Chapter 202 The Melon is Broken

The old man took out a bag of fried dough sticks from his pocket to express his gratitude: "Take this, Kong Wu. Eat slowly."

Kong Wu took the fried dough sticks without hesitation, smiled, and then walked away while chewing the fried dough sticks.

Yuan Chi lowered his head and looked at his hands silently, wondering if his arm strength had weakened.

"Xiao Yuan, let's go up the mountain to buy tea." Governor Gu called to Yuan Chi.

Yuan Chi followed Gu Shi up the mountain, asked a few villagers, and then headed towards the tea garden.

Before reaching the tea garden, Yuan Chi vaguely heard human voices.

Not the usual sounds of talking or laughing.

It was the sound of many people's footsteps, in unison.

There were a lot of shouts and morale was high.

It was the metallic sound of swords, spears, swords and shields clashing, and it was extremely familiar.

Yuan Chi's eyes instantly showed a look of alertness: "Gu Zhishi, are there troops here?"

Governor Gu naturally heard it and explained:

"It's not an army, it's a guard corps formed by the villagers of Heishan Township. The villagers usually farm and work, and they train together during their rest time. Lingnan is not as peaceful as the capital, so the people just want to protect themselves."

Governor Gu praised again:

"Thanks to the guards, we were able to hold off the Mi Po people's attack this time. Otherwise, we would have been killed by their swords long ago."

Since Yuan Chi heard it, he naturally wanted to go and take a look.

So they changed direction and headed towards the direction where the guards were training.

In the valley, black flags fluttered and powerful voices were heard.

The guards who had actually fought in battle seemed even more unstoppable than before.

They had actually been wounded and had actually killed the enemy, and the scars on their bodies had now become a mark of honor that they could show.

Wei Dashuan and Qin Xiao commanded the guard regiment to practice a new formation - the goose formation.

The crowd imitated the V-shape formation of a flock of geese flying, which was suitable for assault and encirclement.

Qin Xiao waved his flag, and the vanguard accelerated, charging straight into the "enemy formation." The central army quickly followed suit, encircling the enemy on both wings.

When the order was given on the stage, everyone shouted in unison, their voices shaking the sky.

Yuan Chi was shocked when he saw this scene from the top of the mountain.

It was even more shocking than when I saw the young man lifting the ox cart with one hand just now.

It is rare for a countryman to be familiar with such regular and orderly military training methods.

Yuan Chi immediately wanted to meet the person who was commanding the training.

Then, he thought that the guard group already had more than a thousand people, not too many, not too few, and everyone had a weapon.

If they continue to grow, they may be regarded as private soldiers by the imperial court.

"Inspector Gu, could you please speak with the commander of the guard corps and the mayor of Heishan Township?"

Being able to protect oneself is a good thing, but Yuan Chi wants to talk to these villagers in person about the seriousness of the matter and remind them not to be used as private soldiers by villains and suffer unnecessary disasters.

Governor Gu hesitated slightly and said, "They are all very busy. I need to send someone to ask them."

Governor Gu turned and said, "Go find Wei Dashuan and Mayor Hao and ask them if it would be convenient for them to come to the village council hall. Tell them that General Yuan from the capital wants to meet with them."

Governor Gu was cautious and did not call Qin Xiao.

Some time ago, he had recognized Qin Xiao's identity and knew that Qin Xiao might not be willing to let others know that he was here.

Therefore, Governor Gu only sent people to call Wei Dashuan and Hao Ren, after all, these two were just villagers.

Yuan Chi and Governor Gu went to the meeting hall in Liangmin Village.

On the way there, Yuan Chi saw a group of children picking fruits with bamboo baskets on their backs.

The fruits with glossy and oily skin hung on the trees, shaking as the children pulled them.

Several children climbed up the trees and deftly used their clothes to pocket the picked fruits, or threw the fruits to people below to catch them.

No one has picked the fruits on the tree yet.

Suddenly, a whip rose up to the branch and chopped down on the treetop, cutting off several plump fruits from the branch like a knife.

"I got it, I got it!"

"Catch it quickly, don't break your skin."

"Zhizhi, come again, come again..."

