Chapter 3: Night Raid on Dragon's Lair Below

  When I found that the rope was gone, my hair stood on end, and at the same time, I was very confused. If I had been discovered by the patrol soldier, I would have been caught long ago. Then who took it away? Is someone following me?

  Looked around quietly, still quiet. Doesn't matter, running fast is the real deal, these two treasures I just got are much better than a rope, threw out my paw and pulled the red rope, my paw tightly grasped the door handle.

  After climbing to the top of the door and taking a look around, I saw that the soldiers were wandering aimlessly in the distance, far away from me. Just as I was about to climb down, my butt got kicked hard, and when I almost fell to the ground, I knew I was completely done for. A familiar black shadow suddenly flew towards my feet.

  Couldn't dodge it, my heavy body crashed onto something. The large claws on my waist also heavily slammed onto that thing, and after a piercing metallic screeching sound, I saw clearly that the black shadow was actually the large pot I had brought back.

  I resignedly sat there scanning the surroundings, where did this pot fly from? I didn't even see the person flying the pot, and whose kick was this that made my butt numb, have I been stared at by others for half a day?

  Just as I was daydreaming, those patrolling soldiers came over, and the one in charge actually had a sly smile on his face. He walked up to me and said to the people behind him, "You little guy lost, he still came out from the door."

  The man behind me yelled at me: "Are you blind? You came in from where and left from where, causing me to lose two taels of silver!" He raised the lantern in his hand to my face. Then he let out a strange cry: "Damn it, it's that new little soldier who just arrived today!" And then he grabbed my collar and dragged me to the flagpole in the middle of the camp.

  The leader said: "Kid, you've got guts, exploring the Dragon's Cave on your first day here, impressive."

  I looked at this group of people with a face that was not surprised and said: "What dragon cave, empty camp, I'm as flat as the ground."

  The people around me all burst out laughing when they heard what I said. I hastily added: "What are you laughing at? The young master has already taken out two things!" As soon as I finished speaking, I suddenly realized that the heavy feeling on my waist had disappeared long ago.

  The one who was laughing asked me with a smile: "Where are those two things?"

  I indignantly said: "It was stolen from me, it was just on my waist a moment ago."

  The one who spoke up said: "Do you think you're that great? You little brat just poked your head out and we saw you. With this little bit of skill, you dare to sneak into the Green Dragon Camp to steal things? If you weren't one of our own, your little head would have been chopped off long ago. Hey, you still dare to talk back! Take off his upper garment and tie him to the flagpole until the adults get up at dawn to deal with him. And spread out this piece of clothing on the ground and weigh it down with stones. Little brat, I'll let you know how big a face you've shown, when you entered that gate, someone had already set a trap for you, did you know that? Listen well, my name is Ma Liu Jin, I'm the sentinel here, every three days I take over the watch, next time you come out to explore the camp, pick my shift to come out!"

  I was tied to the flagpole like a donkey, and I couldn't help but feel extremely angry in my heart. As I glared at the troops that had just left, I gritted my teeth and stared fixedly at the black robe on the ground.

  The sky gradually brightened, and I finally saw clearly that on the back of my clothes, there were four blood-red large characters: "Fatty pushes the door".

  When I was having breakfast, my penalty order came down, reading that due to my young age and being new here, I was sentenced to 20 lashes and wearing a cangue for 6 hours.

  When they started beating me, I saw Zheng Xiong whispering something in the ear of the executioner, and when it was my turn to be beaten, I found that the stick didn't fall too heavily, it seemed that Zheng Xiong had spoken up for me, and I couldn't help but secretly smile. But just as they were beating me for the 16th time, the stick fell heavier, and the last 5 times were so severe that I almost cried out in pain.

  After being beaten, I was carried to the flagpole of the big camp and put on a large wooden cangue. The clothes that exposed my face were also taken away by someone and hung on a pole next to me, with the crowd passing by laughing at me, especially the female soldiers from Zhuque Camp who surrounded me and laughed loudly.

  I put on a nonchalant expression and smiled foolishly at them, but my heart was aching to death. When it was almost noon, Zheng Xiong arrived, still holding his big bowl, shoveling rice into his mouth while mumbling: "Good, really good".

  I rushed towards him with a wry smile and said: "What's good about it? I'm already like this, what's still good?"

  Zheng Xiong looked up at me and said: "I wasn't talking about you, I was saying that these four characters are written too well, this is called small seal script, it's beautifully written."

  After hearing this, I would have liked to throw the big collar on my neck at his face, but thinking again, if it wasn't for him speaking well of me just now, I'm afraid I would have been beaten to a pulp by now. Endure it a bit, who made me lose this time.

  At the thought of this, I forced a smile and said: "Thanks to you just now, thank you for speaking up for me, otherwise these 20 sticks would have beaten me half to death."

