Killing Like Flies—Are You Afraid?

[Killing Like Flies—Are You Afraid? You weren't lying. The County Magistrate had made you the scapegoat for balancing the books, pinning all the old unsolved murder cases on you.]

[Old Liu did not believe you at all when he heard that. He casually rummaged through your luggage and found the judgment document inside.]

[After reading it, he gave a derisive snort, got up and neatly made your bed, then moved another fellow's quilt onto your bed.]

["Boss Chen, you don't know this, but it gets cold in the south during winter too. Those bastards handling military supplies skim off the top at every level. You can barely feel any cotton in the quilts they issue us. Cover yourself with an extra one so you won't freeze."]

[The fellow whose quilt had been forcibly taken wore a miserable expression.]

["Boss Old Liu, I..."]

["What boss? I'm second-in-command now! You and Er Niu share a quilt. You can keep each other warm at night."]

[Er Niu nodded shyly. "I'm fine with it anyway..."]

[Seeing this, you felt you had better watch your back when sleeping at night. You were not afraid of a comrade stabbing you in the back—you were afraid that it would not be a knife.]

[Fourth year, twenty-one years old.]

[(Liu Zi won't write out the useless entries. Darlings, you just need to know the protagonist drew one~)]

[With the official endorsement in the County Yamen judgment document that stated you had "killed more than a hundred people," every soldier in the Logistics Battalion knew you were ruthless.]

[On top of that, you "inadvertently" revealed a trace of martial artist cultivation, making you even more intimidating.]

[Not only did they not dare provoke you, they sometimes even tried to curry favor with you.]

[You could hardly use up all the food, drink, and daily necessities you received.]

[The lives of soldiers conscripted into the army were normally quite harsh, but you felt yours was not too bad.]

[If you could lie low in the military camp, slowly practice and improve your cultivation, live longer, and draw more entries, then this simulation would count as a completed mission.]

[For the time being, you were not considering whether to earn merit or not.]

[This was an army of cold weapons. What merit could be earned without fighting for it with your life?]

[Still, this was a border army. With the constant harassment from the nations of the Southern Border, battle was unavoidable.]

[Fortunately, your Logistics Battalion did not need to go directly to the front line. You mostly did odd jobs in the camp.]

[Sometimes, while marching, you would run into enemy forces. At other times, the enemy would attack the camp.]

[Whenever that happened, Old Liu and the other seasoned hands would teach you how to cheat death.]

[Eat rotten food until you got diarrhea, then avoid battle ahead of time.]

[When fighting broke out, play dead—and to make it convincing, slash yourself a few times.]

[Wear women's clothing. Sometimes, enemy troops would keep women around to satisfy their lust.]

[You learned a great deal from Old Liu and the others, making it easier to lie low in the military camp.]

[Fifth year, twenty-two years old.]

[You had gradually adapted to life in the military camp.]

[Whenever you had free time, you silently practiced.]

[One day, as you passed the Recruit Battalion, you saw a man with a pockmarked face.]

["Eidetic Memory" allowed you to remember the faces of everyone you had seen.]

[So you recognized him.]

[You clearly remembered that about a year ago, when your marching column had been ambushed by Southern Border forces, this Pockmarked Face had been a mounted archer among the enemy troops.]

["An undercover agent?"]

[You could not be certain.]

[The camp was iron, but the soldiers flowed like water. In feudal society, it was perfectly normal for people to drift into enemy nations.]

[After all, many people joined the army just for a mouthful of food.]

[If they could not get it here, they went to the other side.]

[Not many possessed feelings of loyalty to home and country.]

[You did not expose him immediately. Instead, by repeatedly trading jobs with your brothers in the Logistics Battalion, you kept watch on Pockmarked Face.]

[It was not to earn merit. You were simply afraid he would cause trouble and get you killed.]

[When enemies attacked from outside, you could more or less prepare for them. But if an undercover agent stabbed you in the back from beside you, that would truly come out of nowhere.]

[You might go to sleep or have a meal, then suddenly be dead. Living like that would be far too nerve-racking.]

[After Pockmarked Face completed training in the Recruit Battalion, he was assigned to the Firearm Battalion.]

[You discovered that he had voluntarily applied to guard the gunpowder.]

[The commander of the Firearm Battalion approved.]

[In an instant, you understood what he intended to do.]

[It was a dark and windy night.]

[There had been no battles in recent months, and the soldiers had let down their guard considerably.]

[Inside the gunpowder depot, where open flames were strictly forbidden, Pockmarked Face held a torch and slipped in under the cover of his duties.]

["Heh heh... This explosion will be enough to throw the Dagan Army into chaos. Without gunpowder, their firearms will be useless. Then the Elephant Army of my Great Miao Kingdom will face no more resistance!"]

[Pockmarked Face twisted together a fuse by hand and tossed the torch onto it.]

[After lighting it, he hurriedly ran some distance away, crouching in the distance as he waited for the explosion.]

["Huh?"]

["Are you wondering why it still hasn't exploded?"]

[Hearing your voice rise behind him, Pockmarked Face jumped in fright!]

[He scrambled up and ran, only to discover that he had already been surrounded by a group of your Logistics Battalion soldiers.]

["Seize this spy!"]

[At your command, Old Liu and the others rushed forward. In no time at all, they tied the man up like a dumpling.]

[Your group brought the spy to the Commander's Tent.]

["Greetings, General!"]

[The commanding general of this border army was named Sun Cheng'en. Clad in black iron armor, he radiated authority without anger, and a powerful martial artist aura emanated from him, inspiring fear.]

["I never expected a few exiled Logistics Battalion soldiers like you to truly catch a spy."]

[Once you realized the spy's objective, you reported him to Sun Cheng'en.]

[The process had been rather troublesome, since a Logistics Battalion soldier like you was not permitted to meet the general.]

[Fortunately, Sun Cheng'en was sharp-minded and unconcerned with trifles. Hearing you making a commotion outside the tent, he summoned you.]

[He did not believe you on the spot. He merely had the gunpowder secretly moved elsewhere, leaving the depot where it was to see whether the spy would expose himself—and to see whether you had lied.]

[Fortunately, the spy acted. Otherwise, falsely reporting military intelligence would certainly have landed you under military punishment.]

["Although you have rendered a service, I cannot record merit for you. You are all criminals who broke the law and were exiled here. In essence, you are prisoners, and Dagan law stipulates that prisoners may not be credited with merit."]

[Old Liu immediately dropped to his knees.]

["General! Many of our brothers were wrongfully accused back home! Those local officials seize whatever they want and pass judgments at random, bullying common folk like us just because we have neither power nor influence..."]

["Enough! I am not your County Magistrate. I have no obligation to clear your grievances!"]

[As his tone rose, the air pressure in the tent seemed to drop with it. No one inside dared even breathe loudly.]

["But do not feel wronged. Your merit will not be recorded, but I can give you rewards."]

[Sun Cheng'en beckoned, and the Deputy General brought over several silver ingots, giving one to each of you.]

[Do you want this reward?]

[1. Yes! Only a bastard turns down money!]

[2. No! Serving the country with loyalty is what every citizen of Dagan should do!]

[3. No, but I want something else...]