In the afternoon, a biting wind began to howl at Zhenbeiguan, whipping up sand and gravel that stung their faces. The new recruits braved the wind and were driven to the open training ground.
After the morning's ordeal of eating "sand food," the atmosphere in the entire third team became unusually eerie. Everyone was subtly glancing at the new recruit named "Xiao Shisan" out of the corner of their eyes. The man who had expressionlessly ate a whole bowl of pig feed was now standing quietly in the ranks, his posture as straight as a pine tree, as if nothing had happened that morning.
The calmer he remained, the more uneasy the others felt. Especially the squad leader, Zhang San, who was restless all afternoon, finding the fragrant braised pork tasteless. He felt as if he had provoked a formidable opponent.
But then he thought, no matter how tough the opponent is, they'll have to cower in his territory! He refused to believe that some delicate, privileged nobody could cause any trouble! If the humiliation this morning wasn't enough, he'd double it!
"Ahem!" Zhang San cleared his throat, walked to the front of the line, and his arrogant, smug expression returned to his face. "The weather is getting colder, and the general, being considerate of his men, has specially issued a batch of new winter clothes to you greenhorns! Line up, all of you, and come forward one by one to collect yours!"
Upon hearing about the new winter clothing, the previously listless recruits' eyes immediately lit up. The nights at the border could freeze a person to death; a thick cotton-padded coat would be a lifesaver.
The line quickly formed, and a fat man who looked like a quartermaster sat behind a table, lazily tossing bundles of gray cotton-padded clothes to the soldiers who came forward.
"Next, Xiao Shisan!" Zhang San shouted deliberately, his eyes filled with malicious provocation.
Xiao Che walked forward expressionlessly.
The fat quartermaster acted as if he hadn't seen him at all, casually grabbing a piece of clothing from a pile of obviously old and thin clothes and throwing it at his feet like trash.
"Take it and get out!"
Xiao Che bent down and picked up the so-called "winter coat." It was extremely light, the fabric was rough, and it even had a faint musty smell. He didn't even need to look closely to feel the clumps of stuffing inside.
This is no cotton-padded coat; it's clearly a tattered cloth bag stuffed full of rags.
He raised his eyes and quietly looked at the quartermaster. The man, however, didn't even bother to lift his eyelids and continued yawning.
"What? Not satisfied?" Zhang San's voice rang out again, full of schadenfreude. "You should be grateful to have anything to wear! Are you being picky? Do you want to spend the winter naked, 'Young Master Xiao'?"
Some of the new recruits around had already received their winter clothes, which, while not exactly luxurious, were at least properly filled with cotton. They looked at the "trash" in Xiao Che's hand with pity in their eyes, but none of them dared to utter a sound.
Xiao Che didn't say anything; he simply grabbed the collar of the "winter coat" in front of everyone.
Then, tear it open with both hands.
"Sizzle—!"
A sharp, tearing sound rang out.
The tattered winter coat opened with a snap, instantly exposing its stuffing to everyone.
There was no white cotton wool, no warm fabric, only clumps of reeds that were already soaked in moisture, blackened and clumped together, and exuding a rotten smell!
A gust of cold wind blew by, and a few wisps of blackened reed catkins were swept up and swirled in the air, as if they were silently mocking something.
The training ground was deathly silent.
Everyone was stunned! They'd seen plenty of cases of embezzlement of soldiers' pay. They were even experiencing embezzlement of their own rations. But replacing the cotton-padded coats meant for soldiers to keep warm with rotten reeds—this wasn't just greed; this was taking lives!
Zhang San's expression changed slightly; he hadn't expected this batch of "defective goods" to be so rotten. But he quickly regained his composure and, instead, preemptively accused Zhang San, shouting, "Xiao Shisan! How dare you! You dare to damage military supplies in public! Guards..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Che had already thrown the tattered reed-flower coat on the ground, looking at him with the eyes of someone looking at a dead man, and slowly spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly drowning out the sound of the wind:
"What's the next training program?"
His voice contained no anger, no questioning, only a chilling calm that seeped into his bones. This calmness was more unsettling to Zhang San than any roar.
Zhang San felt a chill run down his spine from the man's gaze and instinctively took a half-step back, then became annoyed at his own reaction. Forcing himself to appear imposing, he pointed at the weapons on the nearby rack and roared, his voice trembling with fear, "Next...next? Next up is equipment training! I'll personally teach you what discipline is today!"
He turned and walked toward the weapons rack, and with his back to the crowd, he quickly gave a wink to the veteran in charge of guarding the weapons.
The new recruits began to collect their wooden swords and guns for training and prepared for sparring.
"Xiao Shisan!" Zhang San called out again, his tone now undisguisedly ruthless. He pulled a standard steel knife from the weapon rack, its blade gleaming coldly in the afternoon sun.
