The afternoon before the drill, three people arrived at the gate of the side courtyard.

The leader had a tiger-head bronze badge clipped to his waist, followed by two clerks dressed as officials carrying case files.

The three people stood at the bottom of the gate tower but didn't go inside; they just stood there.

Mu Jiangli was the first to discover it. She was squatting by the wall grinding stones when she looked up and saw three living people blocking the door. She immediately jumped up and ran to find Lu Jing.

When Lu Jing came out of the house, the three of them happened to run into Fang Shengtian, who had come to discuss the combat exercise.

Fang Shengtian stood in the doorway, blocking it completely, arms crossed, a smile on his face, but his words were icy as he said, "You, leave!"

"Is Lieutenant Fang preventing us from entering?"

The man with the tiger-head brand spoke, his voice neither hurried nor slow, sounding polite, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"We're just here to verify military registration, it's a formality, not a raid. Why are you so nervous?"

Fang Shengtian laughed, "Don't be nervous. It's just that the drill is about to start, and the people inside are preparing. If you go in and cause trouble, who will be responsible for the delay?"

"In just a few words."

"Even a few words can cause delays."

Tiger Head Brand's smile faded, and his gaze swept over Fang Shengtian's shoulder into the courtyard, where he met Lu Jing's eyes as he stood under the eaves.

Lu Jing didn't go forward to greet him; he just stood there leaning against the pillar.

He twirled a stone pellet he'd swiped from Jiang Duyue in his hand, his expression as languid as a cat sunbathing by the roadside, completely unconcerned about the three people.

Tiger Head Brand glanced at him, then turned back to Fang Shengtian: "Alright, I'll give Captain Fang face. I'll come again when you're done. Don't forget then."

"I can't forget it." Fang Shengtian sneered.

Tiger Head Brand scoffed, then raised his chin and turned to leave with two clerks.

Dengdengdeng-

The boots clattered on the blue bricks.

Fang Shengtian watched them walk away before turning back into the courtyard. The disdain on his face disappeared, and he shook his head at Lu Jing: "Qian Si from the Flying Tigers Battalion, he's a squad leader. His tongue is sharper than a knife, so be careful."

"Why should we be wary of him?" Lu Jing tossed the stone ball up and caught it. "He's not going to eat me, is he?"

Fang Shengtian was taken aback by his words, then said that made sense, and then walked into the main hall with Lu Jing to discuss the confrontation exercise.

The next morning, just as dawn broke, the female prisoners all woke up.

One by one, they were getting dressed and putting on their leggings in the room with rustling sounds. They were quick and efficient, and finished in no time.

At this moment, breakfast was laid out in the canteen, with plenty of meat soup and flatbread, but the atmosphere was completely different from yesterday, appearing very solemn.

Today, we will conduct a combat drill.

When Ji Tangtang picked up the bowl, he got burned. His hand twitched, and before he could even get the first spoonful of soup to his mouth, half of it spilled onto the table.

Mu Jiangli sat opposite her, biting into a sesame seed cake as she watched her, and immediately teased, "Why are you shaking?"

"Who's shaking? Didn't you see I got burned?"

"You were clearly shaking, but you still won't admit it." Mu Jiangli deliberately raised an eyebrow.

"screw you!"

"You look so angry and guilty!"

"I'll fucking swear!"

The two resumed their usual bickering, which everyone was already used to and had grown accustomed to.

Ye Qingqing, who was standing nearby, didn't notice any of this at all.

After finishing her meal, she went to the yard to stretch her muscles and flex her arms. After swinging her arms around a couple of times, she felt that she wasn't strong enough.

Turning his head, he saw a half-cut wooden stake propped up against the base of the wall. He went over and chopped it down with his palm. With a crack, the stake split open in the middle.

The cook, who was squatting behind the stove tending the fire, shrank back in fright and exclaimed, "Oh my God!" He almost dropped the fire tongs into the pot.

The other female prisoners who had finished eating also busied themselves, sitting and preparing for work.

Wen Lanxiang checked everyone's clothes one by one, and immediately helped to tidy them up if she found anything inappropriate.

He knelt down and retied the straps on Qin Liniang's boots.

