Patrol (Please Bookmark)

[Heavenly Show Points: 0 (55%)]

"Just one show-off act, and I got more than half the Heavenly Show Points? One more time and I could round it off?"

As Zhong Shenxiu ran laps, he checked the Heavenly Show System and could not help feeling delighted. "Sure enough, the worn-out memes I used in my previous previous life are still novel in this world. There's plenty of potential to mine here..."

"And the effect of slapping faces and displaying holiness here seems even better than in my last world. Is it because the peanut gallery here is of higher quality, or because it's a different world?"

Zhong Shenxiu had long compared the Human Race of this world with those from his previous world and found that there were clearly still some differences.

The greatest difference lay in the existence of cultivation and the widespread practice of Martial Arts.

Even the crudest martial techniques in the military would have counted as first-rate Ultimate Skills in his previous world.

Even with his fifth-level [Hundred Refinements Martial Arts], Zhong Shenxiu did not dare claim invincibility within Black Mountain Fortress. After all, it was merely a Martial Arts method for tempering muscles, bones, and flesh, unable to compare with those who had activated the cheat of True Qi.

"Looks like I need to get Xiantian Qi Gong started as soon as possible... Even without Heavenly Show Points, I'll probably succeed in cultivating this Daoist Arts method soon..."

Heavenly Show Points were precious, so naturally they had to be spent on the blade's edge. Besides, if he could not quickly get started on the Profound Yin Soul Control Fragment, that would be the truly fatal matter.

The military camp was large, but for Zhong Shenxiu, ten laps merely counted as morning exercise.

When he returned to the camp, Huang Xie and Er Ha had already come to meet him, carrying a leather breastplate and helmet. "Lord Su, we collected your gear for you too, so you won't need to make another trip to the armory..."

"Many thanks!"

Zhong Shenxiu accepted the breastplate tanned from cowhide, pulled it over himself, and put on the helmet. His whole person immediately seemed to possess a sharp, capable air.

For ordinary martial artists, having equipment or not indeed greatly affected how much strength they could display.

Yet he was a penal slave, while the Dog Rong were foreigners. Both belonged to groups that needed watching, so their equipment was normally kept in the storeroom and only issued when needed.

Zhong Shenxiu truly wanted to complain about that.

The only benefit was that this was, after all, a world where cultivation was widespread, and cultivation was a highly private matter. Thus, everyone had an individual room, even if they were cramped and dilapidated...

After hanging the final Wild Goose Feather Saber at his side, his equipment was considered complete.

If one were a Squad Leader, there would also be knee guards, arm guards, and so on... Ordinary soldiers had to provide those themselves.

At the level of Company Commander, however, one received Hundred-Forged Black Armor.

Zhong Shenxiu understood well that if a warrior of immense strength also wore iron armor, his killing power would increase by several times at the very least.

Not to mention that Company Commanders possessed better inheritances than ordinary soldiers. They might even have methods for cultivating True Qi.

"Let's go!"

He gave the camp gate one final deep look, let out a cold laugh, and set foot on the road to Saizi Lake.

After the group departed, someone slowly emerged from the darkness. His face was grim as he stared in the direction Zhong Shenxiu had left. It was Tian Bufeng!

He had suffered a tremendous humiliation today. Of course, he could not possibly let Su Daozhi off so easily.

"Originally, I had not intended to kill this man..."

"Saizi Lake merely supposedly has wild beasts about. It is somewhat dangerous, but not fatal. But today, I have truly torn all pretense with him..."

The lower a person's status, the more they feared the so-called connections of the upper class.

At this moment, Tian Bufeng genuinely feared that the Su Family might still have some lingering connections. Once Su Daozhi got out of trouble, he might come seeking revenge.

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became—and the stronger his killing intent grew!

"This matter is too important. The fewer people who know, the better. Best if it rots in my stomach alone..."

Tian Bufeng gritted his teeth. "This squad is either penal slaves or foreigners. Even if they die, no one will care..."

With a tap of his foot, he followed from far behind.

Saizi Lake.

The lake was like a silver mirror embedded in the dusky yellow earth. Beside it stood a small village, one of the few civilian settlements near Black Mountain Fortress.

The moment Zhong Shenxiu's group of five arrived at the village entrance, a withered old man came trembling over to greet them. He seemed to have waited for a long time and eagerly bowed. "We have awaited the heavenly soldiers for so long!"

Judging by his black eyes and black hair, he was a pure-blooded Yan Han man.

"Old sir, no need for this. According to military regulations, we will not enter the village. Please have someone lead us to the site of the incident for patrol."

A penal slave named Xue San, who was in Zhong Shenxiu's squad, grinned as he spoke.

He was the Squad Leader of this group and usually had no airs about him. His crime was called "vagrancy." Put simply, he had no job and loafed around all day. When Yan Han began conscripting soldiers, he was casually seized and sent over to repair the Earth—no, to repair the other world.

In fact, through reading Su Daozhi's memories, Zhong Shenxiu had learned that chivalric culture flourished within the Second Yanhan Empire. Such people called themselves "wandering heroes." Though some did uphold justice and help the weak, far more were idle scoundrels who bullied merchants and tyrannized the market. The authorities repeatedly banned them, yet could never stamp them out.

So every now and then, they simply arrested a batch and exiled them, like trying to stop a boiling pot by adding firewood from beneath it.

This Xue San did possess a bit of chivalrous spirit. He did not stir up trouble for the village. Otherwise, once they entered, there would inevitably be another bout of chickens flying and dogs leaping.

The old man repeatedly agreed and called over a guide who looked like a farmer. His name was Er Qi; who knew whether he was the twenty-seventh child or had been born on the twenty-seventh day.

Er Qi looked to be around thirty, yet claimed to be only twenty. He had just married a wife and was very familiar with everyone. As he led Zhong Shenxiu and the other four toward the lakeshore, he spoke as they walked. "My ancestors were also people of the Yanhan Empire. Unfortunately, this place was later occupied by the count, who appointed a whole bunch of tax officials and the like, squeezing us dry in every possible way. Later, when the heavenly soldiers came, they finally saved us from fire and water... Though I did not see it with my own eyes, hearing my father's and grandfather's generation speak of it fills me with gratitude..."

The territory of the Second Yanhan Empire was far smaller than that of the former Yanhan Empire. This land of Hestings County had once been Yanhan Empire territory, but the Second Empire had only barely recovered it a century ago and established the Fufeng Protectorate.

Once they reached the site, without waiting for Zhong Shenxiu and the others to say anything, Huang Xie had already led his nephew Er Ha down to the ground. Their noses twitched, dog heads rooting about everywhere; they were only short of kicking out their hind legs and digging the soil.

"Woof, woof..."

Er Ha buried his head in a depression. After a long while, he poked it back out and called, "A wild beast definitely came through here, but I can't smell any similar scent. I don't know what species it was..."

This place was close to the Black Mist boundary. Birds and beasts easily mutated there, so nothing that emerged would be surprising.

Zhong Shenxiu glanced at Huang Xie beside him and smiled. "Lord Huang, your nephew certainly has quite a knack for tracking scents and distinguishing smells... What is his name?"

"Woof? Did I forget to mention it?"

Huang Xie awkwardly scratched the dog head and replied, "He's the second child in his family, so people generally call him Second Brat. He doesn't have a proper name. Lord Su, you've read more than I have. Why not give him one?"

"Excellent!" Zhong Shenxiu asked a few more questions, pondered for a long while, then said with a solemn expression, "Since he is second in birth order and happened to be born when the heavenly toad swallowed the sun, then he shall be called... Er Ha!"