Chapter 47: The Barefoot Fear Not Those Wearing Shoes

One month later, in the courtyard.

Guan Qing stood with a squad of soldiers surrounding the courtyard.

Looking at the empty scene before him, Guan Qing opened his mouth in confusion.

"How strange. Why hasn't the captain been seen around lately?"

Guan Qing scratched his head, puzzled.

You must know that prior to this, Su Mu had supervised their training almost every day.

Now, with the sudden absence of this demonic supervision, he felt as though something was missing from his training.

The soldiers standing behind Guan Qing twitched the corners of their mouths upon hearing this.

For them, this past month had simply been a form of torture!

During the day, they followed Old Zhang to learn blacksmithing. At the very beginning, they all thought, *Isn't it just blacksmithing? Doesn't that just require brute strength?*

However, the moment they truly came into contact with blacksmithing, they realized how naive their previous thoughts had been!

Every single strike concealed profound techniques.

If they held back their strength even a fraction too slowly, they would be cursed out relentlessly by Old Zhang.

Furthermore, after hammering away for an entire day, every muscle in their bodies would ache with an indescribable soreness.

They couldn't even move!

To top it all off, on top of learning blacksmithing during the day, they still had to undergo routine training at night.

So much so that it gave them the illusion that this month was exceptionally long.

Yet the benefits were equally obvious!

After merely a month of training, although they hadn't experienced a massive change in raw strength, they were now able to achieve true mastery over exerting and retracting their force!

This alternation of exertion and release was utterly seamless and natural.

Although they hadn't actually engaged in combat with the barbarians yet, they were almost certain that their current strength had surpassed their previous selves by more than just a notch.

Deep down, they felt a bit more confidence in facing the upcoming barbarian raids.

At that moment, Jiang Hongluan walked in, clad in red armor and carrying a long spear, wearing a proud expression.

Behind her, a group of soldiers also wore solemn expressions.

However, the aura emanating from each of them appeared remarkably formidable.

"Hongluan! Long time no see!"

"How have you been? Did you miss me this past month?"

Guan Qing grinned broadly as he looked at Jiang Hongluan.

Jiang Hongluan picked up the long spear in her hand and thrust it forward fiercely, stopping a mere two inches away from Guan Qing's throat.

"If you spout nonsense again, the next outcome won't be like this."

The corner of Guan Qing's mouth twitched.

He finally saw it clearly now!

Having not seen her for a month, Jiang Hongluan had become even more ruthless.

She was someone he couldn't afford to provoke!

One after another, Xu Qing, Tie Yan, Yue Peng, and the others arrived, leading large squads of soldiers.

Seeing the scale of their forces, Guan Qing widened his eyes in shock.

"Good grief! If I remember correctly, your group had at most sixty people before, right?"

"Oh my sweet goodness! Judging by the scale of this crowd now, there must be five or six hundred people here, right?"

Guan Qing said incredulously.

Xu Qing blushed, clenched her fists, and glanced around, yet still failed to find any trace of Su Mu.

This caused the anticipation in her eyes to instantly dim quite a bit.

"These people all followed us voluntarily."

Xu Qing snapped back to her senses, looking at Guan Qing before her with utmost earnestness.

Guan Qing wiped the sweat beads from his forehead.

"The gap is really this huge?"

Just as Guan Qing was muttering to himself, Su Mu walked in from the entrance, draped in a cloak and accompanied by Suyi.

Feeling the dense aura of slaughter, the expressions of Guan Qing and the others shifted abruptly.

To possess this level of killing intent meant one must have slaughtered at least a hundred people!

An expert!

Moreover, what made them most uneasy at heart was that they currently did not know whether this expert was an enemy or a friend.

If it were the latter, everyone would be overjoyed.

But if it were the former...

"Oh? Have you all expanded your respective troop counts?"

Hearing this familiar voice, everyone's eyes lit up.

They saw Su Mu remove his cloak, revealing a smile.

"Everyone, long time no see!"

...

On the martial arts arena.

Looking at Su Mu standing on the stage, Guan Qing covered his face with a look of grievance and distress.

"Captain! You definitely did this on purpose!"

"It's only been a month since we last saw each other! Did you have to hit us this hard?"

Guan Qing felt as though he had been transported back to the scene of his very first meeting with Su Mu.

He had been beaten to the point where he doubted his ability to function.

To his dismay, after a full month of training, the gap between him and Su Mu was still just as vast.

Su Mu patted Guan Qing on the shoulder, his entire demeanor exceptionally solemn.

"Compared to before, you've already made progress."

"Though, you're still not as fast as me..."

The corner of Guan Qing's mouth twitched.

Su Mu truly carried his sharp-tongued nature through to the very end.

"Captain, for the past month, we have strictly acted according to your orders."

"This is the terrain map we have mapped out. Please review it."

Jiang Hongluan pointed at the terrain map, speaking with utmost seriousness.

Su Mu nodded.

"Well done! It was worth my trust in you all."

During this past month, he had also led Suyi along the way, taking on quests and training simultaneously!

Over the course of the month, Su Mu had taught Suyi numerous techniques.

Through battle after battle, Suyi's offensive capabilities had also undergone a marked improvement.

Of course, the most crucial thing was that through this period of training, Su Mu could clearly sense that his own physical fitness had also enhanced.

His sword-drawing speed was significantly faster than before.

Su Mu looked at the assembled soldiers before him, taking a deep breath as his entire expression turned exceptionally grave.

"Everyone, a month has already passed now."

"Right now! The barbarians could invade Qinghe Town at any moment!"

"And what we need to do is very simple! That is, we must protect Qinghe Town!"

At Su Mu's command, all the soldiers saluted in unison to signal their readiness.

"Captain! Rest assured, we will not disobey even in death! Even if we die, we will spare no effort!"

Su Mu nodded. These soldiers recruited later appeared rather elite indeed!

They might actually be able to hold the town!

"Good! Then let us defend Qinghe Town together!"

At that moment, Fatty Li rushed in frantically.

Catching sight of Su Mu, Fatty Li said anxiously: "Kid! Something has happened to the Seven Frontier Cities..."

Su Mu's eyebrows arched upward.

Something happened to the Seven Frontier Cities?

Could it be... that these seven cities had already been breached?

If so, it meant the time left for Qinghe Town was exceedingly scarce!

It was even possible that in the very next second, those barbarians would appear outside Qinghe Town, turning the place into a living hell!

Fatty Li shook his head at Su Mu, his complexion turning even paler.

"The people from the Jiang family are going to arrive in Qinghe Town in person."

Upon hearing this, Su Mu instantly understood the reason for Fatty Li's nervousness.

After all, it was the Jiang family of the capital!

Coming from thousands of miles away this time, they were undoubtedly here to demand accountability.

Thinking of this, Su Mu furrowed his brows deeply.

"Camp Commander! Have you ever heard a saying?"

"Those with nothing to lose are never afraid of those who have everything!"