Leaving

Chen Mo carried the gifts into the house and pushed open the door. He Ma Guan was inside, contentedly smoking his pipe. Seeing Chen Mo enter, he instinctively rose to greet him.

If this had been before, he certainly would not have done so. But Chen Mo was now General Sun's personal guard, and his status was far higher than He Ma Guan's.

Although Chen Mo still treated him with considerable respect, He Ma Guan dared not take him lightly.

"Master He, please sit. I'm not an outsider," Chen Mo said. Seeing him rise, he hurriedly urged him to sit back down.

"I relied heavily on your care during my time in our camp. I know you like sweets, so I bought you some sugar pastries."

He placed the gifts he had brought on the table one by one, then finally untied the paper bundle containing a pound of tobacco.

"I also bought you a pound of fine tobacco. I don't know how to judge its quality, so give it a try and see how it tastes."

He Ma Guan nodded, knocked the ashes from his pipe, and packed another bowl for himself.

"The taste's pretty good." His expression was pleased, though a trace of regret lingered in his heart.

No matter how he looked at Chen Mo, he found him excellent. There was only one thing he regretted: Chen Mo could not become his disciple.

"Once I leave this time, I reckon it'll be difficult to come back and visit you. Actually, Ding Bao is quite good; he's just too blunt and never thinks things through before acting.

"As for the matter of him secretly selling horse manure behind your back, don't blame him too much. With his brains, he truly wouldn't have thought of such a thing." Chen Mo tried to persuade him.

He could actually tell that ever since He Ma Guan had learned Ding Bao had secretly sold horse manure with Ma Cai, he had been harboring a fair bit of anger toward Ding Bao.

That was understandable. Ma Cai keeping it from him was one thing; Ma Cai had not been there for long, after all. But Ding Bao had followed him for more than two years and still kept it from him. That was what had truly made him angry.

Now that Chen Mo and Ma Cai were leaving, Ding Bao would still have to stay behind to feed the horses. Considering that Ding Bao had helped him before, Chen Mo intended to persuade He Ma Guan not to keep dwelling on the matter.

He Ma Guan took a long drag on his pipe without saying much.

He knew that Chen Mo was telling the truth. Ding Bao was simple and straightforward; on his own, he could never have thought of selling horse manure.

"You should keep a closer eye on him from now on. Left to himself, he might cause trouble," Chen Mo advised.

"I know what you mean. I'll keep a closer eye on him in the future." After pondering for a long while, He Ma Guan slowly spoke.

Originally, he had intended for Chen Mo to take over from him. But now, that was no longer possible.

He had already seen the two newly arrived soldiers and knew exactly what kind of men they were.

They were fine for hard labor and odd jobs, but expecting them to learn horse care and support him in his old age was simply impossible.

Ding Bao had made mistakes before, but he had followed He Ma Guan for nearly three years, and had secretly learned at least some of his skills.

Besides, he was a decent person. A blunt temperament was still better than a bad one.

"Ding Bao! Get your ass in here!" He Ma Guan exhaled a puff of smoke, rose, stood by the window, and shouted toward the outside.

Ding Bao hurried in, shrinking his head like a startled quail.

"Today, for Chen Mo's sake in pleading for you, I won't pursue the matter of you secretly selling horse manure with Ma Cai behind my back." He Ma Guan spoke with a stern old face.

Ding Bao's face filled with confusion and puzzlement. Hadn't this matter been over for a long time? Why was his master lecturing him about it again today?

"Kneel and kowtow. I'm taking you as my disciple today!" He Ma Guan added.

Although Ding Bao did not know why he was suddenly being scolded, he hurriedly dropped to his knees at those words.

If he could truly take He Ma Guan as his master, he would be able to learn his horse-keeping skills and become a horse officer in the military camp someday.

Being a horse officer was a coveted job, with a rather generous monthly income.

The fact that He Ma Guan received a bowl of sugar water every day alone was proof enough.

"Today, you'll serve as witness. I've taken this man as my disciple." He Ma Guan looked toward Chen Mo.

The reason he had suddenly decided to accept Ding Bao as his disciple was precisely this.

Chen Mo was excellent in how he conducted himself and repaid kindness. By asking him to serve as witness to the apprenticeship, if his new disciple ever became rebellious or unfilial, He Ma Guan could ask Chen Mo to help cleanse the house.

"Good." Chen Mo nodded in agreement without refusing.

The apprenticeship ceremony was not complicated. In front of Chen Mo, Ding Bao kowtowed to He Ma Guan and offered him tea. Once He Ma Guan drank the tea, Ding Bao was officially accepted as his disciple.

"Go tidy up your horsebrushes. Tomorrow, I'll teach you how to brush horses." He Ma Guan spoke. Since he had accepted this disciple, he naturally had to begin passing on some genuine knowledge.

As for how he would teach him and how much he would teach him, that would depend on Ding Bao's performance from then on.

"Yeah!" Ding Bao's voice could barely contain his excitement. He practically wanted to jump three feet into the air.

"Get lost." He Ma Guan waved him away, somewhat exasperated at his disciple's lack of promise.

"I'll go back and pack some things too," Chen Mo said.

After speaking, he left the barracks and saw Ding Bao standing outside.

"Mo-ge, thank you so much this time. It's just that I don't have anything I can do for you." Ding Bao thanked him earnestly. He was not very clever, but he was not stupid either.

He knew that He Ma Guan's willingness to accept him as a disciple certainly had something to do with Chen Mo.

He truly wanted to thank Chen Mo, but he had no way to do so. He really had nothing he could take out as thanks.

"If you want to thank me, buy a pound of pork head meat and treat me to a meal later. Also, don't forget to prepare an additional apprenticeship gift for your master." Chen Mo smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Good, I'll go do that later." Ding Bao agreed, intending to follow Chen Mo's instructions.

After giving him those instructions, Chen Mo returned to his own barracks and began packing up.

He did not have many belongings. The bed and bedding did not belong to him, so all he needed to take were a few changes of clothes and some odds and ends.

By evening, Ma Cai finally hurried back into the military camp.

Taking advantage of a break while he was out selling manure, Ding Bao brought Chen Mo two pounds of pork head meat and an apprenticeship gift for He Ma Guan.

After accepting the gift, He Ma Guan found his newly accepted disciple much more pleasing to the eye.

The gift's size or value did not matter. What he wanted was Ding Bao's sincerity.

After spending the night resting in the military camp, Chen Mo woke early the next morning, washed up, walked out of the barracks, and began loosening his limbs.

The sky was only faintly bright. It was just the Mao hour, which by the timekeeping of the world he had crossed over from was roughly five o'clock.

But at this hour, there was no entertainment at night, so most people went to bed extremely early and woke extremely early as well.

Several soldiers who had passed the selection were already waiting on the drill ground. After another two or three quarters of an hour, the remaining soldiers also arrived one after another.

Since they had been willing to enter the selection, they all more or less wanted to escape their current circumstances. At the very least, they possessed some ambition, and so they all regarded this matter as extremely important.

"There's no point in standing around. Find somewhere to rest while we wait." Chen Mo called out, then found a reasonably clean spot and sat down.

After waiting for roughly half an hour, as it neared the Chen hour, they could see dust billowing in the distance beneath the pounding hooves of galloping horses.

Mo Hu was the first to ride over. The two personal guards who had come with him originally followed behind, leading the other soldiers at a slower pace.

"Fifth Brother." Seeing him arrive, Chen Mo stepped forward to greet him.

"You come with me later. The others will follow the group behind." Mo Hu dismounted and gave his instructions.