Chapter Five: The General's Flag

  Zhou Kefeng was shocked that Long Chen's pace was actually faster than his own, and at this moment, the opponent's shoulder was already pressed against his chest. He could only desperately retreat to prevent the opponent's shoulder from forming a impact force on him. However, Zhou Kefeng thought wrong, Long Chen's winning move wasn't relying on his shoulder.

  Taking advantage of the shoulder blocking the opponent's line of sight, Long Chen's right hand, which was originally holding the knife, quickly flipped outward with a clever force to push away the opponent's long knife. Then, with a single knife, he directly entered and the blade rested on Zhou Kefeng's chest.

  The key to all this lies in the fact that Zhou Kefeng and Long Chen were both moving rapidly, and using a long knife requires power from the waist. However, when moving quickly, Zhou Kefeng's dantian couldn't connect with the ground, so he could only rely on his shoulders and wrists to wield the knife. But relying on the shoulders and wrists is best suited for short knives, and Long Chen took advantage of this opportunity to deflect Zhou Kefeng's long knife, thus securing victory.

  "Brother Long's knife skills are truly exceptional, Zhou has conceded." Zhou Kefeng could only smile and admit defeat.

  Long Chen didn't pretend, withdrew his dagger and nodded: "I concede."

  "Clap clap clap." Mao Youjun applauded, "Haha, Dragon Brother not only excels in fist and foot techniques, I didn't expect him to be so skilled with swords and knives, it's really eye-opening!"

  "General, this is your sword." Long Chen sheathed the sword and presented it to Mao Youjun.

  "Ah, as the saying goes, 'a precious sword is given to a hero', this sword was personally bestowed upon me by Generalissimo in the past, but it has been idle with me, now I will give it to Brother Long, I hope you won't decline."

  "Since it was bestowed by the Grand Marshal himself, how could Long Chen lightly accept it? This is absolutely impossible." Long Chen still refused to accept.

  "Look at what you're saying, in the future on the battlefield Dragon Brother will use this knife to kill enemies and repay General and the imperial court." Mao Youjun insisted on giving the knife.

  If he pushed it any further, it would seem a bit too much. Long Chen could only take over the knife and say, "In that case, I'd be rude if I didn't accept."

  "It's only right." Mao Youjun patted Long Chen's shoulder and then turned to ask Liu Dezong, "What position does Brother Long hold now?"

  "I have no position." Liu De replied.

  "That's the fault of the commander, there is such a talented person in the army and the commander didn't notice, haha, well, today I will appoint Long Dragon brothers as the chief flag officer, as for which team to replace, De Zong, you can help me decide." Mao Youjun's eyes turned to Liu De Zong.

  "Dezong will definitely go all out to get this thing done." Liu Dezong understood in his heart that Mao Youjun was giving himself a sweet date.

  "Long Chen thanked the general and promised to work hard in the future to repay the general's kindness." However, in his heart, he was actually praising Mao Youjun's tactics, which not only promoted himself but also fulfilled Liu Dezong's recommendation. It was clear that letting Liu Dezong choose a new commander to replace him was giving Liu Dezong an opportunity to get rid of a rival. In the future, when Liu Dezong wanted to promote to the position of hundred-household officer, wouldn't the competitive pressure be much less?

  It seems that those who can blend in with the upper class are not simple characters at all.

  "Congratulations on your promotion, Brother Long. It won't be long before we brothers have to rely on you." Lu Han and Zhou Kefeng congratulated Long Chen together.

  This matter is definitely a case of "lifting the sedan chair together", as they are both trusted bodyguards of Mao Yu, their status is not much different from those hundred households, if they were to be demoted, it would be similar to Liu De's situation, at least becoming a general flag officer.

  "It's nothing, I'll have to rely on both of you brothers even more in the future." Long Chen also responded with a humble tone.

  The crowd was in an uproar again, and Mao Zedong, with a clever remark, took his leave along with the guards.

  "Haha, Brother Long, you've finally shown your face in front of the general today." Liu Dezhong was overjoyed at this moment.

  "Long Chen understands that today's matter is still thanks to his brother's introduction, otherwise Long Chen would not have had the opportunity to get promoted. In the future, I hope my brother will take care of me more, there are still many things that Long Chen doesn't understand."

  "Ah, ah, we're both high-ranking officials, after all. We'll definitely have to support each other in the future, can't let General down, right?" Liu Dezhong changed the subject, "Long brother, which department are you planning to take over?"

  Long Chen secretly smiled: I don't believe you don't have any schemes in mind now, but if you want to do it, then let's put on a good show for the sake of appearances.

  "Long Chen has just arrived and is still unfamiliar with the affairs of the camp. Since General said it's up to older brother, then let older brother handle it."

  "In that case, I'll help you choose one. Actually, I have a suggestion - since both of us brothers are favored by the general and get along so well, why not serve under the same hundred-man commander? Wouldn't that be great?"

