Chapter Thirty-two: Ten Days of Intensive Training

  After a sleepless night, Ah Fu knocked on Song Kai's door early next morning.

  Song Kai suddenly sat up, only then remembering he still had training, hastily put on his clothes, casually washed his face, led the horse and rushed towards the back mountain of Suzhou City.

  Not many people have gotten up yet.

  The morning breeze is a bit cool, hitting my face, very comfortable, and drowsiness disappears instantly.

  When he arrived at the small gate of the back mountain of Suzhou City, Zhou Ce had just driven his horse to hurry over and saw Song Kai, beckoning him with a wave of his hand.

  The morning training resumed for more than three hours afterwards.

  Yesterday there were still some unfamiliar faces, but today several people greeted Song Kai and then started running together with a wooden stake.

  Song Kai controlled his breathing and persisted in his efforts. He knew that this kind of training couldn't make him a top master, but without it, he would definitely not become one either.

  After running with a wooden stake, it's free training. Everyone chooses a training project based on their own weaknesses. If you don't know your weakness, you can ask the squad leader or the platoon leader.

  The squad leader is the small class leader among the five people, and most of the army's expeditions are equipped with a large iron pot for every five people, so this squad leader is also called the squad leader. The ten squad leaders and hundred squad leaders are easier to understand.

  Song Kai took a deep breath, wiped the sweat off his body, rested for a moment, and then got down on the ground to do push-ups.

  By the time he reached over thirty, Song Kai's arms were already trembling. His body could barely handle more than thirty.

  "Hey! Song Kai!"

  Two people walked over, one of whom kicked Song Kai's butt.

  Song Kai suddenly fell to the ground.

  "Song Kai! Get up!"

  The voice called out again.

  Song Kai hurriedly got up, stood straight, and there were two people standing in front of him, neither of whom Song Kai recognized.

  "Are you new here?" The man in front of him sized up Song Kai, who was very sturdy and had a prominent vein on his forehead. Although he was only 1.6 meters tall, he gave off an aura of danger, as if he could punch through a mountain with one fist.

  "Yes! Sir! I'm Song Kai, joined yesterday!" Song Kai shouted with his arms straight at his sides.

  "Alright, I don't care how you joined, whether by bribery or being related to the captain, since you've joined our team, you must obey discipline and undergo rigorous training. From now on, I am your centurion, and he is your decurion. Tang Yingxiong, take him to your squad." The man finished speaking and turned around to leave with big strides.

  Song Kai let out a breath of relief, and it was only then that he realized just how powerful this centurion's aura actually was.

  Tang Yingxiong patted Song Kai's shoulder.

  Song opened a shop, grandma's, these people are all damn strong as an ox.

  "You're so weak and frail, kid. Since you've joined our 10th squad, you can't hold us back. Come on, I'll take you to meet the others."

  Tang Yongxing doesn't have a sturdy build, he belongs to the type of people with a moderate physique. If categorized by game attributes, the centurion from earlier would be a strength-type hero, while Tang Yongxing is an agility-type hero.

  Tang Hero? What a pretentious name.

  Song Kai followed Tang Yingxiong and arrived at a place in the southwest corner. Eight robust men were practicing here.

  "Hey, this guy will be a member of our 10th squad from now on. Ma Chao, it just so happens that your group is one person short, he'll join your group then. Teach him well, this kid looks delicate and pampered, it's infuriating to look at him, hurry up and toughen him up," Tang Yingxiong said, pointing at a man in his thirties.

  That man named Ma Chao first glanced at Song Kai, then turned his head and stared at Tang Yingxiong, cupping his hands: "Ten Husband General, you're just in time. I think there's been progress this time, so I'd like to switch positions with you."

  After saying this, Ma Chao suddenly tore off his upper armor and charged towards Tang Hero with a loud shout, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him.

  Tang Yingxiong burst out laughing, his body leaning to one side, and then his right leg kicked out like a ghost, kicking Ma Chao's shoulder.

  Ma Chao did not dodge, he seemed to know Tang Yingxiong's weakness, insufficient strength, and with a single hand, he grabbed towards Tang Yingxiong's leg.

  Tang Yingxiong kicked out with one foot, then retreated backwards using the momentum, did a backflip, and crouched down to sweep his leg out in a flying kick that landed on Ma Chao's knee pit.

  Ma Chao's leg was kicked, and he fell down with the momentum, but his injury was not too serious. He rolled over and continued to pounce on Tang Yingxiong without giving up.

  Two people instantly exchanged over a dozen blows, sending sand and dust flying everywhere, swirling around the two figures as they danced.

  Song Kai watched with his mouth agape, although not as formidable as the top masters in TV shows, but compared to the top-level free fighting and kickboxing of later generations, it was much more exciting. Indeed, it was an era that produced great masters.

  Bang

  A dull thud echoed through the dust, and Ma Chao flew out, landing on his back, a giant footprint still visible on his chest.

  "My goodness! Awesome!" Song Kai exclaimed involuntarily.

  Tang Yingxiong clapped his hands and walked out of the dusty air, nodding towards Ma Chao, "Not bad, not bad, indeed some progress has been made. However, when it comes to using weapons, you are far inferior to me."

  After finishing speaking, he shook his butt and left with a flourish.

