Luting County, Drum and Bell Alley.
Fine salt-like snowflakes fluttered ceaselessly, within a courtyard transformed into a martial arts training ground.
Yang Ge, dressed in a thin, short outfit, held a wooden stick half a person tall and as thick as an arm, surrounded by six of his subordinates.
He circled warily without haste.
The six Embroidered Uniform Guards, armed with swords, shields, and crossbows, also took small measured steps as they encircled him.
"That’s right, hold steady, look for opportunities, don’t rush..."
Yang Ge expanded his awareness and adjusted his breathing as he spoke; no sooner had his words ended than he suddenly ducked, swinging the wooden stick in his hand to block a crossbow arrow devoid of its tip.
Timely, two bulky guards bearing half-person-tall cast iron shields stepped forward in unison, trying to enclose Yang Ge with one in front and one behind.
Just as the two guards were about to collide with him, Yang Ge coolly sidestepped to the right, swinging the stick in a sweeping arc with one hand.
"Clang, clang!"
Two dull sounds of metal colliding rang out in succession, one cast iron shield flew out, while the other guard planted his feet firmly and braced his shield against his body, sliding backward three or four steps before withstanding the force of Yang Ge’s blow.
The next second, a faint whistling sound suddenly pierced the air right in front of Yang Ge’s face.
In a split-second, he lifted his hand and caught the crossbow arrow in front of his face, tossing it back reflexively, while still finding time to critique, "The timing of the second arrow’s entrance wasn’t well-grasped, too early!"
Before his words ended, two guards wielding wooden swords and daggers had already lunged forward, and the guard who had just retreated with his shield charged at Yang Ge once more.
Yang Ge’s movement was as flexible as a swimming fish; he darted out just as the three were about to encircle him, swinging his stick like a blade, drawing all three into the fray as he fought and retreated, "If the second arrow were fired at this moment, even if it still didn’t hit, it could create an opportunity to pin me down..."
No sooner had he spoken than he surged forward, raining down blows like a storm, breaking through the offensive front of the three before him, the stick lightly tapping each of their bodies.
All three instantly hung their heads in defeat and stopped their movements.
Only then did the two reloaded crossbow arrows shoot toward him again, but devoid of the cover of a shield and the entanglement of swordplay, Yang Ge easily swatted the two crossbow arrows away with a flick of the wooden stick.
"Thump."
The stick touched the ground, and both groups of Embroidered Uniform Guards bowed their fists in salute to Yang Ge.
Yang Ge evaluated, "The coordination of the first volley of crossbow arrows with the shield was good, but the angle with which the shield was brought into play wasn’t well managed; advancing one after the other can control the target indeed, but if the target’s speed far exceeds yours, it can easily avoid your combined attack, and you can suffer casualties in just the first probing assault!"
"The timing of the sword and dagger’s entry was a bit off; the shield group is there to cover and cooperate with you, but if you can’t keep up, who are they covering and cooperating with? Just like what happened, you two only entered after they collapsed, what’s the point then? Rather than that, I might as well give each of them a dagger and have you four come at me side by side!"
"Lastly, about the timing issue with the second arrow, I’ve mentioned so many times; either don’t reveal both your crossbows too early to catch the enemy off guard, or once you’ve shown them, don’t fire the second arrow lightly. You must understand, as long as there are arrows in your crossbow’s quiver, you have a deterring power, and no matter what moves the target employs, they must always be wary of your crossbow arrows!"
"Of course, I’m not saying that you can’t shoot the second arrow; I’m saying that you must grasp the right timing for releasing the arrow," said Yang Ge. "Either another brother has already loaded the crossbow and can take over as a deterrent, or there is an essential opportunity to shoot, such as limiting the enemy’s space to maneuver or creating a chance for your comrades in front to retreat, among others."
"Remember, the crossbow arrow in your hand is not just a sword to kill; it can also be a shield to save your brethren, or a chain net to restrain the enemy. What it ultimately becomes depends on how you control the angle and timing of your shot!"
The six embroidered uniform guards bowed to Yang Ge with their fists.
Yang Ge waved his hand, took off his short outer garment, and revealed a body with clearly defined muscles.
After recklessly wiping the sweat from his body with his clothes, he picked up the wooden stick again: "Which two groups are up now?"
Two groups of eager embroidered uniform guards entered the field and paid their respects to Yang Ge with their fists.
They were not inexperienced recruits who had never seen blood; they clearly understood that their commander was training them so hard in the snow not to torment them, but to give them a greater ability to survive when facing strong enemies!
Having such a dedicated and responsible superior who doesn’t exploit his soldiers for personal gain, they could wake up from their sleep laughing.
How could they possibly complain or feel tired or annoyed?
The six men entered the field, and it didn’t take long before they were all clashing again with a cacophony of noise.
Just then, Fang Ke, dressed in flying fish robes, came through the door, beaming as he held a carved sandalwood box with exquisite patterns. Seeing Yang Ge move effortlessly amid the chaos, he exclaimed, "My lord, your martial arts have improved again!"
Gu Tong, standing by, glanced at the sandalwood box in his hand and smiled: "A gift from the Li Family?"
Fang Ke happily patted the box: "A fine treasure!"
After a moment of thought, Gu Tong remarked, "The gift has been accepted; should those few in the prison be let off a bit?"
Fang Ke glanced sideways at him and said, "Are you the one to decide that?"
Gu Tong bowed: "It was presumptuous of me to speak out of turn, brother."
Fang Ke pondered for a few breaths, then spoke softly, "We’re all brothers here, so I’ll speak frankly: silver is indeed a good thing, but we mustn’t forget our place."
