Chapter 1 Special Warfare Forces

  Ten days after the training, the new recruits also started to work in their respective fields within Hexi City. Lei Ming and Mr. Wen, along with Huang Chu, spent their days going around to inspect the progress of various tasks.

  One evening, the stars were shining brightly, and Lei Meng was standing in the dark courtyard, looking up at the starry sky. The meridians in his body were as lush as the stars in the sky, and each of the various acupoints was bulging with accumulated internal energy. Over the past two years, he had been practicing his skills intermittently, and his inner strength had been steadily accumulating, growing stronger and stronger.

  Suddenly, several clear sword clashing sounds came from the east of the quiet River West City, followed by faint shouts: "Assassin! Catch the assassin!"

  In an instant, a gentle and swift wind came into the courtyard, and the assassin climbed onto the wall.

  His head, which had been rumbling with thunder, turned lightly twice, emitting a "crackling" sound of joint resonance. Then his lips moved slightly, and a sentence echoed in the ears of the soldiers who were searching the streets: Go back to defend, I will deal with it myself!

  "Your skills have improved again, now I'm no match for you." The assassin said lightly, with his back to Lei Meng, gazing at the figures returning one after another in the distance.

  "Hmph, if my martial arts skills don't improve a bit more, I'm afraid I'll be forced to bed by your great skills, Wei Da, and still won't even know what's going on."

  Wei Ming had just turned around, wanting to take a closer look at this somewhat mysterious young man. Before he could even open his mouth, Lei Meng asked again, "Speak up, what brings you here this time?" He seemed more relaxed and casual when facing Wei Ming.

  "What? General Lei's hospitality is to blow the west wind in the courtyard?" Wei Ming said with a slanted mouth, he was more and more appreciative of Lei Meng, who had actually turned the three cities of Hexi upside down.

  "Hehe, in this poor and remote place, I don't have anything good to entertain the picky Wei Da master." Lei Meng had some goodwill towards him, but since he was from Jin Yuan, he didn't have much to offer, and even if he wanted to, there wasn't much he could bring out.

  Wei Ming leaped into the courtyard, landing lightly three meters in front of Lei Meng. He chuckled and said, "I've heard that General Lei has a pair of Cloud Treasure Swords here. Why not give one to me?"

  "Oh, so you're here for the treasured sword." Lei Meng drew out his words, his tone mocking. "A treasured sword for a hero! No problem, I'll have someone send one over right away!" Lei Meng immediately turned his head and shouted into the hall: "Pass on my message, have Mr. Wen send over a Tianyun Treasured Sword!"

  Then, there were footsteps fading away.

  "Haha~, refreshing! General Lei is indeed a broad-minded person!" Wei Ming was delighted in his heart, clapping and praising.

  "Tell me, what is the purpose of your trip this time, Wei Da Hongren?" Lei Meng knew that Wei Ming had another purpose for his trip and asked directly.

  "We'll talk when the treasure sword arrives." Wei Ming said with a smirk, looking up at the starry sky with his hands behind his back. After that, he ignored Lei Meng and the two stood there in silence.

  Mr. Wen lives nearby, and the Tuan Yun Bao Jian was delivered quickly. Lei Ming took over the sword handed over by the soldier and threw it to Wei Ming without even looking at it.

  Wei Ming stretched out his hand to receive the sword, and as he grasped it, it felt slightly heavy. The smooth wooden scabbard was excellent, giving a good first impression. He drew out the treasured sword, and in the dark of night, its blade shone with a cold light. With a casual swing of his arm, he sliced through the air without making a sound. Then, a whirlwind of silver-white sword shadows danced around him, accompanied by a faint rustling of wind.

  "Good swordsmanship!" Lei Meng applauded in praise. He was used to wielding the Tang knife, and if he wanted to achieve this effect with a sword, he would have to practice some more.

