I was a charlatan in India

Compared to the high monks' side, the morale of the poor people's team was much lower.

The eleven lowly commoners hung their heads, secretly cursing their bad luck.

Just kidding, who doesn't know these eleven monks? They're the tough guys who kick the merit ball every day!

Not to mention recently, they've been playing football during the day and playing durian at night; in terms of hard work, they're much better than my team.

Look at all these people around me, they're all listless.

Ugh, what terrible teammates they have.

The game is over.

Let's think about how to draw attention to others to avoid getting a third leg broken.

Coincidentally, everyone else thought the same thing.

Only a few people were thinking about boosting morale.

"Hey, you know, we can make so much money kicking durians, these monks must make even more kicking 'merit balls' (a form of charity)."

"If we could take their headscarves..."

And you know what? Greed is always so effective.

The commoners became interested.

"Definitely, otherwise why would they practice so hard all day long?"

"Winning will definitely be tough for us, but could we team up to steal a few headscarves, force the monk to reveal his name, and then split the loot?"

"It actually seems to work!"

Now, even the listless people perked up and started offering suggestions.

"When the time comes, we'll see who has the ball, and then we'll lure them into our encirclement. Whether they have the ball or not doesn't matter; we'll just focus on their headbands and names."

"Yeah, at least you made an appearance. If you snatch one, it's worth it; if you snatch two, you've made a killing."

"Hey, if we were playing soccer with those monks, what kind of ball would we use?"

The Pauper Team also thought of this problem.

"We shouldn't use merit balls, otherwise it would be too unfair."

"Hey, what's fair about this, bro? When have they ever treated us like human beings!"

"This guy is right. They didn't even consider fairness when they matched us with that monk."

"Who cares? We're after the headscarves, not the game. You really think you can beat those monks?"

"That makes sense!"

The common people echoed in agreement.

"Clang—!"

Suddenly, a crisp metallic clang interrupted their chatter.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.

A squad of Divine Punishment soldiers walked in, including the captain, there were exactly eleven of them.

Each of them carried a tray with jewelry, gold, and a small medicine bottle on it.

After scanning the room, the captain spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Young Master Surrey is kind and knows that this match is too difficult for you, so he has come to help."

However, everyone's attention was focused on the gold and jewels.

The captain naturally noticed this.

He sneered inwardly and continued speaking.

"Play this match well, and these priceless treasures will be yours!"

boom!

Everyone felt a buzzing in their heads.

The treasures on the tray—don't even mention that they themselves have no worries about food and clothing.

If they have descendants, they'll probably live a life of wealth and luxury for generations to come!

No, with these jewels, as long as that leg isn't broken, we'll definitely have descendants!

One of the younger team members stared intently at the jewelry, muttering to himself.

"With these... that old man won't look down on me for being poor and won't refuse to marry his daughter to me..."

A seasoned veteran next to him sneered.

"Silly boy, still thinking about your old flame? With all this, we're the masters!"

"We eat meat every day, drink clean water, sleep in dry houses, and there are no more whips..."

"Women, naturally too..."

Of course, there were still some relatively rational people who asked questions cautiously.

"Master... sir, what is the standard for a good kick...?"

In their minds, winning was highly unlikely.

Of course, he dared not say it directly, for fear of being blamed by the other party.

However, the adult did not say that he would only pay if he won the game; he only said "play well."

Is there any hope here...?

"Naturally, we're striving to win."

The commander of the Divine Punishment Army spoke in an unfriendly tone.

A collective gloom settled over everyone.

If winning the game is necessary, then this wealth and honor may be out of reach for me.

The feeling of having glittering jewels right in front of you but being unable to touch them is truly unbearable.

"Of course, Young Master Surrey will not force you to win. After all, winning and losing are common occurrences. As long as you are truly striving for victory, that's enough."

"You are players, and your goal is naturally to put the ball in the opponent's goal."

"Anyone can see that as long as you're working towards this goal."

"As for the idea of ​​giving up on winning or losing just to snatch the headscarf, I've always pretended not to have heard of it, but if someone actually did that..."

He didn't continue speaking.

For threats, unclear consequences can actually be more deterrent.

But everyone was still not very enthusiastic.

The standards are too vague. What if the master decides to make them work for nothing with a single word...?

No, no, I can forgo making a profit, but I can't suffer a loss.

Seeing this, the commander of the Divine Punishment Army added fuel to the fire.

"However, if you can break any of the monks' legs, it will be a great achievement regardless of the outcome of the game."

"At that time, everyone will naturally have a share of these jewels!"

