Chapter 26 - I Need To Take Someone With Me

After Shen Leng got out of bed, he ran three rounds around the new recruits’ camp before he washed up and changed into the combat military uniform that he received yesterday. He did indeed look a lot more assertive than before. The new recruits’ uniform was rather ordinary when it came to workmanship and material used. Its color was not as robust as compared to the all-black combat military uniform.

There were three uniforms in total for combat military - an all-black one, a dark blue one, and a black vest with a red cape, that was only worn during celebrations and large-scale exercises. Of course, it was a light cotton vest, and not a leather one. It looked nice, but it was not practical.

In order to distinguish themselves from the other troops, there was a metal anchor design embroidered on the left side of the Navy uniform around the chest area.

After he was about seventy percent full, Shen Leng rested for a while after eating. He followed the troops to the venue where the martial arts competition was being held. As the troops advanced, apart from the sound of their footsteps, no other sounds were heard. There was a kind of solemn and respectful vibe to it, that was hard to put into words.

Du Weiming followed closely behind Shen Leng. He had a vexed look in his eyes. Even though he had already made up his mind, how would it be possible for him not to be apprehensive or afraid? He was about to kill someone in a martial arts competition held in the military. No one had ever done something like this, ever since the founding of Great Ning.

As he walked, he kept consoling himself that he would be a general in ten years. He kept taking deep breaths, but his hands could not help but tremble.

Du Weiming thought to himself about how he did not bear any grudge against Shen Leng, and wondered whether or not he should apologize to him first, before killing him.

I shall do just that then.

The martial arts competition would be held over the next two days. Half of the people who had already qualified to join the combat military decided not to participate. It was not because they were unambitious, but rather, they were clearly aware of the fact that by taking part in the competition, they would be nothing more than a stepping stone.

A hot favorite over the past few days was still Du Weiming. Even though Shen Leng’s performance yesterday was entirely shocking, actual combat and evaluations were two different things. Du Weiming had been practicing martial arts since he was little. Everyone in the new recruits’ camp was well aware of his strength.

Naturally, precisely because Shen Leng’s outstanding performance yesterday, the majority of the people felt that if they both faced each other head on, there was a 50-50 chance that either side would win.

As Du Weiming walked, he muttered something to himself softly. All he kept chanting was ‘I’m sorry’. His voice was extremely soft. He was neither practicing, nor was he truly feeling very guilty, but rather, he was consoling himself.

Competitions between individuals would be held on the first day, and competitions between groups, be it five-man or ten-man ones, would be held on the second day. Most of the new recruits did not sign up for it, so it was expected that it would be less crowded and interesting tomorrow.

Just as before, Zhuang Yong was seated at the viewing stage. Subconsciously, he looked for Shen Leng in the crowd.

“General, I feel that Shen Leng is truly a talented person,” said his lieutenant, Wan Shandi.

“And how can you tell?”

“General, you see - there’s nothing particular about all the people who walked past. Shen Leng was the only one who placed his right hand on the left side of his chest. That is the biggest respect he can show for his combat military uniform. In moments like these, a military salute is such a solemn thing.”

“Oh…I guess so.”

Zhuang Yong looked at Shen Leng and thought to himself: Do you have to hold onto that gold ingot of yours at all times?

All the newly promoted combat soldiers who signed up for the martial arts competition voluntarily went to register their names. There were approximately a hundred odd people. The time taken to register was very short. Half of the name list was torn and rolled up before getting tossed into a box, and the people belonging to the second half of the name list had to pick their opponent by drawing names from the box.

The person who drew the names simply had to call out the name of his opponent and they would then be able to start fighting each other immediately. There were twelve arenas - each of them was eight meters long and six meters wide.

Shen Leng was automatically put in the group which had to wait for others to pick them, and Du Weiming was in the other group. Shen Leng knew that Mu Xiaofeng had a way to make sure that they would pair up…When he was on his way back from the restaurant last night, he did think that Mu Xiaofeng might have temporarily given up on seeking revenge. However, when he paid attention to how Du Weiming reacted today, he knew that things were not that simple.

