Chapter Twenty: Eating and Living Together

  After a brief silence, a dull thud suddenly came from the crowd. Yun Qi looked in the direction of the sound and saw a soldier wearing a neat helmet with a crazed glint in his eye, rhythmically tapping the hilt of his knife against the hard helmet on his chest. Immediately afterwards, two... three... four... a group... all the soldiers wearing helmets tapped their armor-plated chests with the blunt ends of their weapons in unison. Meanwhile, those who had removed their helmets were shouting in unison, "Roar! Roar!"

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!......"

  "Roar! Roar! Roar!......"

  The hundred or so elite soldiers of the Eastern Forbidden Guards still stood in formation, their faces a picture of different emotions - some admiring, some worshiping, and some resentful. But Lu Ping, who had been defeated in just three moves when he first took to the field, was exceptionally excited and agitated, and was the only one among these veteran soldiers who followed the other soldiers in drinking wine.

  The reactions of those around him were all reflected in Yun Qi's eyes, and although his face showed no expression, he secretly let out a long sigh of relief. It seemed that today's goal of establishing dominance had been achieved. As he relaxed his entire body, Yun Qi also felt that his limbs were sore and aching, apparently because it had been a long time since he had engaged in such a large-scale battle with such intense physical exertion. The sparring earlier had made him realize that both his techniques and reactions were far inferior to before.

  At this time, Han Changsheng walked out of the crowd again and saluted Yun Qi with a military salute. He said: "Yun Fuzhang, I have been in the army for nine years and can be considered an old soldier. I didn't read many books when I was young, and I don't know many big characters. I also don't know what abilities you have, but as soon as you came, you sat on the position of husband. Originally, I had some dissatisfaction in my heart. In the military camp, the strong are always respected. But just now, Yun Fuzhang won three games in a row. I, Han Changsheng, am convinced and willing to follow Yun Fuzhang wholeheartedly from now on!" After finishing speaking, he saluted Yun Qi again with a military salute, but then turned around and pushed through the crowd to walk in the opposite direction of the team.

  Seeing Han Changsheng walk out of the school field towards the camp tent, Yun Qiqi smiled and her mouth slightly curled up.

  "Brother Yun, I, Lu Ping, am also deeply convinced and willing to follow you wholeheartedly... as long as... as long as... if there's a battle, let me be the first to charge in." At this point, Lu Ping himself felt a bit embarrassed, scratched his head, and smiled awkwardly.

  Yun Qi smiled and said: "I'll take the lead, you... follow closely behind!"

  When Yun Qi said this, the group of old soldiers collectively raised their heads, with over a hundred pairs of eyes staring at Yun Qi, but most of them had somewhat stiff faces. Their previous captain had led this group of over a hundred brothers as the vanguard in an expedition to suppress bandits. At that time, there were no less than eight hundred bandits. With one order, the previous captain drew his waist knife and charged towards the bandit crowd, with the soldiers behind him being infected by his bravery, each one more ferocious than the last, annihilating the bandit army with a ratio of one to eight. It was during that expedition that the previous captain was shot by an enemy archer hiding in a wooden fence and died in regret.

  Now, they are in the same unit, but at different times and places, hearing the words that once touched their hearts. How can they not be moved? I suppose at this moment, most of these elite soldiers have already accepted Yun Qi from the bottom of their hearts, only because years of military achievements make these old soldiers one by one unable to put down their faces, but it is being seen by Yun Qi from their eyes that the fiery passion in their hearts.

  More and more elite soldiers walked out of the ranks, one by one, came to Yun Qi's front, saluted him with a standard military salute from the heart, then turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

  About thirty old soldiers with uncertain expressions were left, although they had some admiration for Yun Qi from the bottom of their hearts, but still had a lingering sense of discontent. Yun Qi naturally saw this and knew that today's effect was already quite unexpected, having an impact on most of them. As for these remaining old soldiers, it was impossible to rush them at once. Thinking of this, Yun Qi took a step forward and said: "Those who should train will continue training, those who should return to their barracks will return."

  Liao Yun saw Yun Qi finish speaking, turned his head to look at himself, and hastily ordered a nearby messenger: "Take Yun Fuzhang to familiarize himself with the camp, and arrange for him to stay."

  "Yes!" The orderly replied respectfully, then walked to Yun Qi's front, saluted and said: "Commander Yun, please follow me to familiarize yourself with the camp, and I will also arrange your accommodation."

