The Golden Age - Chapter 100: Replacement
Qin Xiao had a strength that was not proportional to his body size. But he had to admit, although this stone didn’t look too big, it was extremely heavy.
Fortunately, Mu Yeji had helped him reach level two already, allowing him to move his internal strength within the Dantian. Otherwise, he really would have embarrassed himself tonight.
Even so, it still took him a lot of energy to lift that Tiger Stone.
“Twelve!”
After Qin Xiao lifted the stone up for the twelfth time, a voice suddenly broke the deadly silent crowd.
Guo Wang was in the crowd at this time too. He never thought that this young brother who just came in today had such a terrifying strength.
At first, he was just surprised. But after Qin Xiao lifted it eleven times in a row, he was already even more excited than Qin Xiao. When the Tiger Stone was lifted for the twelfth time, he couldn’t help but yell out the number.
When Guo Wang broke the silence, there was a loud commotion around him as all the other soldiers started whispering to each other. Most of them clearly showed expressions of admiration.
“Thirteen!”
“Fourteen!”
After that, every time Qin Xiao lifted the rock, everyone around him would all count in unison. At first, there were some scattered voices here and there, but after sixteen, every count was extremely in sync.
After twenty-three times, Qin Xiao felt that both of his legs were sore and his body was fluttering a little as well.
“Come on, a few more times!”
Someone yelled from the crowd.
“Little brother, you can do this! Try harder, you definitely can do it!”
Qin Xiao looked around and saw the soldiers’ admiring faces. Many even looked like they were expecting more from him.
He took a deep breath. I need thirty in order to succeed. I’m only six or seven away, I can’t give up right now.
The man in the black armor who was standing in the distance had already stepped forward and slowly walked towards Qin Xiao.
“Twenty-four!”
“Twenty-five!”
“Twenty-six!”
In the synced shoutings, Qin Xiao felt as if both of his arms were about to break. But at that moment, the man in the black armor had already walked up to him. He held a leather bag and handed it to Qin Xiao.
Qin Xiao was surprised as the man smiled and said, “Drink some water and then keep trying.”
Qin Xiao nodded and replied, “Thanks!”Â
It was already past midnight, and he hadn’t eaten anything or even drank any water.Â
Although he wasn’t feeling too terrible, he did feel pretty dry in his throat, and his forehead was full of sweat as well. He took over the water bag and took a big mouthful. However, the second the liquid touched his throat, it tasted extremely spicy and he almost spat them out.
This is no water, it’s extremely strong wine!
He looked at the man in the black armor and found him smiling at himself.
The man looked like he was around forty-five years old. He had a curly beard and looked incredibly strong.
Qin Xiao didn’t bother anymore as he raised his head and took two more gulps. When the wine entered his mouth, he could feel his whole body heating up.
“Thank you, brother!” Qin Xiao returned the leather bag to the man wearing black armor.
Hearing Qin Xiao calling him “brother”, everyone opened their eyes wide in shock.
After taking another deep breath, Qin Xiao bent down and picked up the Tiger Stone again.
“Twenty-seven!”
“Twenty-eight!”
“Twenty-nine!”
When Qin Xiao picked up the stone for the thirty’s time, everyone started cheering as if they had just won a big battle.
At this moment, Sergeant He’s forehead was full of sweat, even more than Qin Xiao’s.
After placing down the Tiger Stone, Qin Xiao collapsed and sat on the ground.
“Can you do more?” asked the man in black armor beside him with a look of expectation.
Qin Xiao shook his head and waved his hand. “No more. One can become a cavalry after picking the stone up thirty times. I already did it!”
The man was surprised. He asked in confusion, “Thirty times? Who said it takes thirty times?”
Qin Xiao’s heart sank as he asked anxiously, “Is thirty times not enough?” I almost killed myself picking that crap thirty times. If that’s not enough, I really can’t do it anymore.
“No.” The guard on the side quickly replied, “Little brother, the rule that the Marquess made back then was that as long as you can pick the Tiger Stone up three times, then you can officially become a cavalry. Your thirty times is way more than enough!”
Three times!!!
He immediately turned his head around and tried to look for Sergeant He, but he seemed to have disappeared already from the large crowd surrounding him.
He wanted to beat him up.
Sergeant He told him before that he needed to lift the Tiger Stone thirty times.
But in fact, only three were needed. Not only did he meet the requirements, but he even exceeded it by ten times the amount! If it were only three times, he could have done it without even trying. This extra twenty-seven was just energy wasted.
Now he finally understood why everyone was looking at him with eyes of admiration, and some even looked at him as if they were looking at a monster.
Qin Xiao sighed. “So am I qualified?”
“Of course!” The man in black armor smiled as he said, “You picked up the Tiger Stone thirty times in front of everyone, if you’re not qualified, who else will be qualified?”
“Then can I go see the commander and let him know?” asked Qin Xiao.
The man shook his head. “You don’t need to look for him. He’s standing right here.”
