Prayer

"You think I'm discussing this with you?"

"This is an order!"

"Military orders are like mountains. Defy them, and I can behead every last one of you!"

Li Gang kept his voice low as he cursed them, clearly unwilling to make a fool of himself in front of the Hundred Household and the Thousand Household.

Once those words came out, the patrol inspectors who had been shouting at once no longer dared say anything more, but the looks showing between their brows clearly proved what they were thinking.

"San Tiao Tui, Da Zuiba, haven't you two always wanted to learn my Martial Arts? When we come back this time, I'll teach you!"

"And I won't treat you two badly either. If you want to learn Martial Arts, then learn. If you don't, I'll personally give each of you Thirty Silver!"

After the threats, Li Gang began offering sweet dates again. After he finished, he looked toward Chu Mu and the others. "You lot, whoever is willing to go with me, I won't treat you badly either."

Chu Mu's gaze stirred slightly. He was truly somewhat tempted. The Real Skill he had longed for day and night seemed... close at hand? But when he saw Li Gang's gloomy face, Chu Mu still forced that temptation down.

Just as Li Gang himself had said, those patrol inspectors had hovered around him for who knew how long, offering who knew how much flattery, yet Li Gang had never been seen teaching them his Real Skill.

This time, it was nothing more than a promise made under duress.

Would he really keep it?

If he truly turned hostile and refused to acknowledge it, what could Chu Mu do?

Of course, what Chu Mu worried about most was still the danger of this trip, which remained unknown.

After all, out of more than a dozen patrol inspectors, only one had escaped.

It was not hard to see that this had definitely been a premeditated operation. If it had been a spur-of-the-moment act, it would have been almost impossible to wipe out an entire squad of patrol inspectors in one net.

Premeditation meant organization, and organization meant the risk would be very great.

Weighing gains and losses, the risk was clearly far greater than the reward.

"Fine. You lot, follow me!"

Li Gang did not force it either. With a call, he strode off.

Chu Mu watched Li Gang's fighting spirit burn as he departed, and a sudden fanciful thought struck him. If Li Gang went and never returned, the Squad Leader position would be left vacant.

Then if Chu Mu gained a little merit this time, wouldn't he have a chance to fish up a Squad Leader post for himself?

If he became Squad Leader, it would be far freer than his current life where every radish had its own pit, and whatever he wanted to do would be much more convenient too.

Just as Chu Mu's thoughts were running wild, an accident suddenly occurred.

Along with a series of ear-piercing sounds tearing through the air, arrow after arrow shot out from the Dense Forest, falling like rain.

At the very front of the troop was naturally Li Gang, burning with fighting spirit, as well as the few dejected patrol inspectors following him.

"Enemy attack!"

Li Gang's Martial Arts were formidable, so naturally he was unafraid. He was even somewhat overjoyed. After all, the Thousand Household was right behind him.

Li Gang shouted loudly, then abruptly leaped in front of the Thousand Household. A great saber in his hand swung so tightly that not even wind could pass through, blocking the arrows flying toward the Thousand Household.

But the patrol inspectors following Li Gang were clearly in terrible luck. After all, not everyone possessed Real Skill like Li Gang. One by one, they were shot until they looked like hedgehogs, collapsing onto the ground, their lives unknown.

At such a scene, Li Jinghong's expression abruptly turned cold. He narrowed his eyes and looked toward the Dense Forest not far away, but waved a hand to stop He Ping, who had been about to lead men charging into the forest.

"We don't know the terrain. We must not advance rashly!"

"Pass down the order. All units maintain formation and retreat five hundred paces!"

At this moment, Chu Mu's mind was also stretched taut. In both his previous life and this one, this was undoubtedly the first time he had encountered such a battle array.

His long saber was already gripped in his hand, his gaze fixed tightly on the distant Dense Forest. Fortunately, the distance was still great, and the arrows could not reach him here.

Only, the attack before his eyes undoubtedly announced with perfect clarity the collapse of the situation.

Qili Village had surely been swept up by the rebel bandits, the entire village fallen. Otherwise, there was no way they could have set up an ambush here! What Chu Mu simply could not imagine was just how great these people's guts were.

After killing patrol inspectors, they had not fled, and instead actually wanted to use the terrain to ambush and counter-kill the government troops!

Only at this moment, Chu Mu had no time to think too much. Although the arrows could not reach him here, he did not dare gamble that they could not! Before the order to retreat had even been issued, Chu Mu had already backed up quite a bit, and after the order came down, he withdrew in one burst all the way to the very rear.

Fortunately, there were plenty of patrol inspectors who feared death. Mixed among them, Chu Mu did not stand out. In fact, because of his vigilant appearance, he even looked somewhat valiant.

"There's poison on the arrows!"

"Everyone be careful, there's poison on the arrows."

After retreating several hundred paces, chaos naturally spread. Some unfortunate patrol inspectors who had been shot foamed at the mouth and collapsed to the ground, immediately drawing a chorus of cries.

Looking along the road, across several hundred paces, more than ten patrol inspector corpses had been left behind. Faintly, one could still hear the wails of those not yet fully dead.

Within that Dense Forest, after a rain of arrows, there was no more movement. If not for this blood-soaked scene, everything would have seemed like an illusion.

Especially those familiar colleagues at the very front. At this moment, they already lay completely motionless, blood flowing all over the ground.

After reacting from his vigilance, Chu Mu's face had gone ghastly pale.

Lingering fear, relief, all sorts of emotions flowed through Chu Mu's heart.

The wisps of excitement that had kept surging up not long ago had, amid this bloody scene, vanished completely.

Life and death had never been so close at hand.

How could he not be shaken!

"Mu Ge'er..."

Xu Yuan dropped onto the ground on his backside, trembling like chaff in a sieve.

"Don't... don't be scared!"

Chu Mu swallowed and offered a word of comfort. As for anything more, he truly had no idea what to say.

He was scared too right now! Truly scared! The only thing he had over Xu Yuan was the few extra decades of experience from his previous life, which let him barely keep his cool now.

Of course, that was all there was to it.

It wasn't as if anyone could expect a bottom-rung corporate slave from his previous life to face everything like towering Mount Tai, unmoved even if the sky collapsed, right? "It's fine. There are a lot of us. They won't dare come out."

Chu Mu was speaking somewhat incoherently, not knowing whether he was comforting himself or Xu Yuan.

"Straighten up, all of you!"

"Get up! Get up, damn you!"

He Ping led several Squad Leaders in organizing the chaotic order, shouts and curses ringing without end. Under such organization, the chaos slowly returned to order.

Chu Mu did his utmost to calm himself. From time to time, his gaze turned toward the surrounding Dense Forest, and also swept toward Li Jinghong, the Thousand Household surrounded by the Patrol Inspectors.

The situation was very clear. No matter what the circumstances in Qili Village were, the commoners of Qili Village who were resisting had definitely already been organized, and they occupied the terrain of the Mountain Forest.

As for their side, the Patrol Inspectors' morale was low, and they were bewildered and terrified. But beyond doubt, their side absolutely held the advantage in numbers.

Otherwise, with that wave of arrows just now, when the Patrol Inspectors had panicked and been scared witless, those rioters could not possibly have failed to take advantage and launch an attack!

Right now, the most important thing was obviously that Thousand Household, Li Jinghong.

One incompetent general would exhaust three armies to death.

And now, every move they made was undoubtedly tied to this Thousand Household.

Their fates, too, rested on a single thought from this Thousand Household.

Even though Chu Mu did not believe in ghosts or gods, at this moment he could not help silently praying.

He truly hoped that this Thousand Household could be a little wise and divinely valiant...