  Ma Chao sat down on the ground, spat out a mouthful of sand, and sighed endlessly.

  The rest of them were whispering to each other and then went back to their respective training.

  Song Kai ran over and cupped his hands in greeting: "Officer Ma, you're really something else."

  "Big deal! Didn't you see me getting beaten to a pulp?! Newbie, come with me, let's train!" Ma Chao stood up impatiently and took Song Kai to the side, starting to personally supervise his training.

  Before long, breakfast arrived. Song Kai ran over and grabbed a large leg of mutton, eating it with relish. Ma Chao was indeed a ruthless man, tormenting Song Kai until he was exhausted.

  After morning training, Song Kai felt like he was going to die. He lay limply on the horse's back and let the horse carry him back to the inn.

  The hotel has started business. Now Hongchen Hotel also provides breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and so on, but there are not many people in the hotel at this time.

  Song Kai arrived at the backyard and let Chang Sheng take care of the horses, then he began to bathe and exercise his body.

  From the front hall came bursts of laughter and chatter, as people were chatting, playing finger-guessing games and bragging in the guest house.

  Entertainment is relatively scarce nowadays. Going to brothels for drinking and merriment is the most common form of entertainment, but it's quite expensive. Therefore, chatting in wine houses and tea houses has also become a common leisure activity.

  The new tea was promoted and priced relatively high, but the sales volume on the first day was not good, with almost no one ordering it. Most people still prefer to drink that kind of tea soup with added scallions, ginger and garlic.

  Song Kai is not in a hurry, and without promotion, it's naturally difficult to get popular.

  Life moves forward.

  Song Kai began to shift the focus of his life to physical training, training hard every day, eating more lamb and dog meat, and at night, he would ask Zhou Ce about some basic knife skills.

  The basics are very important, no matter how complex the action is, it is composed of a combination of basic moves. The basic knife skills include horizontal chopping, vertical splitting, straight stabbing, and slanting cutting, etc. Song Kai practiced diligently every day, holding a big knife and facing a human-shaped wooden stake. In just a few days, the wood was cut with thousands of scars and broke into three pieces.

  Ma Chao personally supervised Song Kai's morning training, and later found that Song Kai's push-ups were quite effective, so he promoted this method. The nine people in the tenth squad would do several sets of push-ups during their morning exercises.

  Song Kai also slowly discovered that, in fact, most of the trained people were not so formidable, at most they were just stronger and reacted faster than himself. Ma Chao, among the 800 people, was a top ten figure, but unfortunately, he encountered Tang Yingxiong, this captain of the hundred men. According to the rules, to become a captain of the hundred men, one must defeat the current captain of their own small team. However, every time Ma Chao challenged Tang Yingxiong, he would be kicked into a pig's head by his opponent.

  Ma Chao, who was kicked into a pig's head, would continue to intensify his training and from time to time vent his anger on teammates like Song Kai, so much so that every time Ma Chao failed in a challenge, the rest of them would all be silent and not dare to provoke him.

  ……

  Ten days later.

  Song Kai finally adapted to the days of bitter training, and he had completely transformed, his body was no longer pale and tender, but had become yellowish and slightly bulging muscles, which was naturally incomparable to Ma Chao and others, but compared to ordinary scholars, it was much more robust.

  That day, Song Kai finished his morning training as usual and rode back to the inn on horseback. He entered the backyard and jumped down from the horse's back directly.

  "Shopkeeper! Your leg movements are getting more agile, in another ten days or half a month, you'll be a martial arts master!" Chang Sheng said with a familiar smile as he took over the reins.

  Song Kai burst out laughing and pointed at Chang Sheng, "You old gourd can actually say flattering words too."

  "Heh heh... Heh heh, that's what Nie Zhuanggui demanded. If I don't speak nicely to the customers, she'll fire me," Changsheng said with a silly grin on his face.

  Song Kai burst out laughing, "Alright, no one will fire you, but, Chang Sheng, it's good that you speak up more often. Keep practicing and when I open a new branch in the future, I'll make you the manager!"

  Chang Sheng was stunned for a moment, holding onto the reins.

  "Boss Lang, Cui Lan also wants to be the boss," said the plump Cui Lan, carrying a large bucket of water, walking out of the kitchen and happening to overhear Song Kai's conversation with Boss Lang.

  "Go ahead, you'll gain another ten pounds of flesh, I'll make sure you become the shopkeeper," Song Kai said with a smile.

  "And another thing!" Zhao Tieshan burst out of the kitchen, brandishing a meteorite-patterned cleaver, his heroic spirit soaring. "Boss Song, you can't forget about me, Zhao Tieshan! I'm devoted to this restaurant and admire you with all my heart. Not to mention that I'm the eighteenth-generation heir of the Zhao family's culinary tradition, and the only one at that...!"

  "Zhao Lang, then you can be the shopkeeper from now on, and I'll just be the shopkeeper's wife," Cuilan suddenly turned around, gazing at Zhao Tieshan with tender affection, her watery eyes blinking repeatedly.

  Zhao Tieshan swallowed his saliva, "That... pot is still stewing meat, I'll go back first..."

  Song Kai waved his arm, "Everyone go to work, do well, and in the future, you will all be the old veterans of this store, and become the boss. Chang Sheng, go get me a bucket of hot water..."