Chapter 63: You've Been Given Too Much Face

【Begging for one hundred continued reads,,】

Gao Conglong cursed loudly, waving a short axe in his hand and blocking the path before Peng Yun.

Peng Yun instantly froze; seeing it was Gao Conglong, he felt a bit intimidated in his heart—this was a ruthless character.

Yet his mouth still shouted: "Master Li, on what grounds have these lowborn bastards been eating our grain for the past two days? That grain was given to us by Elder Wu for training! You let them waste it in a few days; what will we eat?"

Peng Yun's words instantly provoked the dissatisfaction of many mine workers and salt slaves, who glared coldly at Peng Yun and his band of mountain bandits; the courtyard was terrifyingly silent.

This made Peng Yun and the others, even while holding their knives, feel a chill down their spines; were these mine workers different from before?

There was now a clear light in their eyes, no longer the dim appearance of walking corpses as before.

"Since the Grand Commander has entrusted you to my training, then you must obey my arrangements... The matter of grain is not your concern!"

Li You said coldly, "Assemble at the Hour of Chen tomorrow morning to begin training; those who do not arrive will be dealt with by military law!"

"Military law?" Peng Yun heard this and laughed arrogantly and unrestrainedly: "Do you really think you're some kind of god of archery?"

Having spoken, he drew his bow and shot an arrow that struck the western doorframe; the arrow tail trembled wildly, shaking off quite a bit of the thatch above, and he sneered: "Have you ever been on a battlefield? Have you ever killed anyone? You really have been given too much face!"

The next morning.

Li You got up early as usual; after running about five kilometers with weights, the sky was already bright. He returned to the room, put on his gear, combined one bow case and one arrow case into a double sheath, and strapped two double bows to his leather belt. In this era of backward productivity, one bow and ten arrows could almost be exchanged for five shi of rice.

Li You tidied himself up and stood early on the parade ground in front of the small courtyard.

Last night, Li You, along with Li Qinxiang, Zhou Yin, and others, had renovated this area, removed the scattered stones, and erected several thatch-woven arrow targets, making it a simple parade ground.

He leaned on his Miao sword, carried the double sheath on his back, stood like a towering pine or cypress, and simply stood there quietly.

Before long, Wu Dading, Li Qinxiang, and the other thirteen arrived; seeing Li You silent, dressed in military attire, with a cold expression and an aura of authority that commanded respect without anger, they felt slightly uncomfortable in their hearts, said nothing more, and stood neatly behind him.

The Hour of Chen, which is roughly eight o'clock in the future era, was not considered early.

So many mine workers and salt slaves had already gotten up and were preparing to go to work.

"Dading, you few don't have bows or arrows either; today, go supervise the mine workers as they work. I'm still worried they won't listen to me and will cause trouble; you go over there and make contact with Xiang Hu and Dang Suozhi again... Today, I will properly train this group of archers!"

Suddenly, Li You spoke to Wu Dading and the others behind him.

Wu Dading frowned and was about to speak, but Gao Conglong jumped the gun, saying: "These archers have Peng Yun as a thorn in the side; judging by what he showed last night, they must have some skill. Can you, Master, suppress them?"

"If I can't suppress them, how can I lead you to carve out a paradise?" Li You said lightly.

However, this smile made Gao Conglong feel a slight chill in his heart; the few of them shouted together and led the mine workers south, but still felt somewhat uneasy, looking back at Li You's side from time to time.

Around the Hour of Chen, this group of archers came out of the thatched courtyard one after another; the first to arrive was Miao Xianzu, and Li You nodded to him.

Many others, seeing Li You from a distance in his military attire with a gloomy face, those who were quick-witted quickly ran over; regardless of how skilled his archery actually was, the terrifying reputation of the "Killing Scholar" had already spread to Beizhai.

The archer unit totaled twenty-one people; by a quarter past the Hour of Chen, eighteen had arrived, leaving three missing. Li You naturally knew these three were Cui Sanzao, Zheng Daniu, and the leader, Peng Yun.

After Peng Yun shot that arrow last night, he actually thought a lot, all about establishing authority; but after much thought, there was only one word: "Kill." In feudal armies, before true ideological spirit was forged, the method of maintaining military discipline was simple and brutal, and this was often the most effective.

Li You was too lazy to consider and weigh things; even if he was just an instructor, what he wanted was absolute obedience and fear carved into the bones.

Time slowly passed; many people softly called out to Li You, asking if training should begin, but Li You always said softly: "People are not yet all here; wait!"

He stood like a sculpture, leaning on a more-than-one-meter-long great sword, carrying the double sheath on his back, with a cold and resolute expression; anyone could tell he was about to deliver a warning shot!

But how big of a warning shot could he possibly deliver?

These archers were all direct subordinates of Wu Zhuge; Li You, after all, was just an outsider who had arrived less than a month ago; even with the title of a scholar, how much deterrent power could he have over them?

"Could it be you can kill someone to establish authority!"

Below, an archer called Black Face muttered; Li You glanced at him: in his twenties, a square face, tall and thin.

He met Li You's gaze and felt as if pricked by a needle; he simply could not withstand that aura and those eyes, and finally lowered his head.

By three-quarters past the Hour of Chen, Peng Yun and the other two still had not arrived; the Black Face man left the ranks, apparently going to wake Peng Yun up.

Not long after, Peng Yun's cursing voice came out of the small courtyard first; the Black Face man ran back to the ranks first, and then Peng Yun and the other two finally appeared.

Walking and cursing all the way, their quivers not even properly strapped on, they looked exactly like beggars; they walked right up to the front but did not join the ranks, instead walking directly to face Li You. Zheng Daniu said boldly: "I say, Scholar, didn't you see our three people's archery skills yesterday? Do we still need an instructor who holds a pen? Huh?"

"You damn dog, pretending to be a big wolf! Teach, then! Let's see what kind of tricks you can teach today!" Peng Yun was even more furious, deliberately spitting right onto Li You's face.

Li You took a deep breath and said loudly: "Yesterday, I said assemble at the Hour of Chen for roll call; those who are late will be dealt with by military law!"

"Heh, really dealt with by military law? How exactly..."

"Those who are late will be killed!"