Chapter 296: Struggle

Baifeng was waiting, hoping the final result of this cross-country run would not be too unsightly.

After about two hours, some Soldiers had already reached Baifeng, then collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air with their limbs splayed toward Heaven. Baifeng did not know exactly how long the Old City wall was, but in later generations, a five-kilometer cross-country run generally took twenty-some minutes; for them to run for several hours, the distance was likely even longer than Baifeng had anticipated, perhaps thirty kilometers long. Thus, Baifeng had not forced them into an armed cross-country run, but an armed marathon.

This intensity was Baifeng's oversight; it was a foolish thing he had done in a fit of pique, but it was not a major problem. As far as the stamina of primitive people went, running a half-marathon, or a little longer than a half-marathon, would not cost them their lives. In the past, when they scrambled for food, they had run for longer than this in one go.

Baifeng did not care about the state of the Soldiers who had reached the location; he did not care if they were lying down or kneeling, as long as they had arrived.

After him, Soldiers arrived one after another, all without exception collapsing on the ground and gasping for air. Baifeng's complexion looked slightly better; at least his Soldiers were not all trash.

Until Baifeng had counted three hundred and twenty-seven people, and after a gap of more than ten minutes, no one else appeared. One had to know that the professional Soldiers of the Baifeng Tribe already numbered over six hundred. These people were the elite Baifeng had personally selected, given the best armor and weapons, and they possessed food without having to labor.

The other Soldiers all held other identities; they would come when there was important training, but usually they were farming, or doing other work. Guarding, patrolling, and training were not things they needed to participate in. Baifeng had not yet planned to have too many professional Soldiers.

Seeing that no one had come for a long time, Baifeng stood up, intending to go see for himself what state the others were in. As for the Soldiers who had already reached the destination, he let them rest first; the physical exertion was indeed too great.

Baifeng walked for over ten minutes without seeing anyone, so he had no choice but to continue walking forward. He was walking in the opposite direction to the others; if they had the ability and the thought to run to the finish line, they should have bumped into Baifeng by now.

But counting from the time the last Soldier reached the finish line, half an hour had already passed. No matter how slowly they ran, it was impossible to fall behind by a distance of half an hour.

Anger had already begun to rise in Baifeng's heart, because of military matters, Baifeng did not know how much anger he had felt these past few days. He even felt chest tightness when he slept. It seemed that no matter what the final result was, he would have to prepare some medicine for himself after returning to soothe his liver and relieve his depression; otherwise, before he had accomplished anything, he would have angered himself into collapse first.

After walking for a while longer, Baifeng heard human voices. Looking into the distance, there was a massive crowd of people lying under the trees, not knowing what they were saying.

Baifeng paused for a moment, then closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He decided to stop caring about these losers; no matter what their reaction was when he walked over, he would just pretend he hadn't seen them.

Afterward, Baifeng suppressed the displeasure in his heart and walked over with large strides. Those lying there, with sharp-eyed ones seeing the Tribal Chief coming, hurriedly warned those with them. Everyone looked toward the road; it really was the Tribal Chief. In an instant, it was deathly silent, each of them thinking about what excuse to use to deal with the Tribal Chief.

Baifeng walked past without even glancing at them. Some of them were still explaining: "Tribal Chief, I am too tired, I am just resting here for a moment, I will run immediately!"

Baifeng turned a deaf ear and continued forward. This pile of people, Baifeng looked at them at a glance, there were at least sixty or seventy, meaning there were even more people inferior to them behind, not knowing what they were doing. And until now, those few Leaders were nowhere to be seen.

Afterward, the further Baifeng walked, the greater his anger grew, because they were all people lying on the ground in twos and threes resting. Baifeng ignored them and continued walking down. He now intended to see what those few Leaders were doing. Just like this, Baifeng felt those Leaders should also be properly disciplined. The problem was not just with those below; to lead a military that was initially so fierce and good at fighting into its current state, they bore an unshirkable responsibility.

After walking for nearly an hour, Baifeng heard arguing in the distance. Chi's coarse voice was particularly clear. He did not know what problem had occurred, but the current problems were no longer problems, because Baifeng intended to directly disband the entire military and then re-select and train them.

Baifeng had already seen two groups of people confronting each other, but for the time being, it remained a verbal conflict and they had not made a move. On Xiong's side were the Leaders, only nine people, while opposite them were at least thirty.

Listening to the content of their mutual cursing, it should be that those thirty people refused to accept management, feeling that Xiong and the others were bullying them by relying on their status, and wanted to resist.

Baifeng felt that there was no need to keep such Soldiers, especially the one at the very front with the loudest voice; he should be the ringleader. It seemed there was no need for his head to remain on his neck. This kind of traitor was not suitable to stay in the Baifeng Tribe; sooner or later, he would be a disaster.

Baifeng walked closer, clapping his hands as he approached: "Everyone has such refined interests, what are you doing here? Chatting and discussing, or pointing out the world?"

Hearing Baifeng come over, the two groups of people immediately stopped arguing. Several Leaders felt ashamed and lowered their heads; after all, they could not even do this small task well. Even the usually proud Xiong blushed and choked back his words.

As for the one leading the trouble on the opposite side, seeing Baifeng come, he still felt that his backer had arrived, and said carelessly: "Tribal Chief, let me tell you, these people are bullying others by relying on their status. They think they have been favored by you, so they beat and scold us at every turn. We are just running a little slower, right? They use whips to hit us. We are not Slaves, why should we be bullied like this? You tell us if that is right."

Baifeng walked closer, kept a certain distance from him, loosened his neck, and then asked him with a tilted face: "You mean, you refuse to accept his discipline?"

That person spoke without thinking: "Of course I don't accept it, why should he..."

Then he immediately realized something was wrong and changed his words: "It is not that I don't accept it, it is just that he..."

Baifeng raised his hand to interrupt his words: "No need to say more. They were arranged by me. You do not accept them, which means you do not accept me. Since you do not accept it, then do not use your mouth to speak. You can make a move and hit me. If you win, everything will be up to you. How about that?"

The companions behind that Soldier began to retreat. They also realized that the matter had been blown out of proportion, and they also began to feel lingering fear.

That Soldier hurriedly said: "Tribal Chief, I did not mean that, it is just..."

Baifeng took off his Knife, stuck the Knife into the ground, and only held the scabbard: "Come on, take your scabbard and have a fight. Speak with strength."