Even in his twilight years, he swept through the chaotic army of ten thousand warriors!

He got angrier and angrier as he spoke, and raised his hand to wipe his face.

"Damn it, wasn't the reason your fifth brother became a soldier instead of a bandit precisely because of this?"

"I was furious and wanted to get justice, but those people tricked me into going to a gambling den, saying that I had gambled away half a year's quota of the Six Banners and that I still owed them fifty taels..."

His fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and his chest heaved violently.

It took him a while to collapse, and he said dejectedly.

"Even yours is from Six Flags themselves. He said this morning he'd handle it and told me to focus on recovering..."

As they talked, they started muttering about whether they should go back to their old profession.

Ji Yan frowned as he listened, even though Liu Zhe had said yesterday that he would handle it.

But even if the problem is solved, the monthly quota is still too small.

"I thought that with a monthly salary of three taels of silver, the soldiers would have a comfortable life..."

Ma Wu nodded vigorously, "Exactly! You may hear a lot, but the expenses for the elite troops are also considerable."

"And this is just the medicinal bath. Weapons, armor, combat techniques, and body-tempering elixirs—everything costs money when you're actually on the battlefield!"

"With the limited quota allocated by the garrison, they'll just be able to withstand a few more hits than regular soldiers on the battlefield!"

Ma Wu got more and more excited as he talked, but in the end he gave up the idea of ​​going back to being a bandit.

"Sigh, let me just wait a little longer. Once I get past Pi Pass, I'll join the guards too..."

"Guards?" Ji Yan suddenly looked up.

That makes sense. Although he had only been in the military camp for three days, he had seen many of the soldiers indulging in debauchery.

If they really did that, their monthly salary of three taels of silver probably wouldn't be enough for them to live a carefree life even twice.

"Yes!" Ma Wu grabbed a chair and sat down, continuing to speak.

"The garrison is dead, but the people are alive."

"What the garrison can't provide, with this body full of vitality, how could I not find a way to survive?"

"Some went to guard people's homes, some went to protect merchant caravans and transport goods..."

He suddenly remembered something, "Oh, what I was just talking about was protecting the caravan of smuggled salt dealers."

"This is lucrative! You can easily earn at least a hundred taels of silver per trip!"

hiss!

Ji Yan gasped, not because of the money.

After all, the salt tax in Dajing has increased dozens of times, and the profits from smuggled salt are frighteningly high.

To his surprise, as a garrison soldier, he not only didn't investigate this, but he also allowed his soldiers to do it.

As if sensing his reaction, Ma Wu scoffed disdainfully.

"The imperial court wants to intervene, but it also needs the capability to do so!"

"The soldiers need to eat meat, and if they're not allowed to do this or that..."

"Is it something he wants to see—harming the local community?"

After saying that, he waved his hand and laughed.

"Many people want to do this but can't!"

"To guard against patrols, bandits, and double-crosses, salt smugglers are always recruiting daring martial arts instructors to protect their guards."

"But going through Piguan is suicide, so don't even think about it..."

While Ma Wu was speaking, Ji Yan had already come out of the bathtub, as the effects of the medicine had been absorbed.

Ma Wu clapped his hands, preparing to leave with the bathtub.

But before he had taken more than a few steps, he suddenly caught sight of a bow on the weapon rack...

He backed away and peered back into the house.

"Old Ji, didn't you say before...?"

"You shot and killed six soldiers?"

"How many arrows did you use?"

Ji Yan's interest was piqued. "Four arrows."

Sure enough, Ma Wu's eyes lit up upon hearing this answer.

However, it was only for a short time; after taking a closer look at the bow, he lost interest again.

"San Shi Gong... well, you're already quite old, and you've only just entered the Blood Refining stage..."

"This is the bow I used before I joined the elite infantry, and it was also used for killing people." Ji Yan stepped forward and took the bow in his hand, saying this.

boom!

Upon hearing this, Ma Wu immediately threw the bathtub away.

"Old Ji, how much do you estimate you can pull... while maintaining accuracy?"

Ji Yan raised his hand to feel it, then pondered before speaking.

"Eight or nine stones, I guess..."

He was being somewhat conservative; after all, based on his experience shooting those constables before, he figured he couldn't shoot many more times, just like that time...

"Nine Stones!!"

Ma Wu's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You're not lying to your fifth brother?"

What does "eight or nine stones" even mean...?

Damn it, even a pure strength martial artist like Pi Guan only has a force of a little over a thousand jin!

If what you say is true...

The boss always said there was no rush to recruit people, but now that he's doing it...

This is like acquiring a human-shaped heavy crossbow!

"Old Ji...no, Elder Ji!"

"I have a job to do..."

Seeing Ji Yan nod, he had no choice but to believe it...

No, he shook his head abruptly, stopping himself halfway through his sentence.

"Professor Ji, shall we give it a try?"

"Please don't mind, this is a job I have to risk my life for..."

"But don't worry, this time you'll get at least this much!"

He held out a hand and waved it.

"At least fifty taels!"

Ji Yan couldn't help but feel a tremor when he heard the number.

In an era when an ordinary family's entire annual expenses amounted to only five or six taels of silver...

Fifty taels!

But remembering what Ma Wu had said about smuggling salt, I still asked him first.

"Tell me, what kind of work is it?"

Ma Wu chuckled. "Hunting!"

Ji Yan's heart skipped a beat.

He had also gone with Xiao Gou's grandfather when he was young, but later, when demons were rampant, people had to think twice before even going up the mountain to collect firewood, let alone go hunting.

But fifty taels is clearly not enough to hunt ordinary prey...

Ma Wu chuckled, revealing a set of white teeth.

"Yuyang County is remote, with the Ten Thousand Barbarian Mountains behind it. These monsters used to be relatively safe."

"But now the barbarians are restless, and they're being driven this way too..."

"There are too many powerful monsters, but this time we're going to this one..."

"I wasn't confident before, but with you here, I'm much more confident!"

He was still speaking when Ji Yan stood up and spoke with a smile.

"I don't have a bow that heavy..."

But before he could finish speaking, Ma Wu stopped him.

"I'll go borrow it for you!"

"If you truly possess this ability, you'd be ten times more sought-after than a powerful expert like Pi Guan!"

"By the time you survive this trip, you'll have enough for a perfectly good bow!"

He had barely finished speaking when Ji Yan had already walked out the door with the Three Stone Bow.

"Why bother with that? I'll shoot an arrow, and then you can arm wrestle with me, won't that do?"

He pointed into the distance, saying, "See that blade of grass on that wall?"

"I'll shoot it off at the second blade of grass..."

Ma Wu looked up and stared for a long time but couldn't see any grass on the wall a hundred paces away.

Suddenly, my gaze froze, and I realized...

So you were referring to the wall of the compound across the street!

"No, Lao Ji, you're exaggerating... You can shoot that far?"

The compound across the street is quite a distance from here...

It must have been at least five hundred paces. Could his dim old eyes even see that before he shot?

Ji Yan did not refute, but simply took a deep breath and raised the bow.

His dry lips trembled slightly, mimicking the sound of a bowstring being released.

"Whoosh!"