A university student and army veteran wakes up to find himself a starving refugee in the chaotic Five Dynasties period.
He has no System and cannot remember history in full. He only knows that after Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the northern gateway to the Central Plains was left wide open, and countless people in later generations would pay the price.
But when he wakes, he cannot even get his hands on a bowl of gruel, let alone defend Yanyun.
From refugee to foot soldier, from laborer to general, he witnesses famine, defeated armies, changing banners, and ceded lands. He also sees far too many people die before a northern gateway that should never have been lost.
Later, someone asks him why he is so determined to look north toward Yanyun.
He says, “Once certain gates are handed over, those who come after must spend many lives to force them open again.”
