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

The next morning, before dawn, Su Mu woke up.

As people age, they need less sleep, so they naturally open their eyes before dawn.

Get dressed and assemble at the designated time.

Today's task: 100 buckets of water and 50 loads of firewood.

He nodded slightly; the workload was half that of yesterday.

For him, a hundred buckets of water is just a matter of two trips.

Fifty loads of firewood can be chopped in less than half an hour.

He glanced towards the pond; early in the morning, the pond must be crowded with people.

The more people scramble and grab, the more crowded it becomes.

It would be better to chop wood first, and then fetch water when there are fewer people around.

So Su Mu walked to the woodpile, picked up an axe, and began chopping wood.

He only used the horse-slaying sword because he had a lot of tasks yesterday.

There's not much firewood today, so there's no need to torture the blade of the sword.

He figured he'd have to rely on this sword to kill enemies someday.

As the sun gradually rose, golden sunlight pierced through the morning mist and shone across the entire military camp.

The campsite began to bustle with activity.

The sounds of bugles, horses' hooves, commands, and the clash of swords and spears surged from all directions, shattering the tranquility of the early morning.

After chopping the last piece of firewood, Su Mu leaned the axe against the wall, straightened up, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

He was just about to take a break before going to fetch water!

"Grandpa! Grandpa!" A loud voice boomed from afar.

Su Mu didn't even need to look up to know who it was.

Zhao Tieniu.

Two figures walked briskly along the path between the tents.

Zhao Tieniu walked in front, broad-shouldered and burly, striding forward like a charging black bear.

Gu Changfeng followed behind him, his steps steady, his expression normal, but there was a hint of solemnity between his brows.

"Grandpa, you've finished chopping firewood so quickly?" Zhao Tieniu walked over, looked down at the two large piles of firewood, and said, "Your legs are really nimble! Changfeng and I just finished our morning exercises, and you've already finished the work!"

Su Mu smiled slightly and looked up at the two young men.

"What are you two doing here at the cookhouse so early in the morning?" His voice was hoarse, with a hint of teasing. "Aren't you afraid of being punished by your vanguard general?"

Zhao Tieniu scratched his head and chuckled, "We asked the captain for leave, saying we wanted to visit a fellow villager!"

Gu Changfeng stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "Old Master, I have come here today to ask you about something."

Su Mu looked at him without saying anything, waiting for him to continue.

"This morning, Lieutenant Li summoned the vanguard battalion and said he wanted to select a thousand elite soldiers to accompany General Xu to the capital."

Su Mu's eyes lit up immediately.

"The capital city?"

"I wonder if Qingxue and Xiao Zhixia have arrived in the capital yet?"

"If I could go to the capital with this group, maybe I'd have a chance to meet Qingxue?"

He has been separated from his granddaughter for more than twenty days since they parted ways at the crossroads.

I wonder if that girl ate well, slept well, or cried on the way...

"So, you got selected?" Su Mu asked, his tone tinged with concern.

Gu Changfeng shook his head: "We didn't go to choose, but... we've been thinking about it."

He paused, exchanged a glance with Zhao Tieniu, and then looked at Su Mu.

"I'm just not sure if this is the right thing to do, so I came here specifically to hear the old man's opinion."

After witnessing Su Mu tame the Akhal-Teke horse with his bare hands yesterday, Gu Changfeng and Zhao Tieniu had already made up their minds.

The old man in front of me must have served in the military when he was young, and he wasn't just an ordinary soldier.

That riding skill, that composure—not even blinking when facing the fierce and untamed Akhal-Teke horses—is not something that can be learned from farming or herding.

So when they encounter something they're unsure about, the first thing they think of is to go to Su Mu.

"How about..." Zhao Tieniu grinned, revealing two rows of large white teeth, "Grandpa, why don't you come with us to the selection? If you go, you're sure to be chosen!"

