Are You Worthy of Being Village Chief?

Zhuge Ming did not think much of it. He got up and opened the door, only to find that neither his mother nor sister was home.

It seemed that even though the village had been liberated, habit had driven them back to the fields to work.

Zhuge Ming did not stop them.

After all, they had no soul power and could not cultivate. They had to find something to do; only then would life hold hope.

Before long, he noticed an upside-down porcelain bowl on the table.

He lifted it and found porridge and corn buns already served inside. His mother and sister had clearly prepared them for him.

After washing up, Zhuge Ming ate breakfast while considering his next move.

Yesterday, he had asked Gasen for information.

Each of the three villages east of Nanyang Village had two to three hundred residents.

The military camps surrounding those villages also housed more than forty soldiers each.

Two of those camps even had squad leaders at the Grand Soul Master level.

All three villages were larger than Nanyang Village.

But to Guan Yu or Zhao Yun, they were nothing more than a piece of cake.

With a thought from Zhuge Ming, Zhao Yun immediately appeared before him.

"Zilong, I'll leave the task of taking the three villages to the east to you.

"Continue using yesterday's method: first control the people in the military camps, then control the villagers.

"Take three hundred soul power soldiers with you. Station one hundred in each village to ensure control over them."

Zhao Yun accepted the order and left.

After Zhuge Ming finished breakfast and washed the bowls and chopsticks, he went out to patrol his territory.

As he wandered through the village, he soon saw village chief Zhuge Zhong leading a group of people piling firewood around Zhuge Yan's wooden house.

They were clearly planning to burn it down.

Zhuge Ming felt it would be a waste to burn such a fine house, so he stepped forward to stop them.

"Grandpa Village Chief, this house was built from excellent timber. It would be a shame to burn it down.

"Why not dismantle it and divide the materials among the households? They could use them to patch up the broken and leaky parts of their homes."

As soon as he said this, the eyes of many nearby villagers lit up.

However, Zhuge Zhong merely gave Zhuge Ming a sidelong glance and said with a smile, "Little Ming, I saw your mother and sister heading to the fields early this morning.

"Since you didn't awaken a useful martial soul, why not go help them with some farm work and ease their burden?

"Don't stand here telling us adults what to do, all right?"

Zhuge Ming nodded imperceptibly. "I understand, Grandpa Village Chief."

With that, he turned away as if nothing had happened, but the smile on his face immediately vanished.

Not long after he left,

Guan Yu appeared before the village chief and his group.

When Zhuge Zhong saw the burly red-faced man, the adult expression he had used to lecture a child instantly turned fawning.

Although this warrior surnamed Guan had never openly displayed his strength before them,

he regularly chatted and laughed with General Zhao Yun, and he came and went like the wind.

Zhuge Zhong knew full well that this man was likely a high-ranking soul master, just like General Zhao Yun.

With a broad smile, Zhuge Zhong asked, "My lord, what brings you here?"

Guan Yu swept his gaze over the exquisite wooden house before him, then looked at the thatched huts where the other villagers lived.

Without saying much, he raised his right hand and aimed his palm at the wooden house.

An invisible force suddenly yanked backward!

In an instant, the spacious wooden house broke apart into countless planks that floated in midair!

The earthen bed where Zhao Yun had slapped Zhuge Yan to death was also exposed before everyone.

Although Zhuge Yan's corpse had already been dealt with,

traces of blood and filth still remained in the cracks of the bed.

Guan Yu placed all the dismantled wood in an empty area to the side, then said coldly to Zhuge Zhong, "These are all useful materials. What a waste it would be to burn them.

"As the chief of a village, you do not know how to be frugal. You do not help the other villagers live better lives. Are you worthy of being village chief?

"From today onward, you are no longer the village chief!

"Gasen will serve as acting village chief!

"We will replace him once a more suitable candidate is found!"

Guan Yu's words instantly froze Zhuge Zhong in place.

He had never imagined that after serving as village chief for so many years, he would be stripped of the position with a single sentence!

He suddenly recalled Zhuge Ming's earlier suggestion.

If he had listened to him, he would not have been punished by this lord now!

Though he was filled with regret and resentment, Zhuge Zhong did not dare show the slightest intention of resisting. He could only bow to Guan Yu and reply, "My lord is right. This lowly one did not think things through.

"This lowly one only felt that a house where someone had died was inauspicious, which was why I did not dismantle it and distribute it among the villagers.

"In the future, this lowly one will not make decisions on my own. I will certainly obey your decisions, my lord!"

Guan Yu looked at the old man and thought, As expected of someone who has been village chief for many years.

He had used the opportunity of admitting fault to defend himself as well.

Unfortunately, of all people, he should never have provoked his lord!

The true master of this village was the six-year-old boy standing behind him!

Guan Yu ignored Zhuge Zhong and walked straight toward the earthen bed where Zhuge Yan had been slapped to death.

With a sweep of his sleeve, the entire earthen bed instantly turned to dust and drifted into the sky.

The scraps of flesh and filthy blood vanished into the air along with it...

Zhuge Ming sensed how Guan Yu had dealt with Zhuge Zhong, and a smile returned to his face.

Still, he obediently shouldered the hoe from home and headed toward his family's fields.

His mother and sister worked so hard. When he had nothing else to do, he truly should help ease their burden.

As his soul power had risen to Level 6, his strength was already comparable to that of children in their teens.

When he appeared in the fields, Zhou Xuan and Zhuge Tong were both astonished.

Zhuge Ming could clearly see the gratification on their faces, as though they were saying,

"Our Little Ming has really grown up..."

Zhuge Ming gave them a brilliant smile and began helping them hoe the fields.

However, before long, a warm current suddenly surged through his body!

His soul power level immediately rose to Level 7!

A moment later, his level rose consecutively to Level 8 and Level 9!

Those three consecutive increases must have meant that Zhao Yun had successfully taken the other three villages.

But merely taking Nanyang Village and the military camp here had raised him to Level 6.

Now, after taking three villages in a row, his soul power had only increased by three levels?

It seemed that as his level increased, taking villages that posed no challenge would grant slower and slower level increases.

He had to take a city, or a territory as large as one, to gain a significant boost!

However, now that his soul power had reached Level 9,

the number, level, and revival count of his soul power soldiers had all increased.

The only thing that had not increased was the amount of time Guan Yu and Zhao Yun could fight each day... it was still only one hour!

It seemed that one hour of combat time was currently the limit for these Three Kingdoms figures.

Only by summoning new Three Kingdoms figures, or by reaching the Soul Master realm himself, could he possibly make up for that lack of time!