Du Weiming was honestly not a great actor, but any normal person would be nervous too. Especially when he kept mumbling ‘I’m sorry’ to himself - it made Shen Leng even more sure about his judgment.

When the people on the other side got in line, someone stuffed a piece of paper into Du Weiming’s hand. Naturally, Shen Leng’s name was written on that piece of paper.

Zhuang Yong was seated at the viewing stage and did not notice anything amiss. He was smiling as always.

According to convention, they could only punch and kick their opponents in the competition. They were not allowed to put them in life threatening situations - they were not even allowed to use wooden knives and swords. Furthermore, even though this competition was important, its main purpose was to leave an impression on the general. After all, they were still new recruits, even though they had joined the combat military. It was impossible for them to be allocated a high position immediately.

Du Weiming did not even bother to look at the earlier competitions. His two hands held onto the piece of paper so tightly that it was almost entirely crushed.

He continued to mumble the words ‘I’m sorry’. In truth, he was not truly apologetic towards Shen Leng, but rather, he was encouraging himself. Or perhaps, he had lost his mind and that he was not even aware of what he was mumbling.

On the viewing stage, Yang Qibao brisk walked over to Zhuang Yong and bent over before telling him something. Zhuang Yong nodded and opened his palm before closing it again. It was not known what he meant.

Yang Qibao left the viewing stage immediately. Behind the stage, there were sixty garrison soldiers who were already on standby.

“Next!” shouted the invigilator on the arena.

Nobody came up. The invigilator was slightly stumped for words. He looked at Du Weiming, whose face was pale. “Next!”

After the person behind Du Weiming pushed him, he finally responded. He quickly ran up and yelled without looking at his piece of paper, “Shen Leng!”

Shen Leng smiled sinisterly. He stretched his arms and legs earnestly, and got up the arena after stretching his entire body.

“Are you clear about the rules?” asked the invigilator.

“Yes,” answered Shen Leng.

“Y-yes,” answered Du Weiming.

Du Weiming continued to keep his right fist in his cuff. That was because he kept a dagger within that cuff. He did not know who gave it to him; when he was in line earlier, someone stuffed it to him. When he lifted his head up, not a single person was looking at him. He had absolutely not a clue as to which person gave it to him.

He had muttered ‘I’m sorry’ countless times, but when the invigilator instructed them to start in a loud voice, blood rushed to his head and he had a sinister look on his face before he blurted out the two words ‘go die’...

However, after he said the first word, and before he had the time to draw out the dagger in his right hand, he heard Shen Leng apologize instead.

You’re sorry?

Du Weiming was slightly stunned. It did not even take a second. Naturally, even if he was not stunned for less than a second, it would not affect the conclusion… Shen Leng suddenly charged forward. He was so fast that Du Weiming could not respond at all. Shen Leng took a huge step forward. He lifted his right arm and used his elbow to hit Du Weiming in the chin.

Du Weiming fell backwards. Shen Leng reached out his hand and grabbed him by his clothes, pulling him back. He used both hands to grab each of Du Weiming’s arm and overlapped them. Thereafter, he pulled them downwards, dislocating his arms. Thereafter, he quickly buttoned up Du Weiming’s cuff, keeping the dagger within it.

Shen Leng grabbed Du Weiming’s arm. He extended his right leg forward and exerted strength from his shoulder, knocking Du Weiming to the ground. Thereafter, he bent over and smashed his fist into Du Weiming’s forehead. The back of Du Weiming’s head hit against the ground of the arena and his eyes rolled back.

Shen Leng squatted down and whispered into Du Weiming’s ear, “I told you before - I took your gold ingot, but I will save your life. Do not reveal the dagger, or you’ll waste my good intentions.”

As he spoke, he undid his cuff. He was not sure whether or not Du Weiming would regain consciousness.

The invigilator finally snapped out of it. He thought to himself: …that’s it?

