The Butcher and Xu Wolong

Training ground.

More than two-thirds of the people were lying on the ground, sprawled out.

One-third of them were too tired to continue training, and the remaining third had given up from the start.

For them, being a soldier was just a way to make a living, or some were even forced to enlist.

Only the last third were still persevering.

The fastest progress was made by Chen Sanshi, who reached the twenty-fifth posture training.

Next was the young man with the special breathing technique, who reached the seventeenth posture training.

Finally, there was a burly man with a full beard, who had also barely managed to reach the twelfth posture training.

All three of them had been practicing since they received the cultivation method last night.

The rest, at best, had only reached the seventh posture training.

"It seems the physical improvements from mastering archery are quite remarkable!"

Chen Sanshi hadn't expected that the physique of a natural archer would benefit him so much in martial arts. He wondered what the next advancement would be like.

The young man and the burly man practicing postures with him kept glancing at Chen Sanshi, as if competing with him.

What the hell are they doing?

Chen Sanshi felt speechless.

When he reached the twenty-sixth posture training, he felt his strength gradually failing, so he chose to stop.

It wasn't because he was lazy, but because he understood that haste makes waste.

If he forced himself to continue, it could cause irreversible damage to his body, which would be counterproductive.

Seeing that he had stopped, the young man and the burly man also collapsed shortly after.

"Hey, what's your name?"

The burly man wiped the sweat from his face with his hand and asked, panting heavily.

"Chen Sanshi," Chen Sanshi replied.

"Chen Sanshi?"

The burly man was surprised. "The one from Yanbian Village?"

Chen Sanshi was taken aback. "You know me?"

The man laughed heartily. "Who in the countryside doesn't know that Yanbian Village has a righteous and loyal hunting expert?"

"That can't be right..."

Chen Sanshi found it strange.

Did "righteous and loyal" refer to him saving Shunzi's father?

But that was only a matter of two taels of silver, it shouldn't have made him so famous, right?

"Your sworn brother Zhang Shun's old mother, because you owed their family two taels of silver for a life-saving debt, beat and scolded you, and even wanted to sell your wife to Qin Xiong to pay off the debt. Not only did you not hold a grudge, but at a critical moment, you risked retaliation from the martial arts school disciples and produced five taels of silver to save her!"

The man slapped his chest forcefully, his voice booming. "In this day and age, where can you find such a loyal and righteous person? Brother, I admire you!"

"?"

Chen Sanshi was full of questions.

It was true that he and Shunzi had grown up together, but when did they become sworn brothers?

When did his mother start beating and scolding him?

And the matter with Qin Xiong, how did it get linked to Aunt Li?

He wondered who was spreading such nonsense.

Is this the legendary rumor mill...

"My surname is Zhu, and my given name is Tong!"

Zhu Tong cupped his fist in salute. "If you don't mind, I'll call you Brother Chen from now on!"

Chen Sanshi returned the salute with a cupped fist.

Another young man also came over. "My name is Song Yan. Your posture training is very fast and impressive."

"You're not bad either," Chen Sanshi said.

Zhu Tong's attitude turned sour. "Ignore this kid!"

Chen Sanshi looked confused. "Brother Zhu, what's wrong with you..."

Before Zhu Tong could speak, Song Yan interjected, "You guys are missing a part of the cultivation method you're learning, but I'm not missing it because Commander Luo is my maternal uncle, and he taught it to me in advance. If you want to learn it, you can find the various commanders and pay eight taels of silver for instruction."

"You brat, you have some nerve to say that!"

Zhu Tong had happened to see this kid with Commander Luo when he came to the military camp yesterday and heard something about breathing techniques.

"Okay, thank you."

Chen Sanshi nodded.

Just as he had guessed.

Song Yan also nodded, then found some steps to sit down and rest.

Zhu Tong took out a filled flatbread from his embrace and handed it over.

Chen Sanshi didn't stand on ceremony, eating the bread and chatting with Zhu Tong, getting a simple understanding of the other's background.

