Helping a Fellow Villager

In the morning, everyone got up to wash.

Wang Qi calmly washed his face and rinsed his mouth under everyone's strange gazes.

In truth, he did not feel tired at all. It seemed that after first yang arises, he could dispel fatigue simply by circulating his internal energy.

What was more, even after an entire night, there was no stale odor in his mouth. It still felt perfectly fresh... As time passed, he was discovering more and more changes in himself.

This was a comprehensive improvement, from the inside out, from his body to his mind, and it often brought him pleasant surprises.

So he was in a splendid mood and hardly cared that everyone was treating him like an idiot.

Besides, what was wrong with having a slightly swollen face?

By the time breakfast was over, much of the swelling had already subsided... As his physical constitution improved, his ability to recover had also risen another notch.

And when everyone packed their belongings that morning and prepared to set out, only faint traces of redness and swelling remained... Those marks hardly stood out among the others, since those sleeping in the tents had been pestered by mosquitoes too.

The group formed a simple column, then marched together toward the mountains to the west.

A stretch of densely forested mountains lay where Langya Commandery bordered Donghai Commandery and Mount Tai Commandery farther west.

This was presumably where the Divine Archer Battalion would train and take shape.

Since it was close to the prosperous regions of the Xuzhou plains, training troops here meant there was no need to worry about supplies, and the soldiers could enjoy relatively good living conditions.

During the march, Wang Qi noticed that the force numbered roughly a thousand men in all, apparently comprising one division of spearmen, one division of saber-and-shield soldiers, and one company of archers.

Among these men, Wang Qi finally found a familiar face... It was "Ergouzi," who had come from the same village as him.

This was quite surprising. He had thought the more honest and simplehearted Wang Dagou would be accepted, but instead, it was Wang Ergou, who loved picking fights and throwing his weight around.

On second thought, though, the Divine Archer Battalion was meant to become an elite force. Restless fellows like this might actually be more desirable.

The remaining nine men from Wang Family Village must all have been screened out... After all, apart from the simplehearted Dagou and the restless Ergou, the others were considered too young.

Perhaps if they grew a few more years and came back after turning twenty, once their bodies and strength had fully developed, they would have a better chance of passing... But now, they would probably have no choice but to take part in the northern expedition...

Who knew how many of these youths would return when their two years of military service ended... Wang Qi sighed inwardly for a moment, then gave it no further thought. Once he had left that mountain village, he had never intended to return.

Even setting aside everything this body bore... He had been given a rare chance to walk through this world, and faced with a world so colorful and full of mysteries, he had no desire to grow old alone in that mountain village.

This was a full day's march under load. Everyone jogged along carrying their equipment and belongings, while the officers supervised from the sidelines.

It amounted to their first endurance march. Through this march under load, the physical condition of the new recruits would soon become clear at a glance.

Wang Qi felt certain that some men would still be cut. Not everyone present would necessarily be accepted in the end.

But none of that concerned him. He simply adjusted his rhythm and maintained a marching pace that was neither fast nor slow.

Among these recruits, there were clearly men of exceptional strength, with abundant stamina to match.

That allowed them to remain at the head of the column throughout this long-distance endurance march.

Wang Qi had no intention of drawing attention to himself, so he stayed unhurriedly in the second group... Then he moved beside his fellow villager, Wang Ergou.

They had come from the same village, after all, and the old village chief had asked him to look after his fellow villagers.

He noticed that Wang Ergou was carrying a long spear and was presumably a spearman, yet he also had things on his back that should not have belonged to him...

So he asked, "What's with all these packs?"

Wang Ergou turned and saw Wang Qi. His expression soured slightly, and he turned away again, saying, "None of your business."

The fellow was still throwing the same tantrums he had as a child.

Wang Qi and Ergouzi did have some bad blood between them... But how serious could a quarrel between children be? It was nothing more than a king of the children, accustomed to swaggering about with his followers, running into someone tough and getting pinned to the ground and thoroughly thrashed... At any rate, Wang Qi did not think something like that was worth holding a grudge over.

So, very "generously," he snatched one of the two extra packs off Ergouzi and put it on his own back, then said, "I'll take one off your hands."

"I don't need your help!" Wang Ergou looked rather angry.

But Wang Qi looked at him earnestly and said, "Don't be like that. We came from the same village, after all. What's wrong with helping each other while we're away from home?"

Ergouzi was visibly taken aback. His immature mind clearly could not withstand Wang Qi's "sincere expression."

At the same time, though, in just one night, Wang Ergou had already learned what it meant to be worth less once you left your native soil... At a moment like this, Wang Qi's help in sharing his burden truly struck him deep in the heart.

But a youth had his pride. There was no way he could immediately bow his head to Wang Qi, so he could only lower his head and press on with a show of indifference... Still, with some of his burden lifted, his steps had clearly grown lighter.

Wang Qi took this opportunity to observe the men in the leading group...

One glance at those men told him where the packs on Wang Ergou's back had come from... Almost everyone at the very front was advancing empty-handed, carrying no load at all!

He had not expected to see men forming cliques and bullying others on his very first day in the army... Still, Wang Qi did not take it to heart. This was naturally nothing he needed to concern himself with.

He merely noticed Wang Ergou's angry, hateful gaze and offered some reassurance. "Don't worry. Since everyone can tell this is a test, you should also trust that the officers are the last people who would want to see this sort of cheating."

Wang Ergou did indeed feel a little better after hearing that, but he remained indignant... After all, had he not been carrying those extra packs, his physique would absolutely have allowed him to stay in the leading group at the very front.

Then he might have earned a commendation, and perhaps even been picked out to become a five-man squad leader.

Wang Qi had said what needed saying and helped where he could. Now he stopped pondering what Wang Ergou ought to do and began considering something that was a matter of life and death to him...

Drinking water!

The water in his waterskin had all been boiled at the inn the previous day, then left to cool before he filled it.

Now, more than a day had passed, and less than half a waterskin remained... With another full day's marching ahead of him, he would soon face a water crisis!

This was another problem unique to him, because he never drank water that had not been boiled...

To be fair, other people would certainly have considered Wang Qi an exceptionally fussy fellow. They were all villagers from the hills and countryside; who else was as particular as he was?

Especially when it came to drinking water-even princes and nobles probably were not fussy to this degree.