Du Weiming was publicly known as the number one fighter amongst the new recruits. However, in less than three seconds, he was already knocked out? He thought that Shen Leng squatted down because he was going to continue hitting him, hence, he wanted to grab Shen Leng after he collected himself. Instead, Shen Leng had already stood upright and saluted before he stepped down from the arena.

Two military doctors ran over to examine. They lifted Du Weiming and left. Du Weiming had a perplexed look in his eyes when he looked at Shen Leng. As he was being carried away, when he saw that there was nobody in their immediate surroundings, he clenched his teeth and lowered his arm, causing the dagger to fall to the ground.

Just as Shen Leng stepped down from the arena and was about to go back to his formation, a feathered arrow was shot over. It headed straight for his neck with such precision and accuracy.

That attack had clearly taken into account the speed of Shen Leng’s movements. If Shen Leng took another step, the arrow would have shot through his throat.

Zhuang Yong stood up abruptly. His face turned slightly pale immediately.

However, he saw the corners of Shen Leng’s mouth curling upwards. He was smiling?

Thereafter, Shen Leng yelped. He tiptoed to raise his shoulders higher, causing the arrow to hit the socket of his shoulder instead. It shot through, coming out from the back of his shoulder.

Disorder ensued immediately. Even a scholarly general like Zhuang Yong was so furious to the point his eyes were bloodshot. “Get him!”

The garrison soldiers, who were already on standby for a while now, charged out. Before this, Yang Qibao had already took the men to the back of the viewing stage. There was a huge lush tree about fifty over meters away from the back of the viewing stage. It had plenty of leaves and branches. Evidently, the assassin had already hid himself on the tree. Perhaps he was already there since the day before.

A man decked in black clothes leapt down the tree, with a bow on his back. As he ran, it looked as though his legs did not touch the ground - he was extremely fast to the point it seemed like he was flying. Evidently, he had already planned the escape route. After he had ran about a hundred meters, he jumped over the wall surrounding the competition ground. Thereafter, he jumped into an aqueduct of the Nanping River and disappeared without a trace in a short period of time.

Not long later, Zhuang Yong’s face was an ashen color as he pushed aside the door of the tent. Shen Leng’s wound was already dressed properly. The arrow shot through his shoulder and yet it did not puncture his bones or veins. He was very fortunate to be shot in a non-fatal location on his body.

“All of you may leave.”

Zhuang Yong walked over to Shen Leng and stood next to him. “Why?”

Shen Leng had an innocent look on his face. “What are you asking about, general?”

“Why were you able to dodge that arrow.”

“Yeah…I want to take a few days off, but I can’t find a reason…”

“Few days off?”

Zhuang Yong frowned, “The military personnel in the Navy are given four days of special leave. If you want to take your days off, tell me directly.”

“How is four days enough? I have to travel a long distance.”

Shen Leng lowered his head and looked at his wound. They bandaged it rather well - as expected of military doctors. If Master Cha was the one who did it for him, it would be a huge bow.

“What exactly are you trying to do?!”

Zhuang Yong found it harder and harder to understand what this young man was thinking.

“General, I want to make a trip to Changan. I’m worried that something will happen to someone… his father brought me home in the hopes that I will ward off evil for him. I need to be responsible and carry out my duty. If not, wouldn’t I have eaten twelve years’ worth of their family’s steamed buns for nothing?

Zhuang Yong scoffed, “Scram and go home. Do whatever you need to do. I don’t care what you have to do and neither do I want to know.”

“Wait, wait, wait. General, please don’t go yet. I’m not done talking.”

Zhuang Yong thought to himself: How can you be so shameless? Thereafter, he asked, “What else do you want?”

“I need to take someone with me. I’m afraid I can’t handle it on my own.”

“Who?”

“Du Weiming.”

Shen Leng laughed, “And save his life at the same time.”

Zhuang Yong looked at Shen Leng’s harmless-looking face, while being extremely shocked. This fella had planned very thoroughly…is he trying to win him over? Such that, Du Weiming will have no choice but to be fiercely loyal to him.