Chapter 220: Ghost

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Three days later, Liu Jin wakes up early in the morning and goes outside the walls of Cloudburst City.

One hundred men wait for him there.

“It would be boring if you just went and wiped out the bandits all on your own, so I’ll put you under three restrictions. Number one, your title will not be for show. I will give you a hundred men, and you will make them listen to you.”

The hundred men are arranged in ten rows and ten columns. They are overall a sorry-looking lot. Brutish, unwashed, and wearing old, second-hand armor that looks five good hits away from falling apart.

Their cultivation is nothing to speak of either. The strongest among them are in the Nascent Realm. Murong Bang certainly did not give him his best. In fact, he might have just given him his worst. Fools that were not expected to survive their first mission.

They are all Liu Jin has.

“Number two, all the fighting will be done by your soldiers. You will not join unless you face someone in the Spirit Realm or higher. The same restriction applies to those who came with you, meaning there is no reason for you to take them. Since I am a kind and generous man, I will allow three to go with you. The two pieces of trash you picked up and the failure of the Lei Clan will not be counted towards that number. Other than that, the rest stay here. Consider them collateral.”

Liu Jin takes a deep breath. He has already discussed what he plans on saying to these men with Lu Mei and the others, but speaking before large crowds is not something he enjoys.

“Does anyone have a problem with my promotion to Hundred-Man Commander?”

His tone is neither too harsh nor too light. The question is delivered in such a perfectly neutral voice that it leaves the soldiers unsettled and confused. Some turn to each other in bewilderment. Others have the sense to keep their eyes forward and their backs straight.

“I would not think less of you if you do,” Liu Jin continues in the same neutral tone. “I am an outsider. I do not wear your colors. I was not born in Murong Bang’s lands or even in this country. Yet, within days of arriving here, I was given a position many of you covet. Your jealousy would not only be natural but expected.”

He pauses. The men sweat.

“Again I ask, does anyone have a problem with me being your commander?”

“No, sir!”

The cry is neither unanimous nor simultaneous. About a dozen or so are quick enough to shout the answer they think he wants to hear. Others are a second or two late. Some somehow manage to stutter their way through the two words. A few just never open their mouths at all, either to make a statement or because they are afraid that they missed the timing to do so.

“I see,” Liu Jin says, nodding slowly. “Let me rephrase the question then. Who wants my position?”

The silence that answers him is deafening.

“No one?” Liu Jin asks, his gaze moving from one face to another, making the soldiers avert their eyes. “Really? Should I talk to General Murong and tell him that he does not need to worry about ever promoting anyone here because not a single one of you ever wants to be a Hundred-Man Commander? Is that what you are saying?”

“NO!”

This time, the shout is nearly unanimous. A few add a sir to their nos. Most don’t. It doesn’t matter.

“I see,” Liu Jin says, nodding to himself. “In other words, you all harbor hopes of becoming Hundred-Men Commanders one day. That is understandable. It is a position that comes with luxuries none of you have enjoyed.”

Liu Jin fights back a grimace as he says the last part. The “luxuries” Hundred-Men Commanders enjoy are more akin to basic privileges. Coveting them or bragging about them would be laughable nearly everywhere else. A pity that this is the land created by Murong Bang. Here, even basic living necessities cannot be obtained without spilling someone’s blood.

“How would you like to take my position right now?”

Once again, the hundred men go silent. There is unease in their stances, nervousness in their eyes, and sweat on their brows.

“If a single one of you can land a hit on me before the sun goes down, I will immediately give that person my position,” Liu Jin says. “This is no lie or trick. I will promote that person on the spot.”

Liu Jin’s words provoke neither eagerness nor hope in the soldiers but rather anger and despair. Even the least skilled among them can tell Liu Jin is a foe beyond them. To them, his offer is nothing but an insult. He is taunting them by dangling what they want just out of their reach.

“I can tell you have doubts,” Liu Jin says. “You do not believe yourself capable of defeating me. That tells me you have some sense. However, consider this.”

Liu Jin gestures at himself with his one good arm. His other arm is in a sling. There are numerous bandages visible on his person and bruises on his skin. His jaw is held together only by his Qi. His ribs are still healing, and his shoulder burns with every breath he takes.

It is not the worst state he’s been in, but he has certainly seen better days.

“As you can see, I am wounded. I cannot possibly fight at my best like this,” Liu Jin says. “In fact, I will allow all of you to attack me at once. The one hundred of you against the wounded me, and I will moderate my Qi so I am never using more than what would be available to someone in the Nascent Realm. Is that still not enough encouragement? Are you all so gutless that you will not take the opportunity before you? If so, I can tell you right now that you will go your whole military careers, however brief they might be, without ever getting another chance like this. You simply aren’t talented enough to warrant it.”

That gets a reaction. Many bristle and frown and gnash their teeth. Shining examples of self-control, these men are not.

“Think about it. If you were worth more, you wouldn’t be in front of me. Your talents would have already been noticed during your training. Instead, you are here, deemed little more than trash.”

Their Qi spikes. Anger rolls from them waves.

They just need a little push now.

“Are you angry because you feel insulted? Or are you angry because you know my words are true?” Liu Jin asks them. “You wake up every morning aware of your own mediocrity. You go through your days trying to ignore the worthlessness of your lives. You go to sleep telling yourselves that you can still achieve something. Such foolishness will only end with you lying in a pool of your own blood, realizing you have accomplished nothing and gained nothing.”

Liu Jin spits to the side. It is colored red with blood.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Have you resigned yourselves to that path? Or will you take a step and prove me wrong?”

They charge.

It is not a unified charge. Not even remotely. One soldier lets his anger get the better of him and dares to come at him with a clenched fist. Two others are right behind him, having come to the same decision only half a second later. Four follow their example. Then five. Then dozens. By the time the last men join the charge, the thought of being the ones who stood by as everyone else fought and tried to gain something is instinctively repugnant.

Liu Jin waits for them. He sees all one hundred men coming at him and does not change his expression or posture in the slightest. He watches as that first fist inches ever so close to his face.

[Art of the Roaming Thief]

The soldier’s fist hits nothing but air. It takes the man a moment to realize what has happened. By then, it is already too late. All those charging behind him crash into him when he tries to slow down, trapping him under a pile of bodies.

“Quick! Hold him down!”

“He’s not here!”

“I don’t see him!”

“Get off me, you idiots!!”

“What happened?”

“That was very disappointing,” Liu Jin says as he appears beside the soldier furthest at the back. The man pales as he lays eyes on him. “I suppose using movement techniques against you is a little too much. I’ll refrain from using them from this point onwards.”

“He’s here! Everyone, he’s here!” The man shouts, raising his hand and pointing at Liu Jin with the other one.

Liu Jin sighs.

A soldier throws himself at him. Another dives for his legs to hold him down.