Guard Ranks, One Rank per Step

After asking the Three Questions of Martial Dao, Li Xian had a general understanding. He thanked Pang Long, then, unable to endure his hunger any longer, began eating with gusto.

Several chunks of glistening fatty meat went down his throat.

With his stomach full, he had strength again. In no time, he cleared the entire tray. It was rare for him to eat his fill, and his mood brightened greatly.

Yet he could not help thinking:

I'm full now, but I wonder how my little brother is doing out there by himself.

Five hundred copper coins is no small sum. He should have no trouble eating meat once in a while. If there's a chance, I should go back and see him.

After leaving the dining hall, Pang Long suddenly heard the ringing of a bell. It was the Madam summoning him.

He did not dare delay and naturally had to go see her, but leaving Li Xian here alone was not an option either.

Just then, a guard approached from ahead. Pang Long called out, "Zhao Han, this kid is new. I'll leave him to you. Show him around and help him get familiar with the place."

With that, he hurried off.

"Little brother, hello. I watched the earlier match. I really didn't expect you to be the one who won."

The guard named Zhao Han wore a friendly smile and did not look down on Li Xian for his former status as a servant.

Li Xian cupped his hands and said, "Brother Zhao, from now on, we'll be working together. I hope you'll look after me."

"Hahaha, of course, of course." Zhao Han laughed heartily.

Seeing Li Xian's ragged clothes, filthy tangled hair, and dirt-streaked face, he said, "Commander Pang told me to take care of you, so naturally I'll see to everything properly. Come with me."

He found Li Xian a set of fresh clothes.

"I'll take you to the bathhouse so you can wash up and change into these."

"The guard uniform is much tougher than servant clothes. You won't need to wear those rags again."

"Once you take them off, just throw them away."

Li Xian was delighted to hear that he could wash himself.

Ever since arriving in this world, he had not bathed even once. He was filthy from head to toe, no different from a beggar.

The guards had a large bathhouse specifically for their use.

It was divided into individual stalls. After bringing Li Xian there, Zhao Han remembered that he did not have a bathing bucket. "You don't have a bucket yet, so use mine first."

There was a well beside the bathhouse, and all the water used for bathing came from it.

Well water was warm in winter and cool in summer, but that so-called "warm in winter" was only relative to the air temperature. Poured over one's body, it was freezing.

Li Xian took off his clothes, lifted the wooden bucket, and dumped its contents over himself. Cold water drenched him in an instant.

Winter had already arrived. Though snow had yet to fall, the weather was bitterly cold.

But the chill soon began to fade, replaced by a returning warmth that invigorated his spirit.

Enduring the cold, Li Xian scrubbed the grime from his body and combed out his messy long hair.

"Good heavens, are servants really worked this hard?"

"This kid... is rather enviable."

Zhao Han clicked his tongue repeatedly from the side. His gaze involuntarily drifted downward as he secretly measured with his hand.

Then he looked at himself and made an overambitious comparison, only to feel a trace of inferiority.

After pouring seven full buckets of water over himself, Li Xian's skin was red from the cold, but he was finally clean.

He then put on the guard uniform.

"What a fine young man!"

Zhao Han's eyes lit up, and he clapped in praise.

Clothes made the man, just as a saddle made the horse. In the span of half an hour, the dirty, disheveled servant had transformed into an elegant young man.

"Brother Li, you're actually quite handsome."

Zhao Han said.

"Really?" Li Xian touched his cheek. He did seem fairly good-looking.

"Now you look like a proper guard. Come, come, I'll show you around and explain how things work for us guards." Zhao Han slung an arm around Li Xian's shoulder and led him outside.

"We guards... are divided into four ranks: A, B, C, and D. You've only just taken up the post, so you're D-rank."

"I'm C-rank. The higher your rank, the better your monthly pay and benefits."

"For example, a D-rank guard earns one hundred and fifty copper coins a month. That's actually not bad."

Li Xian asked, "Then how does one raise one's guard rank?"

"Smart. That's getting right to the point." Zhao Han clapped his hands. "Our estate holds guard competitions every so often. Rankings are reassigned based on the results."

"So, competition among us guards is actually fierce. Training in martial arts is quite grueling."

"Also, raising your guard rank does more than increase your monthly pay. Your authority within the estate increases as well."

"You've been to the dining hall, right? It has four grades of meals: A, B, C, and D. The higher a guard's rank, the better the food he gets to enjoy."

"There are countless benefits like that. I won't go into all of them. You'll experience them for yourself over time."

As they spoke.

The two arrived before a row of houses.

"This is where we live." Zhao Han stopped.

Looking out, Li Xian saw neat rows of houses stretching in every direction. Their walls were red brick, their roofs blue tile, all built to the same design.

Each house could accommodate four people.

"This looks more like a place fit for people to live in." Li Xian could not help sighing. Though it's still only where servants live.

The houses were only about ten feet tall, with four beds inside. They were cramped and narrow.

Each residence had a number marked on its plaque.

"Brother Li, you can live with me. We happen to have an empty bed in our quarters." Zhao Han said with a smile.

"Good! I couldn't ask for more." Li Xian laughed readily.

"Haha, I'll introduce you to everyone right away."

When they reached residence 113, Zhao Han pushed open the door.

"Boss, you're back?"

"Oh? Who's this? He's awfully handsome."

"Yeah, he looks unfamiliar. I've never seen him before."

Two men immediately gathered around them, one thin and one fat. Their names were Wang Chun and Zhuo Yilie.

Zhao Han introduced them to one another. Once they had learned each other's names, he asked, "Brother Li, how old are you this year?"

Li Xian said, "I just turned fifteen."

"Fifteen... You're the youngest, so we'll call you Fourth." Zhao Han said, "Wang Chun is twenty-one, so he's Second. Zhuo Yilie is nineteen, so he's Third."

Zhao Han patted everyone on the shoulders and said:

"Fourth, from now on, we're all grasshoppers tied to the same rope. We need to help each other.

If there's anything you don't understand in the future, just come ask us."

Night fell.

After Zhao Han showed him around during the day, Li Xian had gained a general understanding of the guards' basic rules.

He lay on his bed. There were no longer servants shoving and crowding around him.

Though the faint smell of sweaty feet was still unavoidable—Second, Wang Chun, had especially foul feet—it was still far, far better than before.

In a single day, everything has changed.

But even so, I'm still only a guard.

Li Xian's feelings were complicated. He could not say whether he was happy or something else.

On one hand, he had personally experienced how people were divided into ranks, with differences between the noble and the lowly, the honored and the humble.

On the other, he was grateful that his life had improved.

Zhao Han turned over. Seeing Li Xian staring blankly at the ceiling, he said, "Fourth, hurry up and sleep. We have morning training tomorrow."

"Mm."

Li Xian closed his eyes and went to sleep.

The next day.

Dawn was just breaking when a rooster crowed.

"Get up, get up."

Zhao Han rolled out of bed and got dressed, not forgetting to slap Wang Chun across the face and kick Zhuo Yilie in the back.

The two slept like dead pigs, completely unmoving. Zhao Han sighed, then suddenly thought:

"Right, Fourth was awake for a long time last night. I should wake him too."

But when he turned his head, he saw that Li Xian had risen even earlier. He was already dressed and sitting quietly on the bed.

"Fourth, not bad. You got up pretty early." Zhao Han said in surprise.

"When I was a servant, I had to get up even earlier. I'm used to it." Li Xian shrugged and stretched his muscles.