Chapter 9: Crossing the Heavenly Ladder

  Going over a sky ladder is not just about having great strength, but also requires extraordinary balance.

  Although the two hundred water bandits were fierce and ruthless, none of them had ever played a game with such high difficulty. With forty kilograms of sandbags on their backs, not one person could walk smoothly up the heavenly ladder, not even Jiang Qin.

  Jiang Qin stepped onto the balance beam and walked less than ten meters before his foot slipped, causing him to fall heavily from a height of six meters.

  The dizziness was secondary, what was hardest to bear was the overwhelming sense of defeat.

  Jiang Qin Hong gritted his teeth and climbed up the inclined ladder again with a sandbag on his back.

  Half an hour later, two hundred pirates reassembled and waited for orders.

  However, at this moment, the originally fierce two hundred pirates all hung their heads in despair, apparently having been struck down.

  Jiang Qin's face turned iron-green, and he fell off the horizontal bar five times. This made him really hard to accept, especially when Zhou Wu and twenty other followers carried sandbags on the horizontal bar as if they were walking on flat ground, which gave him a deep sense of defeat.

  Zhou Jian glanced at the water bandits and ordered Zhou Wu and the others, "Explain the key points to them."

  "Yes."

  Twenty attendants responded in unison and immediately went forward to instruct the bandits on the key points of walking on a single-log bridge.

  Two hours later, after no less than fifty attempts, Jiang Qin finally became the first person to walk across the horizontal wooden beam with a heavy load.

  Three days later, all the otters successfully walked across the plank with weights on their backs.

  The subjects in the training camp were countless, and after ten days, the two hundred pirates' bodies had shrunk severely, losing a whole circle of flesh, but their spirits had become even more refined, losing some of their wildness and ferocity, with an even more condensed and hidden killing intent.

  Four more days until dawn.

  Two hundred water bandits got up as usual to carry out weight-bearing exercises, only now the distance had been increased to thirty miles.

  At dawn, the heavy training ended.

  Two hundred water bandits are lined up in a large camp, awaiting orders. In the face of iron discipline, this group of fierce bandits is rapidly undergoing transformation.

  In the neat and tidy formation, no one's eyes were darting about, nor was anyone whispering to each other.

  Zhou Jiansu stood upright in front of the formation, his gaze sweeping across the square array like a knife edge. In a deep voice, he said: "From today on, we will start training for united combat. Additionally, every five days, we will conduct a 200-li running exercise, and the last three days will be devoted to actual combat training."

  "Yes."

  Twenty attendants responded loudly.

  Soon, two hundred water bandits, under the leadership of twenty followers, were divided into ten groups and killed each other in pairs.

  The weapon was a wooden stick, but these water bandits were all very strong and being hit by them would be extremely painful.

  "Hurry up and block the enemy on the left."

  "Scoundrel, why didn't you block the attack for your companion?"

  Zhou Wu stood in the ranks, loudly rebuking the pirates who were fighting individually.

  Team combat is different from individual duel, the most taboo is to show off one's bravery. No matter how brave an individual is, in a large-scale battle, the role that can be played is also very limited. Only by closely coordinating with teammates can the greatest lethality be exerted.

  Although two hundred bandits were fierce and brave, they all fought individually and didn't know how to cooperate.

  Soon, Zhou Wu's team was defeated by their opponents and fled in disarray.

  Individual bravery, but in team battles, it will never play a decisive role. Unless personal strength is much higher than everyone else on the opposing team, one can rely on individual bravery to determine the outcome of the battle.

  But it's clear that the other team also has a follower, and even if their military strength is not as good as Zhou Wu's, it won't be much different.

  Although Zhou Wu was the strongest in martial arts among the 20 followers, he was still far from reaching Zhou Jian's level. In a situation where both sides had an equal number of people, he could not play a decisive role in determining the outcome of the battle.

  The two thieves under his command didn't know how to cooperate, so Zhou Wu lost gloriously.

  "Trash is all just a bunch of trash."

  Zhou Wuqi's face turned iron-green as he burst into a loud scolding.

  The team's defeat at the hands of their younger brothers was really embarrassing for him.