  Zheng Xiong said: "This matter, don't thank me, I told the executioner to use all his strength for these 20 strokes, but the executioner took pity on you and didn't do it that way, your smile is also too frightening, just like crying." He left amidst my curses.

  After dark, I was let down, the wound didn't hurt much anymore, holding that famous brand coat in my hand, I walked step by step towards the big tent where I lived.

  There were more than 20 soldiers in the tent, and since I had just arrived, I wasn't familiar with them either. When I reached my bunk, I immediately buried myself under the covers. Just as I was about to fall asleep, a soldier carrying an oilcloth package walked over.

  He came up to me and said: "Get up, don't sleep first, eat this"; saying that he opened the bag and handed it to me. I took it over and looked at it, it was two steamed buns and a piece of sauce meat, and also two eggs. I looked at him gratefully and said thank you, then wolfed down the food.

  That man smiled and said: "This is what Zhu Dama left for you, my name is Li Quanyou, I'm your squad leader, the brothers in this tent are all under my control. I'm a straightforward person, sometimes my words may be harsh, don't take it to heart. After eating, go to sleep first, and wait until tomorrow's drill to get acquainted with everyone. You're also considered a celebrity here, don't be angry, I really like your bold and daring attitude. I'm telling the truth, on the first day, you dared to sneak into Qinglong Camp, I've never seen anyone like you before. This isn't something to be ashamed of, originally they were going to assign you to another place, but I fought to get you assigned here. You're really giving me face." After finishing speaking, he lay down on his bed and fell asleep.

  After finishing the food package, I threw away all my worries and fell asleep beautifully. In my dream, I beat up the person who wrote on my back until he knelt down and begged for mercy, then I caught Zheng Xiong, tied him up like a rice dumpling and threw him into the toilet pit. Just as I was about to poke Zheng Xiong with a stick, the wake-up call sounded. With 12 million unwillingness, I let those two bastards off. Dazed and confused, I got out of bed and followed everyone out of the big tent.

  The sky was just a little bright, the playground was already crowded with people practicing. I picked up the steel knife and shield assigned to me and stood at the back of the team. With a loud drumbeat, a tall man wearing iron armor walked onto the high platform. The long knife in his hand drew a beautiful arc, then he shouted loudly: "One, two, three, four, five!". Following his shout, the people below the platform swung their knives in unison. I also imitated others and started swinging my knife.

  This set of knife techniques has only five forms, namely force chop, horizontal block, diagonal lead, sudden stab, and reverse slash. Although there are only five forms, the more you practice, the more you feel that these few moves are lethal, combined with the shield's defense and unique triangular footwork, it is simply invincible.

  An hour later, the morning exercise ended, and I was still sweating profusely while thinking about that fierce knife technique when Li Quanyou walked over and said: "You're practicing well, you have to practice diligently in the future. These few moves are called 'Breaking Army Five Styles', which is most effective on the battlefield."

  Listening to his words, I nodded and asked: "Who came up with these moves? They're simply too good."

  Li Quanyou said: "This is what our martial arts head thinks of, not just these few moves, you'll know how powerful he is later"; Just as he was saying this, I was shocked to see a white-bearded fat old man carrying a long spear rushing towards the playground.

  That old man stood in the middle of the playground and let out a loud whoop, then started practicing his spear moves. Each move was precise and well-executed. The fancy spear moves made even me, someone who doesn't know anything about martial arts, realize that he was just going through the motions. Just as I was about to burst out laughing, I felt a heavy slap on the back of my head, and at the same time heard Li Quanyou say: "If you want to live comfortably, don't laugh; if you do, you'll be in for a world of trouble."

  I turned my head and looked at him, asking: "What's the logic in this? His skills are really bad indeed."

  Li Quanyou looked at me with a slanted gaze and said: "This old man has sharp ears, if you smile he'll immediately stop practicing and run over to ask if you're laughing because his gun skills are bad? Then he'll ask what's wrong? If you can point out the problem, he'll chase after you to compete. As for when it ends, that depends on his mood. If you can't point out the problem with his gun, then just wait for even more trouble."

  "How much bad luck can you bring?"

  Li Quanyou said: "He will think you are intentionally laughing at him and will take you as a person without manners, then you'll be in trouble."

  The more I listened, the more confused I became. Then I asked: "Even if I don't understand etiquette, what can he do to me? Beat me up?"

  Li Quanyou helplessly said: "It's more advantageous to fight you; you don't even know who he is, do you? He's our head of education and culture, surname Liu, named Liu Zhengwen. If you offend him, he'll punish you by making you write the 'Four Books' ten times over. Think about it, that's a huge number of words, like a whole account book; if you don't write them, you'll be subject to military law."

  I took a deep breath and said: "It seems that this old gentleman is indeed not someone to be trifled with. But I wonder why someone like him entered our camp, and who taught him how to use that gun?"