Cheng Xu looked at the two big characters in the sky and entered a state of confusion.

After several seconds, he regained his senses and grabbed Thirty-Two’s shoulders, shaking them vigorously: “What is that? What exactly is that?”

Thirty-Two said: “That is Dao Xuan Deity, the divine being who protects us. Your life was saved by His Eminence, and He is the one who guided you to Gaojia Village.”

“Is it a divine being?” Cheng Xu was utterly stunned. Then, thinking more carefully, during yesterday’s battle with the Imperial Guards in the valley, it suddenly collapsed, and mud and stones surged down everywhere. If not for a divine being protecting him, how could he have survived?

After thinking this way, he felt somewhat convinced, and looking up again at the two big characters in the sky, he felt even more convinced.

Cheng Xu couldn’t help but murmur: “So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is.”

Thirty-Two said: “Do you understand?”

“I understand! I understand everything,” Cheng Xu said. “Gaojia Village has divine beings during the day and ghosts at night.”

“Pfft!”

There was no point reasoning with such a nonsensical fellow.

Thirty-Two said: “General Cheng, when do you think we should start organizing the militia?”

Cheng Xu thought for a moment: “Outside is chaotic beyond belief, the whole of Shaanxi is in ruins, rebels are scattering everywhere. Training the militia should be done sooner rather than later. Let’s start immediately. Do you have any cloth? Give me a piece to cover my face.”

Thirty-Two handed over a piece of cloth, and Cheng Xu covered his face, then said to Gao Chuwu: “Fool, follow me.”

Gao Chuwu was very surprised: “How did you know my nickname is fool?”

Cheng Xu turned to look at Thirty-Two: “With such a character, do you really want me to teach him martial arts? I’ll die of anger.”

Thirty-Two shrugged: “The Deity has spoken, so it’s up to you.”

Cheng Xu shook his head: “Alright. Also, don’t call me General Cheng anymore. If someone hears it and spreads the word, the Imperial Guards will surround this place in a flash. Call me He Jiu.”

Thirty-Two smiled: “From now on, you’ll be the instructor of Gaojia Village’s militia, so I’ll call you Instructor He.”

Cheng Xu said: “Let’s go, take me to see Gaojia Village’s current militia.”

Thirty-Two shrugged: “There is no militia yet.”

Cheng Xu: “…”

Thirty-Two: “Isn’t that exactly why you’re here to do?”

Cheng Xu felt both amused and frustrated, he cursed to himself…

Forget it, it wasn’t like he had no experience with this!

When he had first arrived at Chengcheng County to take up the post of patrol officer, he started empty-handed with nothing. Riding alone to the guard post, he scanned the scene: over a hundred dimwitted soldiers who’d grown stupid from farming were toiling away in the fields.

It was only through personally instructing them one by one that he transformed them into a proper team of officials who could confront the bandit army head-on.

Doing it all over again now—what could go wrong?

“Gao Chuwu, from now on, you’re my deputy.”

Gao Chuwu was overjoyed: “Yes, sir! Instructor He.”

“Take me for a walk around the village, and let’s check out all the young men.”

“Sure thing. Let’s go see my good friend Zheng Daniu first. He’s also very tall, very strong, and as formidable as me.”

Cheng Xu felt something was off the moment he heard it: “Is he an idiot too, just like you?”

Gao Chuwu was shocked: “How did you know that too?”

Cheng Xu slapped a hand over his face: “Absolutely terrible! To think there are now two of these idiots! Having He Er and Ha Er like this around me every day would send me to see my grandmother twenty years earlier!”

Thirty-Two burst out laughing.

Gao Chuwu led Cheng Xu and Thirty-Two around Gaojia Fortress. He first summoned Zheng Daniu, then went to gather others. Before long, they had assembled forty-six young men.

These were all the able-bodied young men from both Gaojia Fortress’s original residents and the first batch of villagers who had sought refuge here.

Cheng Xu glanced over them, feeling the number was a bit low, but it would have to do for now. It was enough to establish the most basic team.

“What equipment do you all have?” Cheng Xu asked. “Go home and bring out whatever you’ve got. Let me see how many bows, how many sabers this Gaojia Village actually has.”

“Alright!” The men chorused and scattered, heading home.

Cheng Xu pondered internally. The village seemed fairly prosperous; these guys should at least be able to produce a dozen or so sabers, a dozen or so bows, and maybe a dozen spears with iron spearheads…

While he was still pondering, the young men returned and stood before him.

Cheng Xu swept his eyes over them, and his jaw nearly dropped.

Among these forty-six men, over ten wore cotton armor, and two wore two-panel armor.

Cheng Xu pointed at them, stammering: “How does a tiny village like yours end up with over ten suits of armor? Do you all want to lose your heads?”

Gao Chuwu grinned broadly: “Actually, there are more than that. There are another ten or so at the blacksmith’s shop. They haven’t been issued yet because there haven’t been any battles recently.”

Cheng Xu: “!!!”

How absurd! What was this tiny village thinking?

Cheng Xu began to feel immense pressure.

Fine, one more question: “What about your weapons? How come you have armor but no weapons?”

This time, Zheng Daniu was the one grinning: “I have an axe, but since there’s no fighting, my father took it to chop firewood.”

Gao Chuwu: “I also have an axe. My father took it to chop firewood.”

One young man: “I have a chopping hatchet. My father took it to chop firewood.”

Another young man: “I have a butcher knife. My wife took it…”

Cheng Xu interrupted: “Stop! Let me guess… your wife took it to chop firewood too?”

The young man: “She took it to chop meat.”

Cheng Xu cried out: “Argh! Everyone shut up! Another word and I’m hitting someone!”

They hastily closed their mouths, clueless about what they had done to offend Instructor He.

Cheng Xu raised his hands, palms up, fingers spread wide: “You clearly have so many suits of armor, but you didn’t make a single proper weapon?”

Gao Chuwu explained: “Because we’re waiting for Blacksmith Li to make firearms. Once he makes them, we’ll use those. But… Blacksmith Li’s progress is really slow. It’s been months, and there’s not even a shadow of a firearm yet.”

Cheng Xu instantly felt physically unwell.

“You, a tiny, shabby village, with not a single decent weapon? Not one proper saber? Not one iron spear?” Cheng Xu screamed, stamping his feet. “First you make armor, and then you jump straight to firearms? Owning armored plate privately is the grave crime of rebellion! Privately possessing firearms is also the grave crime of rebellion! Without a single legitimate, proper weapon, you’ve gone straight for both major rebellious crimes!”

Li Daoxuan, looking down from above, couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Ha-ha! To be criticized by a professional soldier! Hilarious!

Honestly, this wasn’t the little people’s fault. It was his own.

Initially, his only concern was keeping the little people alive, so prioritizing armor for them made sense. During battles, he’d constantly activate cheats to help them, the Deity who Favoritism subtly intervening to ensure their safety. He hadn’t thought about having them prepare some transitional weapons.

Thinking about it carefully now, when you play StarCraft, you can’t rush straight to Battlecruisers without building a single soldier in between. You still need some transitional troops.

Ha-ha-ha! He totally deserved the criticism.