The strength of this group of Dongshan bandits is much stronger than Captain Chu had imagined.
He had originally thought that there were only two or three hundred bandits, so he led a thousand men out of the city to suppress the bandits.
Who knew that there were nearly a thousand bandits, far more than what they knew in the intelligence.
Thousands of people against a thousand others, if the fight continues like this, even if the officers and soldiers are stronger, the casualties will not be small.
And there was another thing that made Captain Chu a little worried: until now, he still hadn't seen where the bandit's stronghold was, nor the so-called bandit king Song He!
Besides, his goal has actually been achieved.
The main goal of this expedition out of the city to suppress bandits was actually to kill Qiao Mu according to the city lord's order, and clearing out the bandits was secondary.
"The bandits are numerous. We can't advance any further. What if there is an ambush?" Captain Chu said in a deep voice:
"Let's go back to Yancheng first and send more troops to come back tomorrow. The bandit king Song He will be easily captured. Why rush?"
Captain Chu's words immediately silenced the centurions under his command.
What the captain said actually makes sense... But what were you doing before
Now we finally know that the bandits may ambush and we must not advance rashly
It's just a pity for the young centurion Qiao Mu who died fighting to protect his colleagues...
When Captain Chu was preparing to lead his troops to retreat back to the city, Lao Huang and other soldiers including the monks slowly approached Qiao Mu's body and remained silent for a long time.
They spontaneously wrapped Qiao Mu's body with flags, and together they carried the bloody corpse back.
Before, they were not able to follow Qiao Mu and charge forward to die... .
Now, they can at least collect Qiao Mu's body and bring his corpse back to Yancheng.
This is the last thing they can do...
... ..
On the left side of the mountain above the valley.
The resurrected Qiao Mu walked out of the shadows once again.
He twisted his neck left and right, trying to adapt to this new body.
At this moment, he looked even more muscular than before, and his height had increased by several centimeters. His facial features also looked more mature, and there was a fine stubble on his chin.
"How old am I now?"
Qiao Mu's mind moved, and the Ouroboros longevity lock appeared in his mind again.
After dying once, the light of the Ouroboros Longevity Lock faded and returned to its usual dark state.
This death rating: B (A young man with chivalrous spirit, a promise worth a thousand gold, who values friendship over life and death.)
Life expectancy lost due to death: 8 years
Remaining revives this week: 4/5
Current age: 28
Skills: Longevity Fist (proficient) Military Spear (proficient) Iron Crotch Skill (proficient)
Demon Disintegration Technique (Proficient)
Scenes of memories began to emerge in his mind, and Qiumu finally recalled the past eight years.
Eight years!
For eight whole years, Qiumu practiced martial arts wholeheartedly every day!
Eight years of sleepless nights and forgetting to eat!
During these eight years, the internal energy that Qiumu had just cultivated grew stronger and stronger bit by bit over time.
Take one step at a time and become stronger bit by bit.
Not only did Qiao Mu strengthen his internal strength, but during these eight years, he also constantly honed the martial arts he had mastered.
When eight years have passed, the drops of water have gathered into rivers.
He had advanced from the entry level in military marksmanship eight years ago to mastery.
Although he had not yet officially started practicing the Iron Crotch Skill, thanks to Qiao Mu's unremitting efforts, he had mastered it to a proficient level.
What is even more outrageous is that Qiumu has become very proficient in the self-mutilating Demon Disintegration Technique.
At this moment, he felt that the internal energy in his Dantian was several times stronger than when he had just activated the internal energy eight years ago.
"I really tried too hard!" Qiao Mu sighed:
"He has been training hard every day for eight years, practicing Changsheng Fist, Spear Technique, Iron Crotch Technique, and even Heavenly Demon Disintegration at the same time. He is simply a master of time management! This is more than just eight years of improvement in skills!"
Qiao Mu noticed something strange.
When he died at the hands of Zheng the Butcher, he was given a C-level death rating, which allowed Qiao Mu to improve his martial arts skills by three years.
This death was rated as a B-level death, but it was more than just the result of eight years of improvement in martial arts skills.
“Is this the added benefit of a high-quality death?”
"It's still eight years, but I've been much more efficient in these eight years. Not only has my internal strength increased by the same amount as eight years of hard training, I've also learned a few more martial arts."
If a C-level death represents 100% time efficiency, it means practicing without sleep and forgetting to eat, and it is hard training that can only be achieved in dreams.
So Qiumu’s time management efficiency for this B-level death probably reached 150%, which is something he couldn’t even dream of.
"If I can find a few more hard skills and body techniques, I can use the efficient time management brought by high-quality death to quickly master a variety of martial arts and skills?" Qiao Mu thought to himself.
Chapter 20 He Died for Us
At the entrance of the valley, the remaining officers and soldiers had already begun to rush towards Yancheng.
Lao Huang, the monk and others were walking at the back of the team, carrying a corpse wrapped in flags, and they were silent for a long time.
As soldiers, they had certainly seen the corpses of their comrades.
But Qiao Mu's fearless look of readying himself for death just now was so shocking and unforgettable that it still made them feel uneasy.
"Speaking of which, what is the situation at the boss's home?" Old Huang said ramblingly:
"We are going to take the body back to Yancheng. Someone has to explain the situation to his family, right?"
Others also started discussing: "Captain Qiao Mu seems to be an outsider. Has he just arrived in Yancheng not long ago?"
"I once saw him helping a blind girl around 20 years old to walk. Was she probably his relative?"
