Chapter 3: Joining the Army

Chen Mo chewed on the dry rations bought from the town, moving forward with slow steps.

Sixty miles is neither far nor near, but he wouldn't make it without eating something.

The hard, unleavened flatbread was swallowed into his belly, digesting into nourishment for his body.

The reason Chen Mo dared to enlist was not only because he was truly at the end of his rope, but also because he had something to rely on.

It was just that this reliance could not be used right now.

It was a pearl, stored in his own dantian, having traveled into this world along with him.

The pearl was named the Transformation Pearl, and its function was very simple: to help one undergo a rebirth and increase their physical strength.

And to undergo this rebirth, one needed to accumulate enough Qi and Blood.

Chen Mo had been in this world for several months, either fleeing or on the road to flee, and had rarely eaten a full meal.

It was impossible to have any excess Qi and Blood accumulated, so even now, the Transformation Pearl remained empty.

But as long as he enlisted, even if it were bitter, it would be better than fleeing, and he would surely be able to slowly accumulate Qi and Blood.

Once enough Qi and Blood were accumulated, he could use the Transformation Pearl to undergo a rebirth.

Chen Mo ate half a piece of the unleavened flatbread, took out the water skin Zhao Yu had given him earlier, gulped down two mouthfuls of water, and stepped forward.

In the dusk of the setting sun, his shadow was stretched extremely long.

Finding a dead tree sheltered from the Wind, Chen Mo rested for the night and continued his journey the next day.

On the official road, besides him, there were many other refugees, evidently all going to enlist.

Better to live a wretched life than to die; even if it meant enlisting, at least there would be food to eat.

Approaching noon, the sun scorched people until they felt limp, and Chen Mo finally caught sight of the black banners hanging low in the distance.

He couldn't help but quicken his pace and continue walking forward.

Under the flagpole were a few worn-out wooden tables, where several Soldiers were sitting idly drinking tea, with three or four refugees gathered beside them.

"Are you here to enlist too?" a white-skinned, chubby Soldier asked, looking at Chen Mo.

"Yes," Chen Mo nodded and replied.

The chubby Soldier stood up to stretch his limbs and asked another Soldier, "Old Liu, I recall we've recruited enough people, right?" Then he cast his gaze toward Chen Mo and rubbed his fingers, his meaning quite obvious.

There were simply too many refugees; the Soldiers who usually had to rely on forced conscription or using convicts to fill their ranks had now become a hot commodity.

These Soldiers responsible for recruitment could take the opportunity to skim some off the top.

Even if the refugees fleeing here didn't have much money, they would never miss out on even the smallest scrap of meat.

Chen Mo's expression was calm; he didn't say much, his hands constantly rummaging through his clothes.

He could take out quite a bit of money directly, but if he did, the other party might treat him as a sucker and fleece him heavily.

After searching his body for a long time, Chen Mo scraped together thirty-eight copper coins and handed them over with both hands.

The chubby Soldier took the coins with a smile and lined them up on the table to count them carefully.

"This isn't quite enough!" the chubby Soldier laughed like a Maitreya Buddha.

Squeezing blood from a stone—no matter if Chen Mo had more money or not, he had to extort him some more.

Chen Mo's brows sank, and he hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands.

"My lord, this is all the money I have on me; the rest was spent on food."

He took out the remaining half of the flatbread to corroborate what he had just said.

Seeing this, the chubby Soldier became impatient and asked in a more comfortable posture.

"Speak, what's your name?"

"Chen Mo."

Upon hearing this, the Soldier called Old Liu took out a wooden tablet and quickly carved Chen Mo's name onto it.

"Take your tablet and go find Old He in the tent on the left," the chubby Soldier said, tossing the tablet to Chen Mo and pointing to a tent on the side.

Finally, he added with a smile, "Don't think that this soldier took your money for nothing; rest assured, this money won't be taken in vain."

Chen Mo took the tablet, passed by several refugees who couldn't become soldiers because they had no money but refused to leave, and walked toward the tent not far away.

Inside the tent lay an older soldier with dark skin.

Seeing someone approach, his expression didn't change; he took the tablet, glanced at it, and pointed to another tent.

"Go wait over there."

In the other tent, there were many refugees who had fled here, all sitting on the ground in silence.

They had gone through all sorts of hardships to escape here; although they hadn't starved to death yet, they were at the end of their rope and didn't want to waste energy talking.

Chen Mo found an empty spot to sit down and waited silently without saying a word.

Not knowing how much time had passed, a few more refugees walked into the tent.

Among them were actually two refugees who previously couldn't produce silver and had to wait bitterly outside; it was unclear how they managed to get in.

"You, you, you, you lot come with me," the chubby Soldier walked into the tent with a cold face and waved to point out a few people.

Chen Mo was among them, so he stood up and followed the other party to leave.

"Don't say I took your money for nothing; you lot can pick these clothes first," the chubby Soldier said as he led them into a tent.

