At 100 years old, he joined the army in place of his granddaughter, and became a national war god.

At the edge of the pond, nine cooks were bending over to fetch water, each with a worried expression and constantly spitting out bitter water.

"What bad luck! When will this chore ever end?"

"Two hundred buckets of water, I have to carry four buckets at a time, that's fifty trips! My legs are about to give out!"

"Come on, you've only made fifty trips. I carry two buckets at a time, so I'd have to make a hundred trips!"

"Stop howling, it won't help. Hurry up and get to work, or you won't get lunch."

"There's still firewood to chop."

The group swore and cursed as they scooped water into the bucket.

"Look over there!"

Suddenly, a soldier who was squatting on the bank scooping water stood up abruptly, pointed in the direction of the military camp, his eyes wide open, and his voice changed.

"That old man...is he insane?"

Everyone turned their heads and looked in the direction he was pointing.

The captain also looked up curiously and stared in that direction, then froze.

The water ladle slipped from his hand and fell into the pond with a "plop".

In the morning light, an elderly man with white hair and a hunched back was carrying a ten-meter-long thick wooden pole and walking towards the pond.

The ends of the wooden pole were densely covered with buckets, at least dozens of them, which swayed gently with the rhythm of his walking, making a crisp clanging sound.

"Is that...that new old man from our cookhouse?"

"Is he planning to carry dozens of buckets at once?"

"Impossible, right? His body, which is almost at the end of its life, can withstand it?"

"A single bucket of water weighs at least forty pounds, and dozens of buckets would weigh over a thousand pounds. How could a centenarian like him carry that?"

Everyone was stunned, standing there dumbfounded, their hands stopping what they were doing.

They all knew in their hearts that even they, young and strong, couldn't lift so many buckets of water, let alone a centenarian.

But the old man was indeed carrying those buckets, walking towards them.

Su Mu walked to the edge of the pond, stopped, and steadily lowered the wooden buckets all the way down.

He looked up, his eyes scanning the room, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said:

"Excuse me, everyone, please make way so this old man can fetch water."

His voice was hoarse, and his tone was humble.

The captain was the first to come to his senses, quickly moved his water bucket aside, and waved to signal the others to make room.

Without saying a word, everyone consciously made way for a large open space, even moving the carrying pole far away.

Su Mu found a spacious spot, a little distance away from the others, so as not to interfere with their work.

He is not a selfish person; he wants to complete his mission, but he won't hold others back.

Seeing the stunned expressions on everyone's faces, Su Mu smiled and explained, "My legs aren't very strong, and I can't run back and forth very slowly, so I plan to carry more at once to try not to hold everyone back."

After saying that, he bent down and began to draw water bucket by bucket.

The movements were slow, but very steady.

The people around him just watched him make his move, stunned and forgetting all about their own work.

In the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, all fifty buckets were filled.

Su Mu straightened up, rubbed his lower back, then reached out and gripped the center of the wooden pole, taking a deep breath.

Everyone held their breath, staring intently at him.

The captain couldn't help but step forward, an incredulous expression on his face, and tentatively asked, "Old man, can you really...?"

He hadn't finished speaking.

With a forceful push, Su Mu lifted the wooden pole off the ground.

Fifty buckets filled with water hung steadily in mid-air, the ends of the wooden poles sloping slightly, but firmly supported by the old man's withered shoulders.

Su Mu turned his head to look at the captain, his voice calm: "Captain, what did you just say? I was only focused on a smooth start and didn't hear you clearly."

The captain's mouth was agape, unable to close.

His pupils constricted as he stared intently at the wooden pole and the fifty buckets, his mind blank.

"N-nothing..." His voice was barely audible.

The people around stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, at what was happening before them.

"Is...is this old man even human?"

"Fifty buckets of water!"

"Including the weight of the wooden poles and buckets, it's at least two thousand pounds!"

"How could a 100-year-old man carry over 2,000 pounds and stand so steadily?"

"My God... Am I dreaming? What kind of monster is this?"

Someone rubbed their eyes, thinking they were still half asleep.

Someone pinched their thigh, wincing in pain, before realizing it wasn't a dream.

Su Mu ignored those gazes.

He adjusted the position of the wooden pole to make the center of gravity more stable, and then nodded to everyone.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now. I'll have to come back three more times."

After saying that, he started walking away.

With his hunched back bearing a weight of over two thousand pounds, his white hair fluttering slightly in the morning breeze, he walked step by step toward the military camp.

Behind them, nine people stood by the pond, like nine wooden stakes, swaying erratically in the wind.

……

In the military camp, Qin Hao was standing by the drill ground, waiting.

He was just studying the terrain near Qinghe County in the military camp.