"Others use wooden swords, you use this!" The veteran in charge of the weapons understood, pulled out a relatively intact longsword from a pile of rusty, discarded weapons, and threw it in front of Xiao Che. "The captain thinks highly of you and wants to spar with you personally; it's your honor!"
Xiao Che glanced at the sword on the ground. The scabbard was old, but there was a clearly visible crack at the hilt, extending from the guard all the way to the junction of the blade and the hilt.
This is a true "broken sword." It will inevitably break on the spot with the slightest impact.
Everyone realized that Zhang San was about to "accidentally" kill someone during the sparring session!
The new recruits were so frightened that they retreated and made way for a large open space, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
“Pick it up!” Zhang San pointed the knife at Xiao Che, a cruel smile on his face.
Xiao Che slowly bent down and grasped the hilt of the broken sword. It was icy cold to the touch, and the crack made his palm sting slightly. He slowly drew the sword out; the blade was still quite shiny, clearly having been carefully polished to conceal its fatal flaw.
"Very good." Xiao Che straightened up, holding his sword in one hand, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground. He looked at Zhang San, who had already taken his stance and was grinning maliciously, and felt completely calm.
Normally, he would have a thousand ways to kill his opponent silently before he could even make a move. But now, he is "Xiao Shisan," a powerless "connected person."
He has to "act".
"Take this!" Seeing Xiao Che surrender, Zhang San felt much more confident. With a roar, he charged forward like a tiger descending a mountain. His steel blade sliced through the air with a whistling sound, aiming straight for Xiao Che's head!
He used all his strength in that strike, and had no intention of holding back at all!
All the new recruits were so frightened that they closed their eyes, unable to bear watching the blood splatter that followed.
However, the expected screams did not occur.
Xiao Che shifted his feet, his body twisting at an extremely tricky angle, barely dodging the fatal blow. His movements looked somewhat clumsy, and he even stumbled slightly due to his unsteady footing, appearing quite disheveled.
"You dodged quickly!" Zhang San, having missed his attack, became even more ferocious. He shifted his blade and slashed horizontally towards Xiao Che's waist.
Xiao Che raised his "broken sword" to parry.
"clang!"
A clear, metallic clang rang out.
Xiao Che felt a jolt in his hand, and the immense force sent him staggering backward, the longsword in his hand groaning under the strain. He "struggled" to regain his footing, a perfectly timed look of panic on his face.
His acting skills are so good that even he himself would give them three points.
Seeing this, Zhang San became even more overconfident, launching a relentless attack like a storm. For a time, the training ground was filled with flashing blades, and Xiao Che was forced to defend himself, facing constant danger and completely on the defensive.
The broken sword in his hand rang out with a mournful clang under Zhang San's fierce attack, and the crack on the hilt widened with each collision.
"Useless! All you can do is hide!" Zhang San roared, enjoying the thrill of trampling this "connected person" under his feet.
Just as he was about to strike again with all his might, Xiao Che, in a panic, held the sword horizontally above his head.
"Smack—!"
A crisp snapping sound finally rang out as expected!
The longsword in Xiao Che's hand snapped in two at the hilt! Half of the sword flew away in a spinning motion, leaving only a bare hilt still in his hand.
The opportunity has arrived!
A glint of wild joy and ferocity flashed in Zhang San's eyes! This was the moment he had been waiting for!
He roared, and instead of stopping, he used all his strength to chop downwards with the steel knife in his hand, shouting, "Ouch, I can't stop!"
The gleaming blade, carrying the chill of death, slashed straight toward Xiao Che's face!
Everyone was terrified!
At this critical moment!
Just as the blade was less than an inch from Xiao Che's nose!
Xiao Che, who had been appearing "utterly disheveled," made a move.
His body arched backward in a posture that defied the laws of physics. His waist seemed boneless, forming an astonishing arc. His entire upper body was almost parallel to the ground.
A textbook-perfect "backwards iron bridge"!
"Whoosh—!"
The deadly blade grazed the tip of his nose, carrying a sharp gust of wind, and cleaved through the air!
Time seemed to stand still.
Everyone stared wide-eyed, dumbfounded at the man who had dodged the fatal blow with such effortless grace.
Zhang San was completely stunned. He remained in his chopping posture, unable to believe his eyes.
How could... how could it miss?!
Xiao Che slowly straightened up, his face still showing that "still in shock" expression.
After a brief moment of shock, Zhang San was overwhelmed with rage. He felt utterly humiliated! He turned around furiously, pointing his finger at Xiao Che's nose and shouting insults:
"Useless! You can't even hold a sword properly! People like you are just a waste of food in the army! You're not allowed to eat tonight!"
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