Chapter 141 The Fading Dream of Heroism
Padi Tu mingled in a large crowd, preparing to work in the “Craftsman Well.” He was quite confident in his own abilities. Apprenticeship? What was the big deal? This Granddaddy Rabbit only needed a few days to learn everything; then he'd be earning a carpenter's wages.
Just then, a villager from Wangjia Village ran over from a distance, shouting, “We urgently need a group of road workers here! No skills required, just strength. The job is digging rocks and dirt. Wages settled daily, room and board provided, plus three catties of white flour a day.”
“Room and board, three catties of white flour a day!” Padi Tu's entire body jolted. Good heavens! And this job didn't even need skills, just strength!
He immediately began to calculate in his mind. If I become a carpenter's apprentice, I won't get paid at first, just food. But if I work as a road worker, I'll get three catties of white flour tomorrow.
This job, I can do it!
Padi Tu instantly leaped out from the crowd of carpenters. He dashed to the Wangjia Village villager, urgently exclaiming, “I can do this job! I'm incredibly strong!”
Gao Yiyi's nose nearly twisted out of shape with anger. “Hey, you! Weren't you just signing up to be an apprentice with me?”
Padi Tu replied, “I want to do a job that suits me better.”
Gao Yiyi sighed, “Fine, fine. If you can't even tell which path has more future, go dig your mud. Do as you please.”
Padi Tu, beaming with excitement, followed the Wangjia Village villager. Behind him, a large crowd of short-term laborers, all brawn and no skill, also trailed along, every one of them drawn by the promise of white flour.
They had barely walked a few steps when a large group of people rushed out of Gao Family Fortress.
Leading them was the masked Cheng Xu, closely followed by Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu. Behind them were forty-some young, able-bodied men. The group marched with an imposing aura. After a few steps, they collectively roared, “Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Simultaneously, they brandished their wooden staffs, making a thrusting motion forward, yelling, “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Cheng Xu bellowed, “Recover! Continue forward.”
The young men instantly snapped their long staffs back and continued their advance.
Padi Tu, seeing this display, felt his whole being ignite. “Wow, wow!” he gasped.
The Wangjia Village villager beside him asked, “What are you 'wow-ing' about?”
Padi Tu asked, “Are they still hiring for that unit? I want to join them.”
The Wangjia Village villager immediately chuckled and scolded, “What's wrong with you? You just jumped from the carpenter's group to mine—Master Gao Yiyi just cursed you out for it! And now you want to jump out of my group again? Even a bullfrog isn't as jumpy as you!”
Padi Tu chuckled, “How can a bullfrog compare to me? I'm Granddaddy Rabbit!”
The Wangjia Village villager was speechless.
There was no reasoning with such a ridiculous fellow.
The Wangjia Village villager huffed, “The militia isn't recruiting outsiders yet. They only want upright, trustworthy young men from their own village. You just arrived; nobody even knows your character. There's no way you're getting into the militia!”
Before he could finish his sentence, Padi Tu darted towards the militia, spreading his arms and blocking the masked Cheng Xu's path, loudly declaring, “Are you the militia instructor? I... I... could you please let me join the militia? I'm extremely skilled at fighting.”
Cheng Xu eyed the man before him: He was indeed burly, but starved to a pathetic state, his face haggard, clothes tattered, and a rusted sword, without a scabbard, hung from his waist.
Tsk! Where did this rough-and-tumble character come from?
Cheng Xu shook his head. “My militia doesn't just take any stray cat or dog.”
Padi Tu urgently countered, “I'm not a cat or a dog, I'm a rabbit!”
Everyone stared.
Cheng Xu clutched his face, a sense of unease washing over him. This fellow in front of him clearly wasn't reliable. He wasn't here to hassle this general again, was he? In the past few days, Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu, those two blockheads, had nearly driven him to illness. Please, no more like him.
Noticing the strange expressions on everyone's faces, Padi Tu hastily added, “My martial arts are excellent! If you don't believe me, test me!”
Cheng Xu challenged, “Martial arts are good? How good? Show me one move.”
Padi Tu declared, “When this Granddaddy Rabbit's longsword is drawn, it must drink blood before it can return to its scabbard. Its killing intent is too fierce; it's not suitable for a demonstration, only for actual combat.”
Cheng Xu erupted, “Your rusty sword doesn't even have a scabbard!”
Padi Tu stammered, “Well... that's because... this Granddaddy Rabbit has fallen on hard times lately. A rabbit on the plains is bullied by dogs, you see, so I sold the scabbard for some money...”
Everyone was speechless.
Cheng Xu's anger turned into a mocking laugh. “Alright, then, take a swing at me. If you can defeat me, you can join the militia. Otherwise, get lost!”
Padi Tu exclaimed, “Really?”
Cheng Xu affirmed, “Truly!”
“Then I won't hold back,” Padi Tu declared, drawing his sword with a flourish. “I'm about to use my ultimate move!”
Cheng Xu snorted coldly.
Padi Tu lunged forward with a sweeping stride, brandishing his rusted sword with wide, flamboyant movements, radiating an imposing aura. At the same time, he roared, “My Heaven Rabbit Rending Overlord Sword!”
Cheng Xu sidestepped, effortlessly dodging the sword. With a flick of his foot, Padi Tu tumbled to the ground with a thump.
“Go dig your mud,” Cheng Xu dismissed him without another glance, waving to the militia behind him. “Move out, continue training.”
The men behind him chorused, “Understood!”
The group, their footsteps thudding on the ground, ran onto the cement road and headed towards Zhengjia Village.
Padi Tu scrambled to his feet, glancing left and right. With a gasp of alarm, he quickly ran back towards the Wangjia Village villager. “I'm back! I'm going to work on the road!”
The Wangjia Village villager laughed helplessly. “You scoundrel.”
Padi Tu scratched his head, grinning sheepishly.
“Come on,” the Wangjia Village villager said. “If we weren't really short-handed, I'd kick you flying.”
Padi Tu assured him, “Don't worry, I work very hard.”
The Wangjia Village villager scoffed, “You work hard at fooling around, more like! The Heavenly Lord himself might even be amused by you.”
Padi Tu questioned, “The Heavenly Lord? Who's that?”
The Wangjia Village villager replied, “Live here a few more days, and you'll know who He is.”
Padi Tu simply said, “Oh!”
As he followed the Wangjia Village villager, he turned his head, watching Cheng Xu's militia disappear into the distance. A gleam of envy flickered in his eyes. He let out a long sigh and touched his rusted sword...
His dreams of heroic adventure were long gone.
Time to just work hard!
Li Daoxuan, spooning 'Buddha Jumps Over the Wall' rice into his mouth, watched Padi Tu's antics, nearly choking with laughter. “This new 'wild' little person is quite entertaining,” he mused.
Most of the new 'wild' little people were timid and overly cautious, only beginning to show their true personalities after getting used to the environment of Gao Family Village. But this fellow, who called himself Granddaddy Rabbit, was remarkably uninhibited.
It seemed he would often find amusement in this one.
With that thought, Li Daoxuan's perspective shifted. Oh, more 'wild' little people! On the official road to the southwest, a merchant caravan approached. Leading them was none other than Xing Honglang, a tough woman with a masculine build. Behind her, thirty or forty salt smugglers followed, all looking hurried, heading towards Gao Family Village.
Li Daoxuan was thrilled: “Gao Chuwu's Love Story, Chapter 2, is about to begin!”
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