"Then the three of us will go to the capital together. I, Tie Niu, have never been to the capital in my life! I've heard that the capital is huge, with restaurants and eateries everywhere, and what's that... entertainment venues and brothels, with opera singers, storytellers, acrobats, and all sorts of things!"

Zhao Tieniu became more and more excited as he spoke, his eyes shining.

Su Mu did not smile; his face was filled with solemnity.

"At present, the Northern Di army is pressing on the border and is eyeing Qinghe County with covetous eyes. War could break out at any time."

"Why is this General suddenly selecting a thousand elite troops to accompany him to the capital? Does he intend for these thousand elite soldiers to escort him back to the capital?"

He paused, staring at Zhao Tieniu and Gu Changfeng with a look of doubt in his eyes.

"As the commander-in-chief, how can I arbitrarily leave the army?"

At this moment, Gu Changfeng subconsciously looked around to make sure no one else was listening before taking a step forward and lowering his voice to say, "I heard it's to escort that Akhal-Teke horse to the capital and present it to the Emperor."

Su Mu's pupils suddenly contracted.

He remained silent for a long time before speaking.

The voice was calm, but beneath that calm lay anger.

"Escorting the Akhal-Teke horses?"

"With the Northern Di army pressing in and tens of thousands of iron cavalry eyeing the city covetously, this general is not thinking about how to defend the city and defend against the enemy, nor about how to appease the people, but about how to please the emperor and how to gain benefits for himself."

"No wonder the Daqian army has suffered repeated defeats in the northern border. With a general like this, it would be strange if they didn't lose."

Gu Changfeng and Zhao Tieniu exchanged a glance but neither spoke.

After taking a deep breath, Su Mu said seriously, "Based on this analysis, your participation in the election is absolutely out of the question."

"Why?" Gu Changfeng asked.

"General Xu's actions will surely attract the attention of the Northern Di spies."

Su Mu's gaze sharpened.

"A thousand elite troops, marching in a grand procession towards the capital—such a commotion, how could the Northern Di scouts, who aren't blind, not see it?"

"On their way to the capital, they are very likely to be surrounded and intercepted by the Northern Di army."

"At that time, how could a thousand elite troops possibly withstand the tens of thousands of cavalry of the Northern Barbarians?"

"Think about it, the Northern Barbarians run rampant on our Great Qian land, burning, killing, and looting. Do you think they would let go of such an opportunity to intercept the Great Qian general and seize the Ferghana horses?"

Zhao Tieniu's pupils suddenly contracted, and a chill ran down his spine.

He was only thinking about going to the capital to broaden his horizons; he hadn't considered this possibility at all.

"Couldn't General Xu have thought of this?" Gu Changfeng muttered to himself.

Su Mu sneered: "Of course he wants it."

"Then what about him...?"

"Because he simply doesn't care."

Su Mu interrupted him, his voice icy, "In his eyes, the lives of those thousand elite soldiers are not as important as that Akhal-Teke horse."

"Once the BMW is delivered to the emperor, he can get promoted and make a fortune. As for whether the soldiers will die on the road, that's not his concern."

Gu Changfeng's face darkened.

Zhao Tieniu's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and his large, round eyes flashed with rage: "That corrupt official!"

Gu Changfeng took a deep breath, and the hesitation on his face vanished, replaced by a determined expression.

He clasped his hands in a fist and bowed solemnly to Su Mu: "What you say is very true, sir. Thank you for your guidance."

Zhao Tieniu also clasped his hands in a respectful gesture, his attitude sincere: "I'll listen to the old man! I won't go! I'll stay in the army camp and kill the Northern Barbarians!"

Su Mu nodded and waved his hand: "Go ahead and train hard."

The two turned and left.

Zhao Tieniu took a few steps, then turned back and called out to Su Mu, "Old man, if you need anything, just come find me! I'm in the third team of the vanguard battalion!"

Su Mu smiled and waved his hand.

Watching the two walk away, Su Mu's smile gradually faded.