He stood up and adjusted Liu Zhezhi's wristband.

He paused when he reached Jiang Duyue, just as he was about to help her, but Jiang Duyue said, "No need to watch, I can do it myself."

Wen Lanxiang ignored her and bent down to flatten the section of her belt that was sticking up at her lower back.

The entire courtyard was quiet, except for the cracking sound of the wooden stakes.

Lu Jing looked at the female prisoners who had finished packing, put the stone ball he had been twirling all morning back into his pocket, and said, "Let's go."

The group walked out of the side courtyard, through the central courtyard, and headed towards the training ground. On the way, they encountered several soldiers from the Flying Cavalry Battalion, who all stopped and looked back.

At this moment, the fifteen soldiers carefully selected by Fang Shengtian were already standing in the training ground.

They were all burly and strong, their leather armor tightly bound.

They watched coldly as Lu Jing and his group entered.

"Nun, interesting."

"We're guaranteed to win."

"There are a few skinny guys inside, can they even fight them?"

A low murmur arose within the group.

"Silence! All of you, shut up!"

Sun Rendi reprimanded them, and the fifteen soldiers quickly shut up, their expressions turning into expressions of suppressed anger.

Fang Shengtian stood in the center of the arena, holding a red flag in his hand. When he saw Lu Jing walking over, he took two steps to greet him: "Brother Lu, all fifteen people are here. As you said, they are empty-handed and not allowed to bring any weapons."

"Where's the flag?"

Fang Shengtian gestured behind him with his chin. At the far end of the training ground stood a cloth flag about half a person's height, red with black borders, fluttering in the wind.

Lu Jing glanced back at the female prisoners.

They understood each other perfectly and automatically split into three groups to stand in the same position.

Ye Qingqing and Nilumeduo were at the very front, with Mu Jiangli and Ji Tangtang crouching on either side, and Wen Lanxiang, along with Liu Zhezhi and Qin Liniang, huddled at the very back.

Jiang Duyue had already squatted behind a low wall at the edge of the field, clutching three pebbles in her hand.

Fang Shengtian followed Lu Jing's gaze and looked around, then nodded: "Women are just as capable as men."

"Good looks," Lu Jing said with a smile, "but even better skills!"

Fang Shengtian chuckled, then lowered his voice and leaned closer: "Brother Lu, look over there."

Lu Jing followed his gaze.

Several people were sitting in the stands on the sidelines, dressed in civilian clothes, with no swords at their waists.

However, the edge of the leather armor exposed at the collar was a dark brown, like tiger head skin.

Moreover, his sitting posture clearly showed that he was a trained athlete, with his legs spread apart and his back straight.

The guy sitting in the middle is the same one who blocked the door yesterday.

He had one hand on his knee and was tilting his head to look into the arena.

Fang Shengtian lowered his voice even further: "They said they wanted to observe the drills, and I couldn't stop them."

Lu Jing withdrew his gaze: "Let them see."

He turned and walked to the female prisoner, raised his hand, and Wen Lanxiang immediately blew a short whistle. Everyone straightened their backs at the same time.

Lu Jing looked at them and said in a moderate voice, "Yesterday someone said they wanted to test our strength, and that they would do so after this battle. Since they want to test us, let them see for themselves. If we don't show our true colors, they won't really think we're on our deathbed."

"It's a sick cat—" Ji Tangtang blurted out, then realized what he meant and chuckled.

"Shut up," Lu Jing said without laughing, "whoever messes up later won't get any meat tonight."

The female prisoners immediately shut their mouths.

Lu Jing turned around and nodded to Fang Shengtian.

Fang Shengtian raised the red flag in his hand and waved it in the air, causing the gong beside the training ground to clang loudly.

The fifteen veterans opposite them suddenly lowered their formation, bent their knees slightly, and pressed their center of gravity down, pressing forward like a wall.

"superior!"

Ye Qingqing shouted, then pushed off the ground with one foot, and together with Nilumedo, they charged forward from the left and right.

"superior!"

Ji Tangtang and Mu Jiangli behind him roared and charged forward.

The combat exercise has officially begun!

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