Chapter Seventeen: The Pirates Arrived

  Ding Xun's training was indeed different from others. On the first day of practice, all the brothers were already covered in bruises.

  Those who were responsible for going out to sea to fish, when they saw their brother's bruised and swollen face, and heard about the tactics used by Ding Xun, couldn't help but feel grateful that they were only responsible for going out to sea to fish.

  It's just that tomorrow it will be one's own turn, yet can't help but worry involuntarily.

  The first person to eat meat was Bao Zhuhua, who was beaten by Ding Yunyi. This man was indeed fierce when fighting, although he was injured by Ding Yunyi at first, but in the subsequent "exercise", he defeated three people in a row.

  The meat was indeed eaten, but it tasted far from as sweet and delicious as imagined in the mouth...

  Two days passed, two groups of brothers took turns practicing, everyone was covered in injuries, and by nightfall, the sound of "ouch" filled the air. Hong Diao Yuan couldn't help but worry, and quietly asked: "Third brother, won't this kind of practice exhaust people?"

  "No." Ding Yunyi replied with some confidence: "Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime, and they won't be wasted by training."

  These two sentences sounded fresh in Hong Diao Yuan's ears. He thought to himself, indeed the son of his benevolent teacher, every word he spoke was extraordinary.

  From then on, every day was either mutual combat or running laps around the island, or some kind of weight training that had never been heard of before. In short, this inspector's training methods were unheard of and unseen.

  The dragon and tiger formations in the Ming army have never been practiced even once.

  Ding Yun had his own plan in mind, with only fifteen people on their side, formation was not useful at all. In the future when fighting against pirates, either don't fight or fight to the death. Single soldier combat, the ferocity of the soldiers became crucial at that time.

  It's false to say that these brothers didn't have any complaints about this training method, but fortunately, Ah Hu and the others were able to catch some wild game almost every day, and with Hong Diao Yuan's extremely skilled cooking techniques, the temptation of food somewhat offset the brothers' antagonistic emotions.

  On the fourth day, Ding Yunyi made a ruthless move.

  He took out the thirty taels of silver that Zou Wei had rewarded him with and told these soldiers, "Three days from now, come to the next big drill. Whoever can stand upright without falling down will get this thirty taels of silver!"

  A whole thirty taels of silver! The eyes of these brothers shone with desire, and they couldn't wait to get the silver into their own hands. Even Hong Diao Yuan and Lao Ji were moved by the thought, but after careful consideration, they feared that if they took action, they would be beaten until their heads were broken and bloody, so they could only gaze longingly at the silver and give up on the idea.

  With the stimulation of silver, the brothers' dissatisfaction was instantly thrown to the ends of the earth. During training, they were all red-eyed and really fighting, as if the person in front of them was not their own brother, but rather their father's killer.

  This is the effect that Ding Yunyi wants. If he can be so ruthless to his own people, how can he not be fierce and kill his enemies in the future?

  "Brother Ding, this is what Ah Hu asked me to deliver to you." Ah Xi arrived at the military camp with a wild rabbit in hand while watching the brothers train enthusiastically.

  "What about Ah Hu?" Ding Yunyi asked casually as he took over the wild rabbit.

  "They say that Brother Ding's place doesn't have enough meat to eat, so while it's still early, let's go get some more." As he said this, Ah Xi smiled and licked his lips: "Brother Ding is really something else. Ah Hu and the others are used to being in the wilderness, they're not afraid of anything, but when it comes to Brother Ding, everyone opens their mouths and can't stop talking about how great you are."

  What's so great about it? What's so great about me? Ding Yunyi smiled wryly a few times, handed the rabbit over to Lao Ji, and had Lao Ji take it to Hong Diao Yuan for cooking.

  Hong Diao Yuan went out after lunch and didn't come back for more than an hour.

  "Brother Ding, do you have brothers and sisters?" Ah Xi suddenly asked.

  Brother or sister? Ding Yunyi thought for half a day, and it seemed that he remembered when Zou Weijun and Ding Yuanshuo were talking, saying something like Ding Yuanshuo had a son in middle age, except for two sisters, only this one son. He shook his head at the time.

  "Hey, isn't that a bit pitiful?" Ah Xi's eyes widened: "A person who has been alone since childhood, and no one to play with. But your family is an official family, different from us island fishermen..."

  "There's nothing different." Ding Yunyi rubbed his head, he really couldn't guess what it was like to be an official's family: "I've been wild since I was young, and I haven't suffered less from my old man's beatings."

  When chatting, brothers finished their training, one by one with broken teeth and split lips, seeing red is not uncommon.

  Chen Dong covered his cheek, which had a big swelling: "Damn it, Xiao Yifeng, you son of a bitch, why did you hit me so hard? Did I provoke you?"

  "Are you going easy on me?" Xiao Yifeng's eyes widened in anger, looking even more infuriated: "Look at this, look at this, how can I still go out and meet people like this?"

  "What's all the commotion? What's going on?" Bao Zhuhua clutched his waist, "Ow!" he exclaimed repeatedly: "Who hurt me so badly? Which bastard struck me with a poisonous hand and hit me with a wooden stick just now?"

  At a glance, I saw Ah Xi too: "Ah Xi, you've been coming here every other day for three days, aren't you interested in our Inspector Ding?"

  Those brothers burst out laughing, Ah Xi's face flushed with a red glow, and she spat: "I'm here to help you send the rabbit."

  "Ah Xi ah." Bao Zonghua said, getting excited: "You say our patrol officer isn't married, and you aren't either, why don't you just marry our patrol officer? In the future, you'll be the patrol officer's wife."

  Another burst of laughter, Ah Xi's face turned red like something, and she quickly ran away.

  Ding Yunyi cried and laughed: "Old Bao, if you offend Ah Xi, in the future, brothers will have to eat fish every day again."

  They were canceling each other out when Hong Diao Yuan hastily walked back, constantly looking back as if afraid that someone was following him. As soon as he entered the military camp, he quickly called everyone over: "Just now, pirates landed on the island to resupply."

  At these words, everyone's spirits were greatly lifted, and they trained with all their might. Wasn't it all for this day?

  "How many ships? How many men?" Ding Yunyi hastily asked.

  "A boat with about twenty people on it."

  "There aren't many people, it's a small pirate ship!" Ding Yunyi's face showed joy: "Brothers, our chance has finally come."

  Before the brothers could cheer, Hong Diao Yuan hastily said: "There may not be many people, but this pirate has a big background."

  "What the hell!" Bao Zhuhua said with a big laugh; "No matter how big the deal is, can it be bigger than Hongyi? Damn it, I've been practicing here until my skin is cracked and bleeding, and now there's finally some business coming in, let's do it!"

  Ding Yunyi was indeed concerned: "What's going on?"

  Hong diao yuan chao hou mian kan le kan, sheng pa you ren tou ting yiban, ran hou ya di le sheng xiao xiao de dao: "shi gui wang wan de shou xia."

  Translation:

  Hong Diao looked back and then lowered his voice to say, "It's a subordinate of Gui Wang Wan."

  "Gui Wang Wan?" Ding Yunyi blurted out in surprise.