Zhu Tong was a butcher from Zhu Family Village. Not long ago, he couldn't stand the local gentry bullying a widow and got into a fight, almost being sent south as a laborer. He spent most of his family's silver to arrange for his sentence to be commuted to enlisting in the army in his hometown.

"Old Zhu, give me a flatbread too."

As they were chatting, a hand sneakily reached towards Zhu Tong's embrace, only to be slapped away. "Get lost!"

Chen Sanshi looked up and saw the person who had explained the meaning of "elite selection" to everyone earlier. He looked nearly fifty, with even white hair.

Zhu Tong introduced him grumpily, "This is Xu Wencai, the notorious lazybones of Zhu Family Village."

Xu Wencai was displeased. "Hey, who are you calling a lazybones?"

"You either laze around at home doing nothing, or wander around idly all day. Your old mother farms to support you. If you're not a lazybones, who is?!"

Zhu Tong scorned, "And now, your old mother is dead and there's no one to earn money, you can't pay your taxes, so you've been rounded up to join the army to make up the numbers."

Not being able to pay taxes could also lead to being sent to join the army.

As for Zhang Shun being sent to repair the canal, that was purely because he had offended someone.

"You... you're talking nonsense!"

Xu Wencai said agitatedly, "At home, I read ten thousand books! When I travel, I walk ten thousand miles! I am a man destined for great things!"

Zhu Tong spat, "You gave yourself a nickname like 'Sleeping Dragon', but you can't even pass the Xiucai exam, and you're spouting nonsense to me!"

"You... Fine, before I leave, can I have a flatbread?"

Xu Wencai hadn't eaten in two days.

Unless there was a war, the military colony didn't even provide food for the past two years.

If they were fed well every meal, no one would be coming to join the army.

"Disgraceful."

Zhu Tong still threw a flatbread over in the end.

Xu Wencai immediately ran to the side joyfully, took out a book, and read it with relish while eating the flatbread.

Chen Sanshi noticed that his heavy baggage behind him seemed to be entirely filled with books, so much so that it made the old scholar stoop.

"Brother Xu."

He took the initiative to say, "Can I borrow a book to read? I'll return it to you after I'm done."

He only had one book left at home, and reading it repeatedly made it difficult to improve his reading progress. Buying one would be a waste of money, and he still needed silver for practicing martial arts.

"Not lending."

Xu Wencai said without thinking.

"..."

Chen Sanshi hesitated for a moment, then asked again, "Xu Wolong, lend me one, and I promise to return it to you without any damage."

"Cough..."

Xu Wencai almost choked on the flatbread. He asked, "What... did you just say?"

"Xu Wolong, I said I'd like to borrow a book from you," Chen Sanshi repeated.

"Mmm~"

Xu Wencai closed his eyes in enjoyment. "With such sincerity, I can tell you're also a book lover."

"Yes."

Chen Sanshi admitted frankly, "I was also a scholar before. I tried for several years but couldn't pass the Xiucai exam. I couldn't make a living, so I came to join the army."

"Is that so?"

Xu Wencai's spirits rose.

"It is so!"

"Good! I knew it!"

Xu Wencai said indignantly, "The imperial examinations of the Great Sheng Dynasty are utter garbage! They only test dead essays, what's the use? People like us with real talent are buried!

Pick any book you want to read!"

He directly spread his baggage on the ground, displaying all sorts of books, from poetry and prose to storybooks, history books, and strange tales.

"If I hadn't scraped together money to buy a coffin for my mother's burial, I would have had a room full of books!"

"..."

Chen Sanshi casually picked one from the pile. "Thank you, Xu Wolong."

The garrison doesn't provide food.

Usually, after the designated time, the military mens would return home to eat.

Chen Sanshi also packed up his things.

Before leaving, he found Xu Bin and asked if he could get a heavy bow.

If proficiency was already so helpful in martial arts training, then a minor accomplishment was even more promising, so his archery practice couldn't be interrupted.