  "That's great, that's great." Long Chen nodded naturally. In the military system of the Ming dynasty, under one hundred households, there were two general flag officers, and each general flag officer had five small flags, with ten soldiers under each small flag. If Long Chen and Liu Dezhong were under the same hundred households, then this hundred households would undoubtedly be thoroughly hollowed out. Moreover, the two general flag officers under him were all Ma Youjun's men, you had nowhere to cry, and could only stare blankly as you became a commander without an army.

  "Brother, my superior is Ma Baihu, a straightforward person. You won't be bullied or oppressed if you work under him. And another general officer under Ma Baihu's command, named Ruan Yi, is a native of Liaodong, skilled in marksmanship and has capable soldiers under his command. If you go there, these soldiers will naturally become yours."

  "That's absolutely wonderful."

  "So it's settled then?" Liu De-zong wanted to confirm once more. After all, he would be going to report the case to Mao You-jun later, and even a hundred households couldn't decide on the appointment or dismissal of the General Flag Officer; in the entire Iron Mountain, only Mao You-jun had that ability.

  "It's settled then, just as brother said." Long Chen smiled and nodded, then asked again: "But I'm curious, where did big brother get the fish from?"

  "Hehe, it's in the stream behind the mountain, unfortunately there's no fishing net, so we can only rely on luck to catch fish. It's not easy to get a fish, you know. That bowl of fish was caught by me with great effort over several days, one or two per day, and then raised in a water tank until there were enough before cooking them together to treat my brothers. If you think it tastes good, next time I cook fish, I'll definitely remember to save some for you!"

  "Thanks a lot, brother! Alright, you're busy, I'll take my leave." Long Chen was about to bid farewell.

  "Hehe, come find me the day after tomorrow. We'll go see Marquis Ma together, and then I'll accompany you to take over as the Commander of the Vanguard. Don't forget, okay?"

  "Got it." Long Chen responded and turned around to leave.

  Long Chen still returned to his residence, he didn't rush to see Yan Yi and his men immediately, some things should be rushed, some shouldn't, Long Chen still had a number in his heart.

  What a coincidence, I met Hu Meng at the door. It's ironic that this house originally belonged to Hu Meng, but now it's been occupied by Long Chen. And yet, Hu Meng showed up here and had to use the phrase "what a coincidence".

  "Hu Meng." Long Chen was just looking for him.

  "What's wrong?" Hu Meng originally planned to ignore that jinx and slip away.

  "Is there a small stream behind the mountain? Do you know?"

  "Really? I know you, where are you going?"

  "Haha, don't ask about that anymore, quickly gather those few brothers under your command and let's go there together."

  "Alright." Facing Long Chen, Hu Meng's attitude was always proper and he would never say no. Because of this, he also felt very helpless, being ordered around by his own subordinate, but if he knew that Long Chen had suddenly been promoted to General Flag Officer, his mindset would definitely not be conflicted.

  Taking advantage of Hu Meng's absence, Long Chen found a wooden stick in the room, who knows where it came from. He squatted down and took out the short knife that Mao You had just given him, carefully whittling away at it, sharpening one end into a point, then flipping it over to sharpen the other end as well. Standing up, he swung the double-pointed stick in a circle, nodding his head in satisfaction.

  Night, cool as water, the cold winter wind had passed through the mountain peaks' grinding, becoming even colder, like a knife, seemingly able to cut through people's skin who were outside. And in this cold wind, Long Chen and Hu Meng walked on the small path behind the mountain, stepping over the ground full of potholes and rocks, arriving at the small stream behind the mountain.

  It's strange to say, the temperature on the mountain should be considered relatively cold, and some of the rivers below have started to freeze, while the streams on the mountain are still flowing very freely. The ancients said "running water does not rot", but it can also be said that "running water does not freeze".

  It's absolutely not a pleasant thing to be dragged out at midnight to run to the back mountain and blow cold wind. At this time, what should be done is for several people to huddle together to keep warm and let one of them tell some dirty jokes to amuse themselves. But the one who gave the order was Dragon Brother, so there's no way, everyone had to follow. Hu Meng even thought that if he were the one giving the order to make these few rascals come out at this time, it would be hard to say whether they would listen and come out or not. Alas, in this world, it's still the fist that is the biggest, ah.

  Standing on the stone in front of the stream, Long Chen smiled and said to everyone: "In this cold winter month, you are all still gnawing on stir-fried noodles like sand every day. It's really hard to bear. Today we'll catch a few fish from the stream to give everyone a treat."

  But Hu Meng and the others didn't show much excitement, and even had a hint of bitter smile on their faces. It's over, coming here tonight was just a waste of time. You know, fishing is a skillful job, holding a fishing rod to catch fish in flowing stream water is obviously unrealistic, but there is no fishing net available on this mountain, so fishing becomes extremely difficult. Liu Dezhong wanted to invite everyone to have a fish meal, but it would take more than ten days to prepare.

  "Brother Long, you called us out on such a cold day just to catch fish for you to eat?" asked Niu Er.

  "Right, let's get some fish for everyone to improve our diet."

  "Did you bring the fishing net?"

  "No fishing net."

  "How do you catch fish?"

  "Use it then." Long Chen pointed at his own Twin Dragon Blades.