Chapter 36

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

"I say, Chief of Staff Ye, this kind of thing isn't really our business to manage, is it?" He Yingqin stood with hands on his hips, clearly long accustomed to such matters.

"Why wouldn't it be? The Principal has been appointed Suppression Commander-in-Chief, and the Xiang Army is also under the Principal's restraint—does he not even want to manage it? If he won't manage it, I'll take the Yue Army to manage it. As a man of Guangdong Province, I, Ye Jianying, cannot stand by and watch!"

"But don't act rashly. The Principal can't manage it anyway. Among the Xiang Army, Guangxi Army, and Yunnan Army in this city, which unit truly obeys orders? Aren't they all just looking to take advantage of the situation? It's just that your Jianguo Yue Army has followed the Grand Marshal longer and is somewhat more loyal."

"Actually, compared to Liu Zhenhuan of the Guangxi Army and Yang Ximin of the Yunnan Army, Tan Yankai's Xiang Army is still decent—at least they still listen to the Grand Marshal. Let's not stir up trouble."

The two men's conversation revealed the contradictions among the armies under the Grand Marshal.

The Yue Army was a local army in Guangdong Province, and the Whampoa Student Army had also grown up on the land of Guangdong Province, but the Xiang Army, Guangxi Army, and Yunnan Army were all external guest armies, and contradictions had always existed between the two sides.

"We can't just let them run wild. The Grand Marshal should strictly restrain the armies under him, or trouble will surely break out sooner or later!" Chief of Staff Ye said in displeasure.

"Yes, yes, calm down. We really have no choice either. Look at this Whampoa Student Army—they're about to graduate, and the Grand Marshal will soon have his own army. Then we won't have to rely on those external guest armies everywhere, and our restraint over them can be tightened."

Chief of Staff Ye stood up, looking at the disciplined Whampoa Student Army before him. Aside from their own weapons and captured equipment, they indeed had no looted goods from elsewhere, and he couldn't help but nod with satisfaction.

"Since the Principal is unwilling to directly stop the Xiang Army from taking advantage of the fire to loot, we can ask the Whampoa Student Army to occupy the streets within Xiguan under the pretext of suppressing bandits, refusing other troops from entering to loot, especially paying attention to protecting the Thirteen Hongs. After the Merchant Corps Incident, the common people still need to continue living..."

After hearing Chief of Staff Ye's suggestion, He Yingqin had Wu Instructor lead the Student Army and the Worker-Peasant Corps Army to carry it out, while he himself still needed to escort Chen Lianbo to see the Principal to report his achievements.

Wu Instructor had previously been leading the Worker-Peasant Corps in suppressing bandits on the outer perimeter and had only just arrived. Hearing the words of He Yingqin and Ye Jianying, he immediately accepted the task of protecting Xiguan from looting.

In Wu Instructor's view, protecting the interests of the common people was his inescapable duty.

Lv Muzhi and the others naturally followed Wu Instructor together, deploying defenses throughout Xiguan. Any soldiers from other troops who wanted to break into civilian homes and shops to loot were strictly forbidden.

Lv Muzhi and the others were assigned to Ren'an Street near Xiguan for guard duty.

Standing in front of a clinic on Ren'an Street, Lv Muzhi couldn't help but shake his head: in this world, it's hard to define others as good or bad, and it's still the common people who suffer.

The Merchant Corps weren't good people, but the armies fighting the Merchant Corps weren't necessarily all good people either.

After Lv Muzhi's Whampoa Student Army defeated the Merchant Corps, they still had to guard against their own friendlies doing bad things.

Chen Geng stood beside him and bumped Lv Muzhi's shoulder: "Muzi, there's a clinic behind you. Weren't you grazed by a bullet? Want to go in and get it treated?"

Looking back, behind them was a clinic called "Baozhilin."

"Oh come on. These days, even common people are afraid of soldiers. If you just walk in, they might think you want to take advantage of the fire to loot! Don't cause trouble for them."

Lv Muzhi was speaking when a squad of Xiang Army soldiers entered Ren'an Street from the west side.

These soldiers had big and small bundles on their shoulders, clearly having gathered many good things from everywhere. They originally wanted to come to Ren'an Street to see if there was a chance to make a fortune, but unexpectedly, Whampoa Student Army soldiers lined both sides of the street.

The soldiers gritted their teeth and walked in. Seeing that they really seemed to be that group of Whampoa students, they immediately became bold.