“This is the commander himself,” said the guard on the side as Qin Xiao was taken back.
Hearing this, Qin Xiao quickly got up from the ground and bowed, “Commander, I… I didn’t know it was you, I…!” He never expected that this man was the commander of the White Tiger Battalion, Yuan Shengyu!
Commander Yuan patted Qin Xiao on the shoulder and said, “One who does not know is not guilty. What is your name?”
“I… my name is Wang Xiao, pleasure to meet the commander.”
“Wang Xiao?” Yuan Shengyu was a bit surprised, “are you the Wang Xiao who just came here today?”
“Yes sir!”
Yuan Shengyu studied Qin Xiao and finally said, “Not bad.” He changed his tone to a deep voice and yelled, “Su Chao!”
The Vice Commander of the White Tiger Battalion, Su Chao stood out from the crowd. He bowed and said, “Yes sir!”
“Are there any spots available in the battalion?”
“As of now, all the positions are full,” replied Su Chao immediately, “Wang Xiao was assigned to the feed mill as a temporary solution. I was waiting for a position available and then let him fill in.”
Yuan Shangyu thought for a while and then said, “In this case, then we’ll have to do as the Marquess ordered.” He brushed his beard and then turned to Qin Xiao. “Wang Xiao, now you have the right to choose any cavalry and replace him. If you replace him, that person will go work in the feed mill and then return when we have a position available.” He thought of something and then smiled. “But of course, you can’t replace me.”
Qin Xiao was surprised again.
Looks like the White Tiger Battalion indeed followed the orders of the Imperial Court and the Marquess strictly. A battalion made of eight hundred cavalries, not even a single extra.
Each carrot had one hole. Before a new cavalry can join, another one must leave.
Su Chao thought that Qin Xiao didn’t quite understand. He pointed to the circle of people and said, “What the commander meant is that you can choose any person in the battalion. Whoever you choose, you can take his position and he’ll have to work in the feed mill to replace you. Does that make sense?”
Qin Xiao nodded and looked around. Wherever he looked, all the soldiers would look down and avoid eye contact.
Earlier when he was picking up the Tiger Stone, everyone was cheering for him loudly. But now, none of them even dared to even make a noise.
Qin Xiao knew what they were thinking.
This rule of the White Tiger Battalion was indeed very strange, but he remembered what Yuwen Chengchao told him before he came. The stronger ones get to rule.
Although he didn’t care much at the time, he finally understood what it meant.
In the White Tiger Battalion, if you want to climb up, you must be strong. The strongest in everyone’s eyes.
It was survival of the fittest. You can only stay long enough if you are strong enough.
Qin Xiao knew that most of the cavalries here came from poor families. Joining this army did not mean they were loyal and wanted to serve the Yuwen Family, it was more because of the incredible military pay and privileges. One person in the White Tiger Battalion had enough military pay to raise his whole family.
No matter who he replaced, it would bring a heavy impact.
The White Tiger Battalion only had eight hundred cavalries. No one was willing to leave their positions. Unless there were battles and some died, there were rarely any positions available.
He could feel the fear in the hearts of these soldiers, the fear that his finger would point at themselves.
Qin Xiao sighed in his head. Who made this shitty rule? Do I have to ruin someone’s future? He continued to look around, and his eyes suddenly landed on one person.
The strong person he landed his eyes on was none other than the person who led Qin Xiao to the feed mill this morning, Geng Shao. He was also the cousin of Geng Hong, the person he just threw into the cesspit.
Geng Shao was surprised at first when he found Qin Xiao looking at him. But his face immediately showed a cold glare and stared at Qin Xiao back.
“Him!” Qin Xiao stopped hesitating and pointed to Geng Shao. “I’ll replace him!”
All the soldiers around let out a sigh of relief as they just escaped from a disaster. But after finding out that Qin Xiao was pointing at Geng Shao, many also showed surprised expressions.
Geng Shao stepped forward and sneered. “You want to replace me?”
Qin Xiao nodded. “Yes, you.”
He had no conflicts with any other person in the White Tiger Battalion, and he did not want them to lose their positions. However, Qin Xiao didn’t dislike Geng Shao either.
It was just Geng Hong who caused him so much trouble in the feed mill and together with Sergeant He, made his life much harder. It was because he had Geng Shao backing him up.
If Qin Xiao took out the mountain backing him up, then he would not dare to continue bossing around like this in the feed mill.
“Wang Xiao, I’d recommend you to choose someone else,” said Su Chao, “if you replace a normal cavalry, you can join the team immediately. But if you want to replace a person with any higher position, even a Sergeant, you must beat them first.”
Yuan Shangyu brushed his beard and smiled. “Vice Commander Su’s right. Wang Xiao, although you picked up the Tiger Stone, you only have the right to replace a normal soldier. If you want to replace a lieutenant, then you must fight him. If you can win, only then can you replace him.”
“A young man shouldn’t be too greedy,” continued Su Chao, “do you want to be a lieutenant already?”
Edited by: EyljeeÂ