As soon as the rain stopped, the air was still filled with the smell of earth, and the leaves that had been knocked off by the rain sank into the mud little by little, and in a corner of the village, there was a fog-like smoke slowly seeping into the rain, and around the village, there were farmers in coats walking in the fields.

This is the one hundred and first village, eight hundred miles away from the imperial capital, everything is so peaceful and quiet, and the war seems to be far away.

There is a small wooden pavilion at the entrance of the village, standing crookedly in the rain curtain, and on the edge of the pavilion, a wooden sign reads "Recruitment" in unsightly characters. A few people gathered there and said something loudly. Su Jingchen walked over and stood behind them.

"How much silver can our brothers get if they go?" A burly man six feet long pressed his hands on the table and asked.

"According to each person's situation, ranging from three taels to ten taels, the young and strong will receive five taels of silver per month, and if they have special skills, they will be doubled." Xu Yu frowned, he took the brush, raised it and put it down, "What are your specialties?"

"Does strength count? Grow sturdy. Ryuuji hammered his chest hard.

"Hmm......" Xu Yu paused, "but there is no basis for empty words......

Long Er turned his head to look around, his eyes skimmed over Su Jingchen who was wearing a hat, and froze on a stone deep in the dirt not far away, he walked over, pulled the stone out of the dirt, hugged it to his chest, and returned to the pavilion, at this time Xu Yu noticed that the stone was actually half a human size, to say the least, it had to be two hundred catties.

"Eight taels." Xu Yu reported the number.

"It's only eight taels?! This stone is 200 catties to say the least, and if it weren't for the fact that there are no bigger stones nearby, I would have been able to hold 300 catties! You just say how many people can you find who can have my strength? ”

"There are not a few people in the army who have your strength, some of them are proficient in knives, guns, swords, halberds and all kinds of weapons, do you want to use your body to hit other people's knives with your strength?"

"This ......" Ryuuji wanted to say something more. was suddenly patted on the shoulder by a tall and thin man behind him.

"Big brother, don't say a word," the scholar-like man stepped forward and coughed lightly, "My lord, what do you think of me?" ”

"Name."

"Nie Qing."

"Specialty?"

"I'll tell you, this brother of mine is amazing!" Ryuuji suddenly stepped forward again, and he fell on the table and said, "He's read a lot of books!" What is the art of war......"

"Big brother!"

"Okay, okay, I won't say it, I won't say it." Ryuji smiled and retreated.

"Specialty." Xu Yu said again.

"Let's familiarize yourself with some of the art of war." Nie Qing smiled bitterly.

"What about the others?"

"It's gone."

"Three or two." Xu Yu took up the pen and wrote.

"What?! You actually only gave my brother three or two?! "Long Er's forehead has blue tendons, and he is about to go up to fight.

The two guards beside Xu Yu immediately stood in front of him, and Nie Qing also quickly grabbed Long Er, and said with a smile: "My lord, forgive me, my brother's temper is too violent, you should be more patient,"

Xu Yu snorted coldly, "People like you will inevitably have to suffer a little in the army in the future." ”

"Yes, yes, yes." Nie Qing agreed, pulled up Long Er, held up the umbrella, and disappeared into the rain. Su Jingchen took a thousand steps, standing in front of Xu Yu, Xu Yu raised his head, the young man in front of him, his hat was still dripping, there were a few obvious holes in his clothes, but they were not patched, and his boots were also full of mud stains, it had been rainy recently, I don't know how long he had been trekking in the rain.

"Name."

"Su Jingchen." Su Jingchen took off the hat, revealing a pale face.

Hearing this slightly immature voice, Xu Yu was taken aback, he raised his head and looked at the thin young man, "You also want to join the army?" ”

"Hmm."

Xu Yu sighed softly, but was suddenly stunned for a moment, this young man's eyes are extremely incompatible with his age, there will be something in everyone's eyes, ordinary people's eyes are plain, or like water and fire, and some people's eyes are like eagles, snakes, lone wolves, like tigers, but in the eyes of this young man, Xu Yu can't even see the light.

"How old are you?"

"Ten...... Sixteen. Su Jingchen paused, still falsely reporting that he was one year old, he was afraid that this place would be the same as those places before, and he would reject him again.

"Specialty." Xu Yu said coldly, although he has more compassion than ordinary people, but compassion is not used in this place, although he does not have to worry about food and clothing when he enters the barracks, he is one step closer to death.

In this place, compassion only kills others.

"Bow, I'll use a bow." Su Jingchen said.

"Bring the bow." When the guards around Xu Yu heard this, they didn't know where to find a bow and a quiver with a few arrows.