The children cheered and the bamboo baskets became fuller and fuller.

Yuan Chi looked closely at the person cracking the whip. It was a little girl with two flower-bud buns and big, bright eyes.

The little girl looked less than ten years old, but she wielded the whip quickly, fiercely and steadily.

"Inspector Gu is here." Someone among the group of children shouted.

They all ran towards Governor Gu and his entourage.

Su Zhizhi also came and took out a melon from the bamboo basket:

"Gu, this fruit is too hard for you to chew. I'll give you some melon. The melons in our village are soft and freshly picked from the fields."

The other children also took melons out of the basket.

Governor Gu couldn't refuse the children's kindness and accepted the melon:

"Where's Che?"

Su Zhizhi: "After practicing, Che went back to read. I took the Boy Scouts to pick fruit."

Governor Gu said with a smile, "You guys go have fun. I'm going to the meeting hall to see Mayor Hao."

The Boy Scouts went fruit picking again.

Yuan Chi and Governor Gu continued walking forward, melons in their hands.

When I entered the meeting hall and sat down, I suddenly felt a cool shade and felt much more comfortable.

Yuan Chi was deeply impressed by the little girl who had just whipped him:

"Governor Gu, are the children in this village still practicing martial arts?"

"The adults and children in Liangmin Village all practice martial arts."

Governor Gu's tone was quite proud:

"Don't be fooled by the fact that this is just a rural area, but there are many talented people here. When those two come, you'll know what I said is true. Although Wei Dashuan is over seventy years old, when he directs the drills..."

Governor Gu took a bite of the melon.

"This melon is good, sweet and juicy."

Yuan Chi split the melon into two halves, took it in his hand and took a bite.

Hearing that the commander of the Guards' training was a man in his seventies, Yuan Chi almost choked on melon seeds.

"How old are you? How can you, over seventy, command the young and strong villagers to exercise?"

When Yuan Chi said this, the door of the meeting hall was pushed open, and a shadow slanted on the ground, casting a shadow at Yuan Chi's feet.

A hoarse but strong voice came in:

"General Yuan, you are wrong. Although I am over seventy years old, I am not necessarily inferior to the young."

When Yuan Chi heard this, he subconsciously shuddered.

He can't eat melon anymore.

Because he crushed the melon in his hand, the juice splashed all over his hands.

Yuan Chi looked up at the person who came. He was indeed an old man, a very energetic old man with many wrinkles.

Yuan Chi stared at Wei Dashuan blankly.

He looked silly, not like a general in his forties, but more like the naive self he was when he first joined the army twenty years ago.

Twenty years ago, when he first joined the army, he relied on his marksmanship and strength to win many military competitions and became famous.

Young people have seen little but won a lot, so it is inevitable that they will be a little arrogant.

At that time, someone jokingly said, "Yuan Chi, you are so capable, why don't you fight General Wei?"

At that time, they were led by Wei Fu, an old general who was over fifty years old.

Yuan Chi tried to save face and said, "General Wei is already past the age of 50. If a junior like me fights against an elder, wouldn't that be bullying?"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone around him suddenly looked at him in horror.

To be precise, he was looking behind him.

Yuan Chi turned stiffly and saw General Wei Fu looking at him with a smile from behind:

"That's wrong. Although I'm over fifty, I'm not necessarily inferior to the young."

Then, Yuan Chi really had to spar with General Wei.

Yuan Chi did not give in at all, but his skull was almost blown off by General Wei's old knife.

Fortunately, it was just a brief mention.

Yuan Chi pressed his skull, and from then on he improved his martial arts and military tactics, and never dared to brag again.

He also wanted to have the same style as General Wei in the future, and be able to knock young people to the ground when he was fifty years old.

But more than ten years ago, General Wei, who refused to accept his old age, retired to his hometown and disappeared.

Yuan Chi never saw Wei Fu again.

The broken melon fell to the ground and the juice spread everywhere.

Yuan Chi opened his mouth with difficulty, wanting to tentatively call out "General Wei", but Wei Dashuan stepped in front of Yuan Chi first and said:

"What a good melon! It's a shame to drop it on the ground. We can feed it to pigs and chickens if we pick it up."