  "Oh." Yun Qi responded with a single word, gesturing for the messenger soldier to lead the way in front, while he followed behind towards the exit of the school grounds.

  Out of the school field, followed the orderly all the way to the barracks, and greeted the guard at the door, indicating Yun Qi's identity. The guard gave Yun Qi a respectful military salute.

  The orderly led Yun Qi to take a stroll around the barracks, roughly introducing that the Eastern Imperial Guard was divided into twenty-three teams, each with one hundred people. The team led by Yun Qi happened to be somewhat special, with a total of one hundred and thirteen people, but it was the most elite unit in the entire Eastern Imperial Guard. Most of the barracks were made up of long, black tents, which were very spacious inside, with four rows of beds, two rows close together in the middle, and one row on either side. Now that the weather was getting hotter, hand-woven grass mats had been laid out on the beds, and scattered soldiers were posing in different positions, leaning or lying down or sitting on the edge of the bed, chatting with their companions in a disjointed manner.

  They visited several barracks one after another, and the orderly led Yun Qi to a barrack with a black flag with golden trim and a fierce tiger embroidered on it. "Commander Yun, this is where your hundred-man squad is stationed."

  "Yes, what's the meaning of this battle flag at the door? Why didn't I see such a battle flag at the doors of other barracks?" Yun Qi pointed to the battle flag at the door and asked the messenger soldier in confusion.

  "Haha, Yunfu Chang doesn't know this, but this battle flag is called the Golden Tiger Order, and there's only one in the entire Eastern Imperial Guard..."

  The messenger had not finished speaking when a voice from within the camp interrupted him: "This Golden Tiger Token can only be held by the strongest hundred-man squad, and it was obtained by our first hundred-man squad with blood and lives." The speaker was Han Changsheng. He lifted the door curtain, bowed his head and walked out of the camp, nodded to the messenger, and saluted Yun Qi: "Subordinate has seen Commander Yun!"

  Yun Qi returned a military salute and opened his mouth to say: "What position are you in the Hundred-Man Squad?"

  Hán Chángshēng smiled calmly and humbly said: "Back cloud husband long, belongs to the lower is ten people team captain."

  "Heh heh, you're Han Changsheng, right?" Yun Qi smiled and said.

  Han Changsheng didn't respond, he just nodded lightly.

  As he entered the tent, all the soldiers stood up and saluted him. After a simple glance around the tent, he found that the facilities here were newer and better than those in other tents. Even the grass mats on the beds were more finely made than those in other tents. Just as Yun Qi had finished looking around, the orderly officer approached him quietly and said, "Commander Yun, it's getting late, I'll take you to see your quarters."

  About fifty soldiers in the account, when they heard what the herald said, they all looked at Yun Qi without exception. At this time, Yun Qi seemed to have not heard it, and curiously walked to the first bed in the row, which was covered with a reed mat and was very clean, and asked: "What is this bed for? It looks like no one has slept here for a long time."

  The orderly saw this and was somewhat embarrassed, wanting to say: "This... originally..."

  "Hui Yunfu Zhang, this is a bed specially prepared for Fu Zhang!" Han Changsheng stood up at this time and explained to Yun Qi.

  The orderly on the other side heard that it was indeed urgent, and hurriedly said: "Captain Han, officers have special accommodations provided for them, how can you live here? You...this is nonsense!"

  Han Changsheng didn't even look at the orderly, turned his head away and said disdainfully: "I don't care about other barracks, I don't care where other battalion commanders live, but our first hundred people team's battalion commander has only one residence, that is the bed in front of you."

  Han Changsheng said these words without consulting Yun Qi, and after saying them, he also had some hidden regrets in his heart, secretly blaming himself for speaking hastily. After finishing speaking, he stole a glance at Yun Qi's facial expression.

  Yun Qi smiled on his face and said in a calm tone: "As brothers on the same front line, living and eating together, I think... it's okay!"

  "Cloud husband long...... that...... Liao commander has already......" The orderly was anxious and hastily stepped forward, loudly saying.

  Yun Qi waved his hand, interrupting the messenger's words, and said: "Although I am the husband, I am only one level higher in military order. In life, we are all equal. You don't have to say anything else. I've decided to stay here. Later, you go and send my daily necessities here."

  "This..."

  Han Changsheng and several other fierce soldiers saw the orderly still hesitating, immediately surrounded him and shouted: "What's this, didn't you hear our captain give orders?"