He turned around, picked up the ten-meter-long thick wooden pole, hung fifty iron buckets on it, and walked towards the pond.

……

Good things don't go out, bad things pass thousands of miles.

The news that Xu Shigui was going to select a thousand elite soldiers to escort the Ferghana horses to the capital quickly spread throughout the entire military camp.

"Have you heard? The General is sending a thousand elite troops to the capital!"

"Draw elite troops? From our own battalion?"

"That's right! They said they were going to escort that Akhal-Teke horse to present to the emperor!"

"What time is it? The Northern Barbarians are practically at our doorstep, and you still want to withdraw your troops?"

"Who knows? What can we soldiers say about orders from above?"

"Sigh... How can we fight this battle? All the elite troops have been withdrawn, leaving only us greenhorns who just joined the camp. What are we going to use to fight the Northern Barbarians?"

"Exactly! Aren't they pushing us into a fire pit?"

"Shh, keep your voice down! If the General hears us, we'll be in big trouble!"

In the camp, a dozen soldiers huddled together, whispering amongst themselves, their faces filled with unease and resentment.

For a time, morale in the military camp plummeted, and the soldiers were scattered and disorganized, like a pile of loose sand.

If morale is low, how can we fight this battle?

……

That evening.

Su Mu was resting in front of his tent when he suddenly heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats coming from afar.

The sound of horses' hooves was dense, like a torrential downpour, growing louder and louder as it approached.

Immediately afterwards, a series of urgent bugle calls came from the direction of the central command tent.

"Waaaaah...waaaah...waaaah..."

Three long and two short calls—that's the rallying cry.

The entire military camp erupted in chaos.

"Assembled! Assembled!"

"What happened?"

"The Northern Barbarians have attacked?"

Soldiers rushed out of their tents, some putting on their armor as they ran, some still holding unfinished rations, and some not even properly wearing shoes, staggering towards the drill ground.

Qin Hao stood in front of the central command tent, his face ashen, clutching a newly delivered military report in his hand.

"The Northern Di army has marched from Yuzhou, heading straight for Qinghe County!" His voice was booming, echoing across the training ground. "All troops assemble! Follow me to meet the enemy!"

"yes!"

Thousands of soldiers responded in unison, their voices echoing across the land.

The veterans were all transferred to the front lines. The training grounds were teeming with people, swords and spears, and armor as thick as walls.

The cavalry rode out, while the infantry marched in formation.

The new recruits were left in the barracks to guard the rear.

……

The atmosphere in the cookhouse had also changed.

"Get busy, everyone! Get busy, everyone!"

Zhao Huotou shouted in the camp.

"With a major battle imminent, our work will be much more than just fetching water, chopping wood, and cooking!"

He walked to the center of the camp, waved his hand, and several soldiers carried over two large wooden crates, placing them on the ground with a "bang".

The box was opened, and inside were neatly stacked broadswords.

The blade gleamed coldly in the setting sun, sending a chill down one's spine.

"Starting today, everyone will receive a knife!"

Zhao Huotou's voice became serious.

"Our cooks, besides cooking, also have to guard the rear supply lines, constantly on guard against the Northern Barbarians infiltrating the camp and burning our provisions!"

"Did you all understand?"

"Understood!" the two hundred or so people answered in unison.

Su Mu stood in the queue, hunched over, waiting to receive his weapons.

When it was his turn, the soldier in charge of distributing the knife looked at him, then at the broadsword in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then handed it over.

Su Mu took the broadsword and weighed it in his hand.

Only five or six pounds!

To him, it was as light as a stick.

He rested the broadsword against his leg, held the newly issued broadsword in his left hand, and gently scraped the blade with his withered fingers in his right hand.

The blade was fairly sharp, and although it didn't have the heavy weight of a horse-slaying sword, it was sufficient for self-defense.

He gripped the hilt of the broadsword tightly, his eyes filled with anticipation.

He thought to himself, "What's coming will come eventually. I'll kill a few more of these Northern Barbarians..."