Chapter 7: Training Soldiers

  Wan County is west of Qianshan Mountain, which is a branch of the Dabie Mountains. It covers an area of dozens of square miles, with strange and beautiful peaks and steep terrain.

  More than 200 people carried large packages and rushed all the way, running along the foot of the mountain for a full fifty miles before stopping to rest.

  Zhou Jian's forehead was sweating, but his face remained calm, his waist still straight as a gun, not bending in the slightest, and he continued to move with agility.

  Twenty attendants were drenched in sweat, slightly panting, but still stood upright with unyielding determination.

  Two hundred pirates were all crawling on the ground, panting like oxen, their limbs weak and their legs completely numb.

  Jiang Qin was also drenched in sweat, panting heavily, bending over to gasp for air, but soon showed a look of shame.

  Zhou Jian and his twenty followers' performance made Jiang Qin feel ashamed and realized the gap.

  "Get up, all of you damn well get up."

  Jiang Qin let out a loud roar and rushed over to kick one of the water bandits several times.

  That water thief weakly groaned: "Second Master, I'm really out of energy!"

  "Fart."

  Jiang Qin's face turned red with rage, and he bellowed in a stern voice: "You're all men, but you can't even compare to the ladies! The bundles that Young Master and Zhou Wu are carrying are heavier than yours, yet they didn't get tired and climb down. Look at you, every single one of you is a weakling, I'm so ashamed of you!"

  Two hundred otakus all had their faces flushed bright red, shamefully having no place to hide.

  Zhou Jian waved his hand, letting Jiang Qin retreat, and gazed at the crowd of water bandits with a cold expression: "Since you're soldiers, you should be the best soldiers. Otherwise, it's better to go home and hold your mothers' stinky feet. Tell me, do you want to become generals?"

  "I want."

  "Of course I want to!"

  "Who doesn't want to be a general."

  Two hundred otakus immediately responded with a flurry of comments, finally showing some spirit.

  No one wants to be a soldier all his life, since he has become a soldier, there is no one who does not want to be a general.

  Zhou Jian said loudly: "Since you want to be a general, you must have extraordinary bravery. To become a fierce general who is renowned for his courage in the three armies, you must have extraordinary willpower and perseverance. Look at yourselves, rolling around on the ground like a bunch of women, not even as good as a group of females."

  The water thieves' faces turned red one by one, ashamed and unable to show their faces.

  Jiang Qin was even more ashamed, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into, after all, these people were his brothers.

  Zhou Jian said in a deep voice, "No one is born with extraordinary bravery and martial arts skills. It takes innate physical ability combined with acquired effort to possess decent combat skills. Without unyielding determination and unwavering willpower, even if you have more strength than others, you won't have the opportunity to become a general. Tell me, do you want to be generals or ladies?"

  Splash!

  The two hundred bandits, although all had red faces and ears, immediately got up from the ground and stood upright.

  Zhou Jian nodded secretly, and finally stirred up the competitive spirit of this group of water bandits. Having difficulties is not to be feared, what's to be feared is lacking the spirit of striving for progress and struggling, as long as one can stir up these water bandits' desire to compete and win, there will be great possibilities.

  "Zhou Wu."

  Zhou Jian shouted in a deep voice.

  "In."

  Zhou Wu hastened forward to await orders.

  Zhou Jian said: "Tell them how you were trained at first."

  Zhou Wu responded with a loud voice, "Eight years ago, when the young master was eight years old, he took us through high-intensity training. Running 200 miles in one night was common, and running with heavy loads was just ordinary training content. Sometimes we had to hide motionless in the forest for three days and three nights without food or clean water, enduring mosquito bites, and even if a wolf pounced on us and bit our legs, we couldn't move. Sometimes we even had to eat poisonous snakes and scorpions raw. What kind of training is this?"

  Jiang Qin was shocked.

  Two hundred bandits were shocked.

  Such frightening training is truly unheard of.

  If it's just a matter of putting in some effort, then so be it. But being bitten by wolves and unable to move, and even having to eat poisonous snakes and scorpions raw, is quite frightening. Those things are toxic, can they be eaten casually?

  Jiang Qin's face turned green.

  Two hundred otakus looked terrified, apparently scared out of their wits.

  Zhou Jian's face was expressionless, he waved his hand and said, "Take a one-minute break."

  Twenty attendants didn't say a word and immediately lay down on the ground to rest.

  The two hundred water bandits had no idea that even more intense training was ahead of them and were still chatting with each other.

  Jiang Qin, however, discovered that the twenty attendants were acting somewhat abnormally, and he felt suspicious in his heart, but he didn't dare ask more questions. He immediately lay down to rest, just like them. As soon as he lay down, he felt aching all over his body and almost had no strength to get up.

  Time flies like an arrow.

  "Assembly."

  A cold voice rang out, and twenty attendants immediately stood up in unison.

  Jiang Qin reacted a bit slower, but also quickly scrambled up, pulled his bundle tight and stood straight.

  "Why do we still need to assemble?"

  "Haven't had enough rest yet!"

  Two hundred otters were in an uproar, some had just lain down and immediately began to complain.

  Zhou Jian had not spoken yet, but Jiang Qin could no longer bear it and rushed over to give him a series of fierce kicks, shouting: "Still not getting up?"

  The pirates didn't dare make a sound and quickly scrambled up to form ranks.