  Wei Ming sheathed his sword, a look of joy on his face, and asked: "I wonder if General Lei has any more of these Tuan Yun swords?" He had just danced with the sword and achieved the effect of cutting through the air silently. This was due to two reasons: one, his sword skills were not bad; two, the sword itself was not bad. Therefore, he quickly confirmed that this sword was indeed the Tuan Yun sword he had seen at Wang Ding's place.

  "Thunder rumbled and pulled down his face, saying: 'Nothing can be done! This is a secret!'"

  "I have a big business deal with you, can't reveal the bottom?" Wei Ming tried to induce.

  Lei Meng shook his head silently.

  "Is it because of Emperor Hua Tian's suspicion?" Wei Ming probed again.

  The thunder is still silent.

  Wei Ming did not go through business and was not good at probing others' bottom line, so he had to show his cards first: "Selling the black chicken to you, how many treasured swords can it be worth?"

  "What!" Lei Meng heard this, and his heart was really stirred up: This black chicken may be worthless, but can a border town be sold for it? Is this true?...

  Lei Ming thought uncertainly, thinking that he couldn't give too many precious swords, but instead he was the one who was anxious, and first quoted a price: "How about exchanging for 1,000? Just 1,000!"

  Wei Ming's anxiety brought Lei Meng back to his senses, he rolled his eyes and said: "You've made an offer, so I'll have to counter with one of my own." He shook his head and said: "Making a precious sword is not easy, it's not something that can be done just because you want to make a certain number of them. Moreover, I don't have many people working for me, even if I were to give you an Uji chicken, it would still be difficult for me to keep up."

  "How much can you give? Name a price!" Wei Ming said gritting his teeth, although he wasn't experienced in business, but he had bought things before and found that some people were really black-hearted.

  "Four hundred, all our stock is only four hundred!" Lei Meng said with a bitter face, "And the materials are also used up, can't be made anymore."

  Weiming was secretly delighted, and with a sly smile, he pretended to be in pain and said: "Alright! Four hundred it is! I'll give General Lei a favor! I'll take care of this matter." Weiming had a small calculation in his mind, thinking that this was a rare opportunity to make a profit. Later, when the time came, he could resell it without losing money. Moreover, defending Wujicheng was already a huge loss-making business.

  Lei Meng also made a request to move the families of the soldiers who defected from Jin Yuan to Baihe. That small matter, Wei Ming happily agreed to in passing.

  Ten days later, the Jin Yuan army reluctantly withdrew from Wujicheng, and Lei Ming followed Yang Tian to send off the sword with a thousand elite troops. The Jin Yuan army suppressed the urge to wipe out those thousand people and successfully obtained that batch of Tuan Yun swords. Both sides were happy, but only Yang Tian was resentful that the Jin Yuan army did not have the guts, and the thousand-strong army did not dare to come and fight, sighing "what a pity".

  Lei Meng dispatched 3,000 soldiers to take over from Wu Ji. He also wanted to dispatch more people, but there was no way, as the number of soldiers was small.

  In the castle of Baihe City, Lei Meng and Yang Tian met. Yang Tian muttered, "The Jin Yuan army is all soft eggs." Lei Meng looked at Yang Tian in front of him and said, "Even if they are soft eggs, there are many more of them than us. If each of them spits a mouthful of water, it's enough to drown us!"

  "So you're planning to expand the army!" Yang Tian grabbed Lei Meng's shoulders, who was sitting and drinking tea, and said excitedly. He had been training old soldiers for a while now, and he didn't feel much novelty in it anymore.

  "Uh, it's to replenish some fresh blood into the army. However, our grain yield is not high, and the population is small, so we can't afford a large army. Mr. Wen, Mr. Huang and I have calculated that we can recruit another 5,000 soldiers." Lei Meng's body was shaken, but his thoughts remained unchanged.

  "What? Just 5,000?" Yang Tian let go of his hand and stared at Lei Meng in surprise. "What's the big deal about just 5,000!"