Inside the tent were many standardized, worn-out grey military uniforms, exactly the same as the clothes he was wearing.

As for armor and weapons, that had nothing to do with refugees like them; being able to receive a set of military uniforms was already good enough.

Chen Mo took a look at these uniforms; most were severely worn, with only a few still in decent condition.

Those who picked first could still get a few good ones, while those who came later would only be able to get rags.

Looking at it this way, the time he came to enlist should be considered early; if more people came later, even if they could pick first, they probably wouldn't find many good clothes.

Picking a set of clothes that matched his height and was still in decent, clean condition, Chen Mo held them in his hand without rushing to change.

"Go wash up, change into the clothes, and I'll send you off later," the chubby Soldier said.

These newly recruited soldiers naturally cannot stay here, but must be sent to various military camps.

As for whether they will be farming or raising livestock once they reach the military camp, or perhaps serving as house servants for some general's family, that is purely a matter of luck.

In any case, training has absolutely nothing to do with them; their coming to be soldiers is, in truth, not much different from selling themselves as a Slave.

Beside the well outside the tent, seven or eight large wooden basins were placed.

Inside was water warmed by the sun; in fact, the current weather is not particularly cold.

The reason the disaster victims all wear thick clothing is mainly because they are too hungry, which is why they feel cold.

Chen Mo untied the layers upon layers of clothing on his body and began to carefully scrub his body.

There are many people and little water; if one does not seize the chance to wash now, it will be impossible to get clean later.

Moreover, the sun is currently high and there is no Wind, so it is not cold to wash; if one waits a while longer, it is hard to say.

The other disaster victims followed suit and all began to carefully scrub their own bodies.

By the time they finished scrubbing clean, the clear water had already turned into muddy, black water.

Chen Mo then begged for some scissors to trim his own withered, dry hair that resembled wild grass, trying to make it as neat as possible.

Finally, after changing into coarse cloth soldier uniforms, although Chen Mo was still skin and bones, he finally looked somewhat human.

Walking to the pile of clothes he had previously taken off, he first put away the flatbread and water skin, and then carefully retrieved the remaining few coins of silver.

From the remaining tattered clothes, he picked out three sets that were still relatively intact, used another tattered garment to carefully make a bundle, and wrapped these clothes up.

Although these sets of clothes were dirty and smelly, as long as they were washed clean, they could be used as changes of clothing, saving the need to spend money to buy more.

The other disaster victims were the same as him, all carefully selecting a few pieces of clothing that were still passable to keep.

The white, fat Soldier saw that they had all scrubbed clean, and only then went to lead other disaster victims to select soldier uniforms and wash their bodies.

The later disaster victims had no choice but to wear broken soldier uniforms and wash their bodies with the muddy water they had used.

"Having taken your money, don't say I didn't look after you. Later, when you few go to the military camp, as for what you do there, that depends on your own good fortune." The white, fat Soldier came before the few of them again.

Compared to other disaster victims who were sent directly to reclaim land and farm, going to the military camp was somewhat better.

Chen Mo chewed on the remaining half of his flatbread; the resentment he originally felt at being extorted had long since dissipated.

Although the other party was somewhat greedy, at least judging from his current performance, he did what he promised after taking the money, so that was not bad.

Chen Mo and the others followed behind the white, fat Soldier and arrived under a large locust tree outside the camp.

In the cool shade of the locust tree, a gap-toothed black man was sitting leisurely.

Seeing Chen Mo and the others arrive, he stood up and looked them over carefully, then complained, "Why are they all disaster victims? Are there no others?"

"If there were any other way to survive, who the hell would want to be a soldier? These few are already considered the good ones." The white, fat Soldier replied.

The gap-toothed black man sighed helplessly, stood up, and beckoned to the few of them, "Follow me, I'll take you to the military camp."

After speaking, he walked in front with a hunched back, and Chen Mo followed closely behind.

Over these two days, he had eaten quite a bit of food, so he had gained some strength in his body and no longer needed to lean on a stick to walk.

When they walked until the sun tilted to the west, several rows of earth-built barracks and a fairly spacious Drill Ground appeared before their eyes.

Different from the previous recruitment tents, this was the real military camp.

"People are here?" An old man wearing a floral cloth jacket with a face full of deep wrinkles walked over and asked.

"Just these. You go ahead and pick, see which one you want." The gap-toothed black man's tone was respectful; it seemed the old man had some status in the military camp.

The old man brought a scrutinizing gaze and looked over the few of them from head to toe.

"You, come with me." He reached out and pointed at Chen Mo; compared to the others, Chen Mo's stature was clearly taller, and he looked younger and stronger.

"Go on, follow Horse Official He and feed the horses well." The gap-toothed black man waved his hand.

The remaining few disaster victims, upon hearing this, could not help but cast envious gazes toward Chen Mo.

Feeding horses was undoubtedly a good job, because one could steal feed to eat.

(End of this chapter)