Gu Tong quickly replied, "I meant no disrespect; I’m just worried about those in the prison who can barely hold on. They’ve been hungry for four days already. If they don’t get some food soon, they may starve to death before the case is even resolved. That wouldn’t be good, would it?"
Before he even finished speaking, a thunderous explosion of inner qi suddenly rang out. He quickly looked up and ducked.
"Bang."
The wooden stick pierced the earth wall as if it were tipped with a spearhead, burying more than half a foot into the wall!
Gu Tong looked at it, and his heart trembled.
"Old Gu, have you grown soft with age? Your compassion seems a bit excessive!"
Yang Ge, having just defeated two more groups in the field, stretched his neck and smiled at Gu Tong, waving him over: "Come here, let me loosen up your muscles. When your body is tired, your mind won’t be filled with so many messy thoughts!"
Watching his subordinate’s forced, unsmiling face, Gu Tong’s scalp tingled. As he dawdled forward, he cast a pleading glance toward Fang Ke beside him.
Fang Ke returned a look that said "you’re on your own," then holding the wooden box, bowed and said, "Sir, I have an important matter to report!"
Gu Tong’s heart relaxed in relief, and he gratefully returned Fang Ke’s gaze with a mental note: ’Good brother, I’ll buy you a drink later!’
Yang Ge certainly noticed their exchanged looks, but pretended not to see, gesturing with his hand, "Let’s talk inside!"
He picked up his short jacket and strode into the main hall.
Fang Ke hurried to keep up with his pace.
Other petty officers and strongmen waiting at the sidelines couldn’t help but complain, "Old Gu, are you meddling because you’ve eaten too much and have nothing better to do?"
"Exactly, if you, Old Gu, don’t want to progress, we brothers still want to climb the ladder!"
"If you fell into the hands of those conscienceless big shots, would they care if you starve to death or not?"
Gu Tong cried out in protest, "I was just casually inquiring after seeing Fang seize someone’s offering, wasn’t I?"
"We’re all foxes from the same hill, why pretend to be a saint to your brothers?"
"Indeed, who doesn’t know who here? Do you dare say you didn’t accept the tribute from those few families?"
"Playing innocent, let’s give him a little nephew of a thrashing..."
A burly man with broad shoulders and a thick waist grimly rubbed his fists and began to surround Gu Tong.
An ominous shadow slowly enveloped Gu Tong, making him feel weak, helpless, and pitiful...
...
Yang Ge took out a black-sheathed long knife resembling a Tang blade from the sandalwood box, and casually played with it, creating a flourish.
He immediately felt the Inner Qi flow over the knife blade, as smooth as oil, the edge cutting through the air with ease like skiing on ice. Then he straightened the blade and lightly flicked it, eliciting a clear ringing sound that resounded from the hilt all the way to the tip.
He couldn’t help but exclaim, "What a knife, what a knife!"
Standing to one side, Fang Ke smiled and bowed: "As they say, a precious blade is matched only by a hero. For someone of your martial skill and virtue, Sir, this knife is barely worthy!"
Yang Ge gently stroked the blade, and spotted the small seal characters "Floating Shadow" near the hilt.
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’Floating Shadow Knife?’
Yang Ge read the name of the blade in his mind and then carelessly sheathed it, "Cut the chatter, who’s come to speak for someone today?"
The appointment documents for him and Fang Ke’s positions, as well as the official robes and sidearm, had already been delivered a couple of days ago.
He didn’t see any difference; the way he lived his life before was how he still lived it now.
As for Fang Ke, he had already started to strut around in the manner of the head of embroidered uniform guards, making smooth connections with various officials and local wealthy families.
If one were to set aside the factor of martial talent, Fang Ke was better suited to being an official and had an easier path within the embroidered uniformed guards than Yang Ge...
Yang Ge didn’t see anything wrong with that. He never liked drawing attention, so since Fang Ke enjoyed these matters, he simply left all external communication to Fang Ke to handle.
Compared to spending his days mingling with all sorts of infuriating nobodies.
He preferred to stay at home tending to his own land...
Fang Ke replied, "The Kaifeng Prefecture, Pei Yu, the head officer of the Southern Pacification Commission."
"The Southern Pacification Commission?"
Yang Ge pondered, "One of us?"
Fang Ke shook his head, "The other side, Northern Pacification Commission deals with external affairs, Southern Pacification Commission deals with internal matters."
Yang Ge understood, "Oh, the embroidered uniform guards who investigate other embroidered uniform guards, right?"
Fang Ke whispered, "That’s the idea."
Yang Ge asked, "Is there an official document?"
Fang Ke shook his head, "That fellow didn’t show any intentions, he just came to connect with the Li Family... This knife was also presented by the Li Family."
Yang Ge, "And how did you reply?"
Fang Ke: "I excused myself, saying the matter has been reported to the Northern Pacification Commission and we can’t interfere any further. The Li Family didn’t say much, only made an appointment to go to the Lichun Brothel for drinks again tomorrow."
Yang Ge scoffed and then said, "Don’t forget what you told Gu Tong just now."
Fang Ke smiled and bowed, "I understand, not a single piece of silver will be missed, and not a bit of the task will be done!"
Yang Ge chuckled, "You, being an underling in my service, is truly burying your talents."
Fang Ke quickly waved his hands, "Sir, you flatter me too much. I am but a runner; the real pressure is on you and the commander of the Northern Pacification Commission!"
Yang Ge patted his shoulder, "There’s no need to be modest. You’re more useful than you think. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to settle all these matters... Come on, let’s go outside and test the knife!"
Fang Ke’s face immediately fell.