Chapter 243: with translation of chapter title

The soldiers' training has never been something that can be achieved overnight.

It is a matter that tests the soldiers' physical fitness and tests the logistics—a long undertaking.

As for these people from the plateau's branch line, Chen Wuji held no hope at all.

In Chen Wuji's eyes, the greatest value of this group of people lay in handling logistics.

As long as they can build high walls around Xishan Village within these two months, they will be meritorious.

If they manage to accomplish this, Chen Wuji could even overlook what they have done before and thereafter treat them as logistics personnel to be supported.

What surprised Chen Wuji greatly was that they actually trained in a proper and orderly manner.

And this, at most, took only half a day.

"Shi Yi Shu, how is their training?" Chen Wuji summoned Chen Li, who was squatting to the side holding a knife and watching the drill; his eyesight in this era was sometimes unreliable, so he needed to hear others' opinions as confirmation.

Chen Li fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Wuji, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

"Shi Yi Shu, say whatever you have to say; we cannot beat around the bush about what we are facing now—say as much as you can." Chen Wuji said.

Chen Li looked at the plateau crowd training with a hint of depth, saying, "Their foundation is good; they really are training in an orderly manner, and given time they should become capable of fighting."

"But these people are only trained to this extent because they obey orders; they have form but lack courage. Even if they later train excellently, they may not be able to demonstrate the strength of their training."

"Moreover, what worries me more is that they now harbor resentment toward us in their hearts; if it ever erupts, the training you have spent money and grain on, Wuji, could become our trouble instead."

Chen Wuji chuckled lightly, "Then tomorrow we'll give them an extra task: go confess to the ancestors!"

"Shi Yi Shu should be relatively familiar with our ancestors' stories; while they are confessing, find a moment to tell them, to properly recount the tales of the ancestors and their connection to them."

Chen Li's expression flickered slightly, "This… will it work?"

"It depends on whether they have truly forgotten their roots; observing them for a while will tell us." Chen Wuji said, "This isn't difficult; if we look closely, we can still see it."

Chen Li harbored a hint of skepticism toward Chen Wuji's method.

But he didn't say anything more.

Since the people from the plateau's branch line arrived, he has been constantly observing, watching their reactions.

What this branch line is like, Chen Li has always been clear about.

And precisely because he is clear, he is especially wary of the people from the plateau's branch line.

In his view, it was wrong from the start for Chen Bushi and Chen Wuji to employ the plateau's branch line.

They shouldn't have been brought in.

But this was the result of a private discussion between Chen Wuji and Chen Bushi; even if he felt uneasy, he didn't voice it, merely staring fixedly at the plateau's branch line people, observing their reactions.

"The meat is ready, call everyone to eat."

Chen Wuji's voice rang out, pulling the somewhat absent-minded Chen Li back.

"…All right." He responded, raising his voice to call everyone to eat.

The pot lid woven from straw was lifted, and a rich meat aroma instantly spread.

Chen Wuji was also eating tiger meat for the first time; smelling it, it turned out to be quite good.

"Brigade Commander Chen, I won't eat this meat for nothing; tomorrow I'll go up the mountain to bring people, and from now on the Tianchi Guan Militia will follow you—when you eat meat, just give us a sip of soup!" Wu Bu Yong strode over holding a sea bowl and shouted at Chen Wuji.

Chen Wuji was a bit dazed, "Leader Wu, can't a single meal make you compromise?"

"How could it not be? It's totally worth it!" Wu Bu Yong shouted.

"Even if you are buying someone's heart, I accept it; I like your way of buying someone's heart."

"You're willing to take out such a rare thing as tiger meat to feed us; I'm sure you'd be even more generous with other things. Following you, I don't know how far we can go, but at least when you're doing well, we won't go hungry—that's enough."

"By the way, keep some of the tiger's scraps for me; this counts as one of my requests. I'm getting older, these aspects… need to be supplemented."

Chen Wuji burst out laughing; he liked dealing with this guy.

Calling him stupid might actually be a bit true, yet he can see things clearly.

"I don't know how far I can go either, but I can guarantee that as long as I have a bite of meat, my brothers have a bite too. The saying 'I eat meat while you drink soup' sounds harsh—if we eat meat, we eat together; if we drink soup, we drink together. I will share wealth and poverty with everyone." Chen Wuji said this solemnly and earnestly.

He also didn't know where the road ahead lay.

The only thing Chen Wuji knows at this moment is that he needs to quickly accumulate strength to face the upcoming great change.

Only by getting through this once can the future be seen a bit more clearly.

Perhaps by then he will be able to give his clan and Wu Bu Yong an answer, or make a choice.

"All right!" Wu Bu Yong shouted, thrusting the sea bowl hard into Yuan Jinshi's hands, "Fill me a full bowl!"

Some things in the world are sometimes just this miraculous.

Chen Wuji had still been planning to slowly stew things over a low fire, yet it was easily resolved by a single meal.

Although what this reveals behind the scenes is that the Tianchi Guan Militia had long intended to come down the mountain, for Chen Wuji this is actually not important; if he lacks sufficient sincerity, they certainly wouldn't consider him.

"I'll keep all the tiger's scraps for you; do you need the tiger bones?" Chen Wuji asked with a smile.

Wu Bu Yong blinked, "I was talking about the tiger bones."

"Tiger bones don't supplement that aspect, do they?"

"What… what aspect?"

Chen Wuji glanced downward.

Wu Bu Yong instantly flushed bright red, he embarrassedly coughed twice, then hurriedly said, "I'm talking about the bones; my father said that when one gets older, the bones aren't as useful, so I was thinking to supplement them early. The aspect you're referring to—I don't need it at all, not even a bit; I'm not even married yet, so why would I need to supplement?"

"Besides, I'm strong; although I haven't used it yet, I know I'm definitely strong, so I don't need to supplement, not even a bit."

Chen Wuji burst out laughing, "Leader Wu, you can't blame me for misunderstanding—your words are inherently easy to misinterpret."

"Really?" Wu Bu Yong stared with a slightly stiff neck at Chen Li and the others, asking cautiously.

Chen Li silently nodded.

He had just thought the same, and was wondering how this young fellow could be useless in that regard at such a young age; for a soldier, that's not a good thing—it would affect his future prospects.

"Hey, don't all think wildly—I'm talking about the bones." Wu Bu Yong shouted urgently.

Chen Wuji chuckled and said, "I know, I know, bones. But I'm still keeping those scraps for you; it's not easy to come by such a big fellow, those scraps are genuine rarities, priceless good stuff."

"Stop it, I don't need it!" Wu Bu Yong glared, eyes wide, and shouted loudly in a hurry.