  Lei Meng shrugged and said, "I have no way either. Can't afford to raise so many soldiers. Moreover, the loyalty of these later soldiers can't be guaranteed, their combat effectiveness can't be guaranteed, far inferior to those brothers who have been with us through thick and thin!"

  Yang Tian heard this and slumped his head in disappointment, thinking to himself: These five thousand people are just enough to catch petty thieves in three big cities and surrounding villages during peaceful times.

  "You can think of ways to enhance the combat effectiveness of our troops. In the past, the special forces in our area were so powerful that a hundred-man squad could roam freely here!" Lei Meng tried to stir up Yang Tian's fighting spirit, "If we also had such a powerful special forces team, equipped with our custom-made equipment, wouldn't it be easy for us to wipe out anyone we wanted?"

  Yang Tian raised his head, looking at Lei Meng with surprise and delight, saying: "Haha, great idea! A good army values quality over quantity, values quality over quantity!" After finishing speaking, he shook his head and walked out.

  "Still so childish and playful!" Lei Meng sighed with a smile, shaking his head.

  "I wonder how many of Jin Yuan's family members are willing to come here? How many soldiers can put an end to their longing...” Lei Meng began to worry about the handover work for the arriving family members again.

  Yang Tian acted swiftly, and the next day he issued a recruitment order in the three cities of Baihe, Hexi, and Baishan. Under the enthusiastic registration of the residents, he carefully selected 5,000 strong men, leaving some people who were slow to react very regretful. Yang Tian gathered all the new recruits in Baishan and had Qin Hao lead them in training, while he himself led the elite camp to Wujijiang again, leaving Qin Hao's face full of gloom.

  The night before leaving for Wujigou, Lei Ming found Yang Tian to discuss in private, asking him to find time to go back to Yangjiacun to see Lao Tietou and Er Wuzi. If they were willing to come to Baishan, he would send someone to pick them up. In addition, he wanted to secretly control the mountainous area, as the quality of those mineral deposits was very good.

  This task is a bit stimulating, and Yang Tian, excitedly, readily agreed and slipped away.

  The current soldiers are demanding more and more, Qin Hao is a bit unsure of how to train the new recruits, and Luoyang Tian is stationed in Hexi, it's not convenient to ask for advice. So he found Lei Ming, he said with a bitter face: "General Lei, the requirements for soldiers are very high now, this...how should we train them?"

  "Hmph! Lei Meng couldn't help but burst out laughing, is Qin Hao's awkwardness really feminine? Ugh! Is he going to get sick from holding it in? Lei Meng pulled the corner of his mouth and said: "My great General Qin, oh no, now you're a general. Haven't you ever seen pigs run or eaten pork before?! Don't soldiers need to have good strength, endurance, martial arts skills, quick reflexes, and unified commands?! Our White Mountain Steel Furnace is still lacking in iron ore and coal, can't you let them carry those first? It's a win-win situation - they'll practice their strength, endurance, and commands! And originally, the ones who were supposed to be tempered were their own weapons! Isn't this killing four birds with one stone?"

  Qin Hao was lectured by Lei Meng, and his head was dizzy. When he came to his senses, Lei Meng had already run off somewhere, making Qin Hao's stifled anger rise again. He really wanted to curse loudly, but Lei Meng's martial arts were better than his, his plans were more thorough, his vision was broader, his position was higher, and he looked more handsome... All of this made Qin Hao unable to open his mouth to scold him. As he thought about it, he actually laughed in anger, and his anger dissipated: Perhaps following Lei Meng would lead him to another sunny day...

  His anger dissipated, but the new recruits were tormented by him. The entire White Mountain could hear the wails of "Ah~" and even cries of "Oh my mother~, this is too bitter!"...

  The young and strong men inside the White Mountain Castle heard this miserable cry, and at the same time they felt a chill in their hearts, they also secretly rejoiced that they had not joined the army. Only after a month, the White Mountain again transmitted a bright and loud laughter: "Haha ~ We also want to have a treasured sword! ~"……