Scarface had long known that the auxiliary soldiers had such a custom. That was why he had joined the line of old soldiers—to teach Jiang Che, that fool who did not know the height of heaven or the depth of earth, a proper lesson.
Two jars of Shao Daozi were nearly a month's pay for him.
And that was the price he had to pay for a mere auxiliary soldier. How could he possibly swallow it?
The moment Jiang Che saw Scarface, he understood that he had to give this everything he had. There was bad blood between them already, and Scarface certainly would not hold back. One careless mistake could leave him severely injured.
There was no referee, nor were there any commands.
The old soldiers charged forward fiercely, each seeking out a target. Unsurprisingly, Scarface's target was Jiang Che, and a cruel smile curled across his lips.
Then he sprang forward, his clenched fist smashing toward Jiang Che's face.
Killing Jiang Che in front of all the commanders in camp was impossible, but crippling him was no problem. Scarface believed that if his strike landed accurately enough, Jiang Che would never make it to the borderlands.
His fist wind swept forth. Jiang Che gritted his teeth and quickly turned his head aside. Scarface's first punch missed, but the next followed immediately, every move sealing off Jiang Che's retreat and leaving Scarface with the overwhelming advantage.
If nothing unexpected happened, Jiang Che would be crippled today.
But Jiang Che, who had successfully completed the sacrifice, was no longer as frail as when he had first entered camp. He could forcibly pin down a warhorse on the verge of going berserk; his strength was greater than Scarface's.
He knew no techniques, and his stance was unsteady, but sometimes, when strength reached a certain degree, it was enough to make up for such flaws.
Staggering back several steps, Jiang Che suddenly gritted his teeth and lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Scarface's waist. Scarface was startled and flung himself hard, trying to shake him off, but failed.
With a cold snort in his heart, Scarface raised his elbow and smashed it down viciously.
"Bang!"
The powerful blow landed squarely on Jiang Che, making his legs loosen involuntarily. But then he braced himself by sheer force, raised his knee, and drove it viciously toward Scarface's groin.
"Agh!"
Though Scarface had hurriedly avoided the most vital spot, Jiang Che's knee still slammed into his inner thigh, another vulnerable part of the human body.
It made him howl despite himself.
With one strike landing true, Jiang Che ignored everything else. Like pulling a scallion from dry earth, he lifted Scarface by the waist and hurled him down hard. Straddling him, teeth clenched, Jiang Che kept raining down punches.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Scarface crossed his arms over his face and curled up. Though he avoided some of the blows, with his body pinned down, he still took several of Jiang Che's punches head-on.
Most importantly, Jiang Che showed no intention of stopping.
Yesterday, when Scarface had come to his door, Jiang Che could only endure due to the gap in strength and status, stripping off his cotton-padded clothes in the bitter winter. But now that he had a chance for revenge, he naturally intended to pay it all back.
Scarface wanted to cripple him, so he would cripple Scarface first.
Chest, shoulders, cheeks—wherever there was an opening, Jiang Che's fists smashed into it, venting his fury.
"Stop hitting me! I surrender, I surrender!"
Scarface kept shouting. His voice was somewhat distorted, because his face had already been beaten swollen, and several of his ribs had broken. Even drawing breath caused him pain.
Their fight also drew the attention of more than half the training ground.
There was no other reason: every auxiliary soldier from Jiang Che's batch had been knocked to the ground, as had all the auxiliary soldiers from the earlier batches. Only Jiang Che was still pinning down an old soldier and hammering him relentlessly.
Even as Scarface begged for mercy, Jiang Che showed no intention of stopping.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Stop!"
Several nearby old soldiers knew Scarface. Naturally, they could not stand by and watch him get beaten to death by an auxiliary soldier. Shouting, they rushed forward, preparing to pull Jiang Che away.
But Jiang Che had no intention of stopping. He continued pinning Scarface down and beating him while dodging the other old soldiers.
As the uproar grew louder, their fight caught the attention of the commanders standing at the edge of the training ground. The leader stroked his long beard and looked at Liu Zhi with interest.
"I didn't expect the Auxiliary Barracks to have such a promising seedling. What is his name?"
"Reporting to you, sir, his name is Jiang Che. He is from Yanggu County and was originally a fisherman." Deputy Commander Liu hurriedly replied.
There were several hundred men in the Auxiliary Barracks, and it was difficult to remember any one of them. But yesterday's conflict had left a deep impression on him. After returning to camp, he had someone retrieve some information on Jiang Che.
Still, he had only paid a little attention, lest something else go wrong before the Auxiliary Barracks set out. He had not expected Jiang Che to make a name for himself today by knocking down Wu Da Bala.
"Do the two of them have a grudge?"
Captain Zhu continued watching the scene as he asked.
"Yesterday..." Deputy Commander Liu promptly gave a brief account of what had happened the day before.
"Oh, so that was it. Have them stop."
Captain Zhu nodded and gave the order.
"Yes."
Deputy Commander Liu cupped his fists in acknowledgment and quickly ran to the center of the training ground, sternly ordering them to stop.
Seeing Deputy Commander Liu speak, Jiang Che could not continue fighting. He quickly stepped back, while the other old soldiers immediately helped Scarface up from the ground. At this moment, however, Scarface's breath was weak, his face bruised and swollen.
He raised his head and glanced at Jiang Che. Seeing Jiang Che still staring at him with deadly eyes, he recalled the ruthless way Jiang Che had attacked earlier. For some reason, a trace of fear suddenly rose in his heart. Instinctively, he did not dare meet Jiang Che's gaze and hurriedly lowered his head.
"I didn't expect you to have quite a few tricks up your sleeve, kid."
Deputy Commander Liu looked Jiang Che up and down and praised him, a stark contrast to his indifference yesterday.
"You flatter me, Commander. I do not deserve it."
Jiang Che hurriedly cupped his fists.
"Enough, enough. Go back for now."
"Yes."
After returning to the ranks, Jiang Che kept his expression calm, but the auxiliary soldiers around him wore looks of awe and kept their distance from him. He even heard people quietly discussing his name.
The sparring continued, and several others also showed their mettle, holding their own against the old soldiers. But none could match Jiang Che's ferocious record. Not only had he won, he had also beaten an old soldier into serious injury.
After the sparring ended, several auxiliary soldiers who slept in the same tent as Jiang Che gathered around to flatter him, clearly treating him as their leader. The most obvious sign came when they lined up for food: those ahead of him voluntarily stepped aside to let him pass.
When the cook saw him, his hand no longer shook, and he even helped Jiang Che pick out the fattiest slice of meat.
His status was utterly different from before.
It also made Jiang Che understand a truth more deeply.
A fist was power.
"Jiang Che, Deputy Commander Liu summons you to his tent for a drink."
As he was eating, a soldier jogged over to Jiang Che and cupped his fists.
Swallowing the last bite of fatty meat, Jiang Che set his bowl on the ground and nodded.
"Alright."
Everyone around him, whether auxiliary soldiers or regular soldiers, looked on with envy. At the same time, the auxiliary soldiers' gazes toward him grew ever more reverent.