  Soon, ten teams lost and ten teams won.

  The defeated team one by one hung their heads in shame, as if they had lost a loved one.

  The team that won was over the moon, excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

  "Fall in."

  Zhou Jian's eyes gleamed with a fierce light as he shouted in a low voice.

  Twenty attendants immediately gathered the water thieves under their command and quickly lined up at attention.

  Zhou Jiansen's gaze swept coldly over the two hundred pirates, his voice loud and clear: "You must understand that individual bravery is useless in a large-scale battle. Only by working closely with your teammates, combining all of your strengths to form a powerful team fighting force, can you defeat the enemy. Unless, of course, your martial prowess surpasses mine."

  "But even if it were me, although with my martial prowess I might be able to kill the two hundred of you like falling flowers and flowing water, if two thousand came, even I would have to hurry up and run as far as I could."

  "So, in the end, it's always the team that wins or loses, never the individual."

  "For now, you are only in training and may not fully understand the cruelty of war. But when you have the opportunity to go onto the battlefield in the future, if you do not work together with your comrades around you and instead recklessly show off individual bravery, there will be only one outcome: death."

  Jiang Qin was amazed and secretly admired him, gaining a new understanding of military training.

  In this era, the concept of teamwork did not exist at all, and people were limited by the ideology of the times. Even if they knew the importance of mutual cooperation, no one would remind them, so they wouldn't think of it either.

  Some things can only be understood after being reminded by others.

  No one mentions it, even after a hundred years, I still can't figure it out.

  What is meant by "muddle-headed" refers to this principle.

  Jiang Qin thought carefully and felt a bit puzzled in her heart.

  Although the world is not very peaceful now, there is no war, where does the opportunity come from to go to the battlefield?

  "A team is like a hand, each member is a finger, only when the fingers are tightly clasped together can they exert the greatest strength, otherwise they will be broken one by one."

  "Remember, when you're training alone, you're competitors; but in team battles, the comrade beside you is the one you trust most. You must take the initiative to block the attacks for your comrades, only when everyone abandons their prejudices and actively blocks the enemy's attacks for each other, coordinating with teammates to fight, can we achieve ultimate victory."

  "If you go to the battlefield, you don't block the enemy's attack for your comrades. When you're in danger, your comrades won't save you either. Generally, scattered sand, everyone will only die faster."

  "As long as you are willing to block the enemy's attack for your teammates, they will also block the enemy's attack for you when you are in danger. Therefore, only when everyone works together can we live better."

  "Continue training," Zhou Jian shouted loudly. "From now on, we will train for two hours every day on team combat."

  Twenty attendants responded loudly and immediately each brought two water thieves to continue fighting.

  Wan County, the rear courtyard of the county government office.

  Zhou Liang hastily rushed into the study and respectfully said: "Sir."

  Zhou Shang put down the bamboo slips in his hand and looked up to ask: "Has Jian'er come back?"

  "Replying to Old Master, Young Master has not returned yet."

  "Whatever happened this time? It's been so long, it's killing me!"

  "Master also knows, young master often goes out to the wilderness for training, and it's not uncommon for him to be gone for a month at a time. In the past two years, he would go out for three months without returning each year. With young master's bravery, nothing will happen to him."

  Zhou Shangdao said: "I'm not worried about Jian'er, it's just that Second Brother returned with a message... never mind, I won't say anything."

  Zhou Liang didn't dare make a sound.

  "What about that matter? Has there been some progress?"

  "Master, forgive me, but there's no lead at all."

  "Never mind."

  Zhou Shang frowned, "This gang of thieves, their hands and feet are really clean."

  Zhou Liang hung his head even lower and didn't dare to respond.

  In his heart, Zhou thought: "Regardless of whether it was my son who did it or not, the fact that there is no evidence left behind means that even if Li Hang investigated for several years, he wouldn't be able to find out who the murderer was. Even if it really was my son who did it, as long as there isn't a single clue to be found, nothing will happen."

  "Go ahead, no need to check again later."

  Zhou Shang waved his hand, and Zhou Liang immediately bowed and retreated.

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