"There seems to be only one blind person of similar age in his home. They seem to be two siblings who depend on each other for survival?"
The other soldiers chatted for a few words and then fell silent again.
Old Huang, who had wanted to start a conversation before, had nothing to say.
An orphan and a widow, their only relative is a blind girl... How can they continue the conversation
When they thought that they might have to carry the corpse to see Qiumu's blind sister or younger sister, they suddenly felt a little heavier on their shoulders.
"Why are there words carved on this tree?" At this time, the discussion of the soldiers nearby attracted the attention of Lao Huang and others.
"Fallen Wood Valley? It looks like the words were just carved with a sharp weapon? Strange, who has the leisure time to carve words on a tree when there is a war coming soon?"
Old Huang, who was carrying the corpse, was suddenly startled.
Fallenwood Valley
Only now did he realize that the meaning of this name gave him a glimpse into Qiao Mu's state of mind when he carved the words.
"It turns out that before he entered the valley, he was already feeling uneasy and determined to die!"
"He wasn't fighting for his life. He suspected the bandits had set up an ambush before he entered the valley, but he couldn't disobey the military order and had to enter!"
The previous scenes reappeared in his mind, the stern face of Captain Chu when he issued the military order, and Qiao Mu's back as he charged alone... It turned out that Qiao Mu's death in battle was not accidental, but he had already decided to die!
So as soon as they entered the valley, Qiao Mu ordered everyone to retreat if they spotted bandits, leaving him alone to cover the rear.
So when he found that there was no way to retreat, Qiao Mu resolutely charged forward alone, and was eventually seriously injured and died.
So before charging alone, Qiao Mu did not forget to turn back and remind Lao Huang about the mother and son at home, asking him not to follow him to die...
He knew he would die, and he faced death with alacrity.
It was only at this moment that he realized this matter belatedly.
He finally understood Qiao Mu's motive for fighting to death.
He charged forward alone and fought bravely, not to kill the bandits and save his own life, but to fight for the survival of his subordinates.
He said that he was protecting Old Huang for the sake of that promise, but he was protecting more than just Old Huang.
"He died for us," Old Huang paused and suddenly muttered.
At this moment, a voice came from the side.
"What are you lifting?"
The one who spoke was Captain Chu. Seeing Lao Huang and the others hanging at the back of the team, he walked over with a sullen face and asked them.
He didn't remember giving such an order.
"Reporting to the lord, it is the body of Centurion Qiao Mu." Old Huang lowered his head quickly, feeling a little panic in his heart.
Captain Chu seemed to have some grudge against Centurion Qiao Mu? Would Captain Chu be displeased if he carried Qiao Mu's body
However, Captain Chu's reaction was beyond his expectations.
"Qiao Mu's body? Yes, Centurion Qiao Mu died fighting bandits. He really shouldn't be left exposed in the wilderness." Captain Chu patted Old Huang on the shoulder and said:
"Thank you for your trouble. Please carry it back to Yancheng first. I will arrange the burial when the time comes."
Soldiers such as Lao Huang looked up in surprise, but Captain Chu turned his back to them and walked away.
"Could it be that we are wrong? Isn't Captain Chu trying to make things difficult for the leader on purpose?" Old Huang was a little confused.
However, he did not notice the slight smile on Captain Chu's lips after he turned and left.
In front of so many soldiers, he certainly would not disappoint his comrades.
Of course, there is another crucial reason.
"These soldiers reminded me of something." Captain Chu thought to himself:
"The city lord's son is a vindictive person. He was beaten up by Qiao Mu on the street before and lost face. The city lord may not care so much, but his son will not forget it easily."
"If we send this corpse back to Yancheng, we can inform the city lord, which can be considered a favor."
Captain Chu called his confidant and asked him to collect the bodies after returning to the city and to notify the City Lord's Mansion.
As for whether the city lord's son was going to come over to see the miserable state of Qiao Mu's body, or was going to open the coffin and whip the corpse, that was none of his business.
On the mountain on the left side of the valley.
Qiao Mu casually picked up a spear thrown by the bandits from the ground.
The bandits were defeated again and fled, discarding some weapons, which were picked up by him at this time.
After coming back to life, Qiao Mu had a brand new body, but the spear in his hand did not return to his hand after his resurrection.
"If you die in battle, your weapons will be lost... In this case, you can practice weapons, but fist and foot skills are still the most important and cannot be neglected."
Qiao Mu picked up the spear in his hand, waved it a few times, and immediately felt different.
Before he died in battle, he had only practiced military gun skills for a few days, and could only be said to be slightly better than those who had never practiced at all. He mainly relied on his great physical strength and speed to fight with a gun.
But when he held the gun, Qiumu felt something different.
He had mastered the art of military spearmanship to such an extent that he felt that the spear in his hand was a part of his body. He could control it as easily as using his arm to strike wherever he pointed.
He held the spear in his hand and stabbed it at the tree trunk beside him like lightning. There was a sharp whistling sound, and the tip of the spear stayed steadily an inch away from the tree trunk without touching it.
He brought the tip of the gun to his eyes and saw an ant stuck on it.
The tip of the spear pierced the ant but did not hit the tree trunk that was close at hand, which meant that Qiao Mu's ability to control the spear in his hand was as easy as using his own arm.
Moreover, his physical strength has obviously increased, far exceeding the normal human limit of 500 kilograms, so he can lift heavy objects with ease.
A strong physical body gives birth to internal strength, and the gradually growing internal strength will in turn widen the meridians, allowing the warrior's physical body to break through the limits of ordinary people.