Su Jingchen glanced lightly, the bow arm of this bow is too soft, although it is easy to pull away, the range is greatly shortened, it can only be used as a hunting bow, and first-class hunters can't even look down on such a bow. Su Jingchen wondered if this was an inferior product that had been eliminated in a small workshop.

"This bow ......," Su stopped in shock.

"Can't pull it apart?" Xu Yu was a little disappointed, "If this can't be pulled away, you better find a place to practice your arm strength first." ”

"No, I mean the bow...... It's so bad that I'm afraid to pull it off. ”

"Then you can pick any of these bows." Xu Yu pointed behind him.

Su Jingchen turned his head to look at it, and stretched out his hand to point, "The one on the edge." ”

"Give it to him." Su Jingchen chose the most common horn bow in the army, and it takes at least one stone to open the arms of this bow, and if you can use it, you can be regarded as the elite of the army.

Su Jingchen took the bow and drew another arrow from the quiver, "My lord, point to a place." ”

"Where am I pointing, are you shooting?" Xu Yu sneered, although he is half a civil official, he also knows some archery skills, and it is still raining, and hitting the target in the rain is many times more difficult than a sunny day, "What a big breath, I am not difficult for you, the camphor tree fifty steps away, see?" All you have to do is shoot the trunk. ”

"Then I'll shoot that hole in that camphor tree."

"Tree hole?" Xu Yu narrowed his eyes and looked over there carefully for a long time, but he didn't see the tree hole that Su Jingchen said, "Okay, then it's up to you, you can't enter the army just by talking big." ”

Su Jingchen slowly pulled out his bow and put on the arrow without a pause.

"Arm strength is okay." Xu Yu didn't expect that this thin young man, who seemed to be powerless, would be able to pull this bow away.

The arrow suddenly detached from the string, and in a trance, Xu Yu only saw Su Jingchen raise his hand, but he didn't see the moment when he shot the arrow, as if that action had been dug out of his memory. It's so fast, it's so fast that people can't see it clearly, it's so fast...... It was as if even the rain curtain had been cut open by his arrows.

One of the guards behind Xu Yu suddenly shook his head and his eyes widened, as if he didn't want to believe what was in front of him, because he had just seen the stout camphor tree...... Seems to be shaking? "It's the wind, isn't it?" He said in his heart.

"Go, see if you hit the hole in the tree in his mouth."

"Yes, sir." The guard braved the rain and walked towards the camphor tree, and through the rain they saw him stop in front of the tree, tugging at something with both hands, and then running back to the pavilion with a broken arrow in his hand.

"Did you shoot?"

"Shot," the guard half-knelt down, holding up the broken arrow in his hand, "there is indeed a tree hole over there, this ...... Boy, his arrow did hit the center of the tree hole."

"Alright, I got it." Xu Yu waved his hand, signaling that he didn't need to say any more.

"Yes." The guard clenched his fists, took the severed arrow, and returned to his post.

"In this way, even if you are qualified," Xu Yu turned his head to look at Su Jingchen, and then picked up a pen and wrote Su Jingchen's name on the roster, "Before tomorrow, come back to this place." ”

At night, the rain was still dripping, and the leaves outside the window danced wildly with the wind, Su Jingchen walked over and closed the window. He took off his boots and lay down on the bed with his coat, and the tiredness he had been getting from all of a sudden came to him, and he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

There is no inn in this village, he will leave tomorrow, and the money left on him is just a burden, so he simply gave the remaining few silver leaves to a family, in exchange for a small house and a hot meal in their family, Xie Anyuan gave a lot of travel expenses, according to Su Jingchen's usage, the money is enough for him to use for two lifetimes, but he is still too stupid, easy to believe in others, just out of Yingzhou, the bag of gold and jade on his body was cheated away, he only relied on the few silver leaves left to him by the liar's "kindness", and survived until now.

And his heart, his eyes, are a little colder than before.

The next day, the sun was standing on the top of the hill, the road at the entrance of the village was still muddy, the people who had been selected for the recruitment bid farewell to their families in the sun, the young boys and girls hugged their father's legs tightly, the wives hid their faces in front of their husbands and wept, and the elderly parents bent their waists and told their sons in earnest words.

They all prayed for the safe return of the person in front of them.

Su Jingchen turned his head to look to the side, and suddenly remembered them for no reason, he sniffed and exhaled; Ryuji in the shade of a tree

bored playing with leaves, unconcerned about the things around him; Nie Qing gently stroked the old and yellowed books inside through the baggage, and cast his eyes into the distance.

"Let's go!" Xu Yu turned over and got on his horse, and with an order, this team of more than a dozen people finally began to march on the forest avenue.