  The team set off again, running up the mountain along the mountain path.

  Although this journey is not short, only over ten miles, carrying heavy loads up the mountain is more tiring than running on flat ground.

  Until they rushed into a dense forest, Zhou Jian ordered them to rest. The two hundred pirates were so exhausted that they didn't even have the energy to speak and all lay down with their limbs stretched out. Jiang Qin was also extremely tired and barely managed not to collapse.

  Twenty attendants were panting violently, but their waists remained straight as ever.

  Zhou Wu had fought with Jiang Qin for ten rounds without a winner, but his endurance and willpower were obviously better than Jiang Qin's.

  Zhou Jian took off his backpack, stretched his limbs, and his face was slightly red, but he still walked briskly, without a hint of fatigue.

  Jiang Qin secretly admired him, having persisted in this high-intensity training since he was eight years old, no wonder he couldn't even catch a single move.

  Half an hour later.

  Zhou Jian shouted loudly again, "Assemble."

  Twenty attendants immediately stood up, standing like a mountain.

  Jiang Qin did not react slowly this time and immediately stood up.

  Two hundred water bandits struggled to get up, but after half a day, only about ten or so managed to crawl out.

  "One."

  "Two."

  Three.

  ……

  Ten.

  Zhou Jian counted up to ten, and there were also thirty bandits lying on the ground who did not get up.

  "Zhou Wu!"

  Zhou sternly shouted.

  "Agreed!"

  Zhou Wu strode out of line.

  "Carry out the punishment."

  "Yes."

  Zhou Wu loudly acknowledged the order, and immediately rushed over with a fierce aura, subduing one of the water bandits. He swung his heavy and solid club down hard, and in just a few strikes, the bandit's back was torn open, and he let out a blood-curdling scream.

  A shrill scream pierced the serenity of the mountains and fields, causing everyone's heart to skip a beat in unison.

  Jiang Qintiger's eyes narrowed slightly, his face stern.

  Twenty attendants were expressionless and unmoved, for they had also experienced similar things in the past and were no longer surprised.

  Splash!

  Wherever Zhou Jian's gaze fell, all the water bandits instantly got up, their eyes filled with fear.

  "Zhou Wu," Zhou Jian said in a deep voice.

  Zhou Wu stepped forward and said loudly: "Present."

  "Set up camp and cook food," Zhou Jian said. "One hour later, proceed with free combat training."

  Zhou Wu responded loudly: "Yes."

  He immediately took big strides back, directing more than 200 people to open the packages, take out the military equipment inside, chop wood nearby, and set up thirteen simple tents in the empty mountain valley. They built a stove, buried pots, and cooked meals.

  This time's scheduled training period is one month, but the food and fodder brought along are only enough for twenty days.

  For the remaining ten days, food will be self-solved and outdoor survival skills will be trained at the same time.

  Although the time is short and it's hard to achieve great results, a river is also formed by many streams gathering together.

  As long as there is a little effect, these water bandits will go on the battlefield in the future, and the hope of survival will be greater.

  Twenty men of Zhou Wu were all good at wilderness survival, each bringing ten people into action, and soon set up a simple military camp.

  Ten people shared one tent, Zhou Jian and Jiang Qin shared a tent together.

  Less than a moment after lunch, everyone was gathered again.

  He glanced at the two hundred pirates and said loudly, "From now on, I will conduct a one-month special training for you. The training is dangerous and may result in serious injury or even death. But since you have arrived here, it is absolutely not allowed to retreat."

  Two hundred water bandits were shocked and frightened, it was just a training exercise, yet someone actually died, this is no laughing matter.

  It's too late even if you want to quit now.

  This young Master Zhou may be a bit young, but he is absolutely ruthless. The partner from just now was an example, simply refusing to get up and had both legs broken, it's still unknown if he can make it through the next three days.

  Jiang Qin saw that there were bandits showing a frightened expression, and he felt very embarrassed, unable to help but scold: "What are you afraid of? At worst, we'll just lose our heads and have a big scar. We nine Jiang bandits dominate the waterways, when have we ever been afraid of death?"

  The two hundred pirates' spirits were lifted, and the fearful look in their eyes immediately disappeared.

  Zhou Jian said, "Training is dangerous, but as long as you can get through it, you'll be able to live a better life afterwards. My 20 former followers were all like that. When you make achievements in the future, I'll reward you with land and let you marry several beautiful women. Tell me, how many beautiful women do you want to marry?"

  "Two!"

  "Five!"

  "Three!"

  "Ten"

  ……

  Two hundred pirates immediately shouted in unison, their eyes burning with excitement, all resistance gone.

  Zhou Jian swung his arm fiercely and shouted: "Alright, now let's start the free combat training. The 200 people will be divided into 20 groups to compete. Zhou Wu, you are in charge of each group, select the top one for the final duel. The winner of the duel will receive three guans of silver, second and third place will receive two guans, fourth to tenth place will receive one guan. Begin!"

  "Yes."

  Zhou Wu and others responded loudly and immediately began to execute.

  Two hundred pirates were divided into twenty groups of ten people each and began one-on-one combat.

  A large reward made the eyes of two hundred pirates gleam with excitement, each one radiating a murderous aura.

  Even if someone had reservations about the training, when faced with a large reward, they all became spirited and eager to fight, gritting their teeth as they sized up their comrades beside them, former brothers who had now become competitors.