"Yo, I thought it was someone. Turns out to be a group of students who haven't even grown their hair yet. Not staying properly on the island, and coming out to fight like us men?" A Xiang Army squad leader had his cap tilted as he shouted at a Whampoa student.

Seeing the student didn't react, the Xiang Army squad leader silently thought it was boring and continued forward. Seeing the short Chen Geng and the arm-wounded Lv Muzhi, he became even more arrogant and squeezed between the two.

"Get out of the way! I want to go in and look at wounds!"

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

The Xiang Army soldiers shoved Chen Geng and Lv Muzhi.

Lv Muzhi had just seen blood on the battlefield and couldn't take this. He was about to flare up, but unexpectedly Chen Geng struck first, kicking the Xiang Army squad leader away.

"Damn! Brother Chen Geng, what great moves!" Lv Muzhi couldn't help but exclaim. A Xiang Army soldier swung the bundle in his hand and smashed it over. Lv Muzhi sidestepped to dodge, then grabbed the soldier's waist and threw him to the ground with a shoulder throw. A pile of copper and silverware fell out of the bundle—clearly from common people's homes.

Seeing this, the Xiang Army squad leader immediately got furious: "Beat them for me. If they're beaten to death, it's on me. Open fire!"

However, the Whampoa Student Army was still very united. The student soldiers on Ren'an Street immediately raised their guns and surrounded them, and this squad of Xiang Army didn't dare act rashly.

Chen Geng was still very angry, sitting on the Xiang Army squad leader's shoulder: "You, a Xiang Army corporal, dare to call yourself 'old man'? I was already a soldier in the Xiang Army at fourteen, and you boss me around, telling me to loot, telling me to loot! Looting before was bad enough... joining the revolution and still looting—you've disgraced the Xiang Army completely. I'll beat you, you good-for-nothing..."

"Ouch, senior, sorry. This lowly one didn't recognize Mount Tai. It wasn't just me doing this... Don't hit anymore... Spare me..." The Xiang Army squad leader couldn't help but beg for mercy.

"Chen Geng! Stop quickly, don't cause a death!"

Chen Geng looked back and saw it was Wu Instructor, so he stopped and returned to his original position to stand guard.

Wu Instructor had everyone return to their posts, then pulled these Xiang Army soldiers aside for ideological education.

Lv Muzhi was stunned by Chen Geng's moves just now: "Chen Geng, where did you learn those few moves? I've never seen them before."

Chen Geng then explained slowly. His grandfather had been a Xiang Army general in the Qing Dynasty, and the family had practiced martial arts for generations. Chen Geng was naturally no exception. At fourteen, to avoid an arranged marriage, he hid in the Xiang Army and served for three years. Later, he couldn't stand the warlord mixed combat and left the Xiang Army... After twists and turns, he joined the Worker-Peasant Faction and attended the Military Academy.

"Hmm, I see. Your legs are so fast because you trained while fleeing marriage. When you have time, you must teach me a few moves..."

Squeak. Behind Lv Muzhi, a door suddenly opened.

Looking back, it turned out the main gate of Baozhilin had opened, and an old man over sixty was staring at Chen Geng and Lv Muzhi.

"Old sir, do you have business?" Lv Muzhi asked.

"I got no business. It's you who got business~" The old man pointed at the bandages wrapped around Lv Muzhi's arm.

"Come in and sit. I'll treat your injury." The old man opened the gate fully and invited Lv Muzhi and Chen Geng in.

Lv Muzhi was still hesitating. The instructors had warned that soldiers were not allowed to enter civilian homes.

But Wu Instructor had already noticed the situation here. He looked up at the Baozhilin sign and nodded: "It's fine. Go in and take a look. Your arm is bandaged too simply. Remember to pay after you're seen."

For some reason, Lv Muzhi always felt the sign "Baozhilin" sounded very familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere.

"Youngster, stretch out your hand~" The old man urged.

"Old sir, how should I address you?" Lv Muzhi asked.

"Everyone calls me Huang Feihong..."

"Oh, alright. Thank you, Senior Huang."

"A small matter. Why thank me."

"Senior Huang is too polite... Wait, that's not right... You're called Huang Feihong? The one who knows martial arts?"

"If this youngster thinks this old man's medical skills are lacking, this old man also knows a bit of fist and foot..."

Lv Muzhi reacted, and suddenly a powerful piece of music rang out in his mind: Arrogant Qi~ Arrogant Laugh at Ten Thousand Waves~ Hot Blood~ Hotter Than the Red Sun Light......

Is this a martial arts grandmaster of a generation, Huang Feihong?