered pieces—all told me that this was real. This was a living, breathing, and lethal reality.

How did I get here? Where is this? Why are people still fighting with such antique rifles?

A barrage of questions left my mind in a chaotic mess. I stood frozen, unable to move for a long time, staring blankly at the s*******r unfolding before me.

After a while that felt like an eternity, I slowly remembered who I was. My name is Fangxiang (**). Fang means direction, and Xiang also means direction. Despite a name that literally means "Direction," the irony is that I have absolutely no sense of orientation. I was an ordinary history student whose days were spent playing cards, chasing girls, and surfing the internet.

Just moments ago—or perhaps a lifetime ago—I had gone on a picnic in the mountains with my classmates. Well, while the title was "picnic," my true intention was simply to get closer to a few girls in my class. But due to my poor navigation skills, I got lost and separated from the group. In the midst of my desperate search for the way home, I stumbled upon a cave.

Wait! Where did that cave go?

I remembered that cave vividly. The entrance was guarded by several skeletons still clutching rifles—a sight that nearly made my heart stop. However, that fear was eclipsed by curiosity when I saw the piles of treasure inside.

A mountain of gold! Heaps of artifacts, golden bowls, and Buddha statues as thick as a man's arm... The fortune teller was right; I was destined for great luck this year! I could already imagine myself driving luxury cars and being surrounded by beautiful women thanks to this fortune.

However, in the center of that golden shimmer sat something that made my skin crawl: a mummified corpse sitting upright. The skin on its face had dried and hardened like tree bark, revealing rows of grayish-black teeth. One of its left canines was made of gold. In its hands, it gripped a samurai katana, radiating a murderous aura as if it were still guarding the looted treasure.

Looking at that samurai sword and the rifles at the cave entrance, I was certain they were Japanese soldiers. Perhaps they had plundered this treasure from Chinese civilians and didn't have time to flee with it before getting buried here.

I have hated the invaders since I was a child. Thinking of their atrocities—the burning, killing, and looting—a sudden surge of anger welled up in my chest, flushing away my fear. Without a second thought, I kicked the mummy over!

Beneath where the mummy had been sitting, a wooden box was revealed. At first, I hoped it contained an even more precious jewel, but I was disappointed when I opened it. Inside was merely a Japanese Rising Sun flag. However, this flag was different; it had sixteen blood-red rays radiating outward.

Only later would I realize that the flag was the most valuable treasure in that cave. During World War II, the entire Allied forces, including China, desperately longed to capture a military flag of this type, yet almost none succeeded. For the Japanese military, losing this flag was the ultimate disgrace; they were capable of sending an entire division just to recover one...

July 28, 1937. Sunny.

I had seen thousands of war scenes on the big screen, but I never imagined that real war could be this cruel and this terrifying.