But his men pulled him over, saying there was an old man who could carry fifty buckets of water!

He didn't believe such strange things at all.

A centenarian carrying fifty buckets of water—that's simply a fantasy.

At this moment, the captain, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement, pointed outside the camp, his voice trembling, "General... he's here! He really did it! Fifty buckets of water!"

Qin Hao frowned and looked in the direction he was pointing.

In the morning light, a hunched figure slowly walked out of the camp.

The figure was very thin, with a full head of white hair, hunched over, and looked like it could be blown away by the wind.

But on his shoulder was a long, thick wooden pole, with buckets filled with water hanging densely from both ends, hanging heavily downwards.

Qin Hao's pupils suddenly contracted.

"This old man..." he muttered to himself, his voice filled with disbelief, "Isn't he the old man who came to register yesterday with Zhao Tieniu and Gu Changfeng?"

He remembers it very clearly.

The matter he handled personally yesterday.

A centenarian came to join the army, but was harassed by the captain, who even tried to steal his horse.

He assigned the old man to the cookhouse simply because he was old enough to be a volunteer and wanted to give him a place to stay.

He never imagined that the old man was actually capable.

And it's such an earth-shattering skill!

A centenarian carried a load of over two thousand pounds without even breaking a sweat.

This divine power is unmatched by anyone in the entire Great Qian Dynasty or even the entire world.

Qin Hao took a deep breath and strode towards Su Mu.

Meanwhile, the entire military camp was in an uproar.

"Look, look! That old man! He's carrying fifty buckets of water back!"

"My God! Really?"

"Over two thousand pounds! The strongest man in our army can only lift five hundred pounds at most! This old man weighs over two thousand pounds?"

"Isn't he from the cookhouse? Could he be that centenarian who just arrived yesterday?"

"Yes, yes, that's him! I heard he enlisted on his own, but ended up being assigned to the cookhouse!"

"Assigned to the cookhouse? A superhuman who can lift two thousand pounds, assigned to cook and tend the fire? What a waste of talent!"

"Who can argue with that! A fighter like that, if placed in the vanguard battalion, would probably be a killing machine capable of taking on a hundred men single-handedly!"

"I heard that when he came to register yesterday, he was harassed by a captain and was almost not allowed to enter."

"Which captain? He's blind as a bat!"

"Shh, keep your voice down, that's Captain Zhang, a notorious snob."

Soldiers surged in from all directions, surrounding the area in layers, a bustling crowd with voices rising and falling.

Some people tiptoed, some climbed onto the watchtower, and some even climbed to the top of the tent, just to catch a glimpse of the centenarian carrying fifty buckets of water.

Su Mu walked along the main road of the camp, which was lined with people on both sides.

He walked with a hunched back, his withered hands gripping the wooden pole, his steps steady and deliberate.

There was no smugness or pride on his face.

All of this was within his expectations.

"This old man... is really capable."

"Look at his expression, acting like nothing's wrong. He weighs over two thousand pounds, does he think he's carrying cotton?"

"This person's talent is wasted on being a cook! It's such a waste of their abilities!"

……

Beside the training ground, Zhao Tieniu had just finished his morning exercise, covered in sweat, and was gulping down water from his water bag.

"What's going on over there? Why are there so many people?" He heard a commotion in the distance and curiously tiptoed to look.

Gu Changfeng noticed it too, and frowned slightly: "I don't know. Let's go take a look."

The two pushed through the crowd and squeezed to the front.

Zhao Tieniu spotted the white-haired figure carrying the wooden pole at a glance and was immediately stunned.

"Isn't that... isn't that the old man who came to register with us yesterday?"

He rubbed his eyes, carefully counted the iron buckets hanging on the wooden pole, and his mouth gaped wider and wider.

"One, two, three, four... fifty! A full fifty barrels!"

He slapped his thigh suddenly, his voice booming, "My God! This old man is defying the heavens! Fifty buckets of water! I, Zhao Tieniu, can only carry ten at most, and he's carrying fifty?"

His face was a mixture of shock and pride, and a look of amazement flashed in his eyes.

Gu Changfeng stood beside him, speechless.

He looked at the white-haired, hunched-over old man, and only one thought kept running through his mind: This is completely contrary to common sense.

A centenarian, at an age when he is barely clinging to life, should be unable to even walk steadily. How could he have such superhuman strength?

But the facts were right in front of him, leaving him no choice but to believe them.

"Let's go! Let's go take a look!" Zhao Tieniu grabbed Gu Changfeng's arm and strode towards Su Mu.

Before long, Su Mu carried the fifty buckets of water back to the water storage area in the cookhouse.

All the soldiers from the cookhouse swarmed over!

At the same time, Qin Hao walked up to Su Mu...