That's a good standard.

In the last match, apart from the two goalkeepers, everyone else had broken their legs to get started. If we consider this standard, then we can get the money!

At this point, everyone finally showed real interest.

Seeing this, the captain of the Divine Punishment Army emphasized, "This competition is not just a matter of asceticism, but a contest between two religious orders."

"Varanasi was built for the most noble heaven. If an outsider wins our match, it will become a laughing stock."

"So, while it may seem like you're fighting against the monastic community, in reality, it's all about preventing the winning teams from taking the championship, understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

A sparse and scattered response from the lowest class.

"Do you understand!?"

The commander of the Divine Punishment Army raised his voice.

"Yes, sir! Yes, sir!"

Everyone quickly responded in varying ways.

The commander of the Divine Punishment Army did not press the matter further.

In their eyes, these lowly durian-kicking idiots are just consumables, and you can't expect too much from them.

If a animal knows to eat when it's hungry, and sleeps when it's tired, and can work under the drive of the whip and hunger, then it already meets the standard of livestock, which is already quite good.

Then, the Divine Punishment Army pointed to the potion on the tray, his tone resolute.

"Young Master Surrey has specially sought out a miraculous medicine for you."

"Drinking this stuff will make you incredibly energetic, free from pain, and even rapidly regenerate short limbs and broken bones!"

"Those monk soldiers are despicable and treacherous. If they resort to underhanded tactics, they can protect you."

"Before the show begins, everyone get a bottle, and drink them all!"

Everyone looked at each other.

They had never heard of such a miraculous medicine before, something that could rid them of pain and regenerate limbs; it sounded like some kind of divine power.

Besides, isn't this thing potentially dangerous...?

But no one dared to question it, since if the noble lord really wanted them to drink, he could simply pry their mouths open and force them to drink.

Maybe it really is something good?

Faced with an overwhelming reality, they clung to a sliver of hope, as if trying to escape.

Think about the extraordinary performance of those veterans during training...

Perhaps this miraculous potion is the first step in transforming into something extraordinary!

Correct!

This must be the path those predecessors took!

Even if there were some concerns, reality quickly suppressed them.

After all, everyone has heard about the last match, which was extremely fierce.

Of the twenty-two players, only two goalkeepers were not crippled; everyone else had lost one or two legs!

In this light, it makes sense that young master Surrey prepared this miraculous medicine!

After all, I will need to provide him with arduous training or lead a team to teach others in the future. How can I use him if he is disabled?

Yes, that must be it!

They convinced themselves in a strange way, and then, in front of the commander of the Divine Punishment Army, they each gulped down the divine medicine.

The medicine was bitter and spicy; as soon as it entered the mouth, it felt like the esophagus and stomach were burning, making one want to gag uncontrollably.

But soon, the pain transformed into a powerful surge of heat that flowed into his body.

The sounds around me began to become blurry, and even my vision became somewhat distorted.

He could hear his own heavy heartbeat with exceptional clarity.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

With an echo, it sounded like the beating of war drums.

These lowly people felt that they could easily tame even a wild horse.

An exceptionally sensitive sense of smell.

The air was thick with the stench of sweat, blood, and animal fat from the leather armor of the Divine Punishment Army; each of these made their gums ache and their mouths water.

More importantly, after gaining this power, they felt that those monk bandits were by no means invincible.

Damn it, we're all just mortals, who's better than whom?

Let's fight!

The commander of the Divine Punishment Army raised his voice and said, "Very good, I look forward to everyone's performance."

"I'll prepare a banquet first, waiting for everyone to achieve victory, then reward them according to their merits, and from then on, I'll become a person of high status!"

Become a superior person!

It seems they can only understand these few words.

"Alright, brother, go ahead!"

The moment this medicine entered my mouth, it seemed to make me lose my senses.

Damn it, what are you people? You dare to call me brother?

The captain of the Divine Punishment Army frowned in disgust, turned around, raised his dark red cloak, and left with a flourish.

Looking at the red cloak, the commoners felt an urge to pounce on it and tear it apart.

Back at the barracks, one of the subordinates sneakily approached the captain, glanced around, and whispered.

"Boss, we have such a treasure! My dad's leg was broken by the monks, you see..."

The captain of the Divine Punishment Army scoffed, "You actually believed the nonsense they spouted to those lowly people?"

"This stuff was a banned drug from the early days of gladiatorial combat. Any talk of limb regeneration is nonsense. Its effects are very clear."

"It's about turning these lowly people into mindless beasts and kicking those Buddhist bastards to death!"