Chapter 51 Tearing Off the Facade

Even Wei Zehui couldn't help but nod in silent praise at Lin Shize's horsemanship; those three blade strikes were nothing short of flawless.

Lin Shize looked at the soldiers gathered on the training ground and announced, "This is our Instructor Wei. From now on, his words on this training ground are my words.

"Even I must obey him. Anyone who violates military orders will be shown no mercy. Do you all understand?!"

"Understood!"

Lin Shize dismounted, walked up to Wei Zehui, and gave a military salute. "All troops of the Sirius Battalion have assembled. Please give your instructions, Instructor Wei!"

Wei Zehui looked at Lin Shize's solemn expression, which was in stark contrast to the smiling face he had worn back in the village.

It also made him see Lin Shize's absolute determination in training the troops.

"Begin training!"

"Yes!"

The novel training methods filled the soldiers with high enthusiasm. Although it was much more exhausting, they could clearly feel themselves growing stronger.

Standing at attention was a training item that Lin Shize had explicitly insisted upon adding.

This was immensely beneficial for cultivating the soldiers' obedience and discipline.

Wei Chuxi walked up to Lin Shize, looking at him with a beaming smile as she asked, "Since I'm also an instructor, do you have to listen to me when I speak?"

"Yes, Instructor Wei!"

"Good! Then don't move a muscle." With a mischievous grin, Wei Chuxi used a strand of her hair to tickle Lin Shize's nose and ears, and even used an ink brush to paint two large, dark panda circles around his eyes.

"Hahaha." Seeing Lin Shize's comical appearance, Wei Chuxi laughed so hard she bent backward and forward.

Nearby, Liu Wu and Zhao Dahu couldn't help bursting into hearty laughter either.

It was simply too hilarious; they had never seen Lin Shize look like this before.

Yet Lin Shize remained standing right where he was, completely motionless.

"What are you laughing at?!" Wei Zehui walked over with a stern expression and barked angrily, "The few of you, run ten laps around the training ground immediately! Move!"

Liu Wu and the others could no longer laugh. With crying faces, they began running around the training ground.

"The rest of you! Five laps!"

Wei Zehui continued.

"Why do we have to run too?! We didn't do anything wrong," Gou Dan shouted in protest from the side.

Wei Zehui walked right up to him, stared straight into his eyes, and said loudly, "Because you are a unit, you share life and death together. Everyone run fifteen laps! Anyone who questions this further gets twenty!"

"Yes!"

Gou Dan wanted to say more, but Lin Shize, still sporting his panda eyes, had already taken the lead and started running.

Gou Dan muttered under his breath and fell in behind Lin Shize.

***

Wei Zehui watched as Lin Shize secretly gave him a thumbs-up and smiled slightly. Life like this wasn't bad at all.

As a day of training concluded, everyone lay down to rest. Suddenly, a voice broke the stillness of the night.

"Did you guys see those two instructors eating?"

"Yeah, mother of god, they can really eat! Bowls as big as a person's head, and they each polished off two full bowls."

"Hey, Old Wang, you're the biggest eater here. Could you manage two bowls?"

"Me? My ass! I can barely manage a bowl and a half."

"Good lord, are they starving ghosts reincarnated?"

"Do you think that female instructor has the hots for the commander? Out of so many people, she went specifically to tease him."

"I think so too. The commander is handsome and can fight on the battlefield. If I were a woman, I'd have fallen for him too."

"Oh, come off it, Old Zhang. With that patch of chest hair you've got, if you turned into a woman, no man could stomach it."

"What the hell do you know? This keeps me warm; I don't even need to wear a sweater. Want to come and experience it?"

"Go fuck your mother!"

"Hahaha."

"You guys don't know this, but during our last mission, I went along with the commander and the others. That female instructor originally came to assassinate him, but ended up getting captured by the commander."

"The way those two were entangled, tsk tsk tsk... First it was like an ancient tree entwining its roots, and then the Guanyin sitting on the lotus..."

Old Zhang gushed with flying spit as he recounted the previous events, leaving the listeners hooked and thoroughly entertained.

On the other side, the Wei siblings were still practicing their martial arts in the open space. Watching them filled Lin Shize with genuine admiration; no one's success is accidental, and it is inevitably built upon a foundation of unseen sweat and toil.

In truth, the Wei siblings were already exhausted, but they had eaten too much for dinner and couldn't fall asleep.

Over the past few days, the Sirius Battalion had been drilling day and night. Just at noon, right after Lin Shize had finished his meal and was preparing to resume training, Zhao Dahu rushed over abruptly.

"Commander, Chu Luolong is here. He's right outside the military camp, saying he wants to see you."

"See me?" Lin Shize asked, frowning. "Did he say what it's about?"

"He didn't specify, but it seems to be about the instructors."

Lin Shize thought for a moment and decided he should go and see what was happening.

Outside the main camp, Chu Luolong was pacing back and forth impatiently until he caught sight of Lin Shize, whereupon he forced a smile.

"Brother Lin, it's me."

Lin Shize leaned against the fortress wall and replied indifferently, "Ah, it's Brother Chu. What brings you here?"

Chu Luolong: "Nothing much, just came to check on Brother Lin."

Lin Shize: "Well, you've seen me now. Since there's nothing else, I'll head back."

"Hey, hey, hey, Brother Lin, don't leave yet. I actually do have a small matter to discuss," Chu Luolong said hastily, seeing that Lin Shize was about to walk away.

"Those two assassins who tried to assassinate me a while ago—did Brother Lin manage to capture them?"

Lin Shize: "No, they escaped."

"They really escaped?"

"Of course. Could it be that Brother Chu doesn't trust me?"

"I trust you, of course I trust you. But why would Brother Lin's soldiers appear in Guofu Village?"

Hearing this, Lin Shize instantly narrowed his eyes. How on earth did Chu Luolong find out that he had sent men to Guofu Village?

"Brother Chu, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Facing Lin Shize's feigned ignorance, Chu Luolong was momentarily at a loss.

"Brother Lin, look, I came all this way to see you. You can't just leave me standing outside talking, can you?"

Lin Shize picked at his fingernails and said, "Sorry, but a military camp is a restricted area. Unauthorized personnel are not permitted to enter."

"Lin Shize, are you seriously refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit of fine! My father is the Censor-in-Chief, crushing you would be as easy as squashing an ant!

"If you know what's good for you, hand over the Wei siblings right now, or don't blame me for being unpolished!"

Chu Luolong pointed at Lin Shize and cursed loudly. He had known for a while that Lin Shize was harboring the Wei siblings, and today he had come specifically to demand them.

Lin Shize let out a scornful laugh. "Brother Chu, I truly have no idea where they are. You should probably go look somewhere else."

Ignoring Chu Luolong's frantic, raging screams, Lin Shize slowly walked back down the fortress wall.

He still had plenty of things to attend to; he had no time to waste on this utter fool.

"Lin Shize! Lin Shize! Get back here!" Chu Luolong jumped up and down outside the camp gates, hurling abuses. Seeing no reaction, he prepared to charge forward.

Swish!

An arrow embedded itself deeply into the open ground right in front of Chu Luolong.

"Military territory! Trespassers will be executed!"

Chu Luolong's chest heaved violently. From childhood to this day, no one had ever dared to speak to him like that, and yet a mere battalion commander dared to be this arrogant.

Fine, very well! Let's wait and see!

Returning to his own camp, Chu Luolong immediately ordered Old Tenth to take five hundred soldiers and march out.

Upon learning the news, Zhao Tantong immediately hurried to Chu Luolong's military tent.