From the Start, I Was a Cowherd, but Fate Told Me to Fight for the World

Zhu Chongba was a cowherd. After falling ill, he began seeing words no one else could see. The words spoke in riddles, and he could not make sense of them all. It seemed fate had shown him the way, but he still had to walk it himself. To stay alive, he learned to read, memorized the lay of the land, and learned to read people's hearts. Starting with a single meal and a small band of men, he advanced step by step to the battlefield where the fate of the realm would be decided. Whenever he was driven into a corner, those ghostly words always showed him the “next step.” Everyone said he was the one chosen by fate. But in the battle that would decide who ruled the realm, fate suddenly fell silent. His soldiers were still waiting for him to speak when news of defeat arrived at his desk. At last, Zhu Chongba had to answer a question he had never dared to ask: If fate no longer showed the way, then who, exactly, had brought them this far?